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Quo vadis GRI? A (critical) assessment of GRI 3.1 A+ non-financial reports and implications for credibility and standardization
|
[
"Social responsibility",
"Corporate social responsibility",
"Reports",
"Non-financial reporting",
"External assurance system",
"Shortcomings of CSR"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: reporting, credibility, and the role of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): Although non-financial reporting[1] is more and more prevalent (Raar, 2002) as part of corporate communication and corporations professionalize their communication toward social and environmental topics, non-financial reports are not perceived as credible and trustworthy: This phenomenon is known in the scholarly literature as \"credibility gap\" (Dando and Swift, 2003) and seen as one of the major challenges of non-financial reporting. The notion of the \"CSR communication paradox\" goes even further stating that with more and more reports scepticism and scrutiny among stakeholders increase (Waddock and Goggins, 2011). The \"CSR communication paradox\" is even more puzzling as corporations undertake measures to create transparency and trustworthiness by applying social disclosure rating systems (Sutantoputra, 2009), third party independent assurance and increased standardization of non-financial reporting. However, the steps toward standardization remain on a voluntary level (Adams and Zutshi, 2004), which leaves room for adjustments and more favorable ways of presenting one's non-financial performance. State regulation to support non-financial reporting, or laws to make it mandatory, might not be enough for global operating companies. At the same time, discussions are occurring as to how far self-regulation can be incentivized to have a governance structure that works (Johansen and Nielsen, 2011) to maintain the license to operate (Corvellec, 2007). Hence, in a recent CSR corporate communication paper non-financial reports have been typologized as instrumental communication strategy, unlike social media or corporate webblogs typologized as deliberative (Seele and Lock, 2014). Thus, the contribution of non-financial reports to corporate communication is considered a strong communication tool, although its strategic goal is considered non-deliberative.\nLiterature review and hypothesis development: For more than 35 years, research has been conducted on the role of corporations in society, their social responsibilities and more recently on the role of corporations to contribute to sustainable development and non-financial reporting. Non-financial information plays an important role in the field of CSR. The definition and role of reporting in the field of non-financial information is discussed controversially in academic literature (Aktas et al., 2013; GRI, 2011; Ioannou and Serafeim, 2010; Roca and Searcy, 2012) and also the trends in non-financial reporting show that different concepts such as sustainability reporting, CSR reporting, or just responsibility reporting are applied (Gatti and Seele, 2014). Since analyzing GRI influenced reports we derive the aspect to develop our hypotheses from the literature on GRI reports and GRI itself. The most relevant topics in this regard therefore are accuracy, completeness, clarity, and transparency.\nMethod, research design, and sample: The sample and data collection process\nResults and discussion: The analysis was done with Excel and SPSS. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics to produce frequency tables of performance indicator disclosures, as well as for accessibility and availability of the GRI reports. To produce results in order to test the hypotheses, averages of disclosure frequencies within industry sectors, indicator categories, and accessibility categories were compared. The results about the consistency of the sample were achieved through descriptive statistics in frequency tables. We also applied statistical testing in order to find significant patterns within the variables, but there were not which is why we remain on the level of mapping the field in an explorative and descriptive way.\nConclusions: This research provides findings that nourish the current academic discussion about non-financial reporting and the question of where to go from here, particularly for the NGO GRI. Non-financial reporting is in the process of development. Results of this study show and complement the literature that the main challenges of non-financial reporting lie within credibility and standardization. The variance of indicator disclosure frequencies, as demonstrated empirically here, and the various ways of publishing sustainability reports, indicate these challenges. The findings imply that non-financial reporting is not on a same level with financial reporting. That can be seen by the accessibility of sustainability reports and the variance of indicator disclosure frequencies.\nLimitations and future research: One limitation concerns the study design itself by referencing disclosing frequencies to non-financial reporting performance. A sustainability report is not necessarily mirroring the creation process of itself, so all possible conclusions are interpreted probabilities drawn from a report. A future research design to study the creation process and the data generation and monitoring mechanisms within the firm would allow precise measurements of the disclosure quality. With such a research design, one could also draw conclusions not only about disclosure quality but sustainability performance itself, contrary to the measurement of disclosure frequencies of performance indicators that allow only one-dimensional conclusions to the disclosure quality by frequency and not by content.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the status of non-financial reporting according to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 3.1 A+ standard. By examining the comprehensiveness of the GRI performance in corporate non-financial reports classified as A+ the authors challenge the external assurance system imposed by GRI 3.1 A+ and discuss future directions for the application of GRI 4.0, particularly with regard to the standardized corporate reporting software language XBRL.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors applied a three-step-research design based on four literature-derived hypothesis and examined all 177 GRI 3.1 A+ reports (2012-13) by coding along 41 variables plus the 84 performance indicators of GRI 3.1 to test accessibility, ability to download, achievability, and the possibility to compare them to older reports.\nFindings: The results indicate a lack of completeness of GRI's 3.1 key performance indicators in A+ assured reports, that is made possible due to the reporting flexibility and voluntariness of the guideline. The authors find that the average of disclosed core indicators is 77.66 percent. Single A+ reports disclose even fewer GRI core indicators that B+ reports, which challenges the validity of the assurance system of GRI 3.1.\nResearch limitations/implications: In this study the (core) indicators were taken as given by GRI 3.1; the quality of the indicators was not measured or weighted.\nPractical implications: Implications may emerge for redesigning non-financial reporting guidelines.\nSocial implications: By critically indicating possible weaknesses of the GRI 3.1 guidelines the authors aim to contribute to a more transparent and effective non-financial reporting.\nOriginality/value: As an increasing number of contributions criticize the credibility of non-financial reporting and also GRI's role, the research for the first time provides empirical evidence of the shortcomings of CSR and sustainability reporting regarding comprehensiveness, accessibility, and comparability.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
An integrated approach for prioritizing lean and agile production factors based on costs of quality with a case study in the home appliance industry
|
[
"House of quality",
"Lean production",
"Cost of quality",
"Agile production",
"Home appliance industry",
"Quadrant analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The managers of organizations are continuously looking for increasing customer satisfaction, improvement of business processes, reduction of the costs of organization and ultimately, acquiring competitive advantage. The increasing expectations of customers, and also the increase of markets globalization have forced organizations to review their commerce strategies (Roberson and Jones, 1999). Regarding the recently created changes in the administration of organizations and production systems, many tools and techniques are developed and applied. Meanwhile, lean thinking refers to the attitude of an organization that performs processes without wasting resources, or by spending fewer resources, produces more products (Naylor et al., 1999). According to Rymaszewska (2014), the idea of lean can be summarized in a simple and short definition of \"doing more with less.\" However, considering the instable markets, merely being lean and eliminating wastes are not adequate for survival and achieving success. In this regard, production of a product or delivering a service that meets a high degree of customer satisfaction, without investigating the costs of achievement is not adequate.\nLP: In recent years, many organizations have implemented LP (Gurumurthy and Kodali, 2009). Lean is a methodology for every activity that reduces the major wastes in any business processes. LP can be defined as a philosophy of management along with a set of processes and methods that can minimize the wastes of production processes. At the beginning of twenty-first century, identification and elimination of activities that did not create value were the key factors of success in any business environment (Smith and Hawkins, 2004). LP, simply means production without waste (Shahin and Janatyan, 2010; Taj and Morosan, 2011; Shahin and Jaberi, 2011a, b).\nAP: Due to rapid market change and high competitiveness, manufacturing firms face uncertainty in their production processes (Vinodh and Aravindraj, 2015). Meanwhile, the concept of agility empowers organizations in overcoming the effects of such changes and to respond better to customer. Regarding the point that agility is relatively new, there has not been any comprehensive and complete definition accepted by all yet; however, none of the performed definitions contradict with each other but each one has observed the subject from a specific direction and viewpoint. However, it should be considered that all these definitions emphasize on the ability of producers in rapid and on time responding to the needs of market (Ramesh and Devadasan, 2007). Swafford et al. (2006) defined agility as the ability of growth and flourishing in competitive environments and dealing with unpredictable changes to react to the changing markets, rapidly and effectively. Agility can be defined as the ability of an organization in discovering changes (opportunities, threats or a combination of both) in the business environment and creating concentration and offering rapid response to the customers and stakeholders by reconfiguration of resources, processes and strategies (Ganguly et al., 2009).\nCOQ: With regard to BSI definition, the COQ are related to the imposed costs in the activities of prevention from defect, appraisal of activities and damages and activities due to the internal and external failures (Khataie and Bulgak, 2013).\nHoQ: The first phase of the four phases Quality function Deployment (QFD) is related to the design of product and because of the similarity of its shape to a house; it is named the \"HoQ.\" HoQ is a kind of process map that provides the possibility of planning and communications among functions. While offering and obtaining valuable information about the product, it is the most applied part of many QFD projects due to the wideness and variety of concepts extracted from it (Karask et al., 2003). While, HoQ as the first stage of QFD is applied in translating customer voice (whats) to quality features (hows) of a product (Chan and Wu, 2005), it is a flexible technique in which, \"whats\" and \"hows\" can be different in various applications.\nResearch methodology: In order to clarify the research methodology, the proposed model of research with three stages is illustrated in Figure 1. It is worth mentioning that the validity of the model has been confirmed by five faculty members of the department of management at the University of Isfahan and three faculty members of the department of industrial engineering at the Isfahan University of Technology who performed empirical research in the home appliance industry. In addition, seven experts of Entekhab Industrial Group (EIG) as the major home appliance producer in the Isfahan province as well as in Iran confirmed the model. The experts were from the R&D and quality assurance departments of the company.\nCase study and findings: In order to examine the proposed approach, top managers of all of the 50 home appliance producers in the province of Isfahan were considered as the research population among which, as mentioned earlier, EIG is the major company of the industry in Iran. In order to collect data, the questionnaire on weighing the importance of COQ together with two HoQ matrixes were sent to all of the companies and 36 filled documents were returned. The average values of importance weights are computed and addressed in Table I.\nDiscussion: In this paper, an integrated approach of QFD and quadrant analysis were proposed for prioritizing LP and AP factors based on the COQ. The proposed approach was examined in the home appliance producer companies of the province of Isfahan. As it was observe in Table I, the highest importance weight was related to complaint and the lowest importance weight was related to retesting. The HoQ-1 priorities based on prevention and appraisal costs (Table II) indicated that over-production as one of the LP factors had the highest weight (224.1) among other factors. Therefore, this factor should be considered for further investigation and improvement. The lowest weight in Table II was also related to speed as one of the AP factors. The HoQ-2 priorities based on failure costs (Table III) also indicated that the factors with highest and the lowest weights were related to responsiveness and inventory, respectively.\nConclusions: As a result of comparing prioritization of LP and AP factors based on prevention and appraisal costs, it can be observed in Table IV that most of the LP factors based on prevention and appraisal costs, and AP factors based on failure costs have higher weights, indicating that LP is mostly input oriented and AP is mostly output oriented.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to prioritize lean production (LP) and agile production (AP) factors based on costs of quality (COQ).\nDesign/methodology/approach: After literature review, two separated houses of quality (HoQ) have been developed. By the first HoQ, LP and AP factors can be proritized based on prevention and appraisal costs and by the second HoQ, LP and AP factors can be prioritized based on failure costs. The proposed approach has been examined by analyzing data collected from 36 home appliance producers of Isfahan as an industrial province of Iran.\nFindings: The first HoQ indicates that the highest and the lowest priorities are related to over-production (lean factor) and speed (agility factor), respectively. The second HoQ implies that the highest and the lowest priorities are related to responsiveness (agility factor) and inventory (lean factor), respectively. Quadrant analysis also indicates that defectives and over-processing are the two factors that have the highest priorities based on both failure costs and appraisal and prevention costs. As a major finding, LP factors have strong relationship with prevention and appraisal costs; and AP factors have strong relationship with failure costs.\nPractical implications: The proposed approach helps organizations in reducing their costs. By clarifying the relationship of the LP and AP factors and the COQ, managers can determine appropriate strategies with the lowest cost.\nOriginality/value: The integrated approach of this study has not been applied and studied in the literature. The subject of the relationship of LP and AP and COQ is relatively new, which integrates the two areas of production management and quality management.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Musical intelligence: explication, measurement, and implications for consumer behavior
|
[
"Music",
"Musical intelligence",
"Personality",
"Psychometric measurement",
"Sonic branding"
] |
[
{
"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: Music pervades every facet of human experience and provides a rich context for the study of basic, theoretical themes in advertising and marketing. Yet, one need not be musically trained to be interested in and react to music. A Google search for the string \"music trivia games\" tops 300,000 results (e.g. www.funtrivia.com; www.musicdispatch.com). These games often involve fun cognitive tasks such as identifying the singer or a genre of music from an audio clip. As these examples suggest, musical insight transcends musical training. This observation suggests the possibility that even musically \"lay\" individuals could be endowed with an innate musical intelligence (MI) of varying levels. The popularity of the reality TV program American Idol and its clones worldwide (e.g. Shanghai Super Girl in China, Do Re Mi Fa Sol in India) provide testimony for innate MI.\nMusical intelligence: Musical competence is generally described as a \"talent\" for music. A commonly held view is that musically talented people are gifted, that they are born with this talent. Although it is true that only a few reach the heights of musical success, it is common to see some level of talent in everyone. It is clear that musical competence is a continuum, but quantification of musical skill has proven to be a challenge.\nStudy 1: A confirmatory factor analysis of MI: The goal of this research is to develop and validate an MI scale. We begin by generating items to represent the domains of the construct in accordance with standard measurement protocol (Churchill, 1979; Churchill and Peter, 1984). Next, we test aspects of the scale's validity in the paradigm suggested by Anderson and Gerbing (1988), using a sample of business and music students. Finally, we generate and test a set of hypotheses concerning theoretic antecedents of MI to demonstrate the performance of the proposed measure in a nomological network.\nStudy 2: Scale revision and downstream nomological validity: The pattern of results in the first study and a closer analysis of item content of the behavioral MI items suggest that two behavioral MI items reflect a reactive behavior:\nStudy 3: Musical recall assessment: Sample\nGeneral discussion and conclusions: The primary objective of this research is not to differentiate fine-grained competencies among trained musicians, but rather to tap into innate MI (MI) among the (musically) lay populace. Our three-component (with two facets for behavioral MI) conceptualization meets that requirement in construction and performance. The scale items are generic and, musically speaking, non-technical. In addition, the scale meets the rigors of validity assessment and demonstrably differentiates between populations with known differences in MI. Further, as evidenced in Study 2, in explaining incremental variability in a musical recognition task despite controlling for several musical and situational variables, MI demontrates downstream nomological validity as an individual difference variable. Study 3 shows that the MI scale performs effectively in a different setting involving a musical recall task. Taken together, the three studies provide triangulated evidence for the validity of the scale. The scale items, constructed as they are from generic items representative of MI among (lay) individuals, can be fruitfully applied in contexts involving psychology of music in general social situations (e.g. understanding audience behavior for American Idol).\nManagerial implications: Many consumer experiences are surrounded by music. While consumers may be unaware of this musical exposure, and marketers place little emphasis upon it, music's presence is of growing importance in today's marketplace. Unfortunately, firms only hope that their musical selections that surround their promotional communications, retail environment, online presence, etc. resonate in a positive manner with their selected target market.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to develop and test a psychometrically valid scale for musical intelligence as an individuating variable. This scale can elicit individual differences on reactions to sonic branding stimuli such as audio logos, radio jingles and commercial music.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A two-step confirmatory factor analysis followed by structural equation modeling was used to develop and test the scale. Data were collected across three studies consisting of 470 participants. The scale was developed and nomologically validated.\nFindings: Findings suggest that musical intelligence discriminates reactions to music as evidenced by the three component conceptualization of musical intelligence.\nOriginality/value: This study offers an original, three-component conceptualization of musical intelligence, proposes a measurement scale and then presents evidence of construct validity. Finally, the paper discusses potential applications of the scale in personality research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Understanding cloud computing success and its impact on firm performance: an integrated approach
|
[
"Cloud computing",
"Cloud success",
"Firm performance",
"Expectation- confirmation model (ECM)",
"Information system success model",
"IT capability",
"Resource-based view (RBV)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Cloud computing is a deep revolution in delivering information technology based services using the ideas of distributed and parallel computing (Naseri and Jafari Navimipour, 2019). It offers a remotely accessible environment for sharing and accessing various computing resources such as remote servers, storage spaces and network service applications with high reliability, dynamicity and scalability (Ebadi and Jafari Navimipour, 2019; Park and Ryoo, 2013). In general, cloud computing offers four service types, namely Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Expert as a Service (EaaS) on a rental basis (Asghari and Navimipour, 2018). Cloud computing offers organizations and users convenient access to powerful computing through the network at minimal cost (Marston et al., 2011; Sheikholeslami and Navimipour, 2017). The proper deployment of cloud computing adds value in both strategic (e.g. increasing annual revenue) and operational (e.g. minimizing operational cost) levels of an organization (Carcary et al., 2014). Cloud computing can help converge information technology (IT) efficiency and business agility of firms (Oliveira et al., 2014). The means of achieving IT efficiency include utilizing scalable IT resources (Marston et al., 2011), improving efficiency in work (Low et al., 2011) and ensuring high availability of services (Armbrust et al., 2010). On the other hand, the business agility associated with cloud computing includes the capacity of deploying mass computing technology quickly, minimizing capital cost directly and responding rapidly to market changes (Oliveira et al., 2014). Therefore, cloud computing has been widely adopted among firms that desire to deploy IT resources which can be purchased as a service.Realizing the potentials of cloud technology, information systems (IS) scholars have started to explore the adoption and usage behavior of cloud computing by applying various models/theories such as the technology acceptance model (TAM), innovation diffusion theory (IDT), the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model (Alkhater et al., 2018; Low et al., 2011; Oliveira et al., 2014). It has been argued that these theories are valuable to understand preliminary adoption of an IS, but may not be effective for examining the post-adoption success of an IS (Hasan et al., 2019; Veeramootoo et al., 2018). For example, Garrison et al. (2012) argued that initial adoption and successful deployment of cloud computing are two theoretically distinct concepts and are affected by diverse sets of determinants. Garrison et al. (2015) measured the impact of IT capability on firm performance according to different cloud delivery models. However, that study can be criticized for not using a comprehensive model. Those authors only examined the internal IT capability dimension, failing to consider other factors which could impact on the success of cloud implementation. The successful implementation and deployment of any information system depends on the quality of the system, organizational IT capability and positive feedback from end-users. Moreover, despite confirmation of the positive relationship between IS success and firm performance in the existing literature, assessments of the effects of cloud computing success on performance are lacking (Nagpal and Lyytinen, 2010). Thus, it is a worthy agenda for contemporary research to investigate the critical factors affecting the successful implementation of cloud computing.Therefore, this study attempts to bridge the gap in the literature by proposing an integrated model that combines factors from technology quality (IS success model), IT capabilities (resource-based theory) and user experience (expectation-confirmation model). This study aims to answer the following research questions:RQ1. What are the determinants of cloud computing success?RQ2. What is the impact of cloud computing success on firm performance?RQ3. What are the most critical factors that need special managerial attention to improve their performance?To test the research model, data were collected from 300 Chinese firms which have adopted cloud services. The first two questions were examined with the use of structural equation modeling (SEM), and the third question was assessed by using importance-performance map analysis (IPMA). The research findings will assist managers and practitioners in developing or adjusting their strategies pursuant of optimizing the implementation and deployment of cloud computing.\n2. Theoretical foundations: 2.1 IT capabilities and resource-based view (RBV)\n3. Hypotheses development: 3.1 Confirmation (CON)\n4. Research methodology: 4.1 Measurement instrument development\n5. Results: 5.1 Measurement model\n6. Discussion: This study attempts to examine the predictors of cloud computing success from three perspectives (i.e. users, technology and IT capability) and to assess the impact of cloud computing success on firm performance.From the user perspective, a significant relationship between user satisfaction and cloud computing success was revealed. This implies that if users are satisfied with the experience involved with cloud services, there is a high possibility of achieving efficiency gains from cloud computing. Moreover, this study confirmed that users' satisfaction is significantly influenced by confirmation, information quality, system quality and service quality. The degree to which users' primary expectations are confirmed determines their satisfaction level when using cloud computing. Further, users always prefer systems that have a wide variety of functionalities which meet their requirements, whilst at the same time, requiring less effort to learn and operate the systems. Therefore, the quality attributes of cloud computing (information quality, system quality and service quality) are important to users. This study also confirmed the mediation effect of satisfaction on the relationships between confirmation, information quality, system quality and service quality with cloud computing success.From a technology perspective, this study validated information quality and system quality as two important predictors of cloud computing success, while service quality was revealed to be an insignificant predictor. This finding is consistent with (Wei et al., 2017; Zheng et al., 2013). This implies that firms are very concerned about the quality (i.e. accuracy, relevance, reliability and fitness for use) of information that is captured and processed by cloud computing applications. The level of cloud computing success depends on the different facets of system quality, i.e. longevity, reliability, interactivity, user-friendliness and convenience to use. However, the indirect effect of service quality on cloud computing implies that firms are focusing more on information quality and system quality rather than service quality.From an IT capability perspective, in line with the findings of Garrison et al. (2015), this study revealed that both technical IT capability and managerial IT capability have significant impacts on cloud computing success. The more an organization has technical-based capabilities (i.e. internal IT infrastructure, computers, network equipment, high-speed Internet, technical knowledge and problem-solving ability), the more the organization can integrate new technologies with existing infrastructure. The faster the organization can integrate the cloud with existing business processes, the faster the organization can reap the benefits of success such as reducing IT expenses, increasing IT capacity and freeing resources for strategic purposes (Garrison et al., 2015). Similarly, capable IT managers can understand the potentials of new technologies and leverage them effectively and efficiently in the alignment of organizational goals (Bharadwaj, 2000; Garrison et al., 2015). Additionally, managerial IT capability can foresee the potentials of emerging technologies which can be utilized to improve business performance.The results of this study suggest that there is a strong and positive impact of cloud computing success on firm performance. This implies that if a firm is successful in implementing and deploying cloud services, there is a high possibility of that firm enhancing its performance for cloud supported operations and processes. This finding is not surprising because firms migrate to the cloud to save money and improve performance (Garrison et al., 2015). The successful implementation of cloud computing offers firms access to state-of art-IT resources, therefore enabling enterprises to utilize crucial resources effectively and concentrate on core business operations.Finally, this study provides fruitful insights about the critical factors that are relatively important but under-performing compared to other factors in explaining cloud computing success and firm performance. Based on the results of IPMA, it is evident that system quality, information quality, technical IT capability and user satisfaction are the most critical factors as they have higher importance scores with lower performance scores. Tailored managerial actions must be taken to improve the performance of these constructs, not least in terms of instituting changes in resource allocation. 6.1 Theoretical implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to investigate the determinants of successful implementation of cloud computing and, further, examines how cloud computing success influences firm performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors developed a conceptual framework based on the integration of several strands of literature in business studies and information systems. To test the proposed model, data were collected from 300 Chinese firms which have adopted cloud computing. To analyze the data, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used. An importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) was also conducted to identify the critical factors that exhibit high importance but low performance.\nFindings: The results of the study revealed that end-user satisfaction, information quality, system quality, managerial information technology (IT) capability and technical IT capability significantly affect cloud computing success. Additionally, cloud computing success has a strong and positive impact on firm performance. IPMA further confirms that managers need to concentrate more on system quality, information quality, user satisfaction and technical IT capability.\nOriginality/value: This paper is one of the few attempts to integrate several theoretical frameworks (i.e. IT capabilities and resource-based view, expectation-confirmation theory, and information system success theory) to develop a comprehensive model for understanding the key determinants of cloud computing success and its impact on firm performance. This study makes a useful contribution to the conventional information systems (IS) literature and IT management practice.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Using BIM capabilities to improve existing building energy modelling practices
|
[
"Design and development",
"Stakeholders",
"Information exchange",
"Building energy modelling",
"Building information modelling",
"Level of development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The design of a building is a major determinant in its operational energy performance, with decisions made at this stage contributing to the energy consumed during use (Bordass et al., 2004). Widespread adoption of building information modelling (BIM) to support design provides a platform on which improvement of this performance could be made (Krygiel and Nies, 2008). Through creating a shared knowledge resource for descriptive information, forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life-cycle (BIM Task Group, 2011), BIM could provide the means to transfer information more effectively than the multiple formats and channels previously employed (Chen and Luo, 2014; Redmond et al., 2012; Titus and Brochner, 2004).\n2. Background: The construction industry is known to be comprised of silos of contributing designers with periodic coordination and information sharing (Gelder, 2012; Merschbrock, 2012). These dis-integrated silos have resulted in the separate development of discipline specific modelling tools for specific design purposes. For example, Autodesk Revit for creation of architectural layouts and drawings, IES-VE for creation of energy performance simulations, and numerous other tools dedicated to one particular aspect of a building's design or eventual operation. Transfer of information between these tools relies on the ability of each tool interpret the others output, utilise this data and record this in an interpretable format.\n3. Methodology: This paper proposes that BIM may be a repository for information storage and accuracy checking during design, to produce an as-built building model, used for BEM interim to the implementation of open exchange formats. The above reasons form the basis for the creation of a procedure followed to enable accurate information storage and transfer between a BIM environment and BEM, using conventional means supported by a defined extent of data being shared.\n4. Development and application of a BIM supported BEM procedure: To assess the barriers encountered in attempting to embed BEM information in a BIM environment, key issues (categorised as (skill) (System) or (Process)) are linked to points for discussion in the \"Discussion\" section of this paper.\n5. Discussion: The application of the framework for information storage, sharing and access was intended to test whether BIM could be used to improve information accessibility for BEM. The process of determining a building's theoretical performance using pre-construction information was defined and modified to include its generation within a BIM environment. In the following discussion, the issues encountered during application of this framework, and challenges to be overcome in reaching a more integrated BIM and BEM design process are presented.\n6. Conclusions: In this study we presented a process map for exchanging information between building designers and BEM practitioners highlighting the extents of information required at key stages throughout the construction design process. The process of design of a buildings energy performance, and its design using BIM as the method of information storage throughout was followed, identifying the current barriers to integration of these two modelling platforms.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the implications building information modelling (BIM) is having on the building energy modelling (BEM) and design of buildings. It addresses the issues surrounding exchange of information throughout the design process, and where BIM may be useful in contributing to effective design progression and information availability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Through review of current design procedures and examination of the concurrency between architectural and thermophysical design modelling, a procedure for information generation relevant to design stakeholders is created, and applied to a high-performance building project currently under development.\nFindings: The extents of information key to the successful design of a buildings energy performance in relation to its architectural objectives are given, with indication of the level of development required at each stage of the design process.\nPractical implications: BIM offers an extensible medium for parametric information storage, and its implementation in design development offers the capability to include BEM parameter-integrated construction information. The extent of information required for accurate BEM at stages of a building's design is key to understanding how best to record performance information in a BIM environment.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to the discussion around the integration of concurrent design procedures and a common data environment. It presents a framework for the creation and dissemination of information during design, exemplifies this on a real building project and evaluates the barriers experienced in successful implementation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Customer loyalty: exploring its antecedents from a green marketing perspective
|
[
"Sustainability",
"Customer loyalty",
"Customer satisfaction",
"Green marketing",
"Hospitality",
"Green loyalty",
"Green overall image",
"Hierarchy of effects model",
"Green satisfaction",
"Green trust"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Given the environmental problems that plague the world (e.g. global warming, environmental degradation, habitat destruction, air and water pollution and resources depletion), customers are considering green options to integrate in their behavior that can do good to the planet (Hsieh, 2012; Jones et al., 2014). The consequence of this attitude is that an increasing number of organizations are admitting their environmental responsibility (Chan, 2013a). To respond to these environmental demands, companies should develop new corporate strategies that can guarantee fulfillment with these green alternatives, such as green marketing (Chen, 2010; Kang and Hur, 2012). According to Chan (2013a), green marketing has become one of the most relevant concepts. By developing green marketing strategies, companies can develop and make possible any exchange to please environmental requirements of customers (Polonsky, 1994). As Bonilla-Priego et al. (2011, p. 361) state: \"this change in environmental behavior is of particular interest because it could lead to potentially major changes throughout the hotel industry\".\nLiterature review and hypotheses: Green marketing\nConceptual background: The hierarchy of effects model\nGreen overall image and its influence on green satisfaction and green trust: Green overall image\nMethodology: Sample and data collection\nDiscussion and implications: Theoretical and managerial implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to propose a hierarchy of effects model to study three antecedents of green loyalty: green trust, green satisfaction and green overall image, and to examine the relationships between these variables. At present, environmental issues attract the attention of academics and professionals around the world. In the hospitality industry, this interest is even greater because of the considerable quantities of water and energy consumed by hotel companies and because of the environmental degradation that this industry can cause with unmanaged growth and development. For this reason, several authors have proposed incorporating the green loyalty construct as a key variable in tourism theory and practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To test the proposed model empirically, personal surveys of hotel customers were conducted in Spain using a structured questionnaire. A structural equations model was developed to test the research hypothesis.\nFindings: The findings show that green overall image has positive direct effects on green trust, green satisfaction and green loyalty. At the same time, they reveal that both green trust and green satisfaction have positive effects on green loyalty. In addition, green trust has a positive influence on green satisfaction.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research deals with the relationship between the variables of interest, without considering other antecedents and consequences. Thus, there is still a need to explore other mediating variables (e.g. willingness to pay more to stay in a green room, or commitment regarding environmental issues), as the explanatory power of this model could still be improved. In addition, given the role of green trust and green satisfaction as mediating variables of green overall image and green loyalty, this study recognizes the need for in-depth research into the enhancement of green trust and green satisfaction.\nPractical implications: From a practical point of view, hoteliers and marketers working for a green hotel should develop a positive green overall image and enhance customers' perceptions of green trust and green satisfaction. In particular, they should emphasize the importance of environmental issues to customers by promoting green campaigns. At the same time, hoteliers in a green context should create effective strategies to improve their hotel's image.\nOriginality/value: Although existing research has investigated relevant aspects of customer trust, satisfaction, overall image and loyalty, these issues have not been discussed from a green marketing perspective. Apart from that, the main contribution of this paper is its exploration of the influence of green trust, green satisfaction and green overall image on green loyalty in a hospitality setting, following the framework of the hierarchy of effects model. By complementing previous studies on customer loyalty in the environmental context and exploring the relationships among these constructs, this study offers an assessment of how green marketing strategies in the hospitality industry increase green loyalty.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The outcome of online social interactions on Facebook pages: A study of user engagement behavior
|
[
"Facebook",
"User engagement",
"Social media marketing",
"Online brand community",
"Electronic word-of-mouth",
"Online social interactions"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Social media is an inevitable part of people's daily life. Social media propounded another way of interaction between people, and also a new form of interaction between people (or particularly customers) and firms. Over the recent years, many firms started using social media as a means of interaction with their customers. Interestingly, in some social media platforms like Facebook, there is an opportunity for companies to establish their online community. A social media brand community (SMBC) is a specific type of online brand communities that helps firms to achieve better customer loyalty and a better relationship with customers (Habibi et al., 2014; Laroche et al., 2013). Meanwhile, understanding consumers' participation in the SMBC-related activities is essential for firms as customers can easily share their thoughts and experiences about the firm with other customers (Heinonen, 2011). Participation in activities related to SMBCs opens doors into social interactions between customers or users in general. The most popular kind of online social interaction is word-of-mouth (WOM) communication that has been underlined in the literature as it can be either fruitful or harmful for the firms (see e.g. Goes et al., 2014; Luo and Zhang, 2013; Ray et al., 2014). However, there are other kinds of social interactions on SMBCs that need to be investigated to understand the antecedents and consequences of such social interactions better.\n2. Literature review: The virtual or online brand communities have been studied by scholars and practitioners of information systems and marketing over the past decade. SMBCs, however, are a more recent focused area of research. Although an SMBC is a sort of virtual brand community, there are several important differences between them (see Habibi et al., 2014). Thus, we exclusively focus on SMBCs in this study. Online social interactions on SMBCs can be among firms and users (through either firm-generated content (FGC) or UGC) or between users (through UGC). We can classify the research in the context of SMBCs and online social interactions into two major directions. First, studies that focused on the way online social interactions on SMBCs might influence business performance. Second, studies that focused on the idea that online social interactions on SMBCs might affect participation in SMBCs and community-related activities. The latter is the focus of this research; however, a review of studies related to both directions is presented in the following.\n3. Theoretical foundation and hypotheses: Based on information asymmetry, two different parties (sellers and buyers) can access to varying levels of information. Information asymmetry is evident in the current status of online marketing (Tsao et al., 2011). For instance, information asymmetry happens when the seller provides minimal information about products on an online shopping website. In e-business, buyers usually confront information asymmetry because it is not possible to physically evaluate product quality or easily judge the trustworthiness of seller (Mavlanova et al., 2012). In such circumstances, website signals are an excellent source of information to help consumers judge the quality of product or seller. Tsao et al. (2011) refer to signals as pieces of information that customers can use when there is no access to perfect information about the quality of offerings.\n4. Research methodology: 4.1 Data description and measurements\n5. Results: 5.1 Main analysis and results\n6. Discussion and conclusions: 6.1 Key findings\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of different ways of message framing on users' engagement behavior regarding the brand posts on Facebook and to determine whether users' thumbs-up and reply moderate this impact.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A panel data analysis was conducted on a panel with 11,894 observations on 850 unique brand posts from the Facebook pages of the world's most valuable brands over a seven days window with two observations each day. A system of equations was estimated using ordinary least squares, Hausman-Taylor IV and seemingly unrelated regressions to test study's hypotheses.\nFindings: The empirical findings confirm that more positively and negatively framed comments result in increased users' engagement. Also, an increase in thumbs-up ratio for neutrally and negatively framed comments results in less engagement. The reply ratio might also have a positive and negative moderation effect on the influence of neutrally and positively framed comments on engagement behavior, respectively.\nPractical implications: This study provides an in-depth understanding of online social interactions on Facebook pages for firms' managers and marketers. Online social interactions might be either harmful or fruitful for firms depending on the type of interaction and engagement behavior. Findings can help managers and marketer to improve their strategies for leveraging Facebook for electronic marketing.\nOriginality/value: This is likely to be the first study that examines the moderating effect of users' thumbs-up and reply on the relationship between message framing and users' engagement behavior. By providing robust findings by addressing issues like omitted variables and endogeneity, the findings of this study are promising for developing new hypotheses and theoretical models in the context of online social interactions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Intensifying online loyalty! The power of website quality and the perceived value of consumer/seller relationship
|
[
"PLS path modeling",
"Perceived value",
"Online shopping experience",
"Website quality",
"ADANCO"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Compared with conventional physical retail channels, e-tailing enables consumers to shop and place orders with just a few clicks of the mouse, and pay via credit card or cash. The goods are delivered without time or geographical restraints and all of this can be accomplished without pressure from sales staff. Online shopping also reduces prices, saves time, and eliminates many of the physical difficulties involved in traditional shopping. These are all compelling reasons enhancing the willingness of consumers to shop online (Prindle, 2012; Hsieh and Tsao, 2013). One survey report indicated that online retail sales around the world increased by 22.2 percent between 2013 and 2014, exceeding 1.3 trillion USD. Further growth of 20.9 percent was also predicted for 2015 (eMarkete, 2014). The brand value of representative online retailer Amazon.com showed a 24 percent increase from 2014 to 2015, reaching 56.124 billion USD and enabling Amazon.com to surpass Walmart and rank seventh among the top ten brands in the world (Brand Finance, 2015). This demonstrates the increasing importance and development potential of the e-tailing industry in the future.\n2. Literature review and hypotheses development: 2.1 Website quality\n3. Methods: 3.1 Development of measures\n4. Analysis and results: Partial least squares (PLS) is a widely accepted variance-based, descriptive, and prediction-oriented approach to SEM (Hair et al., 2011, 2012; Ziggers and Henseler, 2016). The advantage of this approach is that the population distribution is not subject to restrictions, so both exploratory and confirmatory research can be conducted (Chin et al., 2003; Lohmoller, 1989).\n5. Discussion and conclusions: 5.1 Research findings\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Stimulated by trends in group purchasing and online social communities, consumers are changing their shopping behavior and increasingly turning to websites for their shopping needs. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how website quality influences shopping websites to create value for the customer and promote loyalty among customers, as well as moderating effects of online shopping experience.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study collected data from 275 respondents for testing against the proposed research model by means of the partial least squares (PLS) path modeling. ADANCO software was used to assess the reliability and validity of the measurement model, conduct an analysis of the goodness of model fit for the overall model, and test the hypotheses through structural modeling.\nFindings: Empirical results demonstrate that system quality and electronic service quality (e-service quality) have a significant positive effect on the perceived value of consumer/seller relationship; the perceived value of the consumer/seller relationship has a significant positive effect on online loyalty; online shopping experience does not exert a moderating effect on the relationship between website quality and the perceived value of consumer/seller relationship.\nOriginality/value: This study applied the PLS path modeling approach using ADANCO variance-based structural equation modeling software to verify that website quality plays an important role in distinguishing a brand from other brands in e-tailing, making it an essential factor of a shopping website's business success. This study further verified that the amount of previous online shopping experience a consumer has does not interfere with the positive influence that website quality exerts on the perceived value of the consumer/seller relationship. The above indicates that it is imperative for website managers to adopt online shopping experience of consumers as a market segmentation variable so as to enhance website quality, increase the perceived value of consumer-seller relationships, and win consumer loyalty.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Addressing gender segregation in apprenticeships in England
|
[
"Gender",
"Apprenticeships",
"Equal opportunities",
"United Kingdom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Despite the existence of equal opportunities legislation in the UK for 30 years, some occupational sectors remain persistently segregated: in construction, plumbing and engineering, and to a slightly lesser extent in information communications technology (ICT), the majority of the workforce is male, while in childcare, women account for the overwhelming majority of employees. These employment patterns are largely replicated in patterns of entry to apprenticeships in these sectors, leading to the conclusion that there is likely to be little change in workforce composition unless some strategic action is taken.For this reason, in 2003 the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) for the UK launched a General Formal Investigation (GFI)[1] into gender segregation in these five sectors. This article reports the outcome of research into gender segregation in Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) commissioned by the EOC in England as part of the GFI.Occupational gender segregation\nFindings: The survey\nCase studies: Interviews were conducted with representatives of LLSCs, learning providers, Connexions offices, employers, apprentices and education-business partnerships in five regions. In addition, representatives of the five SSCs were also interviewed.Finding out about apprenticeships\nDiscussion: The research revealed that, some five years on from the QPID and LGNTO/DfEE research, there is no coherent strategy to address gender segregation in apprenticeships. Actions and priorities vary from region to region. While in principle this allows local flexibility to respond to local needs, in reality it often means a lack of coherence in taking forward national policies such as the requirement to address gender segregation in apprenticeships.The LSC has responsibility for monitoring the actions of its funded organisations, and is able to use inspection and funding as ways to encourage the types of actions it requires. However, learning providers are limited in the extent to which they are able directly to influence the numbers of young women and men joining these programmes because of the requirement that apprentices first be employed. Providers are able to take actions to increase the interest of atypical groups, they can seek to persuade employers of the suitability of a particular applicant for an apprenticeship, and they can encourage the employer to adhere to equal opportunity principles. What they have very limited scope to do is to directly influence the numbers of young women and men recruited to apprenticeships. In this respect, employers are key to success of the apprenticeship programme and attempts to improve representation of minority groups.Access to advice and guidance is assuming an increasingly high profile in UK government policy, and the research revealed great variation in the attitudes towards gender equality amongst the key advisory group working with young people. On the one hand there were examples of advisors seeking to ensure that young people were made aware of all their options, including opportunities in occupational areas they had not considered, and the research also showed that Connexions advisors would try to persuade employers to at least consider an atypical applicant. On the other hand, though, there were individuals who did not believe it was appropriate to encourage young people to consider anything other than their existing choice of traditional route (even though this may have been made in the absence of any information about alternative options). The belief that many young people make career decisions without adequate recourse to information was supported by workers across the majority of the groups interviewed, who testified both to the difficulty in providing information on vocational options to young people in schools, and of gaining information for them. This point was also made by the apprentices themselves, whose comments spoke of the difficulty of obtaining information on vocational options and apprenticeships. Further research to identify the routes by which young people obtain information on vocational options and the utility of current information sources would be valuable, as would an assessment of the extent to which current training and continuing professional development programmes for those involved in careers advice focus on the issue of addressing gender stereotyping and segregation.Providers, SSCs and LLSCs were attempting to improve the quality and quality of information on vocational options that were available for young people. At present there are few incentives within the system to assist them in this work, nor to encourage providers and employers to take on more atypical apprentices, and little evidence at present that government policy will change on this point in the near future. However, if skills shortages are to be resolved then these issues will surely need to be addressed at some point.The Employer Training Pilot (ETP) is a government initiative introduced in England in 2002, that tests ways of encouraging employers to train those employees who have low skill levels. The ETP scheme includes government-subsidised training and, in some cases, wage compensation. Introduction of the ETP approach suggests that, where severe skills shortages are recognised then the government is prepared to consider funding-led solutions. It is to be hoped that the EOC's continuing efforts to publicise the link between occupational gender segregation and skill shortages might encourage another, similar, decision soon by the Government to encourage a more diverse group of young people to consider apprenticeships.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to report findings from a UK study funded by the Equal Opportunities Commission to explore gender segregation in apprenticeships in five strongly segregated sectors: construction, plumbing, engineering, information technology (all strongly male-dominated), and child care (female-dominated). The aim of the research was to consider the nature of the barriers preventing young people moving into apprenticeships in these areas of work and to investigate the actions that have been taken by local Learning and Skills Councils to address gender segregation in apprenticeships.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research consisted of a survey of Local Learning and Skill Councils (the bodies that fund all post-16 learning provision outside higher education in the UK), case study interviews in five geographical regions selected as examples of good practice, and interviews with representatives of Sector Skill Councils.\nFindings: - This paper reports some of the barriers encountered by organisations involved in encouraging young people to enter vocational training and by apprentices themselves, and the actions that organisations have taken to try to encourage more diverse groups of young people to consider apprenticeships in these sectors.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is of importance to those wishing to encourage young people to enter into vocational training.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Quality management and health: a double connection
|
[
"Quality management",
"Health services",
"Leadership",
"Society"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction and purpose: Quality management is well established in the industrial manufacturing sector. More recently, interest has started to grow in the service sector and notably in the area of health care (Brown et al. 1994). Several health care organisations have started to implement quality management in order to improve their operations. The effects of quality management in health care organisations are relatively well studied. Several articles report positive effects of using quality management in health care organisations (e.g. Arcelay et al., 1999; Yasin and Alavi, 1999). For instance, Ennis and Harrington (1999) have found the effects of more cost-effective and efficient hospitals. In addition, Newman and Maylor (2002) have found that the ability of nurses to give quality care is vital for their job satisfaction. Martin (1993) suggests that management commitment is a necessary base for succeeding in implementing and working with TQM in organisations in the human service area. Even more technically advanced forms of quality management such as Six Sigma has been shown to be useful in health care (Sehwail and DeYong, 2003). However, Wagar and Rondeau (1998) have found that merely having a TQM programme is not sufficient for improving performance but a high overall commitment from management is also necessary. In a longitudinal case-control study by Kivimaki et al. (1997) the economic benefits of the TQM implementation were clearly indicated, but they did not find any significant change regarding well-being or work-related attitudes among staff. Perceptions of improvement work in Swedish health care are also studied by Book et al. (2003).In a separate development, some researchers have very recently begun to study the effects that quality management has on the health of the employees in all kinds of organisations (Lagrosen, 2003). It is reasonable to conceive that quality management could have beneficial effects on employee health by bringing in more humane and effective practices and thus improving the working conditions. The relation between quality management and employee health is, however, much more sparsely researched. There are studies that have implications for this field in that general variables that influence health have been identified. For instance, McHugh (2001) has found that holistic approaches towards the management of attendance foster more healthy work organisations. Shain (1999) claims that high control, high reward conditions, employee assistance and health promotion programmes are crucial for creating healthy workplaces. Warrack and Sinha (1999) argue that the basic elements of building a healthier and safer workplace environment are congruent with the criteria important to achieve excellence in quality and productivity. Also Dolbier et al. (2001), Hemingway and Smith (1999) and Siu (2002) discuss relations between quality development and health of employees. Results of a longitudinal research project carried out by Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard Park (2003a, b) indicate clear relationships between a company-wide implementation of quality programmes and employee health in terms of improved employee satisfaction, low employee turn over and absenteeism along with improved customer satisfaction and financial results. As for the health effects of quality management in hospitals, Hancock (1999) argues that in order to promote health in society, hospitals need to be healthy work places in themselves. However, very little research has been carried out into if and how quality management can contribute to this, which accentuates the need for studies in this area.Bringing these two strands together raises interesting questions regarding the greater role of quality management in society. The societal value of quality management has been proposed by some of the most influential authors in the area (e.g. 2000; Deming, 1986; Ishikawa, 1985). For instance, Ishikawa proposes that the increasing quality of companies' products will lead to increasing profits, which he hopes will be shared with society in general. In this way, he imagines that they can improve the quality of life for the Japanese people and the people of the world and even contribute to world peace. However, this is scarcely conceptualised in research.The purpose of this paper is to examine and discuss the effects of quality management in health care and the general effects of quality management on the health of employees. Two research questions are included in this:1. What are the effects of quality management in health care organisations?2. How does quality management influence employee health (in all organisations regardless of sector)?Bringing these two aspects together could provide interesting synergies and shed increased light on the greater role of quality management in society. Quality management could possible serve as a tool for improving the general effectiveness of the health care sector at the same time as it prevents health problems from arising in the first place. Examining both these potential effects concurrently might also elucidate more profound aspects of connections between quality management and health.The empirical basis of the paper consists of three case studies. In the first study the effects of quality management in a maternity clinic were studied. In the second study, the effects of quality management practices on the health of the employees in a manufacturing company were examined. The third study brought the perspectives together in that the effects of quality management on the health of the employees in the casualty department of a major hospital were investigated.\nResearch methodology: Since we wanted to identify potential effects of quality management in the health care sector and possible effects of quality management on health, we needed to study organisations that have implemented quality management programmes successfully. Many attempts of putting quality management into practice fail (see for instance Noronha and Dahlgaard Park, 2003) and in such cases, it is not reasonable to expect any of the above effects. Thus, we needed examples of complete implementation. For this reason, we choose to study organisations that have been recognised by receiving quality awards.The first study was carried out at the maternity clinic of a hospital in Motala, Sweden. This is a fairly small hospital with 1455 staff including 117 doctors. They have tried to implement TQM since 1994 using the model for the Swedish Quality Award for the health sector. In 1997 the maternity clinic received this award. The maternity clinic offers pregnancy supervision, delivery and maternity care as well as treatment of gynaecological disease and prevention. The clinic has adopted a process-oriented approach to their organisation, focused on the patients. The basis is a concept that they call the care chain which includes all activities seen from the patients' perspective. They have also tried to empower all the personnel by delegating authority and responsibilities. Combined with education and information aimed at developing cost awareness and knowledge of all general processes of the clinic, this is believed to have increased the level of commitment and participation. They make intensive efforts to follow up and measure the effects of their operations and how they are seen by the patients and personnel. For this purpose, they use questionnaires and focus group interviews for the patients and questionnaires and personal interviews for the staff.The object for the second study was Fresh AB, an industrial manufacturing company in Gemla, Sweden. Founded in 1969, the company is currently the national market leader in the field of indoor climate. The company employs approximately 50 people who are organised into seven self-managed teams. Additionally, there are 11 cross-functional development groups. Their TQM journey commenced in 1994 when a new manager, who was experienced in quality management, was appointed. They formulated a vision and new goals. They also started to adopt the values of the Swedish Quality Award and the team-organisation was set up. In 1995 the company was certified according to ISO 9000. The same year the development groups were created and a set of three common values (ethics and moral, high customer service and create understanding) was formed. They gradually started to work with the seven management tools. In 1999, the company also received ISO 14000 certification.The manager has constantly focused on the human resources. The well-being and self-realisation of the staff are considered to be the most important issues, even more important than the financial goals. Nevertheless, they have also had an excellent financial development. Their quality improvement activities have been recognised in that they won the insurance company Alecta's award for work-environment issues in 2001. In 2003, they received the honorary title \"Best working-place\" from Sweden's leading business paper.Working with quality management, Fresh AB has managed to achieve substantial profitability as well as high well being of the employees. They have increased their turnover with 22 per cent on average per year since 1995. The average number of days of absence due to illness was 15 days per person the year of 2002, compared to the Swedish average of 21 days per person.The third study took place at the Clinic of Emergency and Accidents at South Stockholm General Hospital (denoted SOS Emergency). The clinic's 397 full time staff provide emergency medical care. The clinic has a flat organisation consisting of one management group and four groups that are each led by a nurse. All the employees take part in cross-functional development groups. They have the possibility to participate in planning their own work schedule in which the different shifts are rated according to their intensity.In 1994, following an organisational unrest among the nurses, an organisational consultant was appointed. The following year, a new organisation was formed with new management that was elected by the staff as well as a new health manager and new facilities. The development groups were created in 1996 and in 1997 a new work-time model involving everyone's participation was installed. In 2001, the clinic's manager was awarded \"Manager of the year\" by the magazine Chef (manager) on the proposal of the staff.Through their quality work the clinic of emergency and accidents have achieved sustainable health among their employees, increased their economic result and reached a better health care. They have for example reduced the number of employees who have been sick absent for more than a year, from 11 to 2 persons. The average days of sick absence per person in Sweden was 21 days in the year 2002 while the average per person at study 3 was 16 days. Results from patient inquiries indicate a general satisfaction from patients and relatives with the health care that the clinic offers.The selection of the organisations was based on their recognized status as successful organisations and their successful implementation of quality programmes. The case organisation of the first study has received the Swedish Quality Award for the health sector and the two other organisations received the Alecta award in 2001 in their respective size. In Sweden, the Alecta (an insurance company for occupational pensions) national award covers leadership, profitability as well as environmental issues.The embedded multiple case study (Yin, 1989), that comprises the three studies, have all been based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. In each case a qualitative part has provided a basis consisting of a relatively small number of interviews but with a considerable depth. They have prepared the ground for questionnaires of high relevance that have been delivered to all employees of the organisations. In summary, the empirical foundation is the following:* Study 1. One in-depth interview with the clinic manager, two focus group interviews (one with eight doctors and the other with ten nurses) and a survey with 45 respondents (response rate of 100 per cent).* Study 2. Three in-depth interviews (with the chairman of the board, the manager and one employee who had participated in the award application), one focus group interview (with eight employees of which five are members of the health development group and three of the safety control development group) and a survey with 42 respondents (response rate of 80 per cent).* Study 3. Three tree diagram workshops (one with the manager and two with four nurses in each) and a survey with 102 respondents (response rate of 57 per cent).The qualitative in-depth and focus group interviews were of a conversational character. Efforts were taken to let the respondents speak freely from their hearts. The interviewers merely introduced the desired themes that related to their quality management activities, their effects, the reasons for the effects and the health of the employees. The empirical data from the qualitative parts were analysed with methods inspired by the constant comparison technique from the grounded theory approach (Glaser, 1992; Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Strauss and Corbin, 1990). The data from the quantitative parts were analysed with multivariate techniques including factor analysis and Pearson correlation (Hair et al., 1998).In study 3 an additional method with an explorative, qualitative approach, was chosen. The data collection in this case consisted of brainstorming structured in tree diagrams (Mizuno, 1988). First, tree diagrams for the employees were completed. Then, an interview with the department manager concluded the data collection. A separate tree diagram was constructed with the manager, in the same way as with the employees, to have as a complement and for comparison with the employees' tree diagram.The connection between the two research questions and the three studies is clarified in Figure 1.\nFindings: Study 1\nConclusions: The studies have indicated that quality management can have a double effect regarding health. By improving the job situation its usage can contribute to better health among the employees and prevent disease. By increasing the effectiveness of health care organisations it can also play a role in the treatment of disease.Furthermore, the studies have pointed to the commitment of managers as the most central of the common factors for achieving a healthy work place as well as creating efficient organisations. This is in accordance with the findings of, for instance, Hackman and Wageman (1995), who also explored this topic in their framework about TQM theory and practices. Additionally, the factors of continuous improvements, participation of everybody, information and customer orientation were found to be, in certain instances related to employee health status and/or successful quality management implementation. These results could serve as a basis for how companies can improve the health of their employees through changes in the organisation and letting these values permeate the organisation's culture. Furthermore, the tools and techniques of quality management are obviously also needed in order to make the values part of the daily activities.The studies have emphasised the value of leadership commitment both for the health of the employees and for the general successfulness of quality management initiatives. Therefore, the main focus for managers should be to uphold their own commitment and top management should inspire managers on all levels to make commitment to quality their first priority. In doing this, one of the main aspects is probably that managers act as good role models and adopt a healthy and positive lifestyle themselves. Since participation also seems to be important managers should ensure that the employees are empowered and that they have the possibility to influence their own work situation as well as the wider issues of the organisation. Continuous improvements should also be promoted.One limitation of this study is that it has only identified these rather wide factors. In order to understand the connections more completely and to employ the factors in practice it is vital to know their mechanisms more completely. In further research, it should thus be valuable to probe deeper into these factors. For instance, this study has indicated the importance of leadership commitment. Elaborating this concept in order to see what aspects of commitment from the leaders that are most important and the mechanics of their influence should be particularly valuable.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine and discuss the effects of quality management in the health care sector and the general effects of quality management on the health of the employees.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The empirical basis consists of three case studies in one industrial manufacturing company and two hospitals. The empirical data have been gathered with both qualitative and quantitative methods.\nFindings: - The twofold value of quality management, of preventing disease by supporting more rewarding working conditions as well as improving the treatment of disease by increasing the effectiveness of health care organisations is indicated. Leadership commitment was found to be the most crucial common prerequisite for successful quality management implementation and for creating a healthy work environment. In addition, continuous improvements and participation of everybody were found to have importance for well functioning quality management as well as for health.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper provides additional understanding of the influence of quality management on health and a model is presented. A limitation is that the factors studied are fairly broad and for further research it will be useful to go deeper into the mechanics of them.\nPractical implications: - The three factors, leadership commitment, participation of everybody, and continuous improvements, have been shown to be vital contributors for health and managers should make every effort to implement them.\nOriginality/value: - The double effect of quality management on health has not been studied before and knowledge of the factors contributing to it is valuable.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Loss reserve variability and loss reserve errors: An empirical analysis of the Ghanaian property and liability insurance industry
|
[
"Variability",
"Loss reserves",
"Random",
"Reserve errors"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Estimates of an insurer's loss reserves are forecasts or predictions mostly inferred from past data on claims arising from policies. Forming a significant component of an insurer's liability, loss reserves explicitly determine the general provision maintained by the insurer towards future claim settlement. Petroni et al. (1998) defined insurance reserves in the case of both life and general businesses, as \"those provisions set up and maintained to cover liabilities towards the insured entities as recorded by the insurer's accounting system\". Reserve liabilities constitute actual amounts owed and for which settlement must be made in future.\nLiterature review: Bates and Atkins (2007) referred to loss reserves as monies put aside for paying claims that are due on written businesses whether or not they have been reported to the insurer. Thus, loss reserves make provisions for both \"open claim reserve\" (claims reported but not yet settled) and \"incurred but not reported\" reserve, which are claims that have occurred, but the insurer has no knowledge about it because it is yet to be reported. Current industry practices reveal that Ghanaian P&L insurers apply both reserving processes with the latter being a rough estimate and mostly inaccurate. This leads to the question of accuracy of reserve estimates and the sources of such variability within the reserve estimate inaccuracies.\nMethodology: All P&L insurance firms selling auto liability and other liability coverage (i.e. fire, burglary and property damage, accident, marine and aviation, motor and general liability, etc.) registered with the Ghana National Insurance Commission (NIC) and operating under government regulation in Ghana served as prime sources of data for the study. The sampled companies are categorized by \"size\" (small, medium and large) on the basis of 2010 premium income by the NIC and by \"type\" (domestic or foreign). Data covering a sampling period between the years 2000-2010 were collected using a three-year loss development window conforming to the proposition from the existing research, indicating that most losses are on average settled within this period.\nResults and discussion: Descriptive statistics on loss reserve errors\nConclusion: The study found that the P&L industry reserve error is averagely 0.41 with SD 0.25. This implies that over the study period, cumulatively, sampled firms within the industry recorded an aggregated average reserving error of 41 per cent. Findings on sampled firms showed that consistently under-reserving is encountered more often as compared to isolated cases of over-reserving, which, for this data, is associated with young firms at the inception of business. The study also found no significant difference between the tendency to either under- or over-reserve considering domestic or foreign insurers. This supports our expectation that Ghanaian insurers engage in similar reserving practices which are monitored by the general regulatory law. However, a test on the variance in reserve error margins of both domestic and foreign insurers indicated that domestic insurers have larger variance as compared to foreign insurers.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the level and variability of Ghanaian property and liability insurer's reserve estimates to examine its sources and ascertain if reserve errors are random or not (i.e. manipulated or not).\nDesign/methodology/approach: It uses information on insurer claim reserve provisions, claims outstanding, claims incurred and claims paid for the period of 2000-2010. Categorizing the sources of variation as endogenous and exogenous, the authors use the panel correlated standard error regression model to determine sources and magnitude of industry reserve error.\nFindings: The study finds that size, age, lag of loss reserve error, inflation rate and real gross domestic product are significant in determining the degree of reserve error variation. Type of ownership (domestic or foreign) is, however, not a significant source of variation. Further, the authors found that industry reserve errors are random (not manipulated) across firms, suggesting that sampled insurers act independently on reserve error decision making and are not influenced by industry trends and competition.\nResearch limitations/implications: The main research study limitation is the difficulty involved in obtaining annual statements from insurance companies in Ghana. Reluctance of companies to make statements available impeded on the smooth flow of the study during data collection.\nPractical implications: Policy-wise, this suggest that regulatory bodies can uniquely set reserve error levels for existing firms with little influence on competition. Further, the Ghanaian insurance regulator does not to focus on the type of ownership (foreign or local) when setting regulatory standards. However, size of the company and age (length of operation) should be considered.\nOriginality/value: This paper is the first empirical study to examine the loss reserve error and loss reserve variability of Ghanaian property and liability insurance companies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Douglas McGregor: theoretician, moral philosopher or behaviorist? An analysis of the interconnections between assumptions, values and behavior
|
[
"Participative management",
"Management history",
"Behaviour"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction and overview: I first encountered Douglas McGregor as the author of an article on leadership that appeared in the classic Newcomb and Hartley (1952) Readings in Social Psychology I was in graduate school at Harvard's Department of Social Relations while McGregor at that time was at MIT helping the newly established Center for Group Dynamics under Kurt Lewin. By the time, I arrived in 1949, Lewin was dead but the graduate students of the center were very much alive and active - Alex Bavelas, Hal Leavitt, Herb Shepard, Warren Bennis, Stan Schacter and many others. Therefore, when in 1956, I received an invitation from McGregor to join the newly formed Sloan School of Management at MIT, I made the fateful decision to abandon traditional academic social psychology and apply myself to the new field of organization studies and management. By then McGregor had his stint as President of Antioch College and was back at MIT helping to create the human side of enterprise in the Sloan School.The school's philosophy was to build management theory around the basic disciplines of maths, economics and psychology with McGregor championing the psychology thrust. So, the first three people he hired were relatively traditional social psychologists - Marvin Shaw, Warren Torgerson and me. The marching orders from the dean and from McGregor were quite clear - see what your basic training in psychology can do for the study and understanding of management and organizations. This bit of history is important because as the school developed more of an applied orientation toward the human problems of organizations it was easy to forget the basic academic foundation that the applied work was based on. As we will see, some of the misunderstanding of McGregor's views is based on the failure to see him above all as a theoretician.In this brief essay, I want to examine the three sides of Douglas McGregor, beginning with the theory that he articulated, then moving to the value system that ran in parallel to the theory, and finishing with an analysis of how his behavior impacted both his theory and value system.McGregor the theoretician\nConclusion: I think it is time to take McGregor's theory seriously and do a great deal more research on managerial assumptions. We have pretty good measures of performance but I am not aware that we have ever put much effort into studying the assumptions underlying managerial behavior. If McGregor is right, we should determine a manager's assumptions before we give him or her a job that requires some level of participation. Instead of running programs on how to be more participative we should test managers' cognitive tendency toward trusting employees, to believing that people are self-motivated and capable of self-control. Our theories are full of propositions about how important \"trust\" is to the effective running of organizations, but we treat trust as something that can be built without considering that for many managers it is a given that employees cannot be trusted. If it turns out that Theory X managers really are less effective, we will realize that well-led organizations are primarily characterized by the absence of the toxic leadership that Theory X people provide. Instead of obsessing about the desired traits of leaders we may begin to pay attention to undesirable assumptions that need to be weeded out.This line of thinking returns us back to the problem of initial selection, a topic that has been largely overwhelmed by the obsession with development and training. McGregor himself never focused much on selection, but if we are to take his message seriously we cannot avoid the implication that good management is at the outset based on a personal cognitive characteristic. Identifying Theory Y people need not be an onerous testing process. Theory X tendencies are immediately visible in game, role-playing and actual interpersonal situations. Selection can be a variant of what Procter & Gamble did for years with all of their college recruits. Everyone had to start as a foreman of a real work crew and only those who survived and thrived on the experience were promoted into management development programs.As a final thought, I want to speculate on why McGregor did not enjoy his own experience as a leader when he took on the presidency of Antioch College. McGregor believed in people, he was clearly a Theory Y person through and through. Is it possible that when such a leader encounters among his subordinates a number of Theory X managers, that he becomes ineffective because he is unable or unwilling to put in the incentives and controls that would be needed to run the enterprise? Such a condition would also create what McGregor saw as the fatal self-fulfilling prophecy - a set of employees who had learned to be passive and dependent under previous Theory X leaders. Turning that kind of situation around would require more dedication and patience than McGregor might have had. He was clearly happier and more productive as an academic leader and we all benefited greatly from his years in that role.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - McGregor was the consummate process consultant, but his behavior was derived not from his philosophy of participation but from his theory of human behavior. He was a Theory Y person who found in an academic setting that the managerial style resulting from this set of assumptions was ideally suited to what an academic environment needed. Douglas McGregor was a theoretician, moral philosopher or behaviorist. This reflection aims to provide an analysis of the interconnections between assumptions, values and behavior and an analysis of how his behavior impacted both his theory and value system.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper provides an analysis of the interconnections between assumptions, values and behavior.\nFindings: - Some of the misunderstanding of McGregor's views is based on the failure to see him above all as a theoretician.\nOriginality/value: - McGregor displayed the patience to wait for the right time, to lead by asking the gentle questions, to focus on small changes in process rather than pushing content. For us, it is time to take McGregor's theory seriously and do a great deal more research on managerial assumptions. We have pretty good measures of performance but we must put more effort into studying the assumptions underlying managerial behavior.\n",
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eMaintenance solution through online data analysis for railway maintenance decision-making
|
[
"Maintenance",
"Online",
"Decision",
"Railway",
"Cloud",
"EMaintenance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: For effective and efficient maintenance decisions, accurate and timely information must be available to all stakeholders involved in the maintenance process (Candell and Karim, 2008). If the maintenance decision-making process is fully automated, cost effective maintenance decisions will result, facilitating, diagnostic and prognostic processes. This paper is based on research within the railway sector on developing eMaintenance solutions using eMaintenance cloud and web-based applications for improved condition monitoring, improved maintenance and increased uptime. The term eMaintenance emerged in the early 2000s and has become an emerging area in maintenance related literature because of ongoing technological developments. Different definitions of eMaintenance are provided by different authors. For instance, Moore and Starr (2006) stated \"E-maintenance is an asset information management network that integrates and synchronises various maintenance and reliability applications to gather and deliver asset information where it is needed when it is needed\". In addition, \"e-maintenance emerged as a result of the integration of ICT technologies in maintenance policies to deal with new expectations of innovate solutions for e-manufacturing and e-business\" (Muller et al., 2008). Therefore, industries change their manufacturing operations from local factory integration and automation to global enterprise automation with the ability to exchange information and synchronise with different e-business systems (Zurawski, 2006). Thus, with the extensive use of internet and sensor technology different stakeholders can use the integrated platform for effective and efficient maintenance decisions. This integrated platform is provided by using web services and cloud-based technology. The term cloud computing was first used in a 1997 lecture by Ramnath Chellappa to mean a \"computing paradigm where the boundaries of computing will be determined by economic rationale rather than technical limits alone\" (Sourya, 2011). In 1999, Salesforce.com became the first site to deliver applications and software over the internet; in 2007 Salesforce.com expanded its efforts, with Force.com (Salesforce, 2012). In 2002, Amazon added \"Web Services\" (AWS) and introduced the Elastic Compute cloud (EC2) as a commercial web service in 2006 (Amazon, 2014). Eucalyptus arrived next in 2008 with the first open source AWS API (application programming interface) compatible platform for deploying private clouds, followed by OpenNebula, the first open source software for private and hybrid clouds. Google and Microsoft finally entered the playing field with Google Apps (application software) in 2008 and Windows Azure in 2009, respectively. Apple joined in with its development of the iCloud allowing users to synchronise photos, apps, music and documents across a string of devices (Zhang et al., 2010). Despite the widespread interest, however, cloud computing remains an evolving paradigm. With cloud computing technology, data can be stored in the cloud, and these data can be visualised in a virtual machine to meet specific customer and application requirements (Heuwinkel et al., 2003). Rouse (2011) stated that virtual machine typically emulates a physical computing environment, but requests for CPU, memory, hard disk, network and other hardware resources are managed by a virtualisation layer which translates these requests to the underlying physical hardware. According to Padhy et al. (2011) virtualisation is a technology that combines or divides computing resources to present one or many operating environments using methodologies like hardware and software partitioning or aggregation, partial or complete machine simulation, time-sharing and many others. Thus, with virtualisation multiple operating system images can be allowed at once by using only one piece of hardware. Therefore, relevant information services are provided in a shared view to different stakeholders via cloud computing using virtualisation. Further, a good eMaintenance solution needs to sense the context of the individual stakeholders to adapt the information to the stakeholder's current situation (Candell et al., 2011). Therefore, the aim of this research is to provide an eMaintenance solution according to the needs and requirements of different stakeholders using cloud computing for effective and efficient decision making. Further, it becomes very difficult to pinpoint possible faults from large and messy data; thus, tools must be developed to perform advanced data analysis and data mining. To this end, this paper uses the eMaintenance cloud through online data analysis and the visualisation of relevant information to assist railway operators in making maintenance-related decisions. The eMaintenance solution suggested here helps stakeholders to access information from the cloud anywhere in the world at any time according to their needs and requirements. After introduction at Section 1, Section 2 deals with maintenance information process and cloud computing. Section 3 discusses railway maintenance decision making. The case study is discussed in Section 4, followed by results and discussions and conclusions.\n2. Maintenance information process and cloud computing: To support an effective maintenance decision-making process, a maintenance information process is needed as shown in Figure 1. This maintenance information process consists of data acquisition - to obtain relevant data and manage its content; data transition - to communicate the collected data; data fusion - to compile data and information from different sources; data mining - to analyse data to extract information and knowledge; information extraction and visualisation - to support maintenance decision. All these steps are necessary from data acquisition to information visualisation for maintenance decision making. In this present work, data are collected from wayside measurement stations and send to eMaintenance cloud for data analysis and data visualisation.\n3. Railway maintenance decision making: To provide safe and reliable railway service, the quality of the rolling stock and infrastructure needs to be improved and maintained. Maintenance is the combination of any actions carried out to retain an item in, or restore it to, conditions in which it is able to meet the requirements of the relevant specification and perform its required functions (IEC, 2014). Therefore, there is a need to develop effective maintenance decision-making system to achieve the goals and requirements of railway stakeholders. Decision making can be considered as problem solving activity which is terminated with a satisfactory solution. Decision making in railway is a complex issue; which include huge amount of data, lack of relevant data, data analysis and data integration. The wayside and onboard diagnostics equipment produce huge amounts of data and it becomes very difficult to pinpoint possible faults from these messy data. Parida (2006) stated that the lack of relevant data and knowledge is one of the main problems for decision making within the maintenance process. Thus, there is a need to develop effective decision-making tools to perform advanced data analysis and data mining to get relevant knowledge and information from large and messy data. This research work uses eMaintenance cloud through online data analysis and the visualisation of relevant information to assist railway operators in making maintenance-related decisions. A generic maintenance process consists of phases for management, support planning, preparation, execution, assessment and improvement (IEC, 2014). Hence, maintenance is multidisciplinary and involves a wide range of roles, such as managers, process owners, maintenance technicians, maintenance planners and logistic managers (Karim, 2008). All these actors involved in maintenance process need right information for making right decisions at right time (Karim et al., 2009; Parida, 2006).\n4. Case study and methodology: This case study was undertaken for Trafikverket (Swedish Transport Administration) at northern part of Sweden. Data are collected from the railway wayside measurement stations located in northern Sweden as depicted in Figure 3. The wayside and onboard diagnostics equipment used by operators produce huge amounts of data. However, this paper is limited to wheel profile data and track force data for maintenance decision making. This collected data are then acquired by railway eMaintenance cloud and then filtered, integrated and analysed for cost effective maintenance decision making and adapted for visualisation of various stakeholders. The railway eMaintenance cloud provides web services through which exchange of information can be done electronically. One of the expected applications of Web services is that they will make it easier to share real-time data about identification and tracking of trains electronically (Kour et al., 2014). The research methodology consists of data collection, data integration, data analysis, data visualisation and finally, decision making as depicted in Figure 3.\n5. Results and discussion: The eMaintenance solution is a graphical user interface which allows stakeholders to visualise data depending on their specific needs. Figure 5 shows a web-based eMaintenance solution; it provides the historical data for a number of trains passing by the wayside measurement station. We can select any specific train (Figure 5) to visualise track force data and wheel profile data as shown in Figure 6(b). Thus, depending on the specific period, data on trains can be visualised for end users in the form of either grids or graphs. For any range of axles, for example, axles 33-52 on a specific train shown in Figure 6(a), the track force data, e.g. vertical mean force in kiloNewton (kN) and the wheel profile data, e.g. flange slope in millimetre (mm) for left and right wheel can be presented to end users in a graph shown in Figure 6(b). In addition, different wheel profile parameters within the threshold limit can be displayed and data is analysed; i.e. how many wheels have crossed a certain threshold limit is presented in Figure 7.\n6. Conclusions and future work: The paper shows how the eMaintenance solution through online data analysis can assist railway maintenance stakeholders in their decision making and how relevant information can be visualised. In this present research, the concept of web-based eMaintenance solution led the maintenance operator and infrastructure manager to make decisions for maintenance planning. In the proposed solution, to enhance the performance of the maintenance process and to become more economically effective, data are acquired from wayside measurement stations and sent to eMaintenance cloud for storage and analysis; the relevant information, such as wheels reaching their maintenance limits and safety limits, is then visualised in grids or graphs to assist stakeholders in making the appropriate maintenance decisions. Further, cumulative axle count and cumulative load will help the railway stakeholders to predict the condition of track. Thus, a web-based eMaintenance solution, which is a graphical user interface, assists in railway wheel profile and force data analysis for improved maintenance decision making. For future work if maintenance data is coupled to the data analysis tool, then diagnosis of previous maintenance interventions can be added to the model for better prognosis. Further, prognosis of wheel wear can help the planning of maintenance which in turn will help prevent bottlenecks and assist in economic planning. There may be a need to present aggregated results to different stakeholders, i.e. each is given information relevant to their needs.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how research within the railway sector is developing eMaintenance solutions using the cloud and web-based applications for improved condition monitoring, better maintenance and increased uptime. This eMaintenance solution is based on the on-line data acquisition, integration and analysis leading to effective maintenance decision making.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In the proposed methodology, data are acquired from railway measurement stations to the eMaintenance cloud, where they are filtered, fused, integrated and analysed to assist maintenance decisions. Extensive consultation with stakeholders has resulted in the analysis of railway data.\nFindings: The paper provides a concept for a web-based eMaintenance solution for railway maintenance stakeholders for making fact-based decisions and develops more efficient and economically sound maintenance policies. Train wheels reaching their maintenance and safety limits are visualised in grids and graphs to assist stakeholders in making the appropriate maintenance decisions.\nPractical implications: In this paper the authors have demonstrated that the wheel profile and force data can be remotely collected through cloud utilisation. The information generated can be used for maintenance decision making. Similarly, other measurable data can also be utilised for maintenance decision making.\nOriginality/value: This paper describes the importance of eMaintenance solution through online data analysis to make effective and efficient railway maintenance decisions, as a case study.\n",
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Inside the new organization: a blueprint for surviving restructuring, downsizing, acquisitions and outsourcing
|
[
"Organizational restructuring",
"Team working",
"Self development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The world has changed and so has the workplace. In fact, the chances are that if you work for a living, the last few years of organizational life have definitely gotten your attention. You or someone close to you has experienced first hand the tectonic shift occurring in the American workplace. Re-engineering, downsizing, outsourcing, structural transformation, acquisition - whatever the source - the changes are much more than a slow growth of something new. For employees adversely affected by these changes or for those who don't fully understand why these changes are occurring, the effects can be demoralizing, often creating ill-will or a lack of trust between workers and their employers. Even rock icon Bruce Springsteen seems to speak to these hard feelings in his song, \"Youngstown,\" about steel workers being laid off by companies to which both they and members of their family before them had been deeply loyal. Springsteen's words describe the feelings of a single steelworker who says that his employer had forgotten him, \"now that I've made you rich enough, rich enough to forget my name.\"\nVictim or survivor?: Our work in organizations over the last 15 years has placed us squarely in the middle of the upheaval. We are quite familiar with workers who in many ways formed the core or foundation of the US economy's success - those well-meaning and hard-working individuals who don't understand why their contribution is no longer valued. And worse still, they don't understand what they should be doing differently to place themselves in a valued position.Prompted by our individual clients and the organizations with which we consult, we began to ask some fundamental questions about what the new organization requires at the individual level - from the employee's perspective. We used several sources and formats to gather answers to these questions. First, while completing various consulting engagements and programs over the last 15-plus years, we interviewed individual contributors who had survived the downsizing, restructuring, outsourcing and acquisitions, as well as those managers who culled through huge numbers of employees to pick the best and brightest to staff their lean, more customer-centric, customer-responsive organizations. These interviews and the discussions associated with them first surfaced informally. Often, during breakout sessions and off-line conversations, we discovered that virtually all of the people with whom we were engaged had strong opinions about the skills and work orientations that they believed were necessary for employees to become indispensable to today's (and certainly tomorrow's) organizations. Interestingly, few of those with whom we talked referenced specific technical skills as being the foundation for a person having a \"leg up\" on the competition for becoming indispensable to an organization. Indeed, most people talked more broadly about interpersonally-based skills.Intrigued by what people in these informal sessions were telling us, we decided to send open-ended written surveys to our clients, participants in our work-conferences and others to whom our clients referred us. These individuals had survived rounds of downsizing or had been involved in selecting employees to staff newly-configured organizations. We asked two major questions of those we surveyed:1. What are the characteristics, skills and competencies of the employees who have survived downsizing in your organization?2. How will the employee's role in the organization change due to new structures - structures which are leaner, more horizontally configured, more cross-functional and team based?About 40 percent of those to whom we sent our survey completed and returned them to us. In our view, what emerged from our initial discussions and subsequent written survey results is a blueprint for individual success inside the new organization.The recent literature in the areas of organizational and business redesign provides a context through which our blueprint for organizational survival can be understood and successfully applied.\nA values balancing act: There is a substantial literature suggesting that as human beings we naturally embrace two seemingly contradictory values that affect our interactions with others: individual initiative and collaboration with others. In fact both values co-exist in our nature.Individual initiative represents a desire to take the lead, to be independent; and to make a significant contribution. We understand that to make a difference, we must act.Collaboration with others describes an equally strong human desire to be included, to be a part of a group, and to serve society's needs - the desire all human beings share to have their worth recognized by others. We all know that we have the capacity to make the work of others easier if we have a mind to do so, or more difficult if this is our intention.To illustrate these two values, take the short quiz included in this paper. If you found yourself endorsing those values in one column at the expense of the other, avoid selling yourself on what has been called the \"Popeye principle\" - I am what I am and that's all that I am. This may be true at some level. Long-term research on personality types - tracking behavior patterns over a period of years, interviewing an individual's family, friends and colleagues - tends to show that even over long periods of time, a person's basic personality traits don't change. At least within a broad spectrum, achievers remain achievers; extroverts remain extroverts. However, as we think of ourselves in a business organization, the matter is more complex. What our interviews showed was that success in the new organization demands a balance between the values of individual initiative and collaboration as we work with others. This balance is necessary because these two values drive the way we interact with colleagues, superiors, customers, and suppliers.Francis Fukuyama in Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity (Free Press, Simon & Schuster, 1995), notes that most human history can be best understood as an interplay between two powerful forces - individualism and collaboration. Applying these inclinations to our economic system helps explain the evolution of how business is conducted in the US economy. Americans often think of themselves as \"rugged individualists\" - harkening back to their pioneering days. But if Americans are strictly as individualistic as we think we are, it would be hard to account for the rise and importance of giant corporations. If \"rugged individualism\" were the only determinant for success, the US economy would more likely be made up of many small, short-lived firms. Americans would be too headstrong and uncooperative to take orders in large organizations and too independent to build long-lasting private institutions. But, in fact, the USA pioneered the development of the modern organization, and by the end of the nineteenth century, the US economy had spawned some of the world's largest companies. So, in fact, America's cultural heritage is a dual one. Alongside the individualistic tendencies, there has been a powerful propensity to form associations and participate in other forms of group activity.At the same time, individualism is deeply rooted in the rights-based political theory underlying the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Because of this grounding, it is no accident that Americans think of themselves as individualistic. But there is an equally old communal tradition that springs from the country's religious and cultural origins. This tradition is the basis for the community-spiritedness that is historically in evidence in American society. As supposed individualists, Americans have also been hyperactive joiners, creating strong and durable voluntary associations from Little Leagues and community associations to the NAACP and the League of Women Voters. Business writer Thomas Stewart has described these relationships on a more personal individual to organization level. In Stewart's words:... hidden between the lines of the \"new contract\" between employee and employer is an ugly and befuddling contradiction. On the one hand, you're on your own. You are responsible for your own career. You're the CEO of You Inc. in an every-man-for-himself universe of initiative and reward. Ah, but on the other hand, those of us here at Amalgamated Inc. don't cotton to self-aggrandizement. We want team players, all for one and one for all, because we're a team and we work in teams. Of all the skills you learn here, the most valuable is teamwork.This taffy pull between individualism and collectivism is ancient. So why is this apparent paradox so important to understand now? First, the content and culture of the new organization requires that we be able to act in the service of both values.. Simple-minded work permits a division of labor in which people don't have to work together as long as the pieces of the system fit. But knowledge work - designing a product, writing an ad, reengineering a process - rarely moves systematically forward. It's an open-ended series of give and take collaborations, iterations and reiterations. Complex, cross-functional business problems demand a diverse set of skills. Fly solo on these teams and you'll be ostracized so fast it'll make your head spin. In addition, a batch of solo operators trying to form a collective unit, acting in concert, is a recipe for unproductive work.On the basis of our interviews, we concluded that each of us has the capacity both for personal initiative and for collaboration with others. We hold both values as archetypes of the American spirit within us. The challenge we face in the new organization is to bring these two potentials into better balance. An important question, of course, is, How? How is it possible to bring these two tendencies into balance?Eastern philosophy has successfully resolved this apparent paradox through the concept of yin and yang. Everything is understood in terms of these two apparently opposing principles. But in this philosophy, yin and yang are not seen as opposites. Rather, the one necessarily merges into the other, creating a natural balance of self and world. Yin and yang is understood as a way to bring us into a natural harmony with our world.\nThe habits of people who still have jobs: Accepted as co-equals, the values individual initiative and capacity for collaboration begin to define specific skill sets for relating to others who depend on us for our work and with whom our success is interdependently tied. Based on our interviews, we discovered four specific interpersonal skills - mental agility, personal visibility, boundary spanning, and team facilitation - that characterize individuals who are consistently seen as the most valuable to their organization. Each of these skills can be described in more detail.Mental agility: the corporate quick-change artist\nWhere do we go from here?: What about those millions of Americans who at one time or another have been victims of organizational resizing? What about those of us who have found ourselves in situations where we must adjust our style of working to fit with today's leaner, more horizontally structured, team-based organizations? For all of these people as well as those who've been fortunate enough to be spared either the single experience or the repeated experience of being right-sized, downsized, or outsourced out of a job?The results of our surveys and work with a variety of organizational members point out what each of us can do to be a survivor. First, we should understand the twin needs to display initiative in our work while simultaneously learning how to meaningfully collaborate with others. In the new organization, survivors are strongly committed to taking risks to push the organization forward while recognizing that their visibility and organizational savvy are products of effective collaborations. Increasingly, collaborators are recognized and their skills are valued. Of course, having the skills needed to launch initiatives while collaborating with colleagues is a strong contributor to organizational survival.After learning the value of initiating and collaborating, we have the foundation needed to place a higher value on change and the possibilities it creates for improved performance, while learning how to place the importance of our skills within the context of the firm's larger repertoire of skills. We never want to \"brag\" about our previous accomplishments nor should we emphasize our skills at the expense of others'. Indeed, what survivors do is position their set of skills within the framework of what the firm is doing today and will likely be doing tomorrow to achieve its performance objectives. An individual's skills aren't valuable unless they blend with the skills of others to form carefully synchronized performance enhancing action.The likelihood of becoming an organizational survivor increases when we devote a good deal of our time interacting with people outside the organization. Looking outside our own firm's boundaries to gain insights about what is occurring with suppliers, competitors and a host of others can be the path to increasing our ability to spot opportunities for our firm. Additionally, spanning our organization's boundaries helps us recognize the skills we should develop to make ourselves more valuable to our employer. Finally, seeking out opportunities to form and work in high-performing teams always increases our chances for survival. Indeed, through our interviews, we discovered that in the new organization, the most effective employees embrace team work and learn how to be a part of the most successful work teams.Based on the results of our surveys, it is quite possible to increase the probability of being an organizational survivor rather than one looking for a new job. And, as we continue to study organizations, their environments and the actions leading to their success, we believe that the skills we've identified will become even more critical to personal success in the new organization.Box 1\n",
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},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To describe a model of interpersonal competencies for surviving and thriving in today's new, leaner organization. Our work is based on interviews and surveys of individuals who have been chosen to staff resized organizations and the managers who have made those selections.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Over the last 15 years, the authors found that clients in the organizations with which they consulted were often struggling with understanding what interpersonal competencies the new leaner, horizontally-structured organizations required of their employees. Several formats were used to gather answers to those questions. First, information first surfaced informally. Then, intrigued by what individuals in these informal sessions were relating, the authors sent open-ended written surveys to other clients as well as to participants in work-conferences and training sessions. In these written surveys two major questions were posed: \"What are the characteristics, skills and competencies of the employees who have survived re-sizing in your organization?\" and \"How will the employee's role in the organization change due to new structures: leaner, more horizontally structured, more cross-functional and team based?\" Content analyses of the responses allowed us to develop what appears to be a blueprint for individual success inside the new organization.\nFindings: - A model for survival and success inside the new organization was constructed based on the survey data collected. In addition, the recent literature in the areas of organizational and business re-design, and the writings of the most well-respected business writers was searched to validate the model and to provide a context through which it could be understood and successfully applied. Two complementary core values - personal initiative and the capacity for collaboration - were found to be essential for organizational survival. Similarly, four additional skillsets - mental agility, personal visibility, team facilitation and boundary spanning - were determined to lay the groundwork for success inside the new organization.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Although broadly based from Fortune 500 companies to small entrepreneurial start-ups, the individuals completing the surveys were exclusively clients of the authors. The roughly 250 surveys that were content-analyzed comprised roughly 40 percent of the total survey base. Surveying a larger respondent population and analyzing the responses by organization size or type would help to refine the model.\nPractical implications: - The organizational survivor model provides a clear and dynamic blueprint for all people wanting to sharpen the skills necessary to survive in today's business world. Individuals wanting to make themselves indispensable to their employers as well as people desiring to put themselves on track for success in their next job. In addition, the findings will also prove invaluable to human resources and training departments in search of a teachable model for creating interpersonal excellence.\nOriginality/value: - This paper fulfills a need for a sound, data-based, real-world grounded guide for individual success inside the new organization. Self-assessments, practical suggestions and recommendations assist readers in increasing their personal impact and value and making themselves indispensable in their organizations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Evolutionary change stimuli and moderators - evidence from New Zealand
|
[
"Evolution",
"Organizational change",
"New Zealand",
"Electricity",
"Stakeholders",
"Privatization"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As described by Hood (1991) the new public management (NPM) concept presented a different approach to how publically owned organisations could be run. NPM's focus is to make public enterprises perform better and more efficiency by making them operate more like private businesses (Diefenbach, 2009; Fernandez and Rainey, 2006). With the advent of NPM, management became an important orientation for public enterprises, replacing simple administration. Change remains an unending process in the life of organisations and this underlies why scholars have emphasised the need to understand organisational change. Researchers often try to explain organisational change by borrowing concepts or theories from other fields (Poole et al., 2000) and numerous theories have been proposed to explain the organisational change phenomenon. Pettigrew's (1985) critique of the organisational change literature initiated an era of transformation in change research. Previous organisational change theories focused on the dynamics and attributes of the change process, not recognising the importance of processes (Pettigrew et al., 2001; Poole, 2004; Van de Ven, 1992). Such approaches had restricted change theory, as they ignored the influence of other influential factors affecting change (Poole, 2004). In respect to public enterprises, Kuipers et al. (2014), and previously Fernandez and Rainey (2006), have argued that organisational change theories relating to public enterprises still needed researcher attention. Kuipers et al. (2014) recognise the need for more detailed longitudinal studies to examine change processes in public contexts.\nThe organisational change phenomenon: Scholarly research has focused on ascertaining \"how and why organisations change\" (Poole and Van de Ven, 2004a, b). Since the early 1950s, researchers have continued to investigate organisations, trying to explain the fundamentals of change. From these efforts, numerous theories have emerged. However, the multifaceted nature of organisational change has complicated attempts to comprehend it in its entirety (Weick and Quinn, 1999). It is beyond the scope of this paper to review the quite extensive body of literature; however, detailed summaries can be found in Armenakis and Bedeian (1999), Poole (2004), and By (2005).\nThe enhanced ECT: By recognising variation, selection, and retention as essential components of an ECT, we then sought to integrate useful ideas from approaches (Aldrich and Ruef, 2006) to develop a more comprehensive ECT. The evolutionary perspective is appears to be dominated by the selection perspective (Paulino, 2009). Thus, to enhance the current ECT, we began by focusing on those which emphasise the adaptation perspective.\nResearch method and data: Pettigrew et al. (2001, p. 697) suggest \"if the change process is the stream of analysis, the terrain around the stream that shapes the field of events, and is in turn shaped by them, is a necessary part of the investigation\". Other scholars have suggested that process research is appropriate for examining forces influencing change (Langley et al., 2013; Poole et al., 2000; Van de Ven 2007). In process research, the focus shifts towards understanding how entities adapt, change, and evolve over time (Hernes and Weik, 2007; Van de Ven, 2007). Moreover, the ECT was put forward as a process theory by Van de Ven and Poole (1995), confirming the process orientation.\nFindings: By coding the data into the theoretical constructs, we were able to examine patterns in the data. These included interactions between stakeholders and the role of external influences in relation to each incident. A brief overview of the key events by decade is presented in Table I.\nDiscussion: Hodgson (2013) reiterates March's (1994) thought that the term \"evolution\" is widely used in organisational studies; however, it remains ambiguous. Additionally, Hodgson (2010, 2013) suggests that the term \"evolution\" generally evokes Darwinism, but can sometimes refer broadly to change. Cordes (2006) cites Witt (2003) to argue that current Darwinian theories of evolution fail to incorporate the dynamics of the evolution of capabilities. ECTs tends to confine dynamics to the Darwinian view of evolution (Hodgson, 2013). Hodgson and Knudsen (2010, p. viii) suggest that the Darwinian concept of evolution (variation, selection, and retention) \"is a meta-theoretical framework that stimulates further enquiry and provides a repository for contingent auxiliary theories and models\". The findings support a newly proposed enhanced ECT and provide insight into organisational change in a public context by incorporating additional influences. Figure 5 reveals that the process of evolutionary change is complex. It is not a circular process moving from one stage to another, but rather one where change may \"jump\" from one stage to another that may not follow directly from it. For example, rather than being restricted to a selection-to-retention path, selection may instead lead to adaptation or dissatisfaction.\nConclusion: Although significant theoretical development has occurred over the past two decades and the field of organisational change has thus become richer (Weick and Quinn, 1999), it can be argued that it is still far from mature (Pettigrew et al., 2001). Kuipers et al. (2014) clearly indicate the need for more in-depth longitudinal studies which examine the process of organisational change focused specifically on public enterprises. We attempted to address this gap by examining change in the NZEI. This study has provided strong evidence of how stimuli and moderators influence the organisational change process, advancing our knowledge and understanding of organisational change in public enterprises from an evolutionary perspective.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The review of contemporary organisational change theories identified one theory which seemed relevant to explaining the organisational change phenomenon in public enterprises - Van de Ven and Poole's (1995) Evolutionary Change Theory (ECT). However, further review of the management literature revealed its limitations in explaining change, particularly in public enterprises. The theory fails to identify the triggers of change and the roles of various stakeholders, and the purpose of this paper is to enhance model of the ECT and appraise it.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Researchers continue to highlight the need to examine context when examining a change process; therefore, the authors utilised a process research approach to examine changes in the New Zealand electricity industry over the past four decades. As the approach is a flexible one, it allowed exploration of the critical features of change.\nFindings: Analysis revealed compelling evidence of two new proposed stages to the ECT which operated in conjunction with external environmental influences that acted as stimuli for change.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research provided insight into the various influences on organisational change, particularly public enterprises. It confirms the previously ignored power of the external environment and the role of stakeholders in influencing organisational change.\nOriginality/value: The research advances current understanding of organisational change as it offers an enhanced model of the ECT by identifying the trigger for organisational change in public enterprises. Furthermore, it finds different stakeholder groups with the ability to influence the organisational change process.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Self-esteem and transformational leadership
|
[
"Personality",
"Leadership",
"Self-esteem"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Transformational leadership is one of the most influential contemporary leadership theories (e.g. Judge and Bono, 2000; Felfe and Schyns, 2010; van Knippenberg and Sitkin, 2013). In his seminal book, Bass (1985) contrasts transactional leadership, in which leaders clarify expectations and reward followers for fulfilling them, with transformational leadership, in which leaders are able to motivate followers to move beyond self-interest and work for the collective good (Wang et al., 2011). Whereas the outcomes of transformational leadership are well researched, insufficient research has considered the antecedents of transformational leadership (Hu et al., 2012). Only recently, a handful of studies have begun to explore personality bases that explain why some leaders are more likely to engage in transformational leadership behaviors than others (e.g. Judge and Bono, 2000; Khoo and Burch, 2008; Rubin et al., 2005; Hu et al., 2012; Resick et al., 2009). The traits approach to leadership argues that the individual traits of the leader determine his/her leadership behaviors (Northouse, 2010). Northouse (2010) concludes that the important traits that characterize an effective leader are intelligence, determination, integrity, sociability, and self-confidence. Self-confidence appears to be requisite for the initiation of leadership (Bono and Judge, 2004).\nTheory development and hypotheses: Transformational leadership\nMethod: Sample\nResults: Test of the measurement model\nDiscussion: Self-esteem is positively related to transformational leadership. We found empirical support for this hypothesis and contribute to the relatively sparse literature on the antecedents of transformational leadership behaviors (e.g. Judge and Bono, 2000; Khoo and Burch, 2008; Rubin et al., 2005; Hu et al., 2012; Resick et al., 2009). We introduce a variable that helps to explain why some leaders are more likely to engage in transformational leadership than others.\nConclusion: Transformational is one of the most influential contemporary leadership theories. It has not only received enormous attention in research but has also influenced leadership practice. As we have shown in our study, not all individuals hold the pre-dispositions required to become a transformational leader. Inspiring and challenging followers, acting as a role model, intellectually stimulating employees, and instilling a sense of confidence in their followers, requires a certain degree of self-esteem. We hope that this finding inspires future research in this domain. How can self-esteem be fostered in an organizational or leadership context? Are there any moderating variables that reinforce or weaken the role of self-esteem for transformational leadership? Is there an optimum level of self-esteem and are there potential negative effects of overconfidence? What is the role of the follower's self-esteem? These are some of the questions we find particularly interesting for future research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether transformational leadership behavior is a function of the leader's own self-respect and his/her evaluation of being capable, significant, and worthy (self-esteem). It is also tested whether transformational leadership is related to innovation success.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 411 entrepreneurs and managing directors of small- and medium-sized Austrian companies. The proposed hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (PLS).\nFindings: A strong and significant relationship between self-esteem and transformational leadership was found. Furthermore, data analyses revealed that transformational leadership has a positive impact on innovation success.\nOriginality/value: This study reveals the important but heretofore neglected role of self-esteem, defined as a manager's overall self-evaluation of his/her competences, as an important predictor of transformational leadership.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A decision theory perspective on complexity in performance measurement and management
|
[
"Performance measurement",
"Sustainability",
"Supply chain management",
"Case study",
"Alignment",
"Decision processes"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: new theoretical perspectives on performance measurement and management (PMM): The inevitability of change is a fundamental aspect of the modern business environment. Now, more than ever, such changes seem more significant and no less unpredictable. A volcanic eruption disrupts flight schedules, a stock market crashes, socio-political events like the UK's Brexit referendum, terrorist atrocities or even the rapid impact of disruptive technology on previously stable and mature markets are all issues that can require action by senior managers. Some of these issues may impact on the strategic direction of a business; others may just require flexible response, providing the organisation is sufficiently resilient.\nConceptual foundations: Challenges in existing PMM systems\nResearch method: theory elaboration and synthesis: The initial approach of combining the performance alignment matrix with Cynefin is based on the work of Denyer et al. (2008) which describes various approaches to theoretical synthesis such as reciprocal synthesis (different descriptions of the same thing) or lines-of-argument synthesis (different descriptions of slightly different but connected things). However, as there has to date been no application of Cynefin within PMM or operations management, the research approach taken here was to consider theory alongside original empirical data collection using the methodology of Ketokivi and Choi (2014). Here case studies are used in tandem with a known middle-range theory (Soltani et al., 2014) in order to explore \"theory elaboration\" (as contrasted with novel theory generation or large-n statistical theory testing). Multiple cases across different industries are used to consider how PMM is undertaken in different external contexts. Focussing on a specific area of PMM, firms' SOSCM performance practices are taken (as opposed to, say, PMM in human resources management). Bititci et al. (2012) note the rising importance of sustainability factors in PMM, and various papers cite problems of bounded rationality, such as plural and contested definitions in SOSCM (Hahn et al., 2014; Preuss and Walker, 2011), or the temporal and physical distance between cause and effect often found in sustainability issues (French and Geldermann, 2005). A review of how such decision theory concepts are addressed in sustainable supply chain management research is provided by Alexander et al. (2014).\nFindings: Table IV shows the DL coding of each organisation, using the Cynefin domains from Figure 1. These are also plotted on Figure 4. Illustrative quotes from the data are also included in Table IV with references to sample quotes provided in brackets, cross-referencing data provided in Table AI. Having determined the DL for each firm, Table V then illustrates the alignment with the external environment under typical conditions, and then in relation to SOSCM issues, including instances of misalignment.\nDiscussion: fit between DL, external environment, strategy and PMM: Many of the cases have a good fit between the DL, the PMM and the external environment. As described in the previous section, some of the case organisations occupy inherently complex environments; specifically, Case 3, the restaurant chain, and Case 5, the construction contractor. These have a DL that explicitly addresses this context, and so represents a strong fit between the DL and the external environment. Similarly, Cases 1 and 7 occupy stable environments and have a DL that is a strong fit with this.\nImplications for research and practice: As the first paper to consider the Cynefin framework in relation to operations management and PMM, it has provided insight into the link between organisational culture (the DL) and sense-making. This answers the call of Melnyk et al. (2014) on the need for greater understanding of social factors, organisational culture, complexity, autopoiesis and uncertainty in PMM theory, and the call for this special issue. In addition, the relatively nascent area of SOSCM and PMM has been explored, the newness of which is a clear driver of potential misalignment with existing PMM systems and strategic objectives.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to apply the aspects of decision theory (DT) to performance measurement and management (PMM), thereby enabling the theoretical elaboration of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity in the business environment, which are identified as barriers to effective PMM.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A review of decision theory and PMM literature establishes the Cynefin framework as the basis for extending the performance alignment matrix. Case research with seven companies explores the relationship between two concepts under-examined in the performance alignment matrix - internal dominant logic (DL) as the attribute of organisational culture affecting decision making, and the external environment - in line with the concept of alignment or fit in PMM. A focus area is PMM related to sustainable operations and sustainable supply chain management.\nFindings: Alignment between DL, external environment and PMM is found, as are instances of misalignment. The Cynefin framework offers a deeper theoretical explanation about the nature of this alignment. Other findings consider the nature of organisational ownership on DL.\nResearch limitations/implications: The cases are exploratory not exhaustive, and limited in number. Organisations showing contested logic were excluded.\nPractical implications: Some organisations have cultures of predictability and control; others have cultures that recognise their external environment as fundamentally unpredictable, and hence there is a need for responsive, decentralised PMM. Some have sought to change their culture and PMM. Being attentive to how cultural logic affects decision making can help reduce the misalignment in PMM.\nOriginality/value: A novel contribution is made by applying decision theory to PMM, extending the theoretical depth of the subject.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The effects of joint reward system in new product development
|
[
"Performance related pay",
"Knowledge sharing",
"Product development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the past years, organizations are scrambling for sustaining efforts to stimulate, facilitate, and utilize their organization-wide knowledge to gain competitive advantages. This trend has especially extended to the new product development (NPD) process and cross-functional NPD teams. To accommodate such trend, a strong role in establishing the foundation of knowledge creation in NPD process is required (Song et al., 2000). While studies (e.g. Nonaka, 1994; Shih et al., 2006) have suggested that knowledge sharing among individuals strengthens knowledge creation and recent empirical evidence also indicates that knowledge sharing among NPD members can facilitates NPD performance (Chang et al., 2006), identifying effective mechanisms for stimulating knowledge sharing among NPD members across different functional areas has largely remained an untapped source of competitive edge. Organizational rewards can be viewed as one of the mechanisms (Milne, 2001). Although organizational behavior school generally recognizes that organizational reward programs are designed to attract ideal candidates, to retain employees at work, and to motivate employees for higher performance in general (e.g. Ivancevich and Matteson, 2002, p. 197), the complexities of rewards have been elevated as the formation of works are going toward collective efforts in which team-based rewards become salient (e.g. Bartol and Srivastava, 2002; Johnson et al., 2006).The dynamisms of work have been shifting from structural driven to task driven (Milne, 2001, p. 326) under team-based and/or cross-functional management. The importance of team-based rewards are attributed not only to the critical role in determining cross-functional integration among employees and units (Coombs and Gomez-Mejia, 1991; Sarin and Mahajan, 2001) and thus driving group and team performance (Griffin and Hauser, 1996), but also to the significant effects on knowledge sharing (Bartol and Srivastava, 2002; Milne, 2001; Shih et al., 2006) and knowledge exchange (Cabrera et al., 2006). Under such circumstance, the conventional reward mechanisms based on individuals or individuals within unit may not be as effective as in NPD context where cross-functional team efforts are involved and valued (Barclay, 1991). Hence, a reward system that values collective efforts across functions and cooperative behaviors, like joint reward system (JRS), in NPD may be a more effective mechanism (Crittenden, 1992).Prior studies have highlighted the contributions of JRS in NPD setting in many aspects (i.e. Cho and Hahn, 2004; Chimhanzi, 2004; Griffin and Hauser, 1996; Gupta et al., 1986; Sarin and Mahajan, 2001; Xie et al., 2003). Given the critical role that organizational reward program plays in facilitating knowledge sharing among individuals (Bartol and Srivastava, 2002), the effects of JRS on knowledge sharing among cross-functional NPD members and NPD performance has yet to be tested. However, studies incorporating JRS (e.g. Xie et al., 2003; Chimhanzi, 2004) primarily focus on the degree to which project members are joint evaluated and are equally rewarded for joint involvement rather than individual performance, which may not reflect general phenomenon of reward practices in NPD where functional project members are not necessarily rewarded equally in practices (Feldman, 1996). Unlike machines, an individual's tendency in conducting knowledge sharing is affected not only by managerially controlled variables (e.g. reward and incentive programs), but also by the psychological state (e.g. motivation) of the individual to determine whether to share or to hoard knowledge. Whereas Lawler (1977) had suggested that organizational rewards may affect the attitudes and behavior of employees, the perceived fairness of the rewards may alter the employees' attitudes and behavior toward contributing their efforts to the organizations (Allen et al., 2003; Milne, 2001). To further understand the effects of JRS under NPD setting, this study identifies four aspects of JRS that contains reward procedure view (participation of reward decision and reward contingent on NPD phases) and monetary view (risk-free to participate and over-reward incentive) in the conceptual model and then empirically tests their effects on knowledge sharing and NPD performance.\nConceptual model and research hypotheses: In light of the above discussion, we proposed and tested a conceptual model (depicted in Figure 1) linking four unique features of JRS as measured by joint determination of reward allocation, reward contingent on NPD phases, risk-free to participants, and over-reward incentives to knowledge sharing and NPD performance. We conceptualize that JRS affects knowledge sharing among NPD functional project members and, as a result, affects NPD performance. In order to acknowledge the assertion that behavior intention is an example of mediator concept (Baron and Kenny, 1986, p. 1180), we also conceptualized that knowledge sharing mediates the relationships between JRS and NPD performance.Joint reward system (JRS) and knowledge sharing\nResearch design and data collection: Sample and procedure\nAnalysis and results: The effects of JRS on knowledge sharing (H1-H4)\nDiscussions and suggestions: This study is purported to develop and examine the effects of five features of joint reward system - joint determination of reward allocation, process-based reward at initiation phase, result-based reward at implementation phase, risk-free to participants, and over-reward incentives - as the antecedents of knowledge sharing that leads to NPD performance among NPD project members across R&D, marketing, and manufacturing functions. The overall regression results produce significant and positive effects for the relationships between JRS and knowledge sharing, JRS and NPD performance, as well as knowledge sharing and NPD performance. Yet mixed results emerged when we broke down the JRS into five features and divided the sample into NPD project members' functional specialties.JRS as measured by risk-free to participants yielded consistent significant and positive results in predicting not only knowledge sharing among NPD project members across R&D, marketing, and manufacturing, but also NPD performance. Such findings are highly consistent with recent researches on how reward structure influencing the performance of cross-functional NPD teams (Sarin and Mahajan, 2001) and on the importance of offering reward to invite knowledge sharing without concerning the immediate success or failure to achieve NPD success (Joshi and Sharma, 2004). While NPD members' attitudes toward risk are a critical issue in NPD (Song and Parry, 1993), the results also support the assertion that NPD project members tend to be risk-aversion (Sasaki, 1991; Sarin and Mahajan, 2001). Therefore, designing JRS to minimize project members' risk in NPD is likely to stimulate project members' efforts for NPD performance (Robbins and Finley, 1995).In addition, the sample firms were resided in Taiwan where uncertainty avoidance is relatively higher than the Western's (Hofstede, 1980) and employees are predisposed to a common practice of knowledge hoarding (Hsu, 2006). Higher level of uncertainly avoidance may lead NPD project members to show higher level of risk aversion. NPD project members' hording knowledge may be a common practice for protecting themselves in the competitive hi-tech environment. Under such social and cultural exigencies, NPD project members are likely to weight their costs and benefits for contributing their knowledge unless the risk and costs can be minimized and/or waived. Our findings indeed suggest that high-tech firms tend to use the risk-free approach in rewarding NPD project teams plainly because its risk-free and non-cost driven nature. Furthermore, unique aspects of organizational cultures for sharing tacit knowledge in Taiwan may also affect the NPD performance through:* their integrated relationship with organizations;* their openness to the external environment; and* their special approaches to knowledge sharing (Yiu and Lin, 2002).Although we had found positive and significant effect of joint determination of reward allocation only in NPD project members from marketing, rather than from R&D and manufacturing, we also found significant and positive relationship with NPD performance. This finding may reflect a traditional managerial practice, namely, R&D is rewarded for innovation, whereas marketing is rewarded for creating and maintaining markets and satisfied customers. The high-tech firms in Taiwan are renowned for their competitive edges in OEM and ODM instead of product and brand promotions. Such industrial competitive advantages foster a culture that values R&D more than marketing and manufacturing. As such, NPD project members from marketing show higher appreciation than their counterparts from R&D in the participation of reward allocation. However, as discussed in previous sections, for a NPD program to be successful, collective efforts appeared to be a prerequisite. Thus, it is important for the HR practitioners in hi-tech industries to become actively involved in NPD and to promote interpersonal communication across NPD functional members regarding contents and operationalizations of JRS in order to reduce conflicts among them (Chimhanzi, 2004).Reward contingent on NPD phase yielded some surprising and interesting results. The results indicated as expected that process-based reward at initiation phase significantly and positively associated with knowledge sharing in R&D, but a surprising negative and significant result emerged in marketing, whereas outcome-based reward at implementation phase has no any significant effect. A plausible explanation may be that the R&D personnel constantly encounter uncertainties in the process of generating new ideas and developing new technologies, a time consuming practice during the design-to-market (Hauser et al., 1996). A key player at initiation phase notwithstanding, R&D personnel are likely to sense stronger feelings of uncertainties than marketing or manufacturing because they possess more knowledge in the technical feasibilities of the project. As a result, a process-based reward is more favorable for R&D because it offers risk aversion. Marketing personnel, on the other hand, may be more willing to be rewarded for the products' market performance. It is quite practical to expect that marketing is the sole prize claimer for a product's market success. After all, a successful market performance will ultimately be translated into the bottom line, i.e. financial statements, or vice versa, which give immediate pressure to the marketing function. Therefore, rewards that tie to procedures, behaviors, and other means of achieving desired outcomes (i.e. process-based reward) may be counterproductive for marketing.To our surprise, no significance relationships were found for outcome-based reward at implementation phase of JRS in predicting knowledge sharing and NPD performance. One plausible explanation is that a foreseeable reward is viewed as more secured at implementation phase because its outcome is more certain. The opposite and inconsistent patterns among R&D, marketing, and manufacturing functions regarding process-based and outcome-based reward signal potential conflicts, because each function seem to have varied focal points in the reward programs. The inconsistencies of their focus may be the causes of no significant relationships found in association with NPD performance. Hence, our findings suggest that managers should strike a balance between emphasis on process-based reward for R&D and on outcome-based reward for manufacturing. For example, other mechanisms for successful NPD results, e.g. performance management systems promoting knowledge sharing (Hsu, 2006), enhance communication (Song and Parry, 1993), and reward systems designed to build co-operative knowledge sharing environment (Shih et al., 2006) should be considered because the benefits brought by extrinsic rewards would diminish over time.Rewards contingent on various phases of NPD appear to be more complicated than were expected. More dimensions and contexts need to be explored to further clarity the concepts. Future studies may incorporate extrinsic and intrinsic reward mechanisms to test the interaction effects of JRS to clarify the complementary effects in NPD under diversified contexts as suggested by Sarin and Mahajan (2001).Contrary to the prior studies claiming that the use of over-reward incentives stimulates knowledge sharing among organizational members (Keidel, 1985; Harder, 1992), our empirical results suggest that over-reward incentives has no significant effects on knowledge sharing. HR practitioners value rewards that facilitate knowledge sharing at the initiation stage (c.f. Bock and Kim, 2002, p. 19), but acknowledge that such reward may not elevate organizational participants' level of commitment.The significant and positive relationship between knowledge sharing and NPD performance is also consistent with prior studies (Song and Parry, 1993; Griffin and Hauser, 1996). Therefore, fostering knowledge sharing among NPD members is the essential tasks for management. In addition, formal reward systems based on knowledge sharing behaviors, collective efforts, team-based and company-wide incentives, and informal reward systems based on procedural fairness and trust, are all conducive to knowledge sharing.\nLimitations: While this study has yielded major findings that possess significant implications for both theory and practice, several limitations need to be addressed as well. First, more objective NPD performance measurement (Godener and Soderquist, 2004), such as finance, customer satisfaction, strategic management, process management, technology management, innovation, and knowledge management should be employed in future studies to ensure that quantitative outcomes of NPD performance is consistent with qualitative measures. Second, because data for this study were collected from high-tech organizations across electronics, semiconductor, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries, it would be helpful for future studies to replicate our findings in non-high tech settings to enhance the generalizability of our results in other settings. Third, this study ignored the importance of individuals' variance in terms of knowledge, skill, and ability (KSA) for teamwork and knowledge sharing (Stevens and Campion, 1994). Future studies may need to incorporate the necessary KSA of NPD members into related studies for further clarification.Finally, while within-team and interunit networks had different effects on the outcomes of three knowledge-sharing phases (Hansen et al., 2005), future studies on knowledge sharing under NPD setting should examine how multiple networks affect different phases of knowledge sharing.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This study purports to examine the effects of a joint reward system (JRS) under a new product development (NPD) setting by identifying four neglected aspects of JRS that contains a procedural view (participation of reward decision and reward contingent on NPD phases) and a monetary view (risk-free to participate and over-reward incentive) in a conceptual model, and then to empirically test their effects on knowledge sharing and NPD performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using regression analysis, the proposed model was tested on 233 valid respondents (112 in R&D, 50 in marketing, and 71 in manufacturing), including 92 from electronics firms, 87 from semiconductor firms, 29 from biotechnology firms, and 25 from pharmaceutical firms in Taiwan.\nFindings: - The results indicated that risk-free to NPD project members is the most salient aspect of JRS on knowledge sharing and NPD performance. Joint determination of reward allocation was found to be a favorable JRS for only marketing and NPD performance. Rewards contingent on NPD phases have shown conflicting results between R&D and marketing. No relationship was found for over-reward incentive on knowledge sharing and NPD performance. Despite the mixed effects of JRS, knowledge sharing is a strong predictor of NPD performance.\nOriginality/value: - This study extends understanding of the complexities of rewards on knowledge sharing and NPD success by decomposing and testing four unique aspects of JRS, which sheds a new light on NPD researches.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Different or similar? Acceptability of aseptic-packaged cooked rice among consumers, researchers and experts
|
[
"Consumer perceptions",
"Sensory evaluation",
"Sensory perception"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Understanding consumers is the key to success in product development or reformulation (Moskowitz et al., 2006). Therefore, most food products should pass the consumer acceptance testing during and/or at the end of the product development cycle in order to determine if the products are ready to go on the market. Food scientists want to know whether the new or reformulated products can confer any advantages or provide better quality than the competitors or the original products (Meilgaard et al., 1999). During product development, conducting a consumer acceptance test requires time, money, and labor. This process is a burden for the industries, especially in developed countries where labor costs are expensive.\nMaterials and methods: Rice varieties and aseptic-packaged cooked rice preparation\nResults and discussion: DA\nConclusions: The main objective of this study was to compare the acceptance rating trends among consumers, researchers, and experts, which were evaluated at each testing set-up. We found that the acceptance rating trends for the aseptic-packaged cooked rice samples were different for all three of the panels. In depth, the rating patterns for the eight aseptic-packaged cooked rice samples were close to independent among the consumers, researchers, and experts. The different patterns generated a discrepancy in the drivers of liking for aseptic-packaged cooked rice. This was the evidence that what the consumers like would not be what the researchers or experts prefer. Hence, the researchers and experts of the companies or research facilities were not likely to rate the products similarly to the consumers because they had more knowledge of the products and/or had the experience of training programs for the product evaluation. The researchers and experts also seemed to spend more psychological sophistication for the evaluation of the samples (Weng and Cheng, 2000) because their evaluations had objectives, such as product reformulation, product development, and quality grading. On the other hand, the consumers would be instinctive because they had fewer burdens for the product evaluation and had less bias to the samples.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare the acceptance ratings and drivers of liking and disliking attributes of aseptic-packaged cooked rice by consumers, researchers and experts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Descriptive analysis (DA) was conducted using trained panelists. Acceptability was measured by consumers, researchers and experts. The results of DA and acceptability were analyzed using partial least square regression.\nFindings: There was no strong relationship among the three groups in their rating patterns for the samples (r=-0.342-0.445). The liking factors for each group were as follows: consumers (rice cake flavor and moisture), researchers (wet wood flavor and whiteness) and experts (wet wood flavor and size of rice). The disliking factors for each group were as follows: consumers (wet wood flavor and brown particle), researchers (moisture) and experts (old rice aroma). The consumers, researchers and experts seemed to have different acceptances and key descriptive attributes for aseptic-packaged cooked rice.\nResearch limitations/implications: The consensus by researchers during the product development process required caution with regard to the fact that the evaluation by the researchers could be different from what consumers or experts prefer.\nPractical implications: Setting-up in-house panelists group would be minimized the discrepancy between consumers and researches.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to understanding of the acceptability by food researchers and comparing to consumers and experts for the first time in sensory field.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Applying western organization development in China: lessons from a case of success
|
[
"Organizational development",
"Organizational change",
"Cross‐cultural management",
"China"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The increasingly risky, rapidly changing, and unpredictable global business environment of today calls for organizations to constantly adjust their internal configurations - structure, work processes, technology, and culture - to maintain efficiency (Sun, 2000). Organizational development (OD), as a set of the USA-originated concepts and techniques has gained more popularity in the international settings (Cummings and Worley, 2005), such as China.With ongoing changes characterized by large-scale, high-impact, and high level of complexity, China provides a unique and ideal setting for organization development and change (OD/C) research. As the largest consumer market in the world, China has consistently attracted multi-national corporations from around the globe, which have exposed the country to western management philosophy and practices (Pan and Zhang, 2004). Further, China's market-oriented economic reform since late 1970s has ignited enterprise reform (starting the mid-1980s), which in turn has altered the backbone of China's industrial sector, 305,000 state-owned enterprises' (SOEs) \"operating environment, financial arrangements, business and administrative relationships, as well as internal structures and motivation of firms\" (Sun, 2000, p. 379). In response to these changes, Chinese organizations are turning to western OD. However, to date, OD/C research in/on Chinese organizations has not been documented adequately in literature (Sun).Purpose and significance\nTheoretical contexts: This section starts with a brief overview of the concept of OD/C. It is followed by a presentation of the theoretical debates regarding cross-cultural knowledge transfer. It concludes with a discussion about OD in China.Organization development and change\nResearch methodology: This study employed a single case design (Yin, 2003) as the pilot field work of a larger research project to satisfy \"how\" question associated with the identified phenomenon - knowledge transfer. The case study is considered the preferred research methodology when the focus is on a \"contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context\" (Yin, 2003, p. 13) and allows the researcher to explore a bounded system (a case). A single case design is justifiable \"when seeking description of an everyday or commonplace situation\" (Yin, p. 41). From this setting, the researcher may be able to assemble \"lessons learned\" (p. 41) for the purpose of informing similar contexts.The case selection\nOD application at BT: Based on the participants' report, BT adopted western OD approaches primarily in three areas: vision creation, human resource management (HRM) system, and budgetary and cost control system.Creating a shared vision\nDiscussion: Several issues stood out in this case analysis. Overall, BT went through value-modifying transformational change by using culture-based approaches to launch the change. Then BT adopted western OD techniques as a means to re-engineer the business processes. Having effective leadership, strong learning orientation, and partnership with an external OD expert contributed to the success of BT's change efforts. This section discusses the characteristics of BT's change, critical success factors, and lessons learned.Characteristics of BT's organizational change\nImplications of OD practices for Chinese organizations: As multinational corporations continuously introduce new management practices and operations that challenge conventional norms (Zhou et al., 2006), Chinese SOEs must actively seek new ways to improve their operational efficiency. In addition to the lessons learned as discussed above, findings of this study have practical implications.Developing change leaders\nStudy limitations and suggestions for future research: As a pilot study to address a highly complicated and debatable phenomenon in an emerging economy, this paper is subject to several limitations. First, due to the focus on one single case, findings of the study cannot be generalized. Future research should focus on multiple cases to allow replication (Yin, 2003). Second, as with all qualitative case studies, the analysis and conclusions are suggestive rather than conclusive (Hemple and Martinsons, 2009). Quantitative methods should be employed to test the generalizability of the findings with larger samples, including other SOEs and enterprises of mixed ownerships in China. Third, this study examined the application of western OD in China. Future research is warranted to seek to identify culture-based OD strategies that capture the unique social, cultural, historical, and political mosaic of China. This stream of research will contribute to the building of indigenous OD theory in China (Tsui, 2006). Finally, China's experience using western OD can inform other developing countries or regions undergoing similar economic transitions. As very few studies in the literature address OD practices in Asia Pacific Region (Lau, 2002), this study is to trigger more research in this direction.\nConclusions: Organizations in reforming China provide unique and challenging opportunities to cross-culturally analyze popular OD/C theories and techniques derived in the western context. Studies exploring the degree to which western-based OD/C has been successfully applied in Chinese organizations would benefit not only China, as it continues to make the transition to a market economy, but also multinational corporations that are operating subsidiaries and joint ventures with their Chinese partners.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore a successful case of a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE) as it applied western organization development (OD) approaches. Specifically, this study seeks to answer two questions: How has western organization development and change (OD/C) been applied in one Chinese SOE? and What lessons can be learned from this successful case?\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper employs a single case design to gain an in-depth understanding. The case study is the methodology when the focus is on a contemporary phenomenon within a real-life context.\nFindings: - The findings reveal that the organization successfully uses a number of western OD techniques in creating a shared vision, establishing a performance-based human resource management system, and standardizing budgetary and cost control procedures. The success of the company's change effort is largely attributed to leadership, standardization of management systems, commitment to learning and training, and partnership with an OD expert.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Findings of this paper are limited by the single case study design. Future research is needed to study more cases of success where western OD techniques have been applied. Further research is also warranted to identify indigenous OD approaches used by Chinese organizations. Current research also needs to be expanded to study regions or countries that are undergoing similar economic transitions and have adopted western-based OD techniques.\nOriginality/value: - By focusing on an under-explored research territory - China - the paper expands the current knowledge of OD into the international domain and fills in the gap of OD/C research which is lacking in China.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The role of trust in employee-manager relationship
|
[
"Hospitality management",
"Trust",
"Customer service management",
"Job satisfaction",
"Employee relations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Good employee-management relationship is the key to the success of a hospitality organization. Employee job dissatisfaction and poor dedication issues have been seen prevalent in the hospitality organizations.Employee job dissatisfaction and dedication issues have negative impact on the quality of guest service and consequently, on guest satisfaction. Poor service and guest dissatisfaction lead to losses in sales revenue that has a negative impact on the profitability of the organization. Hence, the hospitality organization can be pushed into bankruptcy. Therefore, it is important to find solutions to these serious organizational issues.As employee job dissatisfaction and poor dedication to hospitality organizations have been identified as significant problems, it is fundamental to explore avenues that may improve them. This paper takes the position that trust in a hospitality manager holds great promise to improve employee job satisfaction and dedication to the hospitality organizations.Trust, in this study, is viewed as an attitude held by a hospitality manager towards service employees. According to Whitener et al. (1998), attitude is derived from the trustor's (e.g. service employee's) perceptions, beliefs, and attributions about the trustee (e.g. a hospitality manager), based upon his or her observations of the trustee's behavior. Trust in a hospitality manager rallies service employee relationship with management. Thus, trust creates a positive working environment, which in turn, fosters employee job satisfaction and dedication to the organizations.Therefore, the resultant thesis is that trust of customer-contact service employees (CCSEs) in a hospitality manager is conducive to enhance service employee job satisfaction and dedication to the hospitality organization. The purpose of this study was to explore these affects and relationships on CCSEs within the hospitality industry.Trust and job satisfaction\nMethods: Measurement\nResults: Relationship between trust and job satisfaction\nDiscussion and implications: The main purpose of this study was to determine whether the improvement in the degree of employee perceived trust in a hospitality manager improves job satisfaction and dedication to the hospitality organization. This was done by surveying a sample of restaurant employees. These employee perceptions and judgments are the basis of my findings that the degree of improvement in employee job satisfaction and dedication to the hospitality organization is associated with the improvement in the degree of employee perceived trust in a hospitality manager.Since the hospitality industry, by definition, is identified with high levels of customer-contact, it is imperative to explore all potential human resource management practices that may have positive impact on employee job satisfaction (Gill and Mathur, 2007).CCSEs in the hospitality industry play a boundary-spanning role where they interact with many individuals from inside (fellow employees and managers) and outside (guests) their organization. This large role set requires CCSEs to satisfy frequently variegated needs and expectations of multiple parties, and only one of those parties is their manager/supervisor. This requires employee job satisfaction and dedication to the hospitality organization. Therefore, it is important for managers/supervisors to build employee trust in them to improve job satisfaction and dedication to the hospitality organization.Building employee trust\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of trust on an employee's job satisfaction and dedication. This study also extends Flaherty and Pappas's findings regarding the role of trust in salesperson-sales manager relationships and Gill and Mathur's findings related to employee dedication and pro-social behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Employees from hospitality industry were interviewed to examine if employee trust in a hospitality manager improves job satisfaction and dedication.\nFindings: - Degree of employee job satisfaction and dedication is related to degree of employee trust in a hospitality manager.\nPractical implications: - If employees perceive higher degree of trust in a hospitality manager, the degree of their job satisfaction and dedication is perceived higher and vice-versa.\nOriginality/value: - This paper offers useful insights for hospitality managers based on empirical evidence.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
An analysis of the major issues for successful information technology transfer in Arab countries
|
[
"Communication technologies",
"Knowledge transfer",
"Delphi method",
"Arabian Peninsula"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Information technology (IT) transfer has become increasingly important, since the successful execution of an IT transfer project can provide benefits for all nations, especially developing countries. Developing countries, such as Arab countries, are at quite heterogeneous stages of industrial development and tend to differ according to their situations and the dynamics of their strategic pathways of development. Technology is important as it supports and sustains socio-economic growth, human needs and national development. IT transfer has long been identified as a key issue within the development process and long-term growth. However, the history of technology transfer has not been one of unqualified success. Many failures have occurred for reasons that have not always been clear (Cohen, 2004). This is mostly due to the complexity, sophistication, and dynamism of the processes, the high requirement of financial, human, physical, and technological resources, a lack of or low technology absorptive capacity in the recipients, as well as differences in culture and languages, business practices, rules and regulations, economic situations, competitors and technological infrastructure (Nahar, 2001).Many complex issues are involved in the consideration of IT transfer in Arab countries. Some of those issues are not completely defined and studied, or cannot be precisely measured. In general, there has been relatively limited research conducted on IT transfer in Arab countries (Abdul Ghani and Al-Sakran, 1988; Al-Gahtani, 2001; Atiyyah, 1989; Straub et al., 2001). Arab countries need to recognise the key issues in a successful IT transfer process. Some of these might be the same that which must be addressed by an organisation to succeed in achieving its goals and objectives (Deans et al., 1991). Additionally, issues that affect IT transfer critically impact on an organisation's current operating activities and its future success. Consequently, this study seeks to fill the gap in the literature relating to successful IT transfer studies in Arab countries. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify, analyse, and discuss the issues for successful IT transfer that enhance and improve the IT transfer process in Arab countries by posing the following research question: what are the major issues for successful IT transfer in developing countries from stakeholder groups' perceptions in Arab countries? Having gathered and synthesised ranking issues, we aim to compare responses across academics, IT practitioners, government officials, and technology suppliers engaged in technology transfer research. Therefore, further questions on the issues include:* What are the issues associated with the success of IT transfer faced by stakeholder groups in the Arab countries?* What is the relative importance of these issues according to stakeholders?This paper contributes to the area of IT transfer in three particular ways. First, it examines IT transfer process from the stakeholders' point of view and highlights the importance of identifying those stakeholders who perceive the issues associated with IT transfer process in Arab countries. In contrast, past studies in IT transfer have not been very detailed in addressing to whom the issue is related. Second, the study applies a new methodological approach towards understanding the IT transfer process. The Delphi method has not been used in previous technology transfer studies; such a methodology, if applied appropriately, could allow upcoming researchers to uncover some of the embedded issues related to IT transfer from the perception of stakeholder groups. Third, the sources of evidence are collected from a three-round survey and literature. This paper consists of six major sections. After this first introductory section, we provide details of a literature review in Section 2. Then, the research methodology applied in this study is described and justified in Section 3. The study findings are presented in Section 4. The interpretation of study findings is also presented in Section 5. Finally, the conclusion is outlined in Section 6.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Technology\n3. Methodology: Due to the limited practitioner and academic literature that exists in the area of identifying key issues for a successful technology transfer process, the research method conducted in this study can be described as exploratory and descriptive. Exploratory research aims to explore a new topic or issue in order to learn about it. It also tends to be more open to using a range of evidence and discovering new issues (Neuman, 2003). The study applied the Delphi approach due to the fact that it is believed to be a stronger methodology for a rigorous enquiry of experts and stakeholders. The Delphi technique is a method of structuring group communication in a series of rounds, in order to obtain a consensus of group opinion (Linstone and Turoff, 1975). The next section presents an overview of the Delphi method, the reasons for selecting this method, the procedure for selecting experts, and the data collection procedures.3.1 Overview of the Delphi method\n4. Study findings: The objective of this section is to report on the analysis of the data and findings from the study survey of key issues for successful IT transfer process, from the perception of stakeholder groups in Arab countries. The study findings confirm the importance of this selection of the data, and distinctions identified reflect the understanding and improving of the nuances of IT transfer process in the Arab countries among the stakeholder groups. During the period of May 2006 and July 2007, three Delphi survey rounds and a domain experts' workshop were conducted. This section presents the study findings across all the Delphi survey rounds and the domain experts' workshop. Table I shows the overall mean scores and rankings of the ten major issue categories from the \"ranking' round survey.The rank score has a potential range of 1 to 10 to indicate which issues are considered most important by all stakeholder groups. Rank, mean, and standard deviation ratings are presented for a variety of demographic categories. Of the three highest ranking issues categories overall, it is noteworthy that the issue \"Formulate flexible government policies, with assistance from private and public corporations, for the selection and introduction of technology\" was ranked 1st as the most important issue, with a mean of 6.65. A similar analysis was performed on the issue category \"Identify and utilize competitive and high quality suppliers\", which ranked 2nd overall with a mean of 6.60, recognising this issue as the second most important issue. The other overall ratings and rankings of the ten component issues are presented in Table I. The detailed ratings and ranking across the stakeholder groups are also illustrated in Table II and discussed more fully in the next section.\n5. Interpretation of study findings: This section presents the interpretations of the top ten major issues for successful IT transfer in the Arab countries. The issues are detailed below.5.1 Formulate flexible policies, with assistance from private and public corporations, for the selection and introduction of technology\n6. Conclusion: The purpose of this study was to identify, analyse, and interpret the major issues for successful IT transfer in Arab countries and examine the relative importance of these issues as they affect various stakeholder groups. Accordingly, a three-round Delphi study was conducted, yielding ten major issue categories for successful IT transfer in Arab countries. A number of control measures were used to avoid significant limitations:* the literature reviewed and background information, by necessity, came from a diversity of sources (technology, technology transfer, IT transfer, IT transfer in Arab countries);* groups of qualified experts were carefully selected;* the final set of major issues was confirmed and ranked by the respondents;* the data collected were grouped into different stakeholder groups to measure the points of consensus and differences of the issues; and* the interpretation of the study findings were discussed.This study provides useful insights and several contributions to the field of IT transfer. First, the findings can benefit academics and researchers involved in the field by providing a broader view and a better understanding of what the major issues are in dealing with successful IT transfer in Arab countries. Second, the findings offer IT practitioners guidelines to ensure that important and urgent issues are taken into consideration in the early stages of the IT transfer process. Third, policy makers and government officials in Arab countries require current information on these issues and key concerns to improve and formulate forecasting and policies to promote successful IT transfer. Fourth, the list of key issues identified by domain experts can help technology suppliers who seek to better understand the major issues surrounding IT transfer success in Arab countries. Consequently, this study focuses on an area of interest that has not been explored extensively in the technology transfer field in Arab countries. There are many pieces to the puzzle regarding how IT transfer issues are measured and the validity of instruments used that need to be addressed through future research to expand the knowledge in those countries seeking to transfer new technology in general, and IT in particular.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - In the history of technology transfer in Arab countries, it is probably true that there has been more failure and disappointment than satisfaction and success in achieving the expected results from the technology transfer agreements. Many complex issues are involved in the consideration of technology transfer in Arab countries. The purpose of this study is to identify, analyse and discuss the major issues for successful information technology (IT) transfer in Arab countries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A three-round, non-anonymous, Delphi-type survey is designed and connected to understand and explicate major issues from the perceptions of stakeholder groups in Arab countries.\nFindings: - The coding approach and synthesis procedures result in a master set of ten major issues categories for successful IT transfer in Arab countries.\nOriginality/value: - This paper serves to focus discussion and promote constructive interaction for the purpose of developing an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the nuances of IT transfer process in Arab countries.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Role-playing: a learning process to aid supply chain integration
|
[
"Role play",
"Supply chain management",
"Integration"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: Supply chain management is a cross-disciplinary, cross-industry concept designed to maximize the value-added achieved as product and services, information and financials flow through suppliers and intermediary firms to the end user. Therefore, managing the nature and variety in functions performed by supply chain participants produces a major barrier to inter-firm integration. Such diverse functions include purchasing, production planning, warehouse management, distribution, logistics management and marketing. Supply chain roles predominately fall into two categories defined as \"hard\" systems or process centered e.g. engineering or production and \"soft\" systems participants such as marketers who focus primarily on behavioural issues to satisfy customer demand. Rarely do exponents share, relate to or try to appreciate the other's perspective. Without an appreciation or desire to relate to other roles which are necessary for operating between organizations, the ideal of integrated supply chains capturing value-added for the end user remains only a good concept.\nSupply chain challenges: It is said that supply chains need to be customer focused and market driven (Hines, 2004) to create maximum value added for the customer and the organizations that participate as members in the chain. Delivering the value largely depends upon cooperation between functions such as engineering and design with purchasing or marketing. The point where \"value\" is created often involves the interface between functions internally and organizational participants externally (Gattorna, 2006). This interface provides the primary challenge for supply chains which involves the coordination of processes and people between organizations.Industry trainers and academic educators are seeking new methods in an attempt to bridge this gap to enable both types of thinkers to understand each other's role in the supply chain in an effort to help them work together more effectively. Traditionally case studies have been utilized to demonstrate the cause and effect influence of supply chain mechanisms and strategies in an applied role on a particular organization. An extended form of case study method called role playing provides participants with a learning mechanism to more fully engage with varied perspectives and thinking in different scenarios. The conceptual insight posited in this paper provides some guidance in that respect.\nWhy role-playing?: Role-playing as a learning mechanism involves the participants embracing the role that they are involved in, rather than just assuming the role as is commonly adopted in case studies. The traditional assumed status of case study learning meant that the \"students\" felt removed from the role and the case then becomes a superficial exercise, rather than an ownership issue. Role-playing requires the participants to embrace a role in context, making the learning experience more sophisticated (Russell and Amernic, 1994). As a mechanism for learning it has often been used to great effect by exponents of change management. The technique is predominately used within functional teams to either enhance leadership styles, better equip staff in engaging customers and in negotiation situations, such as collective bargaining (Lloyd, 1970) and conflict resolution (Russell and Amernic, 1994). This paper supports the benefits of such a technique to enhance supply chain integration by providing a mechanism for better understanding of the roles of other participants within their supply chain, both at the inter-firm relationship level and within a firm between cooperating functions.\nLearning to appreciate other roles through role-playing: Role-playing adds to already effective learning tools within supply chain management such as simulation and gaming. However there is less known of the use of role-playing as a catalyst for interaction between chain participants in different roles in a supply chain setting. The use of role-playing is perceived to be a useful \"bridge\" between differently orientated roles which perform different functions within the same supply chain. Such as the production manufacturing industry which is predominantly classed as \"hard\" systems orientated because they place emphasis on process optimization. This \"hard\" orientated approach is reflective in this comment \"We concentrate on production optimization to fulfill customer demand\" (process industry participant). At the other extreme is marketing and distribution orientated firms who place more emphasis on people (customer focus) and behavioral issues within the exchange, identified as being \"soft\" systems orientated. This \"soft\" orientated approach is reflective in this comment \"Relationships are formed between people on behalf of the organization which enable flexible exchange to satisfy ... customer demand\" (marketing participant). A reluctance to try new mechanisms for learning is shared by both these hard and soft orientated individuals with commonly perceived barriers to the worth of engaging in role- playing activities. These include such issues as, \"it is outside of my parameters\", \"it is a non effective use of time\", \"cannot see any immediate benefit\", and, \"not relevant to my performance\". The \"hard\" systems orientated participants perceive marketing roles to be people focused, \"soft\" issues behavioural based, interaction focused, and relationship collaboration driven. Alternatively the \"soft\" systems orientated participants view manufacturing roles as being predominately technically focused, product and process driven, efficiency oriented, coordination focused.\nRole-play learning as a useful contributor to supply chain integration: Role- playing breaks down the barriers of having to relate to an alternative role perspective because it provides supply chain participants with an alternative learning technique which enables them to \"own\" rather than \"assume\" an often unfamiliar role within their supply chain. This offers an alternative and more in depth method of learning others' roles in the supply chain. Therein, providing supply chain participants another perspective with which to form an opinion as to how they might better integrate and ultimately better jointly satisfy their customers. If this method of education is to be adopted in practice, this will require educators and trainers to explore the many different yet currently challenging role-playing scenarios within supply chains, and motivate students to consider another perspective, which is important for integration to occur.\nSummary: This paper contends that \"role-playing\" is a useful technique to enable traditional \"hard\" and \"soft\" orientated participants within the supply chain to gain an understanding of each others role to aid inter-functional and inter-firm integration. Although the arguments presented in this paper are conceptual, role-playing as a learning technique has been used successfully in both the accounting sector in regard to training in negotiations and within organizations in the labor relations context. This technique of role-playing as an enhancer of understanding is currently being trialled as a learning mechanism in higher education by the author and colleagues in a supply chain setting. Initial feedback indicates that students both full time and part-time (involving industry representatives) have been able to use this role-playing activity to place themselves in an unfamiliar role which has provided them fresh insight into the demands of their immediate interface partner.The specific value of this paper then, is to invite readers to view role-playing as an additional mechanism to enhance integration by enabling different supply chain participants to gain an understanding of each other's roles so as to accept and appreciate the perspective of the individual or department that is their immediate interface. The practical implications of embracing such a technique will help encourage better inter-functional and inter-firm communication, coordination and integration. At the very least, role-playing provides an effective forum for discussion as to potential conflict between functions and firms, and facilitates joint commitment to finding a workable solution through a better appreciation of others' roles.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper introduces an alternative use of an existing learning mechanism to aid in gaining acceptance of others' roles within a supply chain. This view places an emphasis on role-playing as a means to improve supply chain integration.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper is conceptual and introduces a learning technique to enable both \"hard\" and \"soft\" systems orientated participants to be better understood between chain partners.\nFindings: - The findings presented in this paper are conceptual. However, the technique offered has partially proven success in other management scenarios and yet to be tested in supply chain management.\nPractical implications: - By embracing role-playing, practitioners have opportunities to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation about other roles that participate in the same supply chain as themselves, creating an opportunity for enhanced integration between roles within their supply chain.\nOriginality/value: - The value of this paper is to invite the reader to consider role-playing as a mechanism to encourage and educate supply chain participants in the roles of others who participant in the same chain from another perspective. This learning technique will contribute towards integration internally between functions of the organization and in an inter-organizational capacity along the supply chain.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Assessing supplier performances under partnership in project-type procurement
|
[
"Supply chain management",
"Project management",
"Procurement",
"Production management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the era of networked economies, partnership is a subject intimately related to supply chain management. The partnership agreement is a coordination mechanism governing the supply chain relationship (McCutcheon and Stuart, 2000). Operational partnerships encompass a wide variety of value-creation processes, e.g. research and development, procurement, production, marketing, investment, employment, logistics, etc. (Reed and Reed, 2009). The crux of a successful partnership is the joint profitability among the members as opposed to individual gains. A management challenge is to reconcile supply chain members' conflicts of interests while creating incentive to achieve performance among the respective partners (Ellram, 1995).Despite the prevalence of partnership, the conceptualization on partnership varies from study to study. Partnership can be implemented in a two-tier or a three-tier distribution model, and different industries and cultures treat it differently. As such, it is difficult to provide a \"one-size-fits-all\" definition for partnership broadly across all parameters (Johnstone et al., 2009; Reed and Reed, 2009). We hereby develop a working definition of commercial partnership to more effectively probe our study subject. A partnership is defined as a long-term relational mechanism between a industrial supplier and its customer, which replaces open-market mechanism and provides financial and operational incentive for partnering entities to pursue performances individually and jointly (Chang, 2008; Whipple and Roh, 2010; Zhang, 2009).The study context of this paper is the project-type, manufacturing supply chain. Project businesses are discrete and the management environment may vary across projects. Project environments demonstrate the \"antithesis\" of partnership development, which aimed at long-term, stable collaboration (Beach et al., 2005). For instance, in the construction industry, it is difficult to implement partnerships at the downstream stage in a development project because of the sporadic transactions.Industrial managers have adopted on supply chain management and project management in controlling complex systems (Foster et al., 2011). Project members across industrial supply chains can form partnerships to obtain scope economies and complement one another's competences (e.g. Barnes & Noble partnering with Starbucks to achieve functional integration). Supply chain management hence provides a new systematic perspective to reconcile the incompatible aspects among project management and partnership mechanisms (Hicks and McGovern, 2009).The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of the partnership in a project environment. Our research scope focuses on the performance of suppliers who develop a partnering mechanism for procurement of manufacturing projects. Compared to the partnership literature on the benefits for a customer base, studies evaluating the impacts of partnership on suppliers are few and sporadic in selective industries (Field and Meile, 2008). We intend to extend the partnership literature by addressing the following research challenges:* Identification of project-based performance metrics under partnership.* A comparative evaluation of the supplier's performance under partnership and arms-length relationships.The basis of the paper is the study of a partnership between a global supplier and a Fortune 500 customer. We collected a unique dataset under the case partnership through a multi-year case study in an industrial procurement context. This paper contributes to the partnership literature in the following aspects: we provide detailed information of the partnership in a project-type supply chain, which is relatively new in the literature. Research streams on supply chain management, project management, and principal-agent theory are integrated to evaluate supplier performances. Empirical results confirm partnership impacts on suppliers' performances.For the remaining content of the paper, the second section reviews literature on partnership and its impacts on firm performance. We develop a set of parameters through literature review. A set of hypotheses is then developed. In the fourth section, we present comparative tests relative to supplier performances under partnership and arms-length relationships. The fifth section discusses managerial implications of the findings. The final section provides summary and concluding remarks.\nLiterature review: Literature on partnerships applied in supply chain is first reviewed. We then discuss project management literature on implementing partnership in a project-type supply chain. We in turn discuss recent empirical studies applying principal-agent theory to examine partnership issues. Finally, four performance metrics and related hypotheses are developed.Partnership applications in the supply chain\nHypothesis development: We utilize supply chain partnership, project management, and principal-agent theory as three prongs of the underlying fields to develop the following hypotheses. In the research context, suppliers carry out complex manufacturing projects for customers that consist of engineering, production, and delivery. A supplier can extend both partnerships and arms-length mechanisms in the chain. The four performance metrics discussed previously are utilized to compare suppliers' performances before and after partnership is instituted. We predict that suppliers' performances will improve under partnership; we also hypothesize that suppliers' performances will remain status quo under arms-length relationships due to the lack of coordination mechanism beyond using the market.Effect of partnership on project scope changes\nData and methods: Sample and study firm characteristics\nResults: Correlation analyses\nDiscussion: Comments on H1\nConcluding remarks: Recently, commercial partnerships have gained much attention from scholars and practitioners because of the perceived benefits to individual partners and supply chain as a whole. This paper employed insights from supply chain management, project management, and principal-agent theory on partnerships to examine the effects of a commercial partnership and arms-length relationships on supplier performances in project-type supply chain. We took the supplier's standpoint in an industrial supplier-customer relationship and hypothesized that the partnership will help supplier to reduce project scope changes, enhance cost performance, improve gross profit margin, and reduce delay in lead time to customer.We performed a case study that reviewed 801 proposals by an analytical system supplier for customers in multiple industries. A unique dataset of financial and operational estimates was compiled from 167 awarded projects. The t-test analyses supported assertions that ratios of actual-to-estimated project costs, gross profit margins, and delays in deliverable shipments improved significantly for the supplier under the partnership agreement, while the general performance for arms-length projects maintained status quo. These findings are indicative that partnerships can contribute to the case company's operational parameters, improve its bottom line, and concurrently benefit its partnering customer.The findings of this paper are largely consistent with the prediction in literature that developing and implementing an incentive mechanism through partnering relationships will have mutual benefit. Moreover, although a partnership can enhance operational efficiencies, the partnership alone does not guarantee an increase in revenue. A supplementary study on a new measure, capture ratio, indicates that under the studied case, the supplier may be able to reduce transaction costs when developing projects. It hence suggests that customers should promote a partnering environment that fosters the performance by agent.Limitations and future research\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of a commercial partnership in a project-type supply chain. The research focuses on the performance of suppliers who develop a partnering mechanism for procurement of complex manufacturing projects. In total, four supply chain metrics are evaluated: project scope change, ratio of actual-to-estimated project costs, gross profit margin, and delay in deliverable shipments. Hypotheses are formulated to contrast partnerships and arms-length relationships for industrial procurement. Statistical results support the conclusion that supplier performances improve under partnership.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Four supply chain metrics were generated through review of literature and in-depth field study. The authors utilized the supply chain management, project management, and principal-agent theory literature to develop hypotheses to examine effects of instituting a partnership agreement. A case study approach was employed to collect financial and operational data from 167 projects among a manufacturing supplier and a group of customers that purchase industrial analyzer systems. Statistical techniques were employed for hypothesis testing.\nFindings: - The findings from the authors' empirical work support the prediction in partnership literature that suppliers' operational and financial performances improve after they and manufacturing customers jointly implement partnerships. A supplementary finding also suggests that a manufacturer should develop partnering mechanisms with suppliers to achieve higher performance for both the individual firms and the entire supply chain.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study, like other \"before and after\" analyses, encounters limitations on causality. Advanced techniques, e.g. cause-effect investigation with richer data, are hence necessary to validate the causal relationships between performance metrics and their drivers. This study focuses only on the supplier's side of the supply chain and its partnership in a specific industrial setting. Future research may consider studying the joint performance by supplier-customer dyads in commercial partnerships with variations of partnering agreements.\nPractical implications: - Partnerships motivate trading partners to engage in higher level of coordination. Transactional hazards can be reduced and performance may improve under the partnering mechanism. The manufacturer may design the procurement partnership as a collaborative mechanism, thus helping a partnering supplier and itself to obtain increased mutual gains.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides detailed information of a unique case study of the partnership in a project-type supply chain, which is relatively new in the literature. Research streams on supply chain management, project management, and principal-agent theory are integrated to evaluate supplier performance. Empirical results confirm partnership impacts on suppliers' business performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Celebrity poses and consumer attitudes in endorsement advertisements
|
[
"Endorsement",
"Advertising",
"Marketing communications",
"Consumer attitude",
"Cognitive load",
"Celebrity endorsement",
"Celebrity poses"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: To date, the number of celebrities worldwide has been progressively rising, and their influence is substantial and undeniable (Furedi, 2010). Celebrities are playing an increasingly vital role in the current intense marketing environment because it is becoming considerably difficult to differentiate products technologically from one another. The use of celebrities in marketing activities can cost the endorsed company a substantial amount of money (Liu and Brock, 2011). For example, LeBron James earned approximately $13m per year from his endorsements of Nike alone (Badenhausen, 2016). Therefore, academic research is particularly interested in the effectiveness of the use of celebrity endorsers. However, at this time, most relevant investigations have focussed on traditional source characteristics such as expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness (Ohanian, 1991) or on the match between a product and an endorser (i.e. the celebrity match-up hypothesis) (Kahle and Homer, 1985; Kamins, 1990).\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Celebrity endorsement and consumer attitude\n3. Study 1: distinctive pose and favourable attitude: 3.1 Methods\n4. Study 2: mediation role of pose matchiness: Study 2 extends Study 1 in two ways. First, it measured the feelings of \"pose matchiness\" and tested this concept's mediation role in the relationship between pose conditions and enhanced consumer attitudes. Second, to increase the external validity of the study, various categories of celebrities such as pop star and comedian were used as the stimuli.\n5. Study 3: a beauty and a clothing brand: Study 3 extended the previous studies in two ways. First, drawing on the fluency attribution theory, this study introduced the cognitive constrain as an experimental factor to test its moderation effect. Second, to enhance the external validity of distinctive pose effect, Study 3 used a female endorser to test the pose conditions on endorsement outcomes.\n6. Discussion and conclusion: The present study provides the first demonstration of the important finding that the poses of celebrities influence endorsement outcomes. Study 1 revealed primary evidence of the existence of a pose distinctiveness effect, wherein a celebrity appearing in his famous Kung Fu pose resulted in more favourable consumer attitudes towards the endorsed product in comparison with him in a casual pose.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of celebrity's poses on consumer attitudes towards the endorsement advertisement by drawing from perceptual fluency hypotheses.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Study 1 used a single-factor, two-condition (distinctive pose and casual pose) between-subject design. Both Study 2a and Study 2b employed a single-factor, two-condition (distinctive pose, casual pose) between-subject design and tested the mediator of pose matchiness. Study 3 employed a 2 (pose condition: distinctive, casual)x2 (cognitive capacity: no load, load) between-subject design to test the moderator. All data were sourced from more than 600 respondents in China.\nFindings: Study 1 illustrated that the existence of a distinctive pose can lead to higher consumer attitudes regarding advertising stimuli and the endorsed brands as well as more positive behavioural intentions towards endorsed products. Study 2a and Study 2b replicated such finding and demonstrated that the feeling of pose matchiness mediates the relationship between celebrities' pose and endorsement outcomes. Study 3 further revealed that the cognitive capacity moderates such a relationship, that is, that the effect of a distinctive pose is stronger (lesser) when audiences' cognitive capacity is loaded (not loaded).\nOriginality/value: Research efforts to date examining the nature of celebrity advertisement have been limited to celebrity's faces and facial expressions. Little investigation in the marketing domain has considered the consequences of celebrities' poses. This study takes the first step in revealing the positive effect of distinctive celebrity poses in product endorsement.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Do recovery experiences moderate the relationship between workload and work-family conflict?
|
[
"Work-family conflict",
"Psychological well-being",
"Recovery experiences",
"Workload"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The job demands in modern organizations, combined with an increasing permeability of organizational boundaries, have increased the relevance of research on the relationship between work and family domains (Voydanoff, 2005). Many scholars have recognized various additional changes that have necessitated the study of the work-family interface: the intensification of female employment, the growth of the number of \"dual-career\" couples and single-parent families (Magee et al., 2012), and the influence of the information era on work practices (MacDermid, 2005). Within this framework, Italy represents a peculiar context, characterized by increased job pressures and job insecurity that interfere with the private life, and a limited externalization of care, with a major role played by the traditional family through informal help (Naldini and Saraceno, 2011). In order to cope with this situation, it seems relevant to continue investigating the work-family conflict (WFC) dynamics, trying to understand which dimensions can support workers in dealing with work- and family-related requests and responsibilities.\nMethod: Procedure and participants\nResults: Descriptive statistics\nDiscussion: The present study aimed to contribute to the WFC literature by investigating the relationship between workload, WFC, and recovery experiences. Specifically, our research had two main goals: first, to test if there is a positive relationship between workload and WFC and second, to investigate the moderating effects of four recovery experiences (Sonnentag and Fritz, 2007) on this relationship, addressing a gap in the literature that has not considered the buffering role of the four recovery experiences in the non-work domain dynamics so far.\nConclusion: This study highlights the beneficial role of recovery experiences in the relationship between workload and work-family interface. This finding has theoretical and practical implications. As regards practical implications, several studies have shown that interventions to reduce WFC are relevant to promote individual and organizational well-being (Allen et al., 2000; Amstad et al., 2011; Magee et al., 2012). Facilitating recovery experiences represents a relevant intervention in this direction: individuals can be supported to improve their awareness and experience different kind of recovery, according to their personal preferences and needs (Fritz and Sonnentag, 2005).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of four recovery experiences (psychological detachment from work, relaxation, mastery, and control) in preventing work-family conflict (WFC). Specifically, on the basis of WFC and recovery theories the authors hypothesized that workload would be positively related to WFC, and that recovery experiences would moderate this relationship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research involved 597 Italian employees (on pay-role or self-employed) from different occupational sectors. Participants filled-in an on-line questionnaire. Moderated structural equation modelling were used to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: Results showed a positive relationship of workload with WFC. Regarding the hypothesized interaction effects, the relationship between workload and WFC was particularly strong under condition of low (vs high) psychological detachment, low relaxation, and low control.\nOriginality/value: This study highlights the beneficial role of recovery experiences in preventing the spillover of workload to the family domain, showing their moderating effects for the first time. These findings have several implications for both future research and practitioners.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Subjective appraisal of service quality using fuzzy linguistic assessment
|
[
"Service quality assurance",
"Fuzzy logic",
"Value analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Background: In the contemporary service industry, service providers now face increased competition for survival, since consumers have become increasingly sensitive to service quality. Hence, service companies are attempting to find ways to enhance quality of service to satisfy their customers. Thus, service quality and customer satisfaction are very intensively studied by managers (Shemwell et al., 1998). Furthermore, increased service quality is believed to have positive impact on customer loyalty and profitability (Magi and Julander, 1996). Unlike product quality, however, service quality is challenging to evaluate due to the intangibility, perishability, heterogeneity and inseparability of production and consumption (Vogt and Fesenmaier, 1995; Tzeng et al., 2002).1.1 Measurement of service quality\n2 Arithmetic operations and integral values for triangular fuzzy numbers: In classical set theory, an object is either a member of a set or excluded from it. Thus, in conventional dual logic, a statement can only be either true or false. In reality, however, human cognition, perception and judgment involve approximate and vague reasoning, and cannot be modeled adequately by classical set theory. Fuzzy sets were introduced by Zadeh (1965) as a method of handling vagueness or uncertainty, particularly linguistic variables. Fuzzy sets consider the gray area of data, rather than considering membership of a set to be simply true or false. In other words, fuzzy sets allow partial membership of a set. This study uses the triangular fuzzy number (TFN) to describe a fuzzy event, placing a tilde (~) above any symbol denoting a fuzzy set. The appendix details the arithmetic operations and the integral values of TFNs.2.1 Triangular fuzzy numbers\n3 Service quality measurement of linguistic terms using fuzzy logic: This section proposes a method of measuring service quality using fuzzy numbers and applying the concept and format of SERVPERF as introduced by Cronin and Taylor (1992, 1994). Initially, customers use the linguistic terms to record their perception of service quality, and those linguistic terms of perceived quality are transformed into pre-defined fuzzy numbers by the reviewer. Based on the relative importance weight of each criterion determined by the customer or expert, the fuzzy perceived quality score is calculated by combining the fuzzy numbers of criteria and their corresponding weight. Finally, the fuzzy service quality score is converted to linguistic terms reflect the customer's satisfaction level of overall service quality as interpreted by the reviewer. The proposed method is divided into four steps as follows.3.1 Step 1: determining the measurement criteria of service quality and corresponding linguistic values\n4 Empirical study: an exploratory prospect: A family-owned copy shop, located one block away from a university campus in Kaohsiung city in Taiwan, is a small service enterprise that offers printing and graphic design services to its neighborhood community, including one university and two high schools. The copy shop offers services such as copying, high speed digital printing, color copying and limited bindery services. Additionally, the copy shop produces a wide range of printed materials including brochures, posters, flyers, invitations and announcements. As a profit-based service enterprise, this copy shop provides the campus community with essential printing and graphic design services conveniently and cheaply. Although the copy shop provides its services for prices well below market rates which are believed a strong incentive for college entities to utilize their services, it still faces a competitor located on campus. Since it seeks to be the community's primary source for virtually all printed materials, the copy shop is always aware of its service quality and customer satisfaction. Therefore, the copy shop measures customer satisfaction using surveys. When customers pick up their printed packages and pay the bills, the employees, when possible, politely ask their customers to fill out the questionnaire and place the answered questionnaire into a sealed box beside the front door.Like the questionnaires of other service providers, the copy shop's survey consists of five quality dimensions applied in a cross section of service industries (Parasurman et al., 1985; Magi and Julander, 1996). Cronin and Taylor's (1992, 1994) SERVPERF concept and format was employed. The questionnaire comprised ten questions about the copy shop's service, scored for satisfaction and dissatisfaction using the five-point scale. The copy shop owner would usually calculate the service \"score\" of the questionnaires weekly, and records the result of the service quality using a crispy number (e.g. 2.7, 3.8) to interpret the customers' perceived satisfaction. Table I presents the contents of the questionnaire employed by the copy shop.To implement the proposed method, a section was added to the original questionnaire to allow customers to rank the criteria (Ci) in the questionnaire in order of importance. Alternatively, the default weights of importance, determined by experts from mutual comparison, would be applied to the ten evaluation criteria.After the customer answered the questions and recorded them in linguistic terms, a reviewer or manager measured the recorded questionnaire to determine the perceived overall customer satisfaction. The evaluation process can be repeated several times until a pre-determined number of trials are reached. By doing so, the frequency of the satisfaction level in linguistic terms of a sample with pre-determined size can be obtained. Since the population of customer's satisfaction levels was assumed to be multinomial with nine classes, sample data were used to infer the overall satisfaction population provided by the copy shop. Table II shows the response results from a specific customer to demonstrate the calculating process of the proposed method.Based on the data in Table II, the TFN of overall customer satisfaction, S~, can be obtained using equation (4): Equation 9 Table III summarizes the integral values of d~i according to equation (3) with a=0.5.These integral values are used for comparison, since a=0.5 represents the neutral attitude in examining the customer's feedback concerning the overall customer satisfaction. Suppose that a neutral reviewer or manager evaluates the overall customer satisfaction measured by the particular customer above. In this case, a=0.5 as before, and the integral values of S~ is given by Equation 10 Clearly, I(d~3)<I(S~)<I(d~4), and j=3. Thus: Equation 11 This equation leads to: Equation 12 with j = 3. Therefore, the overall customer satisfaction level is between d3 and d4. At this stage, the customer's satisfaction level is clearly between the level of \"middle\" and \"high,\" a linguistic term.However, different reviewer or manager may have different levels of optimism, and therefore, the range of a is between 0 and 1, from extreme pessimism to extreme optimism. Therefore, the same questionnaire recorded by a customer may produce different interpreted linguistic results based on what the reviewer's level of optimism. The situation with different optimism indices, a, is summarized in Table IV shown below.Table IV shows that the satisfaction level from the recorded questionnaire by a specific customer in Table IV may vary from \"middle\" to \"high,\" depending on the optimism index of the reviewer. The overall customer satisfaction is considered neutral or fair by a reviewer with small value of a, such as a=0.2 or 0.4. However, an optimistic reviewer with a=1.0 may believe that the level of overall customer satisfaction level is \"high.\" This fuzzy linguistic assessment based approach to customer's satisfaction is much closer to human behavior in thinking than other methods based on crispy numbers.This exploratory study obtained a sample with size of 68 in a week. Among the respondents, the numbers of males and females were 41 and 27, respectively. Table V shows the multinomial frequency of the sample, classified as follows:* the satisfaction level is very low;* the satisfaction level is between very low and low;* the satisfaction level is low;* the satisfaction level is between low to middle;* the satisfaction level is middle;* the satisfaction level is between middle to high;* the satisfaction level is high;* the satisfaction level is between high and very high, and;* the satisfaction level is very high.Addition, the satisfaction rate was obtained from the satisfaction levels which were greater than or equal to the fifth category \"5: middle\".In the original questionnaire, the demographic data contained only gender and types of user (student, faculty, and general non-student user), since the owner's major concern is the overall customer's satisfaction perceived. Among the 68 respondents, the numbers of faculty users and general non-student users were 1 and 3, respectively. Above 94 percent of the customers in the sample were students. Table V shows that 70.59 percent of the total customers were satisfied with the copy shop's service. Whether the satisfaction rate is low would depend on the owner's pre-determined market target. Addition, the service provided by the copy shop was satisfactory for 73.17 percent of the male customers and 66.67 percent of the female customers. In comparing the difference between two proportions (male customers' satisfaction vs female customers' satisfaction), the traditional z-value for testing p1=p2 is not appropriate, since the sample size obtained is small. Instead, the Fisher test was performed using the test statistics from a 2 x 2 contingency table. The testing hypothesis was that no difference exists in satisfaction proportions between male and female customers. Since the p-values of the one-tailed and two-tailed Fisher test were 0.1446 and 0.2817, respectively, no strong evidence was available to reject the testing hypothesis. Because of the small sample, the kh2 test for difference in probabilities based on a 2 x 9 contingency Table is not recommended.If customer satisfaction responses in the questionnaire are represented by a five-point scale (e.g. 1: very low; 2: low, etc.), and the satisfaction levels are reported using crispy numbers (e.g. 3.3 or 4.0), the results could be confused. Following the questionnaire shown in Table II, another questionnaire was recorded and processed with crispy numbers. Table VI compares the satisfaction levels of the two questionnaires. Notably, the satisfaction levels of these two questionnaires were all \"between middle and high\" using the proposed fuzzy-evaluated method with a=0.5.In the case with arithmetic means of 3.3 and 4 shown in Table VI, a reviewer would consider the satisfaction levels of the two customers to be different. Identifying a difference in satisfaction between the two customers with weighted means of 3.53 and 3.75 may also be difficult.This exploratory investigation shows that distinguishing satisfaction \"scores\" of 3.3 and 4.0 may be difficult, but that customer satisfaction is much easier to identify. The sample information reveals the percentage of population customers who are satisfied with the service provided, since customer satisfaction and attitude toward perceived service quality are linguistic in nature. The questionnaire should contain as much demographic or customers' background information as possible to allow further analysis of the results from the proposed fuzzy linguistic assessment in service quality using traditional or non-parameter statistics.\n5 Conclusion: Increased service quality is believed to have a positive effect on customer loyalty and profitability in the contemporary service industry. Accurate measurement of service quality is a major concern to management. The purpose of this study is to propose a method to measure the subjective perceived service quality properly using the fuzzy set theory. Customers first express their perception of service quality in linguistic terms, and the perception is quantified by fuzzy numbers. Then, the weight of each criterion is set by mutually comparing all the criteria. The fuzzy perceived quality score is calculated by combining the fuzzy criteria numbers with their corresponding weights. Finally, the fuzzy service quality score is transformed into linguistic terms by ranking fuzzy numbers with integral value to reflect the overall service quality level perceived by the customer. This study ranked fuzzy numbers with integral values to convert fuzzy numbers to their corresponding linguistic term.The proposed method is straightforward to implement for measuring service quality. Furthermore, the proposed method considers the level of optimism of the reviewer, represented by a when evaluating the satisfaction level of the overall service quality. Fuzzy linguistic assessment of service quality is much closer to human thinking than methods based on crispy numbers. Similarly, the proposed method can also be extended to other studies or contests in which the evaluation or appraisal is subjective or verbal in nature.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This study proposes a conceptual model to assess the perceived service quality properly using fuzzy set theory, since customers' perceptions of service quality are generally expressed subjectively in vague linguistic terms\nDesign/methodology/approach: - To demonstrate the proposed model, the exploratory prospect of empirical study with questionnaire is given in measuring the service quality. The customer first records his or her perception of service quality in linguistic terms. The reviewer then quantifies the perception with fuzzy numbers. By mutually comparing all the criteria, importance weights of criteria in assessing the service quality can be prioritized. The fuzzy perceived quality score is then calculated by combining the fuzzy numbers of criteria with the corresponding weights. The fuzzy scores are then transformed to linguistic terms to reflect the customer's satisfaction level of overall service quality as interpreted by the reviewer.\nFindings: - The investigation shows that distinguishing satisfaction scores with crispy numbers may be difficult, but that customer satisfaction is much easier to identify. The sample information reveals the percentage of population customers who are satisfied with the service provided, since customer satisfaction and attitude toward perceived service quality are linguistic in nature.\nOriginality/value: - Fuzzy linguistic assessment of service quality is much closer to human thinking than methods based on crispy numbers. Similarly, the proposed method can also be extended to other studies or contests in which the evaluation or appraisal is subjective or verbal in nature.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Application of biclustering algorithm to extract rules from labeled data
|
[
"Biclustering algorithm",
"Crowdsourced big data and analytics",
"Rule extraction"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Gene expression is the process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product. These products are often proteins, but in non-protein coding genes such as ribosomal RNA, transfer RNA or small nuclear RNA genes, the product is a functional RNA. Gene expression data is a kind of data matrix used to represent the expression level of different genes under specific conditions simultaneously. Each element is a real number which is often the logarithm of the relative abundance of the mRNA of the gene (Madeira and Oliveira, 2004). Usually, in the data matrix, genes are arranged in the row direction, while the column direction represents different time or different environmental conditions.\n2. The proposed method: For many pattern recognition problems, the relation between the samples and the classes are known during the acquisition procedure of the data. And this kind of data is called labeled data. Suppose a bicluster B is composed of the row numbers set {i1, i2,...,im} and column numbers set {j1,j2,...,jn} of a labeled data matrix D, then the function Ph(B) = {i1, i2,..., im} is defined to determine the set of those row numbers that the elements of B lies in D and |Ph(B)| = m, so is the definition of the function Ps(B) = {j1, j2, ..., jn}. The position of a bicluster B lying in the original data matrix D can be determined by Ph(B) together with Ps(B).\n3. Computation example: The well-known wine data are applied as the experiment data to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed new method. There are 59 samples in class o1, 71 samples in class o2 and 48 samples in class o3. The number of all of the samples is 178. Each sample vector has 13 numerical attributes whose values are different from each other observably. Compared with the real gene expression data, the wine data have smaller dimensionality, while they are all numerical data with high dimensionality (Wang et al., 2014). The application of wine data will help to save a lot of time to verify the feasibility of the proposed algorithm without destroying the nature of the research data object. And it also facilitates the comparison among the different research results.\n4. Conclusions: Rule extraction methods as an approach which tries to find the useful knowledge hidden in the high-dimensional data are very useful. The so-called rules are in practice, and some sample vectors in the data show coherent similarity with each other. Because the data in the same bicluster are closely related to each other, the transition from bicluster to rule has a natural consistency. As the elements of a bicluster are just lying in the original data and can be conveniently translated into a corresponding rule, the results of the new method have good explanation ability. The difference of the new method with the other methods lies in it applies the biclustering algorithm to discover the local similar biclusters existing among the original data matrix.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: For many pattern recognition problems, the relation between the sample vectors and the class labels are known during the data acquisition procedure. However, how to find the useful rules or knowledge hidden in the data is very important and challengeable. Rule extraction methods are very useful in mining the important and heuristic knowledge hidden in the original high-dimensional data. It can help us to construct predictive models with few attributes of the data so as to provide valuable model interpretability and less training times.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper, a novel rule extraction method with the application of biclustering algorithm is proposed.\nFindings: To choose the most significant biclusters from the huge number of detected biclusters, a specially modified information entropy calculation method is also provided. It will be shown that all of the important knowledge is in practice hidden in these biclusters.\nOriginality/value: The novelty of the new method lies in the detected biclusters can be conveniently translated into if-then rules. It provides an intuitively explainable and comprehensive approach to extract rules from high-dimensional data while keeping high classification accuracy.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The fiscal policy and the dynamic of the economic cycle
|
[
"Fiscal policy",
"Business cycles asymmetry",
"STAR model",
"Unobserved components model"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Ever since it was reported, the last financial crisis has further strengthened the interest of policymakers and academics in the role of fiscal policy. On the one hand, influential studies (see, e.g. Klemm, 2014; Vegh and Vuletin, 2015; Fernandez-Arias and Perez, 2014) highlight the pivotal role of such policy in economic growth. Stabilising fiscal policies helps to ensure debt sustainability, avoiding expenditure increases in good times and tax hikes in bad times, and allows the automatic stabilisers total freedom to function. On the other hand, many countries have nearly reached the zero lower bound and have no more room to further reduce central bank interest rates. Consequently, substantial fiscal stimulus packages have been introduced. However, what fiscal policy action may be best is the topic of fierce debate in the literature, especially the size, timing and policy mix.Traditionally, modelling how fiscal policy changes in response to economic conditions has long been an exciting topic in macroeconomics, in which the literature highlights the unambiguous lead-lag relationship between the fiscal policy and the economic cycle. In this area, different theories have been proposed regarding this relationship. Following the tax smoothing theory (see Barro, 1979), during the recession, a government may perfectly smooth both tax rates and government spending by borrowing and repaying in booms (see, e.g. Talvi and Vegh, 2005).The empirical literature, however, is slightly controversial, and there is no general agreement whether such pro-cyclical movement can be found in both developed and developing countries (see, among others; Gavin and Perotti, 1997; Barseghyan et al., 2013; Rendahl, 2016; Alqaralleh et al., 2018). In this context, the literature considers the tax smoothing model as an adequate positive model for developed countries, but not for developing countries (see, among others; Ilzetzki, 2008; Woo, 2006; Talvi and Vegh, 2005). By contrast, numerous studies point to the dysfunctional political systems that beset developing countries. In this context, tighter debt constraints during a recession will force contractionary policies, whereas we tend to observe expansionary policies when these limits are relaxed in a boom. In addition, the size of the primary surplus increases spending pressures, and thus the optimal fiscal policy will imply a pro-cyclical pattern of spending (see, e.g. Alesina et al., 2008; Gavin and Perotti, 1997).Various studies have assessed the efficacy of a transitory spending hike, which propagates the effect of demand stimulating policies. The two studies by Bachmann and Sims (2012) and Auerbach and Gorodnichenko (2012) offer probably the most comprehensive empirical analysis of the impact of fiscal policy over the economic cycle. These studies deploy a regime-switching structural VAR and demonstrated that the expansion periods result in a small (or even negative) fiscal multiplier, whereas this multiplier rises in recessions. Moreover, they highlight that the effect of government spending on output in recessions can be attributed to the associated, causal rise in fundamental confidence. Similarly, Miyamoto et al. (2015) showed that the fiscal multiplier, during normal times, is markedly smaller, and the effect on macro-factors is insignificant, irrespective of the time horizon considered. By contrast, increase in government spending gives rise to a fiscal multiplier in excess of one inside a liquidity trap, and causally decreases the unemployment rate both in the short and the long run.Many studies (e.g. Christiano et al., 2011; Eggertsson, 2011) have shown that simultaneous rise in both current and expected government spending has a large effect on present output. They conclude that while an increase in current spending raises current inflation, an increase in expected spending raises expected inflation.For the most part, empirical studies have investigated the optimal fiscal policy rule under the assumption that the policymakers handle the setting of policy tools in a linear fashion. The cogency of such linear rules is that, over the economic cycle, they make policymakers treat all deviations (whether positive or negative) from the fiscal policy tools symmetrically regardless of magnitude. In reality, however, such linearity may not be shown, the financial tools authorities may have asymmetric preferences and, thus, fiscal policy may reflect more complex output behaviour than that subsuming a linear specification (see, e.g. Nobay and Peel, 2003; Dolado et al., 2005). Indeed, considering asymmetric preferences helps distinguish not only the magnitude of the upward and downward deviations of the aggregate output from their target values but also its sign.Consequently, this asymmetric response gives policymakers the impetus to reconsider the fiscal policy framework because of specific circumstances, such as shocks that can dramatically affect the nominal features of the business cycle. Put differently, stable and moderate fiscal policies would at least not contribute to cyclical fluctuations, and therefore would be better than what we have typically experienced. There would, therefore, seem to be a distinct need to address the properties of economic cycles under different fiscal policy rules.This study sets out to determine in some detail whether the state of the business cycle matters in considering the effects of fiscal policy shocks on output. This leads us to two primary objectives in this paper: to define the economic cycle from an alternative modelling approach that reconciles the small versus large output gaps generated by different methods. To be specific, we address the question of how best to model the output gap and potential output growth, and to look empirically at the fiscal policy stance over the phases of the business cycle, bearing in mind the short time variation and smooth change between the cycle regimes, as well as the asymmetry of the responses to inflationary and deflationary pressures, thus capturing the nonlinearity of fiscal policy due to asymmetric preferences.To tackle these objectives, we first measure the gap using the unobserved component model with a smoother trend to avoid the criticisms of measures based on contentious structural models. This model can be used efficiently to generate gap measures for use in real-time decision-making. Next, to ascertain the asymmetric response of the cycle state to fiscal policy, we consider the logistic smooth transition autoregressive (LSTAR hereafter) models that are capable of modelling GDP growth rate series that exhibit changes in their dynamic properties over the economic cycle, since it depends not only on the magnitude but also on the sign of past realisations of GDP growth rates.The most obvious finding to emerge from this study is the evidence of medium-term economic cycles in the considered sample over the period under review, as suggested by unobserved component model (UCM). Moreover, the relevance of the adopted asymmetric LSTAR model is explicitly supported by the current findings. The relevance of the fiscal policy is also clearly supported by the current findings. In this vein, the contraction phase results in an expansionary policy, whereas tax revenue does exceed government spending during an expansion phase.The remaining part of the paper proceeds as follows: Section 2 presents the methodology and specifies the procedure that was followed. Section 3 discusses some data issues. Section 4 provides the research results. We conclude with a summary of the main findings.\n2. Methodology: 2.1 Measuring the output gap\n3. Data and descriptive statistics: To gain insights into the role of the fiscal policy in the economic cycle, three variables were used: government spending (GS), government revenue (GR) and the gross domestic product (GDP). These variables are obtainable from the IMF database. For the purpose of nonlinear specification analysis, a threshold variable was defined to distinguish between the phases of the economic cycle. In this regard, the output gap (gap), which is generally seen not only as a reliable ex post but also as a reliable real-time indicator for policymakers, was used as an indicator for making this sort of distinction. The use of these variables is consistent with previous studies of fiscal policy impact. The data period that was covered ran from the first quarter of 1980 to the third quarter of 2017 (156 observations).As far as the sample selection is concerned, a sample of G7 countries has been chosen. These countries (United Kingdom, United States and Canada) presented the most abnormal cases in the world economy. The economy grew strongly over the considered period, supported by private consumption, public spending and net exports. On the fiscal front, the government recently presented an expansionary budget, which should support growth, thanks to higher spending and tax cuts. Consequently, a heightened government spending should continue to support growth. Despite this, the economy looks set to slow as the fiscal stimulus faces drag on growth.The descriptive statistical analysis for these variables is reported in Table I. It is apparent from this table that the observations show considerable variability over time, as supported by the standard deviation value. The normality reveals that the series is not normally distributed, as suggested by the skewness and kurtosis values. Moreover, the unit root test for the series (refer to the series in the first difference) indicates that the series is stationary and cointegrated of order one (i.e. I (1)). Accordingly, this analysis gives more support to the suitability of addressing the feedback between house prices and the selected variables within a nonlinear framework.\n4. Empirical results: The first set of analyses aimed to expose the output gap and thus define the economic cycle. Based on a univariate UCM (Eqn 1), the evidence shows the existence of medium-term economic cycles in the considered countries over the period under review. To be specific, the estimated series has a length of 10.4 quarters (3.5 years) in the United Kingdom, 9.2 quarters (3.1 years) in the United States and 11.2 quarters (3.7 years) in the case of Canada since the frequency is centred on, 20 per cent, 17 per cent and 14 per cent respectively. This is in line with the definition of the business cycle as well as the findings of previous research in this field.Interestingly, the high damping factor is shown, in that the cycle is close to the estimated central frequency. Moreover, the cycle component of a series is first order, since this damping factor is close to unity in all the cases[3].To evaluate the goodness of the model, misspecification tests related to the residuals were applied. These tests included the prediction of error variance and the prediction of error mean deviation (see, e.g. Durbin and Koopman, 2012; Harvey, 1990). The p-value of the mentioned tests verifies that the estimated models did not have any misspecification problems. Moreover, the portmanteau Q-statistics in Panel B of Table II show that the null hypothesis of no autocorrelation was accepted against the q-order autoregressive for all the estimated models. Finally, the coefficient of determination (RD2) indicates that the model was reasonably capable of explaining cyclical behaviour. In general, therefore, it seems that the estimated cycle using the UCM can be adapted to capture the nonlinearities that are characterised by asymmetries in price growth dynamics.To explore such asymmetries impact of the fiscal policy on the economic cycle, the LSTAR approach is adopted. As pointed out in the methodology section, this model provides a means for drawing more nuanced conclusions about different behaviours when falling into a recession and exiting to expansion. To rule out the possibility that the response of the economic cycle to the fiscal policy tools is linear, Luukkonen et al.'s (1988) LM-test was employed. As shown in Table III, the possibility that the null point of the gap series was in fact generated by a linear model was rejected[4]. Next, we used this LM-test to determine the delay d and, hence, select the appropriate transition variable. As can be seen from Table III, the first lag may be the best choice for the case of Canada, whereas the second and the fourth lags are the best for UK and the US because these lags minimise the p-value of the test[5].Once the linearity had been decidedly rejected, the parameters of the LSTAR are estimated by conditional maximum likelihood. The results of using this model are summarised in Table IV. These results indicate that the standard errors of the nonlinear part are smaller than those of the linear one, suggesting that the nonlinear models fit the data better. It is also apparent from this table that the midpoint between the expansion and the contraction phases denoted by the location parameter c is statically significant and positive, implying the presence of substantial nonlinearities, and thus splitting the samples into two regimes. Moreover, the transition parameter (g) (which is the primary parameter of interest) is estimated to be confident and significant. It can thus be suggested that the speed of adjustment between the two regimes is relatively slow, which endorses the choice of the LSTAR model instead of a TAR or MS nonlinear model[6].Closer inspection of Table IV shows that the economic cycle reacts differently to government expenditure, GDP and government revenue. Put differently, the (re)action of these government tools to influence the economy depends on whether the level of the output gap is above or below the threshold value of c=3.5 per cent, 10.5 per cent and 9.2 per cent for UK, US and Canada, respectively. Another significant finding is that the existence of these specific regimes is associated with unusual economic conditions, in response to which governments change their usual policy conduct over time. In this regard, the estimated parameters suggest that the parameters of the fiscal policy rule seem to advocate expansionary policy when the economy is below the threshold (during a recessionary phase), whereas government spending does not exceed tax revenue when the economy is above the threshold (during an expansion phase).After the parameters of an LSTAR model are estimated, the model should be evaluated. Misspecification tests have a crucial role here. The results obtained from these tests are shown in Table V. The test for no remaining nonlinearity does not reject the null hypothesis for the estimated models, as Panel A shows. Similarly, Panel B displays the LM tests based on a third-order Taylor approximation to test for parameter constancy. Moreover, the residuals of the LSTAR model are tested for serial correlation and ARCH effects (see Panels C and D). The p-values (using 0.05 as the threshold) reject the presence of serial correlation and the existence of an ARCH type of nonlinearity in the residuals.\n5. Conclusion: The present study sought to shed more light on challenging the suitability of the nonlinear model in characterising the behaviour of a sample of the three countries of the G7's fiscal policy (Canada, UK and US), especially in abnormal times. Taking the asymmetric behaviour into account could prevent structural changes that might affect the practice of the fiscal authorities over an extended period.This study has found that, as suggested by UCM, there is general evidence of medium-term economic cycles in the considered countries over the period under review. Moreover, the relevance of the adopted asymmetric LSTAR model is apparently supported by the current findings. Specifically, on the one hand, the evidence from this study suggests that the expansion period relaxed the taxes revenue and expanded the government spending. The opposite case can be found during the contraction period. These results matter not only for modelling economic cycles for developing a good policy, but, importantly, for policy coordination discussions since they may reflect a better understanding of how such fiscal policy interacts over the business cycle. These findings also perform the following tasks for future research: first, they examine whether the monetary policy responds asymmetrically to the economic cycle in the economy; and, second, they show to what extent the fiscal policy outperforms the monetary one.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: This study seeks to determine in some detail whether the state of the economic cycle matters in considering the effects of fiscal policy shocks on output.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This issue leads us to two primary objectives: to define the economic cycle measuring the gap with the unobserved component model with a smoother trend, which can be used efficiently to generate gap measures for use in real-time decision-making and avoids the criticisms of measures based on contentious structural models; and to look empirically at the fiscal policy stance over the phases of the cycle, bearing in mind the short time variation and smooth change between the cycle regimes.\nFindings: This paper provides evidence that the fiscal policy rule seems to operate with varied coefficients depending on whether the transition variable is below or above the estimated threshold value.\nOriginality/value: The asymmetric response gives policymakers the impetus to reconsider the fiscal policy framework because of specific circumstances, such as shocks that can dramatically affect the nominal features of the business cycle. Put differently, stable and moderate fiscal policies would at least not contribute to cyclical fluctuations, and therefore would be better than what we have typically experienced. There would, therefore, seem to be a distinct need to address the properties of economic cycles under different fiscal policy rules.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Determinants of the timing of bank failure in North Cyprus
|
[
"Microeconomics",
"Macroeconomics",
"Banks",
"Business failure",
"Cyprus"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: The North Cyprus economy has experienced two banking sector distress periods. The first took place in 1994 and the second took place between the years 2000 and 2002. In 1994, the economic fundamentals in Turkey were deteriorating. Particularly, there was a continuing devaluation of the Turkish Lira (TL), which resulted in a serious currency crisis[1]. As there is a close monetary and economic link between Turkey and North Cyprus, as a consequence of the financial distress experienced in Turkey in 1994, banks in North Cyprus were also affected. In 1994 two banks (namely: Everest Bank Ltd and Mediterranean Guarantee Bank Ltd) were placed under the control of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Ministry of Finance. Later, these banks had to be bailed out by the government. Mediterranean Guarantee Bank Ltd became a public bank and the Everest Bank Ltd was taken over by a private owner.In Turkey the International Monetary Fund supported the pegged exchange rate base anti-inflation programme implemented in December 1999. However, after 14 months, the programme had to be abandoned, with the collapse of the TL. In 2000, five banks, namely: the Cyprus Credit Bank Ltd, Cyprus Liberal Bank Ltd, Everest Bank Ltd, Kibris Yurtbank Ltd, and Cyprus Finance Bank Ltd, were put under the Saving Deposit Insurance Fund (SDIF), and then these banks were closed in the year 2001. The bankruptcy of these five banks started a serious banking crisis in North Cyprus. Criminal investigations have been conducted to investigate the management, and the total loss of these five troubled banks was reported to be around 112 trillion TL. Another four banks, namely: Cyprus Commercial Bank Ltd, Yasa Bank Ltd, Tilmo Bank Ltd, and Asia Bank Ltd, were put under the SDIF in 2001, and Cyprus Industrial Bank Ltd was put under SDIF in 2002. Furthermore, Finba Ltd was taken over by Artam Bank Ltd in 2000 and Med Bank Ltd and Hamza Bank Ltd were taken over by Seker Bank Ltd in the years 2001 and 2002, respectively. During the period of 2000-2002 ten financial banks were forced by the Government of North Cyprus to suspend their operation. During 1999 there were 37 surviving banks in North Cyprus. However, towards the end of 2002 ten of these banks were revoked from operation, two banks were taken over by other bank, and only 25 banks remained. The increase in the failure of commercial banks in North Cyprus increased attention on efforts to investigate the determinants of bank failure.Survival models attempt to explain the duration of a particular event. Graphical methods are useful for displaying data on duration and for preliminary analysis of survival that may suggest the survival patterns of the banks. For this reason, as a first step of survival analysis the study presents the Kaplan and Meier (1958) Product-Limit Estimator, an estimate of the distribution of bank failure duration. This method is especially useful for estimation and graphical survival curves. The next step of survival analysis concerns method that deals with events measured or occurring in discrete-time survival analysis for analysing the length of time until the occurrence of event[2]. In discrete-time methods for modelling the time to an event the functional form can either be a logistic model or complementary log-log model. The methodology employed in this paper is a logistic survival model that uses a latent variable modelling framework. The results obtained in this methodology permit us to verify the determinants of time to bank failure. The results of both the Kaplan-Meier (KM) method and discrete-time logistic survival analysis are obtained by processing a computer software package (STATA 8).\n2 Empirical literature: Although extensive literature exists on explaining the probability of bank failure, much less attention has been given to predicting the timing of bank failure. To the best of the author's knowledge Lane et al. (1986), Whalen (1991), Cole and Gunther (1995), Henebry (1996), Laviola et al. (1999), Wheelock and Wilson (1995, 2000), and Molina (2002) are the only published empirical studies that offer model to predict the time to failure. In their models they apply Cox proportional hazard (CPH) model (1972) to predictions of time to bank failure.Lane et al. (1986) apply the CPH model to the prediction of bank failure for 464 banks (130 banks failed) in the USA during the period 1979-1983. Lane et al. classified 21 financial ratios under the five categories of the capital, asset quality, management, earning, and liquidity (CAMEL) rating and applied a stepwise procedure for combining the backward and forward elimination technique both one year and two years prior to bank failure. Results reveal that a proportional hazard model is an effective early warning tool that identifies financial distress prior to the actual failure date. In particular, the ratio of commercial loans to total loans, the ratio of loans to deposits, the ratio of total equity capital to total assets and of operating expenses to operating income significantly determines the one-year ahead of time to failure.Consistent with Lane et al. (1986) and Whalen (1991) use the CPH model to estimate the time to failure in the USA between 1987 and 1990. The main difference between Lane et al. and Whalen is their sample selection and time period. Whalen utilized a larger sample of 1,500 randomly selected banks. Moreover, Whalen employed the local economic condition variable. Similar to Lane et al. (1986), Whalen suggests that the CPH model provides an effective early warning for banks time to failure. In particular, variables such as the ratio of total loans to total assets, the ratio of net income to average total assets and the ratio of capital to average total assets are significant.Another study, by Cole and Gunther (1995), investigated the time to failure utilizing a different statistical technique. Using quarterly US data during the period 1985-1992, Cole and Gunther suggest that the factors influencing the probability of bank failure may be different from those explaining the time to failure. Cole and Gunther separate the determinants of bank failure from the survival time of failing banks in the USA using a split-population survival model (log-logistic distribution), logit survival model and CPH model. Findings suggest that when the logit survival model is utilized, capital (ratio of total equity capital to total assets), leverage (ratio of loans to total assets), troubled assets (ratio of non-performing loans to total loans) and net income (ratio of net income to total assets), liquidity (ratio of certificate of deposits to total assets), and asset size are important in explaining the time to bank failure.Henebry (1997) utilized a CPH model for bank failure prediction in the USA during the period of 1985-1988. The results show that from the selected accounting ratios; the ratio of primary capital to total assets, non-performing loans to total loans and total loans to total assets were significant in predicting time to bank failure.Wheelock and Wilson (2000) also employed a proportional hazard model in the USA during the period 1984-1993, using variables that are in the context of CAMELS criteria. The results indicate that lower capitalization (the ratio of bank equity to assets), lower asset quality (the ratio of loans to total assets and the ratio of non-performing loans), lower earning, lower liquidity and smaller size also result in a high probability of failure.In Venezuela, Molina (2002) utilized a CPH model with time varying covariates for 36 commercial banks (17 failed) and attempted to determine the time to failure for the 1994-1995 banking crisis. The variables that Molina used are in the context of CAMEL criteria. The results reveal that banks with a higher return on investment in government bonds, higher return in assets, more financial expense and less operational expenses are less likely to fail. Also, there is some evidence that banks with higher capitalization are less likely to fail. Molina argues that during the Venezuelan banking crisis problem banks cut their operating costs and in order to increase more depositors they increased interest rates and indicated falsely high accounting earnings.Gonzalez-Hermosillo et al. (1996) empirically investigated bank fragility in Mexico, by utilizing the log-logistic specification to quarterly data for the period 1991-1995. The aim of the paper was to uncover the variables that determine the probability of bank failure and the factors that affect the time to failure (or survival). In the empirical analysis they used a two-step procedure. In the first step, they estimated the one-step-ahead probability of failure and factors that influenced the probability of bank failure were determined. In the second step, they conducted a survival analysis for determining the duration of failure. The banking sector fragility is expressed as the function of bank-specific factors, macroeconomic condition, and contagion effects (contagion effects measured by the ratio of loans in the banking system as a whole to the region's gross domestic product (GDP)). The bank-specific factors used in the analysis are very similar to the criteria that are used in the CAMEL rating system. In their analysis bank-specific variables (non-performing loans to total loans) and contagion effects explain the likelihood of failure, whereas macroeconomic variables largely determine the timing of failure. More specifically, bank-specific variables (ratio of non-performing loans to total loans and size variables), banking sector variables (banking sector risky loans), adverse macroeconomic shocks (nominal exchange rates and real interest rates (RIRs)), and contagion effects shorten the survival time of banks. Gonzalez-Hermosillo et al. argue that in the Mexican case even though negative macroeconomic shocks increased the fragility of the banking sector, rapid growth in bank lending was the main reason that the banking sector was increasingly destabilised by these shocks.Langrin (2001) constructed a panel data and examined the banking sector distress during 1996/1997 in Jamaica. Langrin used survival analysis (Weibull distribution) estimated the determinants of survival time until failure. Results show that asset size, capital to asset ratio and troubled assets determine both probability and time to bank intervention. In addition to the above variables, the ratio of loans to capital, net income, domestic banks, and financial liberalization explain time to failure.Borovikova (2000) applied the split-population and analysed the survival time in Belarusian banks between 1992 and 1999. In a similar manner to Cole and Gunther (1995), Gonzalez-Hermosillo et al. (1996), and Borovikova used the logit model and log-logistic specification. Results show that profitability, interest rates and exchange rates are the indicators that seem to reduce the survival times of banks in Belarus.\n3 Methodology: 3.1 Recording discrete event history data\n4 Explanatory variables: A number of micro and macro factors are considered by theory as good indicators of banking fragility. In addition to the selected microeconomic (bank-specific) variables that are identified (namely: capital adequacy, asset quality, earning, liquidity, and asset size), and five sets of macro variables, as well as potential contagion effect from Turkey are also included in the model[4]. Descriptions and expected signs of macro variables are illustrated in Table I[5].4.1 Bank specific variables (CAMELS categories)\n5 The empirical results: 5.1 The univariate analysis\n6 Conclusions: An empirical examination of the results on survival analysis reveal that low asset quality (total loan as a percentage of total assets) and low liquidity (total liquid asset as a percentage of total assets) are the main bank-specific factors that explain the survival time of banks in North Cyprus.To assess the importance of macro variables that vary over time, in addition to the bank-specific variables, macroeconomic variables, financial variables, external conditions, and contagion effect are also included in the survival model. However, in the North Cyprus banking sector, macroeconomic factors and external conditions appear to have no impact on the survival time.There was a common belief in North Cyprus that collapse of the TL in Turkey in 2000, accelerated the bank failures. Results in this study also reveal that market pressure in Turkey, which is used to capture the contagion effect from Turkey, has no effect on the determinants of the time to failure in North Cyprus banks.With regard to financial variables, only the credit extended to the private sector is negative and statistically significant at 5 percent level. The results suggest that credit risk (credit extended to private sector) reduce the expected survival time of a bank. As noted earlier, the ratio of domestic credit to the private sector to GDP can be used to capture the extent of financial liberalization. From this perspective, it can also be concluded that an increase in financial liberalization decreased the survival time of bank failure in North Cyprus.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of the timing of bank failure in North Cyprus over the period of 1984-2002 using a discrete-time logistic survival analysis.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The empirical methodology employed in the paper allows for the determination of the factors that influence the time to bank failure. The model links the time of bank failure to a set of bank-specific factors and macro-environment that may have exacerbated the internal troubles of the financial institutions.\nFindings: - An empirical examination of the results on survival analysis reveal that the three variables, namely: low asset quality (total loan as a percentage of total assets), low liquidity (total liquid asset as a percentage of total assets), and high credit extended to the private sector (ratio of the private credit to gross domestic product) are the main factors that explain the survival time of banks in North Cyprus.\nResearch limitations/implications: - For further research this paper may better distinguish time to bank failure if it extends the time period and if it uses exchange pressure from Turkey that may have a direct effect on bank failure in North Cyprus.\nPractical implications: - Nowadays bank failure is an important problem in the world. Using time technique to investigate bank failure will help to learn the factors that determine time to bank failure, which will further help to take precautions and prevent the cost of bank failure.\nOriginality/value: - The analysis would appear to be the first to provide evidence and investigate the time to bank failure in the North Cyprus banking sector.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The Sicilian cooperative system of wine production: The strategic choices and performance analyses of a case study
|
[
"Italy",
"Strategic alliances",
"Wine",
"Accounting",
"Business strategies",
"Financial ratio analysis",
"Quasi-integration",
"Social cellars",
"Strategic model"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: For the past two decades, the wine sector has been following the same trend of globalization affecting all commerce and consumption. Statistics published by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV, 2018) have demonstrated that, in the 2013-2017 five-year period, the global wine market (total exports from all countries) steadily grew to reach 108 million hectolitres (mhl) in 2017 with a value of EUR30bn. By product type, this development was the result of trends observed for sparkling wine (an increase of +36 per cent by volume and +32 per cent by price in the five-year period) and bottled wine (+9 per cent by volume and 20 per cent by price); in sharp decline, however, was the trade in bulk wine (-3 per cent by volume and -16 per cent by price). Increasing competition has come mainly from New World producers such as Australia, Chile and New Zealand (OIV, 2018).\n2. Theoretical framework: 2.1 Supply chain management and channel relationship\n3. Materials and methods: 3.1 Research design\n4. Wine cooperatives in Sicily: 4.1 History and importance of Sicilian wine cooperatives\n5. Case study: the Cantina Cellaro: This chapter analyses the managerial and organizational key aspects of Cantina Cellaro during the 2010-2016 grape harvests, from the year before of the contract with the Farnese group (2011) was signed.\n6. Conclusion: By virtue of their transformative role of the majority of regional grape-for-wine production, cooperatives are the most important players in the Sicilian wine-making sector. They have recently greatly improved the average quality of wines by increasing the size of the business, investing in modernization and restructuring, seeking to establish strategic alliances, pursuing mergers or joint-ventures with other wine firms, rationalizing assets, implementing innovative capital acquisition methods and formulating strategies to expand into multi-country markets. Nevertheless, Sicilian cooperatives typically suffer from a negative reputation; they are still described as a traditional productive system, characterized by high yields and high alcohol content, which are obtained, however, by collecting low-quality grapes (Corsi et al., 2019).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to verify whether, besides the traditional organisational models mainly implemented by wine-making cooperatives, more modern and hybrid organisational forms can be profitably applied within an increasingly competitive wine market.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study outlined in this paper deployed a mixed method. Specifically, an archived analysis, a survey and a descriptive case study (including visits, interviews and documentary analysis) were the methodological techniques used in this study, which were \"in series but integrated\" between themselves. In this paper, the landscape of Sicilian wine cooperatives is described by collating and processing different types of statistical sources, which have been integrated by direct surveys undertaken in 2017. Thereafter, the study focussed on a wine cooperative with a specific business model and a strategic edge by analysing its strategic choices and main structural and governance characteristics. Within this case study, a financial ratio analysis, which was based on 2011-2017 financial statements, was conducted to analyse the profitability, financial balance, capital structure and debt relationships of the wine cooperative.\nFindings: The Sicilian wine cooperative system is still predominantly characterised by partial and vertical integration, implemented by cooperatives which elect to sell mainly bulk wine to wine merchants. In such a context, there is scope for other degrees of integration and strategic inter-firm alliances; the latter includes \"vertical quasi-integration\". The study demonstrated how the wine cooperative under investigation is overcoming the structural problems of the regional wine sector and why it is retaining such a strategic alliance with one of the most important Italian wine conglomerates. Indeed, it has acquired greater strength and reliability since its collaboration with the aforementioned wine company. Thus, total revenue and the company's market share of packaged wine have increased. However, there are still margins for improving sales' profitability.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study has territorial limitations but Sicilian wine cooperatives generally play an important role in the regional, Italian and European wine industries. As such, this research should be considered as an exploratory study, deserving further investigation into different strategic choices within the wine cooperative system by performing cross-case comparisons. Results may also be useful in orienting cooperative strategies in Sicily (or further afield) to small-to-medium wine cooperatives, often lacking specific abilities relating to the distribution, marketing and selling of their wine. Public agricultural policies may also be enlightened by these research pathways.\nOriginality/value: The authors contend that their study provides hitherto missing information relating to inter-firm strategic alliances, which wine cooperatives might implement to enhance their competitiveness and survive in the long-run.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Organizational governance in internal hybrids: a case study of Maekawa Manufacturing Ltd
|
[
"Knowledge management",
"Organizational structures",
"Corporate governance",
"Organizational economics",
"Japan"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The transition to a knowledge-based economy has created challenges for organizational forms and governance. Successful operation in the rapidly changing markets is claimed to favor outward-oriented, self-organizing companies with flexible organizational forms (Child and McGrath, 2001). It has even been argued that companies without an ability to renew their organizational forms may fail, even though they have the right people and state-of-the-art technology (Daft and Lewin, 1993).While scholars both in knowledge management (KM) and organizational economics (OE) propose that internal hybrids (\"hierarchical forms infused with elements of market control,\" Zenger, 2002, p. 79) allow companies to respond to the environmental velocity and innovate, their discussions on governance are divided because of their contrasting conceptual roots. Building their discussions on information asymmetries, KM scholars focus on community-like aspects, and have been critiqued on weak linkages between knowledge and governance (Eisenhardt and Santos, 2002), reduction of governance to caring social relations (Alvesson and Karreman, 2001), and disregard of opportunism (Hodgson, 1998). In contrast, OE scholars assume that humans are opportunistic and focus on reducing opportunism (\"self-interest seeking with guile,\" Williamson, 1996) through hard aspects, and have been critiqued for ignoring culture, social embeddeness, and trust (Adler, 2001). We argue that these views are equally incomplete because they provide one-sided views of governance and have neglected counter-examples.Instead of making a \"either/or\" choice, the purpose of this paper is to synthesize the soft and hard views of governance in internal hybrids. The functioning of governance is described within the Japanese company, Maekawa Manufacturing Ltd (Maekawa), for two reasons. First, Maekawa has created an internal hybrid form combining contrasts of authority and participation, flexibility and efficiency, and control and innovation. The rationale behind the movement from functional and matrix forms to an internal hybrid was to increase entrepreneurial action and innovation. Second, the case indicates that soft and hard governance act as complementaries, reinforcing each other.This paper is structured as follows. The second section begins with a discussion of internal hybrid forms as combinations of markets and hierarchies, after which the KM and OE views of governance are presented. The KM and OE views are synthesized to present soft and hard governance mechanisms in internal hybrids. In the third section, the methodology is discussed. In the following section, the functioning of governance is examined within Maekawa. And the fifth section discusses case findings. Conclusions, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided in the final section.\nConceptual framework: In this section, hybrid forms and organizational governance are discussed first, after which their advantages and disadvantages are presented from the KM and the OE points of view, which then are synthesized to present a more balanced account of governance in internal hybrids.Hybrid forms and organizational governance\nMethodology: A case study method was used due to its advantages in improving contextual sense, deeper understanding, and theory development (Miles, 1979; Van Maanen, 1979). Case studies are accepted as being suitable for \"how\" and \"why\" research questions, as they deal with operational links needing to be traced over time (Yin, 1994).Methodological recommendations were followed in data collection (see Yin, 1994). Most data were collected through 56 interviews, conducted between 1998 and 2002. All subjects were managers, working in the technical research center (56 percent), production (35 percent), and other functions (9 percent). In addition, four managers in affiliated companies were interviewed. Following the recommendations by Fielding (1993), the managers were asked open-ended questions regarding rules of interaction, interdependencies, and resource allocation. The length of interviews, which were tape-recorded and transcribed at full-length, ranged from 30 to 120 minutes. As the second author has worked several years for Maekawa, the authors had a relatively free access to internal documents. External documents, such as annual reports, web pages, and newspaper articles, were also analyzed.The interviews were analyzed using the overlapping process of data reduction, display, conclusion drawing, and verification (Miles and Huberman, 1994). The main categories of governance mechanisms were human resource management systems, unit size, shared norms, meetings and shared visions, and operation standards. During the data reduction, the interviews were simplified and separated into categories. During the data display phase, the information was organized to draw conclusions. Regularities and patterns were used in the verification and conclusion drawing phase.\nThe case of Maekawa Manufacturing Ltd: Company information\nDiscussion: The case indicates that soft and hard governance act as complementaries in successfully implemented internal hybrids. As governance needs to be aligned with organizational forms, the role of top managers is to create a coherent set of soft and hard governance in order to facilitate knowledge processes and prevent opportunism. On the one hand, soft mechanisms increase motivation and consistency in intra- and inter-unit interactions. On the other hand, hard mechanisms curb opportunism by providing shared standards for activities. The combination of these mechanisms increases the likelihood that efficiency, flexibility, interdependencies, and attention to customers and outputs are maintained and remain strong.Soft governance provides a unified direction and mindset among the interdependent agents. Collaborative decision making in inter-unit meetings functions as a coordination mode based on persuasion and monitoring. While all entities are involved in the creation of visions, top management articulates visions and norms. However, visions and norms are not imposed through top-down hierarchies. In inter-unit meetings, the bottom-up initiatives are considered, which facilitates the acceptance and internalization of norms. In the steering meetings, DOPPO leaders learn what qualifications need to be taken into account when they \"sell\" projects. In the meetings, DOPPO leaders act as \"knowledge brokers\" and \"issue sponsors\" integrating knowledge from all parts of the company. At the same time, they disseminate norms and visions through social interactions. Shared norms, values, and knowledge in use, evolving through interactions, are stored in the operating routines and in the human relation networks.Hard governance mechanisms offset the possible disadvantages and supplement soft governance. Taking into account the amount of units at Maekawa, these mechanisms are important in creating transparent unified standards and measuring unit performance. In addition to reducing uncertainty initiated by the lack of direct monitoring in internal hybrids, usage of clear shared evaluation criteria decreases conflicts created by system ambiguity. Also, regulating the flow of resources is important. Headquarters influences interdependencies, for example, by supporting financially risky projects. Standardized human resource management practices facilitate learning, combination and blending of skills, and movement of labor. A base of common standards and knowledge is necessary if individuals and collectives are to communicate and to learn from one another. These regularly revised governance mechanisms are efficient ways to exert control to provide guidelines for employees at Maekawa.While soft governance mechanisms are time-consuming to create and implement, they are needed to transform divergent interests to shared cognition and self-corrections. The implementation of hard governance without reinforcing interactions can alienate employees and create a situation in which middle managers and employees do not internalize top management intentions. The lack of shared norms and visions increase opportunistic behavior. Moreover, soft mechanisms make it possible to utilize part of the knowledge embedded in employees, and allow employees to internalize and identify themselves with corporate principles. The strong organizational culture provides an environment free from ambiguity and uncertainty, as long as the employees internalize norms and values grounded in the organizational ideology. It should be noted, however, that over-reliance on shared norms can lead to normative fixation and group-think that are detrimental rather than conducive to knowledge creation (Grandori, 2001).The case indicates that both OE and KM are equally incomplete and thus limited to explain governance in internal hybrid. That is, OE scholars overlook information asymmetries and seek to control opportunistic behavior through incentives or other hard dimensions, and KM scholars overlook opportunism and seek to utilize knowledge embedded into employees through soft dimensions. Instead making a choice between one of these competing views, we propose that the \"truth\" lies in the neglected middle. While lateral interactions and diffused decision-making rights in internal hybrids can facilitate knowledge processes, the accompanied increased autonomy can promote free-riding and opportunistic behavior without adequate coordination mechanisms. It can thus be argued that a synthesis of these opposing views offers the most accurate and realistic insight of governance in internal hybrids.\nConclusion and limitations: This paper shows that soft and hard governance mechanisms act as complementaries in successfully implemented internal hybrids. While soft governance is emphasized in KM publications (Hedlund, 1994), OE scholars point out that hard governance is needed to prevent agency problems (Foss, 2003). For instance, performance measures and output control can be used to decrease the uncertainty caused by reduced chances to control the internal activities of semi-autonomous entities. However, governance based solely on monitoring/measurement is dysfunctional in the long-run (Ghoshal and Moran, 1996). These governance mechanisms need to be used simultaneously to create a balance of control and trust, efficiency and innovation, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.Maekawa synthesizes innovation and efficiency through soft and hard governance mechanisms. While soft governance is used to increase motivation, trust, and shared norms and vision, hard mechanisms are used for transparency and shared operation principles. A shared corporate identity and hybrid organizational form, where single entities exist only as integrated parts of an interdependent whole, increase the likelihood for interdependences to develop beyond arms-length transactions. Soft mechanisms, embedded in social interactions and organizational practices, are the bases for routines and codes of interaction. Internalized norms, values, and visions ensure a balancing between self and whole at the individual, DOPPO, and GROUP levels.This study has limitations. While case studies lead to important insights, they do not always generalize to population phenomena. As a set of shared beliefs and agreed-upon behavior constitutes an important part of coordination, DOPPO-like forms are most suitable to companies with a homogeneous labor force. It can be assumed that this kind of form is not beneficial for companies operating in stable environments and dependent on mass production. There is still much research needed to understand governance in internal hybrids. The future research could, for instance, compare governance in internal hybrids, such as Danish Oticon (Foss, 2003) and Brazilian Semco (Killian et al., 1998).\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which scholars have proposed organizational forms combining elements of markets and hierarchies. These hybrid forms are based on networked connections and bottom-up entrepreneurship, fostering knowledge sharing among semi-independent units. Despite their suitability to knowledge-intensive companies, scholars are divided on their views on governance in internal hybrids. While knowledge management scholars emphasize soft community-like dimensions, organizational economists seek to reduce opportunism through hard hierarchical governance. Because these views act as complementaries, this paper synthesizes them to present organizational governance in internal hybrids.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A case study with 56 interviews describes the functioning of soft and hard governance mechanisms in the Japanese company Maekawa Manufacturing Ltd.\nFindings: - The case study indicates that soft and hard governance mechanisms work in complementary ways in a successfully implemented internal hybrid.\nPractical implications: - Internal hybrids tend to function most efficiently with a mix of soft knowledge management practices and hard control devices.\nOriginality/value: - Instead of taking an \"either/or\" perspective, this paper seeks to synthesize contrasting views of knowledge management and organizational economics.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Building an enterprise process view using cognitive mapping
|
[
"Business process re‐engineering",
"Cognitive mapping"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The old ways of organizing and conducting business are out. A new paradigm is emerging with the integration and networking of business partners and the focus on the core processes. Many of the best companies - e.g. 3M, Cisco, Texas Instruments, and Dell - have embraced this new approach to business by becoming faster, more flexible, and more integrative, focusing on customers, competition, teams, time and process management. Their organizations and those following their lead have been variously described as \"horizontal\", \"process centered\" or \"process oriented\" (Brooks, 1995; Buxbaum, 1995; Byrne, 1993; Davenport and Short, 1990; Davenport, 1993; Drucker, 1988; Hammer and Champy, 1993; Hammer and Stanton, 1995; Hammer, 1996, 1999; Melan, 1985).Processes, like never before, are now considered strategic intellectual assets. Consider how a dot-com firm like Amazon.com is protecting their business processes through patents, such as their one-click ordering and their internet customer-based referral system, better known by Amazon as \"affiliates\" (Krause, 2000). Dell has over 40 process patents listed on their web site (www.dell.conm) and considers process their competitive weapon. Michael Dell recently commented on the almost 1,000 patents that Dell engineers have filed, the majority being for process improvements; not product innovations (Jones, 2003). We maintain that companies competing in the networked business environment will need to reassess the strategic importance of their processes, viewing their organizations as not just a collection of functions but highly integrated processes. In short, they will need to take a business process orientation.A business process orientation (BPO) is not simply a new operations management strategy. Rather, it emphasizes process as opposed to hierarchies with special emphasis on outcomes, particularly customer satisfaction (McCormack, 1999; McCormack and Johnson, 2000).This article offers an approach for developing and building a high-level business process orientation within companies in an effort to help them achieve a competitive advantage. Using cognitive mapping techniques and the principles of modularity, both the customers' and the business' processes and their interrelationships are mapped to help align business strategy to process strategy, design and ownership. A case study also illustrates how these maps can be used in action learning and executive leadership development programs as a means of aligning enterprise leadership by implementing a cross-functional process view from the top down.\nBuilding the process view using the principle of modularity: Our studies have suggested that business processes are invisible within most organizations. Something becomes known or \"visible\" within an organization by the development and acceptance of mental models, or deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations or pictures that provide an understanding of the way things are done (Senge, 1990). The problem with mental models is that they are often individualized based upon each person's understanding. In order to build shared mental models, individuals must come together, communicate and discuss their views and come to a common understanding of the model. This can be accomplished using cognitive mapping techniques, a form of representation, which allows one to picture, analyze and compare mental models (Spicer, 1998). The process of developing and agreeing on common cognitive maps is a critical process for organizational learning and alignment (Klimecki and Lassleben, 1998). The organization chart is a typical cognitive map of an organization's mental models of power and authority. The development of common cognitive maps is also an effective approach to gaining consensus and alignment on strategies and execution priorities (Stepanovich and Mueller, 2002).The first step in building a business process orientation is to begin to look at the organization in a new way - through a process lens. This is what we call a \"process view\" or a mental model of the work that takes place within the organization. Building a common process view must be inclusive, not exclusive, involving at one time or another, all of an organization's personnel. Those not involved in preparing the actual documentation (or cognitive maps) should nevertheless review and validate the work being performed. Failing to take these measures will short-circuit the development of a common process mental model and the process orientation journey.Many different methods could be used to build a common process view within an organization. A principle called modularity, used to understand and manage complex systems, offers some very important concepts that should drive the construction of this view. Decomposability or logically grouping elements into or within a smaller number of subsystems, or levels, is one of the important concepts in the principle of modularity. Drawing boundaries that simplify the interdependencies of the parts of the system, a concept called interdependency, is also important (Langlois, 2000).For example, in a non-decomposable system, one with the boundaries and levels in conflict with the principle of modularity, the successful operation of any given subsystem would strongly depend upon the successful operation of other subsystems. There would be numerous interactions required between the subsystems before a specific subsystem could produce its output. In a decomposable system, on the other hand, the successful operation of a sub system would have a lower dependency and interaction requirement outside of itself. Figure 1 provides a visual example of this.From our research and based upon these key concepts of modularity, our approach begins with a high-level customer focused process map and works from there to build increasing levels of decomposed detail. Figure 2 provides a generic example of this type of map.This key cognitive process map is critical in beginning the shift to a process view as well as a customer focus, both key components of BPO. It is also a very useful tool when organizing the construction of more detailed process views. A process map at the enterprise level, built using cognitive mapping techniques and conforming to the principles of modularity facilitates critical agreement on process boundaries, dependencies, enterprise performance measures and customer interactions. Once this common process view of the business is agreed to, process organization structures can be developed and process ownership assigned, both critical strategy implementation mechanisms. The construction of high level measures and the assignment of responsibilities for improving process performances can also be accomplished using this map. This is a critical leadership alignment mechanism in the operationalization of strategy.\nComponents of the high level map: Organizing, classifying and setting boundaries are very important steps in the BPO journey and building this map is a critical first step. It defines decomposable systems that conform to the principle of modularity and sets the stage for successful development of the more detailed process view. It also groups the high level processes into process types, each possessing different characteristics and being managed differently. This section describes the components of the map, the different process types, and the methods for using the map.Organizing and classifying the processes by customer lifecycle, the series of activities a customer performs when interacting with a business, helps focus on the outcomes that are critical to the customer and the businesses processes that produce these outcomes. Core processes, the value-added activities that support and facilitate the customer life cycle, represent the foundation of most businesses and the value that customers pay for and the essence of most businesses. The customer exchanges or interactions are the inputs that begin the process and the outputs that end the cycle. Measures built around these interactions are, from the customer's perspective, the essence of the business process performance. \"What gets measured gets done\" is a well-worn saying in process circles. Measures focusing on customer interactions taken from the customer's point of view will more likely lead to real change - and superior customer value.Sustaining processes may not result in direct customer interactions, yet are critical to the operation of the business, such as product research and development. For a chemical company, a sustaining process might be process design; for a consulting company it may be knowledge management.Supporting processes are not as insignificant, as their position on the map might imply. They are shown at the bottom of the map because they are the furthest from the customer. Human resource management would be an example of a supporting process in a consulting company. Information systems frequently serve as a supporting process for many companies today. For example, for a pure internet play such as Amazon.com, the total customer experience is to a great extent shaped by its website and its daily function. In this case, design and support of that website could be viewed as sustaining processes or even as part of a core process.Using the map in Figure 2, process measures can begin to be developed as well as identifying process owners accountable for these measures. At this level, each high level process listed on the map should have an owner that is responsible for building the next step in process view. This owner should also take operational responsibility and be given authority for the assigned process. These owners should be on the executive leadership team and involved in key leadership activities, just as the functional executives are. Often, the functional executives become the owners, especially of the sustaining and supporting processes. This owner must then begin to build the process-oriented jobs and cross-functional process teams and lead the transition to them, a tough but not impossible assignment.Finally, this map also serves as a personality profile of the company, the markets it serves and the interactions with its customers. It is a critical starting point for building a process view. The next step in building the process view is to build process maps of increasing detail with cross functional teams continually involving more and more of the organization until everyone understands and accepts the processes, boundaries and interdependencies. It is important to remember that the documentation is not the outcome of this effort. It is the understanding and acceptance of the cognitive process maps by the entire organization. The process owners lead this with the deep involvement of all members of the process team. The result of this effort is then shared with the entire company for validation, understanding and acceptance.Building the process view of an organization is very time consuming and expensive but there are no short cuts in this process. Like building a house without a good foundation, an organization without a fundamental process view, a shared cognitive map, has nothing upon which to build and will eventually revert back to a predominantly functional, vertical organization. A strong process view requires leadership and commitment from the management levels of an organization. The following case study at a construction company illustrates how cognitive maps can be used to develop management's understanding of the process view and their role as process advocates in the integration of these maps throughout the entire organization.\nApplying BPO maps at Centex Rooney: Centex Rooney Construction Company is headquartered in Plantation, Florida and has an additional seven offices across the state of Florida. For two consecutive years, Centex Corporation has been ranked the nation's number one most admired engineering and construction company Fortune Magazine. Fortune's list of \"America's Most Admired Companies\"(tm) is the definitive report card on corporate reputations. Winners are chosen from the 1,000 largest US companies, ranked by revenue. Additionally, Engineering News-Record (ENR) has also rated Centex Corporation as the number one, top general building contractor.Action learning concepts\nConclusions and future research: Building the business process view is a critical first step in business process orientation, an organizational philosophy closely linked to \"systems thinking\". It can link business strategy and customer needs to all the aspects of process design and management in a very powerful and visual way. This is the foundation for the success of corporations tomorrow by providing a clear view of the interrelationships inside and outside the company and by establishing a common language for change management.One of the challenges faced by companies today is the actual implementation of new philosophies or \"views\". Effective change management requires the involvement and commitment of key management positions. It is unlikely that a complete \"process view\" can be achieved if management does not buy-in and sell the new \"view\" to the rest of the organization. The case study presented in this article used cognitive maps to involve executives in the design of a company process view and to communicate the executives' process view to other leadership positions as part of a leadership development program.Effective organizational learning is considered a key intellectual organizational asset. This article demonstrates that the use of a \"process view\" in conjunction with action learning methods can contribute to effective leadership development and successful problem-solving through the shared mental models and reflective learning on real business issues. In this paper, the cognitive mapping techniques and the principles of modularity have proven to be useful in a more expedient learning process as well as a tool for reflective learning. Although the combined use of the cognitive maps and action learning addressed the construction industry in the private sector, initial results indicate their usefulness in the change management process. A future area of research would be to follow-up in 12 months to determine the more permanent effects of this approach on the company.The authors suggest that future case analysis research be conducted in other private sector industries using the same model. It would be meaningful to incorporate the use of cognitive mapping techniques as part of customized leadership and management development programs in service industries such as health care and hospital management, where customer focus is clearly at the center of operations. Typically, process management research in these service industries has been interested in examining the use of techniques within the day-to-day lower-level operations of an organization; however, there is a clear need to involve executive management in the development and delivery of the process view message at the enterprise level.A relevant extension and possibility for further research would be to examine the public sector using the same approach. Evidence suggests that public sector strategies are beginning to incorporate the use of private sector management philosophies and techniques. Given the perception that the public sector's structure is hierarchical, it would be appropriate to align the use of cognitive mapping with the sector's leadership and management development programs.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - This article offers an approach to building a high-level business process view of the enterprise, based on cognitive mapping techniques and the principles of modularity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A case study illustrates how these maps can be used in action learning and executive leadership development programs as a means of aligning enterprise leadership by implementing a cross-functional process view from the top down.\nFindings: - This enterprise map shows both the customers' and the business's processes and their interrelationships, which helps align business strategy to process strategy, design and ownership.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The authors suggest that future case analysis research be conducted in other private sector industries using the same model.\nPractical implications: - Building the business process view is a critical first step in business process orientation, an organizational philosophy closely linked to \"systems thinking\". It can link business strategy and customer needs to all the aspects of process design and management in a very powerful and visual way. This is the foundation for the success of corporations tomorrow by providing a clear view of the interrelationships inside and outside the company and by establishing a common language for change management.\nOriginality/value: - This paper offers a unique approach for using cognitive mapping techniques and the principles of modularity to help align business strategy to process strategy, design and ownership.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Preliminary look at the motivators and decision-making process of medical tourists from Nigeria to India
|
[
"India",
"Nigeria",
"Consumer behavior",
"Medical tourism",
"Health-care marketing"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: International trade in medical services has experienced tremendous growth over the last three decades. Every day, people source for quality medical care for their diverse ailments without recourse to where on earth the service is provided. As a result, many countries, especially Low and Middle Income Countries (LIMC) now view this as a huge business opportunity, which can be harnessed for their local health-care industry (Connell, 2013; Heung et al., 2011; Kyritsis Froelich, 2012; Lunt et al., 2013). This international trade is carried out under the concept, \"medical tourism\". World Health Organisation (WHO) defines medical tourism as \"the travel of patients across international borders to receive some form of medical treatment\" (WHO Patient Safety Programme, 2013). Medical tourism was previously the preserve of the super-rich in developing countries where medical infrastructure and expertise were inadequate (Connell, 2006; Clark et al., 2013). These affluent individuals travelled to nations with top-notch medical services irrespective of the costs because they could afford it. Today, there is a huge paradigm shift, which is demonstrated by the reverse movement of medical tourists (MTs) from developed countries to developing countries (Lee et al., 2012; Lunt et al., 2013).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Medical tourism\n3. Method: A qualitative approach was adopted for this study being a preliminary investigation of the decision-making process of MTs from Nigeria. According to Kazemi (2008, cited in Jung, 2012, p. 17), 'qualitative research is an unstructured, primary exploratory design based on a small sample, and intended to provide insight and understanding'. Qualitative research explores social issues deeper and gives clearer interpretation and understanding to human attitudes and behaviours. The technique is more appropriately fitting for relatively new subject areas where statistical data are still scanty (Heung et al., 2011). This research chose the strategy of extensive interviews of persons who were MTs to India in the last two years and/or companions of a MT to provide detailed account of how their decisions were made. The conversations were on a one-on-one basis with open-ended semi-structured questions meant to generate rich data about how the decisions were made and factors that influenced the decisions in their order of relevance. The approach of Bruwer (2013), which involves in-depth survey, was employed. The exploratory nature of this research required the provision of exhaustive data from a relatively small number of respondents. This approach was chosen because, to the best of my knowledge, the subject matter had not been previously researched in Nigeria.\n4. Findings: 4.1 Respondents' profile\n5. Discussion: This study used TPB to explore the views of Nigerian MTs to India to empirically uncover their motivating factors and decision-making processes and answer the research questions in Section 1. Application of the theoretical framework to the key findings above has led this study to propose 2 models for decision-making by Nigerian MTs to India.\n6. Concluding remarks: Nigerian MTs to India consider medical tourism as an enforced necessity rather than a desired first choice. They usually consult domestic hospitals for their medical conditions because of their belief system that their needs would be met locally. Unmet needs resulting from service failure lead them to medical tourism. Having noted that the contextual meaning of medical tourism was foreign medical treatment and vacation, for Nigerian MTs to India, medical tourism equates foreign medical treatment only unlike nationals of Western countries of whom Jung (2012) posited value vacation as much as the medical treatment component of medical tourism. The implication is that more practical research could be conducted to fathom the disposition of Nigerians towards vacation during medical tourism.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The past decade has witnessed a tremendous and progressive growth in the number of Nigerians who engage in medical tourism from Nigeria to India. Various commentators have advanced diverse reasons for this trend. However, there is a dearth of research that has sought to provide empirical insights. This paper aims to investigate the decision-making process of Nigerian medical tourists and why they prefer medical tourism to India to medical care locally.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Eight Nigerian medical tourists are interviewed on a one-on-one basis with open-ended questions using purposive criterion sampling technique from an interpretivist mind-set.\nFindings: The paper identifies two major motivators, namely, inadequate medical infrastructure and poor medical, and customer service from health workers in Nigeria, which spurred medical tourism from Nigeria to India. Further, it finds that first timers premise their decisions on advice from reference groups, while previous personal experiences guide decisions on subsequent medical travels. Findings are explained using the template provided by the theory of planned behaviour.\nOriginality/value: This exploratory nature of this research provides a useful basis to elucidate the course of decision-making of Nigerian patients so that appropriate marketing communication channels can be applied. It improves the process of recruiting and engaging Nigerian patients and nurturing wholesome relationships between Nigerian patients and hospitals.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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From the streets to academia: a librarian's guide to hip-hop culture
|
[
"Music",
"Popular culture",
"Audiovisual media",
"Audio media"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The genre of rap music and hip-hop culture, now in its fourth decade emerged from humble beginnings in New York's South Bronx, before spreading quickly downtown to the nightclubs, then out to suburbia and into mainstream popular culture. The mass appeal is the music-oriented subculture that is driving record sales, box office sales, product endorsements, fashion and sold out concerts. Overwhelmingly dominated and consumed by youth, this artistic and cultural innovation speaks a language and conveys a manner that young people relate to and understand. Today hip-hop is a multi-billon dollar entertainment and cultural industry that has evolved into a medium facilitating self-expression and influencing styles of dress, language and mannerisms that can no longer be dismissed as merely a passing fad or cultural movement waiting to fade like the disco era of the mid 1970s. Instead, hip-hop is a dominant cultural force and legitimate art form that merits scholarly inquiry and discourse for its impact on issues of race, gender, and culture.\nCD recordings: The albums selected for this article illustrate the diversity of rap music styles and eras. Although this list is not exhaustive, it includes albums that have had an impact on music and hip-hop culture.50 Cent (aka 50) (Curtis Jackson) (2003), Get Rich or Die Tryin', Slim Shady/Aftermath\nFilms and documentaries: The following is a selection from the increasing number of films and documentaries with hip-hop related themes. Hip-hop related films are those movies that in some way document or critique the music or the culture.Beat Street (1984), MGM Home Entertainment, directed by Stan Lathan\nMonographs and reference works: The following texts represent some of the central works on hip-hop culture. They provide some of the most comprehensive overviews and coverage on the subject. Any of these would be appropriate for academic and public libraries.Bogdanov, Vladimir (Ed.) (2003), All Music Guide to Hip-Hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap and Hip-Hop, Hal Leonard Corporation, Wisconsin\nMagazines: These are urban music magazines covering a wide range of intersection hip-hop topics with insightful article reviews, essays profiles and interviews for fans of hip-hop and for those unfamiliar with the genre. They are excellent sources for the latest artist, music and trends.The FADER, 71 West 23rd Street, Floor 13, NY, NY 10010, http://thefader.com\nWeb sites: Library collections must include formats beyond books and periodicals. The internet provides a great array of resources on rap music and hip-hop culture. These web sites are an incredible research source for staying current with hip-hop.Allhiphop.com, www.allhiphop.com/\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to identify a variety of titles and resources to offer both public and academic librarians guidance in establishing and maintaining a definitive core collection of past and present materials.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The annotated bibliography includes CD recordings, films, documentaries, serials, monographs and web sites on rap music and hip-hop culture. The entries chosen were culled from rap music periodicals, reference works, catalogs and journals.\nFindings: - These resources showcase the innovation of rap's formative years. They trace the broad scope of rap musical styles and document and critique hip-hop culture.\nOriginality/value: - These selected titles capture distinctive periods in hip-hop history and help librarians stay current and conscious of what to include in their collections as rap becomes more mainstream and more respectable.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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In control? IQC consensus and statutory regulation
|
[
"Six Sigma",
"Risk management",
"Process design",
"Quality improvement",
"Process control"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: internal quality control (IQC) - current and future requirements: IQC is defined as the procedures undertaken for continuous operational monitoring and measurement (Fraser, 2001). Such control procedures are a fundamental requirement for attaining compliance to the international standard for medical laboratories (International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)15189:2012) (Technical Committee ISO/TC 212, 2012) and safeguarding medical laboratory service quality. IQC serves as an important tool for managing risk attributable to the total testing pathway (TTP) analytical phase and is used in concert with other control points across the TTP to help reduce and maintain risk at a clinically acceptable level. IQC is also only one quality management system component, which together with other mechanisms: quality planning, quality laboratory processes, quality assurance and quality improvement, serve to direct and control organisational quality. In medical diagnostic laboratories, test results must be an adequate standard to permit appropriate clinical decision-making. By evaluating and comparing analytical testing processes with expected under stable operation, laboratory scientists are alerted to changes in assay performance that could limit the test result's intended clinical purpose. Despite long-standing IQC procedures, considerable variation in practice remains (Housley et al., 2008), even amongst ISO15189:2012 accredited laboratories. Arguably, this variation affects service quality. Given IQC's importance in laboratory medicine, it seems extraordinary that in most European countries there is no clear guidance regarding minimally acceptable criteria for its implementation, monitoring and review. nor is this critical function governed by statute. In the interim, and in patient safety interests, we propose an IQC programme template that we hope will harmonise practice. Additionally, we advocate a pan-European statutory IQC regulation. This paper provides such a template, to inform appropriate IQC programme design and offers insight regarding the challenges affecting implementation. Statistical-based rules (Westgard) are accessible and familiar to clinical laboratories and predominate IQC practice in Ireland and the UK. Such rules readily permit a sigma-metric-based approach, which we consider an imperative for procedural harmonisation and a universal quantitative currency for assessing process performance, and setting-related goals within and between laboratories. The recommendations and practical guidance are informed in large part by our experience working in large automated clinical biochemistry and diagnostic endocrinology laboratories.\nQuality matters in the TTP: In laboratory medicine, an error may be defined as \"any failure to meet the required output quality necessary for optimum patient care, anywhere in the pathway from test selection and returning appropriately interpreted report to the requesting clinician\" (O'Kane, 2009, p. 29). Effort to minimise error must be made analytically through IQC and in pre-pre (e.g. inappropriate test), pre- (e.g. inappropriate sample), post- (e.g. excessive turn-around-time) and post-post- (e.g. incorrect interpretation) analytical phases (Plebani, 2010). The analytical phase has improved over recent decades owing to increased automation, improved technology, assay standardisation, effective quality assessment schemes, statistical IQC and improved education. However, failure to obtain the required analytical quality is still evident, resulting from analytical interference and bias caused by variation between different reagent lots (Dalal and Bridgen, 2009; Savukoski et al., 2012; Algeciras-Schmnich et al., 2013). IQC, one TTP element, is our focus with the impetus to reduce error in the analytical phase through a standardised approach to IQC practice. An IQC programme has four stages:\nImplementing an IQC programme: Stage 1: staff and training considerations\nConclusion: We show that IQC programme design involves many factors that collectively determine IQC effectiveness in reducing error attributable to the TTP analytical phase. Given the central and critical role that IQC practice plays in ensuring service quality, we contend that the time has come for international consensus and statutory regulation regarding minimally acceptable criteria for its implementation, monitoring and review. In the interim, and in patient safety interests, we propose an IQC programme template that we hope will harmonise practice.\n",
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},
{
"content": "Purpose: Internal quality control (IQC) represents an essential risk management tool within the total testing pathway (TTP) that contributes to the overall objective of assuring the quality of results produced in medical laboratories. Controlling analytical phase quality alone requires significant expertise and input by scientifically trained staff. This effort has escalated exponentially following the publication of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)15189:2012 requirements for quality and competence in medical laboratories. The reported inconsistency and diversity to IQC approaches in diagnostic laboratories is definitive evidence that international guidance in IQC programme design and implementation is long overdue. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Herein, the authors define, describe and critically examine the essential elements four stages of an IQC programme and suggest a template to inform both design and ease of implementation. For practical application, the authors have stratified the proposed methodology into four stages: staff education and training; IQC material; IQC targets; and IQC procedure, and provide recommendations that meet ISO15189:2012 requirements.\nFindings: These recommendations are informed by the published literature together with the collective experience working in clinical biochemistry and diagnostic endocrinology laboratories. The authors note that the laboratory staff's effort on IQC is a continuous process, driven by changes within each IQC stage, in response to risk analysis, maximising economic value or through professional leadership and central to IQC programme implementation and delivery.\nPractical implications: The authors offer a template that laboratories can use to inform the design and implementation of their IQC programme.\nOriginality/value: The proposed IQC programme is user friendly, flexible and pragmatic with the potential to harmonise practice. The authors have provided a template to potentially harmonise IQC practice nationally. Given the central and critical role that IQC practice plays in ensuring the quality of patient results' importance, the authors contend that the time has come for international consensus and statutory regulation regarding the minimally acceptable criteria for its implementation, monitoring and review.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Bridging the gap between justice and citizenship behavior in Asian culture
|
[
"Organizational citizenship behaviour",
"Moderating effect",
"Islamic work ethic",
"Organizational justice"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) became an important area of research in organizational studies and has received great attention from scholars for last four decades due to its significant contribution to organizational effectiveness and success (Podsakoff et al., 2014). Additionally, OCB is well-known as a crucial measure of employees' behavior and performance inside organization (Rotundo and Sackett, 2002). Furthermore, the interest in employees' citizenship behavior is gaining more consideration from researchers in different discipline like marketing, nursing, and environment (Podsakoff et al., 2014). Although different authors have defined OCB in different ways, in general it refers to positive behavior from employees' side that exceeds their core task and intends to support organization members and its social and psychological environment (Podaskoff et al., 2009).\nTheoretical background and hypotheses development: OCB\nResearch methodology: Research context\nAnalysis and findings: Respondents' profile\nDiscussion: The focus of this study is twofold. First, to predict the effect of organizational justice on employee's citizenship behavior directed to benefit specific individual and/or organization as a whole in the context of Islamic financial institutions in Malaysia. Second, to examine the interaction effect of IWE. The outcomes of this study showed support for all hypotheses developed in this research. The findings are briefly discussed below.\nTheoretical and managerial implications: Theoretically, this is a pioneer study that examines the moderating effect of IWE on the relationship between organizational justice and OCBI and OCBO. The findings of this study show that dispositional variable (i.e. IWE) plays an important moderating role in solving the contradiction that occur in the literature regarding the relationship between attitudinal variable (i.e. OJ) and behavioral outcome (i.e. OCBI and OCBO). This finding indicates that other dispositional variables have the potential to moderate this relationship. By addressing this gap in the literature, the present research contributes significantly to the existing body of knowledge. Moreover, the findings of this study reveal that IWE plays a greater role as an antecedent of OCB and also as a moderator on the relationship between OJ and OCBI and OCBO.\nLimitation and future research directions: Although the present research has its merits in highlighting crucial aspect of OCB in organizational setting, it is not beyond of its limitation. However, the limitations of this study can be the ground of future research in the field. This study has collected data from respondents at same point of time; this can raise questions about the direction of causality. Future research can utilize longitudinal method to overcome this issue. The sample of this study was confined to financial organizations that follow Islamic principles in Malaysia. This can limit the generalization of the findings on a mass people. Future studies can replicate this study in different research context and in different countries to increase the population generalizability of the findings. Last but not the least, the findings of this study has highlighted the important role of IWE inside an organization. Therefore, future researchers are encouraged to examine the effect of IWE on individual and organizational variables which has not been tested yet like personality, emotional intelligence, leadership behavior, counterproductive behavior, organizational performance, organizational identification, job characteristics, work engagement, perceived organizational support, and organizational culture and structure.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Based on social exchange, equity, and other orientation theories this study examines the effect of organizational justice on two dimensions of employees' citizenship behavior in the Asian context. Moreover, the purpose of this paper is to investigate whether Islamic work ethic (IWE) can moderate the relationships between organizational justice and two dimensions of citizenship behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected using self-administered questionnaire. In total, 337 employees from Islamic financial institutions in Malaysia participated in the survey. Structural equation modeling specifically partial least square was used to analysis the hypothetical model developed in this study.\nFindings: The finding of this study revealed that justice has direct effect on citizenship behavior directed toward individual and organization alike. These relationships found to be more effective for employees who are high in IWE and weak for employees who are low in IWE. Moreover, the findings of this study provide insight about the validity and reliability of the existing scales pertaining to the study constructs in Asian culture.\nPractical implications: The current study enhance researchers understanding about the crucial role of dispositional variables as moderator in relation to justice and citizenship behavior, confirmed the predictive role of organizational justice in Asian context, and stresses the importance of justice at workplace which can encourage employees to go the extra mile and show good behavior toward their co-workers and/or organization.\nOriginality/value: This is a pioneer study that empirically investigates the moderating role of IWE between organizational justice and citizenship behavior, and emphasized the validity and reliability of the used scales in eastern context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The role of consumer-cause identification and attitude in the intention to purchase cause-related products
|
[
"Consumer behaviour",
"Corporate social responsibility",
"Attitude",
"Purchase intention",
"Cause-related marketing",
"Consumer-cause identification"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Cause-related marketing and social marketing-based strategies are increasingly used for demonstrating social responsibility and to create competitive advantages such as increasing brand awareness and image or improving overall company image, as a means to stimulate customers' intention of purchase (Chattananon et al., 2008; Guerreiro et al., 2016). Cause-related marketing, in particular, is one area with a notable growth. The IEG Sponsorship Report (IEG, 2018) indicates that North American expenditures on cause-related marketing (CrM) in 2017 grew 3.0 percent to reach $2.05bn. In 2018, it is forecasted a 4.4 percent growth reaching $2.14bn (IEG, 2018). One main reason for this growth rests on the win-win nature of this type of marketing for all parties involved (Polonsky and Wood, 2001).\nSocial marketing and CSR: The issues related to socially responsible behaviors are attracting more and more attention as they are frequently associated with consumers' choices and behaviors (Guerreiro et al., 2016). The concept of social marketing was first defined by Kotler and Zaltman (1971) as the development, implementation and monitoring of programs that aim to influence the acceptance of social ideas involving considerations of planning, product, price, communication, distribution and marketing research. Thus, social marketing uses commercial marketing strategies to distribute not-for-profit products and services, and to design, implement and evaluate programs that influence certain voluntary behaviors, having as objective the individual well-being and the society as a whole (Andreasen, 1996).\nCause-related marketing: According to Skory and Repka (2004), cause-related marketing is simply marketing with a worthy cause. In CrM a company sponsors a cause \"linked to customer's engaging in revenue-producing transactions with the firm\" (Varandarajan and Menon, 1988, p. 60). By means of powerful alliances, not-for-profit organizations and companies work together using marketing tools to provide more resources for social causes, promote change and create better answers for the society (Varandarajan and Menon, 1988). Therefore, it is important that all parties may benefit from the CrM campaign: the company, the cause and the client/donor. However, often the company benefits much more than the cause (Adkins, 2000; Pringle and Thompson, 1999). The commonality and complementarity between the brand and cause are conditions that should be evaluated to assure the success of the partnership (Hoeffler and Keller, 2002). It must be noticed that at the center of the process lies the \"socially conscious consumer,\" a consumer who increasingly considers the consequences that its consumption may have in the public domain and wants to use its buying power to change the society (Webster, 1975). Several studies confirm that consumers have a more positive image of companies that support causes (Mendini et al., 2018; Perez et al., 2013; Roy and Graeff, 2003), prefer to buy products associated with social causes (Chattananon et al., 2008). Furthermore, the results will be much better if the consumer considers that the companies are acting altruistically (Benezra, 1996; Rifon and Trimble, 2006).\nIdentification, attitude and intention to purchase: A successful cause-related marketing campaign requires that clients and other stakeholders identify themselves with the cause and know exactly what their contribution is, as well as the company's contribution to that cause. It is common to consumers to relate or connect to companies which are linked to causes of interest in such a way that the level of familiarity with the causes increases the attitude toward the company's brands generating what is known as \"consumer-company identification\" (Zdravkovic et al., 2010). The studies exploring the consumer-company identification phenomenon have established that identification is a powerful tool guided by consumers' needs for self-definition and social identification (Bhattacharya and Sen, 2003). The findings strongly indicate that consumers tend to identify more with organizations they believe to be permanent, distinctive and capable of increasing their self-esteem (Bhattacharya and Sen, 2004). This identification aids them to develop a sense of commitment to the company's brand which improves attitude, intention to purchase and loyalty (Basil, 2002; Berger et al., 2006; Bigne-Alcaniz et al., 2010; Curras-Perez et al., 2009; Elfenbein et al., 2012; Lee et al., 2012; Lee and Kim, 2014; Perez, 2009).\nConceptual model and hypotheses: When developing a CrM campaign it is important that the company selects a cause with which consumers identify (Hoeffler and Keller, 2002). The identification between the consumer and the cause seems to be an important predictor of a CrM campaign success (Gupta and Pirsch, 2006). Supporting this claim, Berger et al. (2006) identified a positive relationship between the affinity and consumer attitudes toward a cause and the likelihood of the success of the campaign. According to Reed (2002), the identification between the consumer and the cause is supported by the social identity theory. The social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1985) argues that if the consumer feels a psychological connection to the cause they will be motivated to support a cause, particularly if they are able to identify themselves with its objectives and mission (Bhattacharya and Sen, 2003). This degree of identification is in direct proportion to the number of shared characteristics between the cause and the person's self-image (Bhattacharya et al., 1995; Lichtenstein et al., 2004), in a way that the achievements and failures of the cause are faced as personal (Ashforth and Mael, 1989). When a consumer identifies with the cause, there is a predisposition to patronize CrM programs and purchase the products associated with it as suggested by Zdravkovic et al. (2010). Based on this, we propose the following hypothesis:\nMethod: Sample\nResults: The sample was composed of 58.97 percent (92 out of 156) females and 41.03 percent males. Regarding age, the respondents were classified into three groups: under 25, between 25 and 45, and over 45. The first category was predominant, representing 57.1 percent of the respondents. Concerning occupation, 44.9 percent of the respondents were students and 44.2 percent were active workers. Regarding education, more than half of the respondents (53.2 percent) hold a college degree.\nDiscussion: Consumers are often skeptical about claims of CrM campaigns since they perceive them as manipulative and merely designed to generate benefits for companies (Chang and Cheng, 2015). This is one reason why the choice of the cause and the partner are crucial to the credibility and success of the CrM (Hoeffler and Keller, 2002). The current results show that there is a positive relation between consumer-cause identification and consumers' attitude toward the cause in such a way that the higher the identification the better the attitude. These findings are in consonance with Sheikh and Beise-Zee's (2011) proposition that the familiarity between the consumer and the cause is often measured by the attitude towards the specific cause. For its turn, the attitude positively influences the intention to purchase, supporting the view by Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) and Wong and Tang (2008) suggesting that attitude can serve as a predictor of purchase intention. Therefore, the better the consumers' attitude toward the cause, the better their willingness to buy products from companies supporting the cause. However, when setting up a CrM campaign, companies and non-profit institutions should be conscious that the intensity of consumer-cause identification and of attitude change with age. Younger people are not as sensitive as older people are to certain causes, especially the ones related to health problems associated with aging. Thus, targeting a health-related CrM to this group requires extra effort and investment with uncertain outcomes.\nConclusions: The findings of this research have important implications for both non-profit marketing researchers and practitioners working with non-profit organizations. The present study results offer new insights into the relevance of consumer-cause identification to predict intention to purchase in the presence of a favorable attitude. Without a positive attitude, consumer-cause identification seems ineffective to predict the intention to purchase products associated with the cause. Therefore, to maximize the investment and the impact of CrM campaigns, increase sales and strengthen brand image, it is important that companies carefully choose a cause that is capable of creating high levels of consumer-cause identification and will elicit a positive attitude.\nLimitations and future research: Although the current results are of substantial interest and suggest future research endeavors, namely, related to the antecedent of attitude toward the cause, several limitations should be recognized. One comprehensible limitation of this research is related to the sample size and composition. Despite the efforts of the authors to attain a large sample, the number of respondents was disappointing. This condition together with the sampling method may have influenced the results. Additionally, it should also be clear that the responses may not be representative of the real consumer behavior but a representation of the aspirational consumer behavior. Future studies could try to address these limitations by increasing the sample size and include a measure to the actual purchase instead of the intention to purchase. A larger and diversified random sample is desirable to validate the current findings and further allow for the generalization of the conclusions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to extend prior research on the influence of consumer-cause identification on the intention to purchase products from the companies supporting the cause and re-evaluates the role of attitude toward the cause as a mediator of the relationship between identification and intention to purchase.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a questionnaire, a sample of 156 Portuguese consumers evaluated their personal identification and attitude to one of four causes. Partial least squares path modeling was used to evaluate the proposed conceptual model.\nFindings: The results reveal that more than identification, a positive attitude is vital to be able to predict the intention to purchase. Together, consumer-cause identification and attitude explain 35.1 percent of the variance in purchase intention. The findings show also that attitude acts as a mediator in the relationship between the identification with the cause and intention to purchase. Several differences regarding gender and age are also revealed.\nOriginality/value: While the majority of studies were single cause evaluations, the current results are based on the assessment of multiple causes. Consequently, the findings are more comprehensive and robust, providing important insights to researchers. The conclusions confirm within a wider context the role of attitude as a mediator of the identification and intention to purchase and can further assist companies in designing better targeted cause-related marketing campaigns.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
An institution-based view of firms' early internationalization: Effectiveness of national export promotion policies
|
[
"International entrepreneurship",
"Export promotion policies",
"Institution-based view",
"Less-developed countries",
"Firms’ early internationalization"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This study integrates insights from two branches of international business (IB) literature, namely national export promotion policies (EPPs) from the domain of international marketing (IM), and speed of internationalization (SOI) of early internationalizing firms (EIFs) from the international entrepreneurship (IE) literature. Cavusgil and Knight (2015, p. 4) defined EIFs as \"entrepreneurial start-ups that, from or near their founding, seek to derive a substantial proportion of their revenue from the sale of products in international markets.\" The early or speedy pace of internationalization from the establishment of a firm has been documented as the key defining feature of EIFs. However, internationalization is a risky, complex and costly process accompanied by a great deal of uncertainty (George et al., 2005). Successful initiation and operation of business activities in international markets thus require firms to leverage different types of internal and external resources (Fernandez and Nieto, 2005). In other words, the success of entrepreneurial activities beyond national borders can be affected by a variety of internal and external factors. Accordingly, a significant effort has been made by IE researchers in identifying internal performance determinants of EIFs, such as entrepreneur's or manager's global visions from inception (Nummela et al., 2004), entrepreneurial orientation (Kuivalainen et al., 2007), level of education (Ahmed and Brennan, 2019; Andersson and Wictor, 2003), prior entrepreneurial, international and industry-specific experience (Ahmed and Brennan, 2019; Federico et al., 2011; McDougall et al., 2003, Reuber and Fischer, 1997) and the development of personal and business networks (Coviello and Munro, 1997; Loane and Bell, 2006). However, although research on EIFs has been growing, studies remain limited in examining the effect of external factors on firms' early internationalization in the IE literature. Governments, particularly home country governments, tend to be the key actors that shape the external environments. External environmental factors thus remain beyond the control of export-oriented firms (Aaby and Slater, 1989). National EPPs can be regarded as one of the key external factors (Njinyah, 2018) or resources (Knight and Liesch, 2016) through which governments seek to facilitate and enhance the international performance and competitiveness of local firms (Ayob and Freixanet, 2014; Durmusoglu et al., 2012).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Importance of exporting\n3. Theoretical background and hypothesis: Research exploring the association between institutional factors and firms' early internationalization is limited in the IE literature (Volchek et al., 2013). The field of IE maintains that entrepreneurial resources and capabilities are critical to the speedy pursuit of foreign market opportunities. More recently, the realization that resources and capabilities of entrepreneurs cannot solely determine SOI has shifted the research focus to the examination of other factors. However, theoretical knowledge about the role of institutional factors, particularly regulatory instruments of home country institutions, on firms' early or speedy international entry strategy is limited in the literature. Apart from entrepreneurial and firm-specific variables, factors related to the regulatory instruments may have a substantial effect on the SOI of EIFs. Oliver (1997) argued that without institutional support, a highly productive and unique bundle of resources are of limited value for a firm. Although this perspective has encouraged a small number of IE researchers to examine the effect of factors related to normative and/or cognitive institutions (e.g. Belso-Martinez, 2006; Kiss and Danis, 2008; Shirokova and McDougall-Covin, 2012; Volchek et al., 2013), the effect of regulatory instruments of home country institutions on SOI of EIFs is yet to be explored. Our study addresses this knowledge gap by examining the effect of a regulatory instrument incorporating national policies on the SOI of EIFs.\n4. Methodology and methods: 4.1 Contextual background of the study\n5. Discussion and conclusion: As expected, our findings reveal a positive effect of those policies focusing on market development, guarantee-related and technical support schemes. In particular, the exploitation of market-development related EPPs, indirect finance-related policies in the form of guarantee-related support schemes and technical assistance are found to be instrumental in driving firms' early internationalization. However, contrary to our expectation, direct finance-related EPPs in their combined form is not found to be a significant driver. This finding related to the impact of direct finance-related EPPs in its combined form may be explained from a consideration of the weak institutional context. Evidence suggests that although the Bangladeshi Government provides a variety of financial incentives, firms, particularly SMEs, experience many challenges, such as difficulties in obtaining funds from financial institutions and the government, a high level of bureaucracy in government agencies and a low level of research and development expenditure. These challenges are argued to hinder firms' resilience and competitiveness (Islam et al., 2011). These considerations may explain our non-supportive finding in relation to the combined effect of direct finance-related FEPPs. The inconsistent finding related to direct finance-related EPPs may also be due to the fact that firms' early internationalization is argued in the IE literature to benefit largely from intangible resources rather than tangible/financial resources (Knight and Liesch, 2016). However, it should be noted that an additional analysis about the effect of individual elements of direct FEPPs reveals that the provision of bank loans and cash subsidy drive firms' early internationalization.\n6. Limitations and future research directions: A number of limitations of our study can be identified which provide several fruitful avenues for future scholarship. The limitations in relation to some aspects of EIF's are discussed first. Subsequently, the limitations pertaining to national EPPs variables are elucidated. Finally, we elaborate the limitations related to our study design.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the differential effects of national export promotion policies (EPPs) on firms' early internationalization using the institution-based view (IBV) as our theoretical foundation. Early or speedy internationalization is an important topic for academics, executives and policy makers. However, the effect of the regulatory dimension of institutions incorporating governmental policies on firms' early internationalization remains unexplored in the literature.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study was survey-based and the authors engaged in quantitative analysis using data drawn from the apparel industry in a least-developed country (LDC), i.e. Bangladesh. The authors employed 174 valid questionnaires in the analysis. To test the proposed hypotheses, an ordered-logistic regression modeling technique was used.\nFindings: The findings reveal a positive effect of those national policies focusing on market development, guarantee-related and technical support schemes. Two individual elements of direct finance-related assistance, namely, bank loans and cash subsidy are also found to be influential.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the literature and extends the IBV by establishing that the industry-specific regulatory policies designed by home country governments can play a critical role in international expansion of new ventures from an LDC. In particular, the study established the critical role of national EPPs in driving firms' early internationalization and thereby, contributing to the international marketing and international entrepreneurship (IE) literature. Least-developed countries provide different institutional environments for entrepreneurship. They thus provide an atypical context within the field of IE. By incorporating sample firms from an LDC, the authors address the knowledge gap related to those countries. The implications of the authors' findings for national and enterprise development policies are also considered.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
On your marks, but are you ready? Like marriage, six sigma needs commitment
|
[
"Learning organizations",
"Workplace training",
"Six sigma"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nAssessing suitability for big step in learning to improve: Any organization which decides to implement a Six Sigma system to improve business leadership and performance should not underestimate the enormity of the initial step and lasting commitment it is about to make. A little like going into marriage, perhaps - it is going to be wonderful if it succeeds but the people involved have to be sure they are ready to take the step. It is likely that attitudes and behaviors will have to change and, like marriage, Six Sigma can be costly so it is not advisable to take a half-hearted approach at the beginning.When a global company - a leading provider of technology solutions and enabler of e-commerce for the travel industry with 6,500 employees at five regional centers - decided to explore the deployment of Six Sigma its readiness for possible deployment was assessed and found to be lacking. As in some relationships which are not ready for the next big step, attitude, time and money proved to be difficulties.The Six Sigma framework incorporates four elements: senior management commitment, stakeholder involvement, training scheme and measurement system. Stakeholders include customers, employees, owners and suppliers. All four elements support the improvement projects which are at the heart of the Six Sigma framework and they follow the define, measure, analyze, improve and control (DMAIC) methodology.The company's quality management system, based on the ISO 9001:2000 standard, constituted a basis for the deployment of other quality schemes. Process management had been promoted in the company through some initiatives such as quality awards and training in DMAIC. But it had neither reached a formalized structure for process improvement, nor deployed a sustained awareness about the importance of process improvement.An analysis of the company's readiness for Six Sigma from an organizational learning perspective found that, although there were several aspects in which individual parts of the company achieved functional organizational learning, the company as a whole had not yet achieved the status of a learning organization to the degree needed for a complete implementation of Six Sigma. Consequently, Six Sigma as a company-wide strategy was not a suitable approach. There were added difficulties in achieving the commitment of leadership (attitude towards quality), time (the company being in the middle of a strategy change) energy and money. When piloting a Six Sigma effort, three main factors are decisive in most cases, namely resources, attention and acceptance.\nImprovement program, rather than company-wide strategy: However, since there were fields in the company within which organizational learning was lively, Six Sigma as an improvement program, rather than a company-wide strategy, was considered suitable. Over the years, three deployment approaches of Six Sigma have evolved - company-wide strategy, improvement program and toolbox:*Company-wide strategy is for organizations that have the ability to launch Six Sigma as a full-scale change initiative. Six Sigma is introduced as a strategic initiative at the highest level of the corporation, and deployed everywhere in the company. This requires integrating Six Sigma in behaviors and culture, takes a long time to implement and is usually a top-down approach driven and fully supported by senior management.*Improvement program. For large organizations, this approach means that Six Sigma may be focused on specific organizational units or functional areas. For smaller companies, it means that Six Sigma is launched as an internal initiative for improvement. The scope here is much narrower. It can be limited to one or two critical organizational needs, with the teams and training aimed at addressing major opportunities and weaknesses. The purpose is to achieve improvements in the daily activities of the company. In terms of the nature of deployment, it typically takes the form of middle-in, which means Six Sigma is not deployed from the top but rather spreads from the success in one or more organizational units.*Toolbox. This approach is now used in a growing number of organizations wanting to utilize the benefits of Six Sigma in dealing with persistent problems without having to undergo big changes. In this approach, the Six Sigma toolbox and sometimes the improvement methodology DMAIC are integrated into existing improvement programs. Six Sigma as such will not be recognized, but individual tools will. However, this option does not address underlying organizational problems.\nAn aid in strengthening the \"voice of the customer\": In the company under scrutiny, an improvement program would mean that the teachings from Six Sigma and mainly DMAIC should be recognized but not Six Sigma as such. This can be an aid in strengthening the \"voice of the customer\", the measurement capabilities as well as the effectiveness and the efficiency of the processes. In addition, since continuous improvement is not yet integrated in the business culture, DMAIC can help with structure and more systematic procedures. The analytical approach in Six Sigma can help in implementing solutions that deal with the root causes rather than symptoms. For instance, the company could start with one key well-thought-out pilot-improvement project focusing on an immediate need of the business.Of the core disciplines in building a learning organization - personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning and system thinking - the company had issues to address.The focus on the employees - the executers of any Six Sigma initiative - was not strong and not considered to be a key success indicator. Consequently, the company's efforts should be directed at ensuring that the value of partnership really permeates the actual operations.There were possibilities for training but doubts existed regarding the degree to which the training was put into actual practice. The level of awareness about the DMAIC improvement methodology was low and limited to those employees who had attended such training. Employees carried out certain quality activities more or less unconsciously and quality was not their main focus. Sometimes, there was a gap between the initial collection of customer requirements and their implementation at the product realization phase. However, there was openness to change among top management and staff.\nCommunication barriers between big divisions: The company had defined common core values which they were working towards which is a prerequisite for achieving a shared vision. Nonetheless, the specific values that they had chosen were not always thoroughly lived and adopted. Different sub-cultures in the company seemed to be practicing them to varying degrees. Openness was considered to be average in the company, but there were some barriers between certain big divisions which had a negative influence on the communication channels. Employees preferred to come up with their own way of doing things rather than having methodologies imposed on them. Accordingly, there was a basis for a shared vision but it needed to be further implemented into the daily activities in all parts of the company.Team spirit was strong within the team but not across teams. Generally, co-operation between different parts of the company functioned well. Nevertheless, different objectives and priorities sometimes led to discord and tensions. As a result, collaboration was often achieved through informal contacts among individuals.Team learning was fairly strong on the team level but needed to be organized and coordinated on a company-wide level. System thinking strategies were formulated but not fully integrated with division, department and individual objectives. There was a stronger sense of belonging to a team rather than to the company as a whole. For system thinking to be a corporate reality, it needs to encompass the entire company as well as the environment and be based on a strong corporate culture.Implementing Six Sigma means a large investment - hence the importance of making the right deployment approach. To succeed, an organization needs to be ready for what's in store.\nComment: This review is based on \"Organisational learning and Six Sigma deployment readiness evaluation: a case study\" by Yvonne Lagrosen, Rana Chebl and Max Rios Tuesta. A case study of a large global company is presented to assess its readiness for deployment of a Six Sigma improvement program. It was found that, while Six Sigma as a company-wide strategy was not a suitable approach under current conditions, Six Sigma as an improvement program should be suitable. The differences are explained, as are the reasons why the company was not found to be ready for full implementation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: - Assessing suitability for big step in learning to improve. Any organization which decides to implement a six sigma system to improve business leadership and performance should not underestimate the enormity of the initial step and lasting commitment it is about to make. A little like going into marriage, perhaps - it is going to be wonderful if it succeeds but the people involved have to be sure they are ready to take the step. It is likely that attitudes and behaviors will have to change and, like marriage, six sigma can be costly so it is not advisable to take a half-hearted approach at the beginning.\nPractical implications: - 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"
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Maintenance policy selection: a fuzzy-ANP approach
|
[
"Decision making",
"Fuzzy logic",
"Manufacturing industry",
"Maintenance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With the advent of competitive markets, companies have acknowledged the crucial necessity of progressing the maintenance system of the companies. Diverse sections of industries face numerous strategic decisions to attain the best feasible and realistic answers in risky and competitive environments. These decisions are extremely significant regarding the technology development, diversity of customers in addition to public pressure. Maintenance is a significant task in any manufacturing system and has a critical role in attaining the organization's objectives (Seiti, Hafezalkotob and Fattahi, 2017). With the introduction of different maintenance systems, diverse maintenance strategies are applied to attain more added values. In this regard, numerous studies have been conducted on maintenance strategies (Alabdulkarim et al., 2015; Shaaban and Awni, 2014; Graisa and Al-Habaibeh, 2011; Savsar, 2010). Choosing an appropriate maintenance policy is a critical activity in manufacturing systems as it affects the performance of companies' equipment. This practice is a common multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. An MCDM problem includes both perceptible and imperceptible factors (Galankashi et al., 2013; Ziaei et al., 2013; Dargi et al., 2014). Although different studies have been conducted on maintenance policy selection, only a few attempts have been made to see the MCDM approaches in conjunction with the effect of cost, risk and added value. In this regard, recognizing, incorporating and selecting the right maintenance policy to efficiently screen and assess the current situation of the company are a challenge for many researchers. Cost, risk and added value are very influential in maintenance planning. However, their simultaneous consideration is less investigated in the previous studies. This is somewhat due to intrinsic difficulties connected with complex models of maintenance policy selection. Therefore, considering these factors in maintenance planning is useful and affects the performance of companies' equipment. The main justification to use a fuzzy-based method to tackle the problem of this research is the inherent struggle of comparing different policies using decision makers' comments. The decision makers are comfortable to compare these strategies in fuzzy environment instead of deterministic scales. In addition, Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (FANP) is a suitable method to study the relations between decision elements in hierarchical structures. Therefore, developing an FANP model to rank and select the best maintenance policy for different equipment of an acid manufacturing plant is the main objective of this study. As the main justification to apply this method, FANP considers the uncertainty of data and the relation of criteria and alternatives which are very unique compared to other MCDM approaches.\n2. Literature review: Today, world-class competitiveness is a necessity for manufacturers (Ierace and Cavalieri, 2008; Galankashi and Helmi, 2016; Galankashi, Hisjam and Helmi, 2016a, b). Therefore, making correct decisions provide a significant contribution for companies. Choosing an operative policy, in addition to decision-making impartiality, relies on the investigated principles. With regard to growing complication in controlling and managing companies, incorporating experts' experiences and knowledge to make suitable judgments is a common approach (Lin et al., 2008; Zavadskas et al., 2017). Maintenance plays an important role in attaining such managerial goals. Maintenance policy can be defined from different perspectives. This is a concept including maintenance policies and actions integrated with a systematic decision-making approach to be used in different areas (Pintelon and Van Puyvelde, 1997). Maintenance systems play an important role as they help the companies to maintain their reliability and availability levels of products and services, safety and quality necessities (Mobley, 2002). Therefore, previous studies have highlighted the significance of the maintenance policy in improving system safety and availability in addition to product excellence (Muller et al., 2008; Sadeghi and Manesh, 2012).\n3. Research methodology: In this section, the research methodology of this study is illustrated by discussing each step. The procedure of this research is shown in Figure 1. This figure shows how the cost, risk and added value can be integrated with FANP technique in the maintenance policy selection problem to improve the availability of equipment. Different steps of the research methodology are discussed as follows.\n4. Case study: Chemical manufacturing companies are a part of the oil industry. The consumption rate of chemical products is increasing annually as they are used in different industries including electrical, automotive, aerospace, military, etc. Among several chemical products, sulfuric acid is consumed in a big diversity of products regarding its chemical and physical specifications. It is an oily liquid without any detectable color which is corrosive to tissue and metals. With regard to the extraordinary usage ratio of sulfuric acid in chemical and oil industries, considering appropriate maintenance strategies for different equipment of its manufacturers improve the availability of these equipment through their production plan. Consequently, sulfuric acid manufacturing companies need to select and execute systematic approaches for their maintenance system. Furthermore, as sulfuric acid is produced by different equipment of manufacturing companies, considering different maintenance strategies for different equipment can result in very efficient maintenance plans.\n5. Results and discussion: This section discusses the results of the proposed FANP model to select the best maintenance policy for all equipment of an acid manufacturing plant. As mentioned before, the capability of these strategies to decrease the cost, decrease the risk and increase the added value is considered in the proposed model. Therefore, four maintenance strategies of CM, TBM, CBM and SM are investigated to be considered for seven equipment of the case study. In other words, this section suggests the best maintenance policy for different equipment of the case study including boiler, molten sulfur ponds, cooling towers, absorption tower, converter, sulfur fuel furnace and heat exchanger.\n6. Conclusion and future research directions: The major objective of this research was to propose an FANP technique to choose the best maintenance policy of an acid manufacturing company. In this research, four maintenance strategies of CM, TBM, CBM and SM were investigated to be considered for seven equipment of a real-case study. The next considered factor was the real nature of decision makers who prefer fuzzy numbers instead of exact values. Therefore, Chang's extended analysis was used to deal with fuzzy data and analyze the fuzzy decision matrices. The developed technique was used to a sulfuric acid production plant and the proper maintenance policy was found for all seven equipment of this company. According to the results, the CBM policy is suitable for high-risk (cooling tower) and high added value equipment (absorption tower). Furthermore, TBM is selected for boiler and converters while SM is selected for molten sulfur ponds. Finally, high-cost, low-risk and low added value equipment (sulfur fuel furnace and heat exchanger) are more appropriate to use CM policy. However, although the proposed approach was applied in a sulfuric acid production plant, it should be noted that the statement of \"one particular maintenance policy is best suited to a specific industry\" might not be a correct and general rule. In other words, the best fit policy is a function of many factors including the condition of equipment, regulations, operators and decision-makers' comments. As a direction for future research, one may investigate more maintenance policies with more criteria to be fit with different equipment of companies. In addition, the maintenance policy can be investigated with regard to desired functionality and consequence of failures.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) model to select the maintenance policy of an acid manufacturing company.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Four maintenance strategies of Corrective Maintenance (CM), Time-Based Maintenance (TBM), Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) and Shutdown Maintenance (SM) are investigated to be considered for seven equipment of the case study. These equipment are almost new and include boiler, molten sulfur ponds, cooling towers, absorption tower, converter, sulfur fuel furnace and heat exchanger. Chang's extended analysis has been employed to deal with fuzzy data and analyze the fuzzy decision matrices. The proposed approach is applied to a sulfuric acid production plant and the suitable maintenance policy is found for all seven equipment of the company.\nFindings: Based on the obtained results, the CBM policy is appropriate for high-risk (cooling tower) and high added value equipment (absorption tower). In addition, TBM is selected for boiler and converters while SM is selected for molten sulfur ponds. Finally, high-cost, low-risk and low added value equipment (sulfur fuel furnace and heat exchanger) are more appropriate with CM policy.\nOriginality/value: This research presents a novel idea to consider cost, risk and added value in the context of maintenance policy selection. From the methodological and theoretical features, this research offers new insights in this area since, to the best of the authors' knowledge, no comparable study has been conducted before.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Internal rent - experiences from public sector in Norway
|
[
"Facilities management",
"Market orientation",
"Facility management",
"Ad hoc",
"Hierarchical",
"Internal rent"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Property managers in public organisations face significant challenges. They have to strive to assure sufficient funding for maintenance, refurbishments and major investments. It seems difficult to establish a proper comprehension of actual costs pertaining to the housing of the organisation. Arriving at a suitable use of space - not too little, not too much and with an acceptable standard - is challenging.\nResearch methodology: The analysis presented in this paper is based on - in addition to a literature review - experience from the introduction of internal rent models within four major Norwegian public organisations: three health trusts and the Norwegian Defence Estates Agency (NDEA (Forsvarsbygg)). A NDEA regional manager gathered documentation and carried out interviews with stakeholders from different organisation levels eight years after the introduction; one from the client, five from the property management and five from the end-users (Eliassen, 2010). A property manager of South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (SENRHA (Helse Sor-Ost RHF)) gathered material from health trusts organised under the regional health authorities in Central Norway and Western Norway, and carried out interviews with stakeholders from different levels of the organisations five years after the introduction; five respondents from the property management and three end-users from each of the three different health trusts (Lybeck, 2009).\nTheoretical background: In the following, we discuss the context from which internal rent springs, phenomena that resemble it, fundamental requirements to an organisation adopting internal rent, the roles and internal rent in light of the general ambition of management control.\nFindings and discussion: Our research is based on findings from three Norwegian health trusts and the NDEA. The three health trusts are organised as independent organisations, each with their own internal rent models. They are organised under their respective regional health authorities, under the Ministry of Health and Care Services. NDEA constructs, operates and sells property, and has the Norwegian Armed Forces as their largest and most important end-user. NDEA is organised under the Ministry of Defence. Table I gives a schematic overview of who that fills the roles as client, property manager and tenant in the Norwegian Armed Forces and in the regional health authorities.\nNorwegian defence estate agency: Within the Armed Forces, the organisation of the tenants differs slightly. In the army and the air force, it is the separate divisions that are tenants. In the navy, it is different. The internal rent model is lifted to a higher level, in that all the navy divisions entered one joint facility management agreement, thus being a major tenant for NDEA.\nThe health trusts: One of the largest reforms within the health care sector in modern times in Norway took place in 2002. The state took over close to 80 hospitals from 19 regions, and the specialist health care was re-organised in five regional health authorities. The hospitals were organised as subsidiaries to these, with the title of health trusts. We have analysed the three health trusts St. Olavs Hospital, Helse Nord-Trondelag and Helse Bergen. In 2009, St. Olavs Hospital owned approximately 360,000 of space, Helse Nord-Trondelag 100,000 and Helse Bergen 420,000.\nConclusions: Facilities management focuses on cost reductions and on the need to create added value to the clients, customers and end-users. We have examined the experiences from four Norwegian organisations, namely, the Norwegian Defence Estate Agency and three health trusts, which have introduced internal rent models to achieve both.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the advantages and disadvantages of introducing internal rent and to find the main success factors when introducing internal rent.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper's analysis is based on experience from the introduction of internal rent models within four major Norwegian public organisations. The experience is documented after 19 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders representing the client organisations, property management and tenants.\nFindings: The major advantage consist in that internal rent compels the different users to discipline concerning the use of space and make them adapt their use to fit the real needs and demand for space suited for their primary activities. The main disadvantage of internal rent consists in the temporary organisational noise that results from the introduction and the permanent extra bureaucratic burden it causes. The success factors for introduction of internal rent are: the users need to perceive the model as of real importance, the property management must take in enough funds to assure reliable maintenance and the client needs to avoid that the tenants think the model is constructed to seize funds.\nOriginality/value: The authors discuss a market-orientated approach to property management, namely, introducing internal rent models. It is more than a decade ago since internal rent was first introduced in the analysed public organisations. Now it is possible to identify the success factors - related to the advantages and disadvantages - from this introduction.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
IoT-based system for communication and coordination of football robot team
|
[
"Internet of things",
"Planning and control",
"Football robots",
"System interaction",
"Wireless sensors network (WSN)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: After the breakthroughs gained from integrated circuits, computers, and the internet, people believe that the next revolution in information technology (IT) will be made by emerging Internet of things (IoT). Enabling technologies of IoT, such as object identifications, radio frequency identification (RFID) and wireless sensor networks (WSNs), have been widely applied in many areas such as environment surveillance, retail industry, military, healthcare, and manufacturing sector. For example, Niu et al. (2016) proposed an integrated framework to locate objects in an indoor environment, and all of the applications are web-based. Smart watches were applied to monitor the health conditions of users anywhere and anytime (Kim and Shin, 2015). Li et al. (2013a, b) used WSNs to obtain the biomedical data from human bodies with a consideration of the balance between the sampling rates and the accuracy of the reconstructed signal. Li, Xu, Wang and Wang (2012), Li, Hou, Liu and Liu (2012) applied WSNs to support the cloud services of an information system; and the proposed scheme included frontend layer, middle layer, and backend layer. Note that either of RFID and WSN has its pros and cons; it can be beneficial to integrate RFID with WSNs in many applications. Wang et al. (2014) discussed some key challenges in integrating RFIDs with WSNs; they suggested a five-layer system architecture to achieve this goal. Recently, researchers have explored RFIDs and WSNs in many applications such as in manufacturing systems (Bi et al., 2014; Wang and Qian, 2014), services (Tao et al., 2014; Lucia-Palacios et al., 2014; Tseng and Teng, 2014), healthcare systems (Fang et al., 2014; Xu et al., 2014), and environmental surveillance (Fang et al., 2014).\n2. IoT-based system: The challenges of EIS are the capabilities to deal with complexity and decentralization of decision-making activities. The enablers of information systems must be modularized, decentralized and automated (Bi, Lang, Verner and Orban, 2008; Bi, Lang, and Shen, 2008). IoT will provide the solution to these challenges. On one hand, the superior computing device, such as a high-performance workstation or computing cloud, can be developedso that any data can be accessed no matter how the objects are distributed geographically. Regarding dynamic data, IoT connects all objects in a network, these objects are monitored and the status data can be collected in a real-time mode; changes and uncertainties can be detected for the optimized decision-makings. On the other hand, IoT adopts the service-oriented architecture. Distributed tools in IoT are modularized and interoperable; they can be aggregated to facilitate complex decision-makings as needed.\n3. Functionalities of football robot team: Robotics technology is likely to become as ubiquitous over the next few decades as computing technology is today (Mane et al., 2013). To accelerate innovation in robotics, an intercollegiate mechatronic football league was developed by the Notre Dame University. The teams in the league compete against each other in robot football games. The game series provide a great platform for university students in applying their engineering knowledge for mechatronic design. The particular work in this paper was to develop a football-playing robot team to participate in the Intercollegiate Mechatronic Football game. The league provides multiple requirements on the rules and regulations of Collegiate Mechatronic Football (Notre Dame University, 2012). For example, one strict requirement is on the weight and dimensions of a robot player. Each player must fit within a volume with the dimension of 16x16x24 inch, and its weight must less than 30 pounds. The weight constraint for a quarterback robot is exceptional, which can weigh up to 45 pounds.\n4. Mechanical structures of football robots: To develop the football robot team, the first step was to build the chassis of robots. The baseplates of robots were made of 0.5 inch thick HDPE while the side panels and lids are made of 0.25 inch thick HDPE. For example, the front and back of the baseplate is supported by two-ball caster as seen in Figure 3. Each ball caster is mounted to the baseplate using two 0.5 inches thick 3x3 HDPE pieces and 2-inch long bolts and nuts.\n5. Hardware and software development of information system: The information system of the football robot team consists of hardware sub-systems and software sub-systems for robot players. Other than hardware and software sub-systems, system integration and verification are also introduced in this section.\n6. Summary and conclusions: Applications of information systems in dynamic environments rely heavily on the IT infrastructure; next-generation decision-making information systems should adapt emerging IoT. Therefore, it is advantageous to make information systems being decentralized, modular, and autonomous to adopt IoT. To investigate how IoT can be effectively applied in information systems for complex decision-makings, we designed a football robot team and developed an IoT-based information system for the communication and coordination of robot players in a dynamic competing environment. The developed information system has illustrated the satisfactory performance for system communication and coordination in terms of responsiveness, decentralization, and flexibility. While the presented work has shown the feasibility of the IoT-based information system, our future work in this direction will focus on the integration of more advanced sensors within the IoT to enhance the data acquisition, and the development of the intelligent algorithms to replace manually remote control for the operations of robot players. The proposed IoT-based information system will be expanded to other applications demanding the interaction, collaboration, and coordination of multiple robots or machines tools.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop an information system which is based on the Internet of things (IoT) and used to support the communication and coordination in a cooperative robot team.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The architecture of the IoT applications for decision-making activities in a complex system is elaborated, the focus lies on the effective implementation of system interactions at the device-level. A case study is provided to verify system performances.\nFindings: The IoT concept has been introduced in an information system of a football robot team to support the coordination among team players. Various sensors are used to collect data from IoT, and data are processed for the controls of robotic players to achieve the better performance at the system level. The field test has shown the feasibility and effectiveness.\nResearch limitations/implications: To investigate how IoT can be utilized in an information system for making complex decisions effectively, the authors use the decision-support system for a football robot team to illustrate the approaches in developing data acquisition infrastructure, processing and utilizing real-time data for the communication and coordination of robot players in a dynamic competing environment. While the presented work has shown the feasibility of an IoT-based information system, more work are needed to integrate advanced sensors within the IoT and develop more intelligent algorithms to replace manually remote control for the operations of robot players.\nPractical implications: The proposed system is specifically for a football robot team; however, the associated approaches are applicable to any decentralized system for developing an information system to support IoT-based communication and coordination within the system in the real-time mode.\nOriginality/value: The exploration of IoT applications is still at its early stage, existing relevant work is mostly limited to the development of system architecture, sensor networks, and communication protocols. In this paper, the methods on how to use massive real-time data for decision-making of a decentralized team have been investigated, and the proposed system has its theoretical significance to developing other decentralized wireless sensor networks and decision-making systems.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
An overview of the current state of interlibrary loans in South Africa
|
[
"South Africa",
"Interlibrary loan",
"Document delivery",
"Resource sharing"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction - the interlending landscape in South Africa: As background to interlending in South Africa, the sectors in which it mainly occurs are first outlined, followed by the development of interlending over many years. The results of a snapshot survey are then discussed to give an indication of current trends.\nInterlending development in South Africa: Interlending in South Africa has mirrored developments elsewhere and has long been a key library function. The twentieth century saw interlibrary loans (ILLs) become a standard service worldwide, and networks and document supply centres were established to facilitate the process. Major developments were the replacement of paper and manual processes by computer systems and the advent of the Internet and electronic information resources to augment physical collections (Goldner and Birch, 2012).\nProspects for interlending: Clients need effective access to information resources in their preferred format, and interlending is one of a variety of services that support this need. The libraries that engage in interlending and the systems and networks that are used must have the capacity to render an effective service that meets client expectations; otherwise, the service will decline. Developments in technology and improvements in access to information resources have led to increased expectations by clients with key factors being turnaround time and alternative delivery mechanisms (Goldner and Birch, 2012).\nMethodology: It was decided to obtain original and current insights into the needs of South African libraries with regard to ILLs and trends pertaining to the filling of requests rather than just using available documents on ILL practices. The methodology employed encompassed a literature study and an empirical investigation as follows:\nLiterature study: From the literature study, it was possible to identify significant developments that have also affected South African interlending, namely, the expansion of the higher education sector (Council on Higher Education, 2013; Department of Higher Education and Training, 2013); the evolution of technology and systems for interlending (Kochan and Leon, 2013), culminating in the OCLC WorldShare ILL platform (OCLC, 2014a, 2014b, 2014c, 2014d); increased expectations by clients for rapid delivery of services (Goldner and Birch, 2012); and electronic information resources that augment physical collections (Goldner and Birch, 2012).\nEmpirical research: The focus of the empirical study was to gain an insight into the current South African perspective towards client needs for ILLs and the libraries' response in this regard using available systems. Against this background, it was decided to focus on the following:\nResponses: The distribution list of the Sabinet Listserve contains many subscribers, including several from the same library, in cases where the institution has a decentralised ILL service for faculties. Therefore, it was not possible to calculate a response in terms of percentage of respondents against the total number of available participants. The response to the survey was rather analysed in terms of library categories and the number of libraries per library category which responded. There were three significant resource-sharing categories: The National Library of South Africa, academic libraries (19 of 26 libraries responded) and 17 special libraries. This was a high enough response to be regarded as significant. A total of 42 responses were received.\nVolume of ILL traffic: The survey revealed that with regard to the question on the need for books and journal articles, 56 per cent indicated that they request less than 500 books per annum from other libraries, 27 per cent of the libraries request 500-1,999 books, 17 per cent request more than 2,000 books, 47 per cent request less than 500 articles, 36 per cent request 500-1,999 articles and 17 per cent request more than 2,000 articles. Thus, a significant number of respondents process high volumes of ILLs in South African terms. However, statistics supplied by Sabinet for interlending transactions on its Request system indicate a substantial decline in recent years - from 91,420 in 2006 to 38,751 in 2014 (Sabinet, 2014b).\nOnline ILL systems used by libraries: All respondents (100 per cent) indicated that they subscribe to the online South African ILL system - Request. This system is made available by Sabinet, as indicated in the background information, which has been a valuable resource-sharing support since the previous century. Request also has an automated financial system which calculates ILL transactions between libraries and produces accounts annually.\nClient needs: In response to the question \"in days, how fast does your client expect you to deliver the requested item\", 27 per cent indicated that their clients expect to receive the request in 1-2 days, 59 per cent in 3-7days and 14 per cent indicated that clients are prepared to wait for more than 7 days. Thus, there is an expectation of reasonably prompt delivery.\nImpact of electronic resources on ILL: A total of 19 academic libraries and 11 special libraries responded to the open-ended question on the impact of electronic resources on ILL by stating what they experienced as positive or negative. Two important themes emerged in the comments - a decline in interlending due to the availability of e-resources as an alternative and interlending being obstructed by the unavailability of licensed e-resources. Libraries also indicated that they feel positive about electronic systems speeding-up the delivery of requested material, which contributes to a rapid ILL service. There is much less dependence on postal and other forms of physical delivery, especially for articles, with libraries scanning print items and transmitting electronically. For many years, the fax machine and the Ariel system were used to speed-up the delivery of requested ILLs that could be copied in accordance with the South African Copyright Act 98 of 1978. This applied mostly to journal articles or short extracts from books and has largely been replaced by the Article Exchange procedure as part of the new OCLC WorldShare ILL system:\nExtent to which OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing and WorldShare ILL are being used: OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing was replaced by WorldShare ILL in May 2014, which has greatly expanded ILL capabilities, as subscribing libraries become part of OCLC's global resource-sharing network. The network is made up of about 10,000 libraries, with the WorldCat database at its core, generating almost 9,000,000 ILL requests. This ILL service, supported by the WorldShare cloud-based platform, brings together functions previously on other systems and provides new functions to ensure a quicker and more effective ILL service (OCLC, 2014d). In the OCLC Annual Report 2013-2014, the Vera Bracken Library at Medicine Hat College reports that \"[...] the appeal of the WorldShare Management System is evident in its seamless design, worldwide discovery of resources and ease of interlibrary loans for patrons\" (OCLC, 2014a). OCLC underpins interlending in the USA, both domestically and internationally (Atkins, 2010), and is a way of facilitating interlending worldwide (Kluzek, 2014).\nConclusion: The survey findings indicated that in South Africa, interlending is still an essential service because, although there is a decline in ILL traffic, there is still substantial interlending. Libraries have a need especially for books to be obtained from other libraries via the interlending service, and the ILL services should be delivered rapidly. License agreements tend to be viewed as an obstacle to the delivery of ILL services. This matter needs to be addressed to ensure that all library clients can benefit from the availability of library items in electronic format.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review interlending development in South Africa and current trends in interlending.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Literature study and survey.\nFindings: Interlending is still an essential service in South Africa. Interlending systems must be used effectively to ensure rapid delivery of requested interlibrary loans. There is a significant use of WorldShare ILL, but there is a scope for substantial development.\nResearch limitations/implications: This is not a comprehensive study but focusses on current interlending activities at some of the larger South African academic and special libraries and the use of Online Computer Library Centre systems.\nPractical implications: The paper provides some historical information and the extent of current interlending and systems used.\nSocial implications: The paper gives an indication of the value of interlending in South Africa and its contribution to information provision.\nOriginality/value: The paper provides a snapshot of interlending in South Africa and areas for development.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A content analysis of Arabic YouTube videos for cancer treatment
|
[
"Culture",
"Research methods",
"Patient perspectives",
"Informatics",
"Medical education",
"Cancer"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: According to Cancer statistics 2018 (Bray et al., 2018), cancer is expected to be the leading cause of deaths in the world in the twenty-first century. It is also considered \"the single most important barrier to increasing life expectancy\" (Bray et al., 2018). Cancer treatment is still a debate among scientists. In order to have better information about different kinds of treatments, users tend to have different sources; the internet is considered as the main source (Sahin et al., 2018). In fact, Sahin et al. (2018) reported that 80 percent of internet users consult the Web for health information. One potential way of educating the public about cancer treatment is through social media platforms such as the widely used YouTube (Goobie et al., 2019). YouTube is the second most visited website globally (Sahin et al., 2018) used to share videos that encourage the user to share knowledge including health information (Youtube.com, 2019). According to the statistics of 2017, it was found that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) area is ranked second in terms of the number of views of YouTube videos, with more than 300m views (GO-GULF, 2017). YouTube statistics showed that the number of channels in the MENA region has risen 160 percent since 2015 (ArabianBusiness.com, 2018). It was also revealed that each minute, two hours are uploaded in the region, which leads us to the fact that four out of ten viewers watch online videos on a daily basis (GO-GULF, 2017).\n2. Methods: Search strategy\n3. Results: Our study included 150 videos, from which 30 videos were not content related; therefore, 120 videos remain in the analysis. Table I summarized the descriptive statistics measures on the videos. Using rounding values, it can be observed that the average video lasted 10 minutes, had 184,966 views, was commented on 263 times, was liked by 2,295 users and disliked by 148 users.\n4. Discussion: The current study examined the characteristics and content of messages about cancer treatment delivered through social media based on 120 videos uploaded on YouTube. The findings of this study indicate that content related to cancer treatment on YouTube is varied in nature and contains a variety of important messages for the public, professionals and government agencies.\n5. Conclusion and recommendations: This is one of the initiative studies addressing Arabic YouTube videos related to cancer treatment. The findings of this study confirmed that Arab users are concerned about the internet as a source of medical information, regardless of the qualifications of people making claims and their level of reliability. Thus, it is crucial for organizations, researchers and government agencies to understand the viewers and their needs to provide accurate and trustworthy information and resources on YouTube or other platforms. Basch and MacLean (2019) stated that the public would likely have trouble understanding the written information about disease treatment; they would rather depend on audio and video messages to build the needed awareness, thus making decisions accordingly. Creating the suitable content, in terms of health promotion strategies, associated with the appropriate format and understandable language that people need will be one of the major responsibilities of YouTube management, government and professional bodies. The well-designed health messages will enhance users' engagement and attention in health issues.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and assess Arabic videos related to cancer treatment to gain insights about the nature of health information as it is shared on YouTube. Accordingly, future strategies for different bodies are suggested to promote effective communication.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The approach is to select a representative sample of YouTube videos for certain search terms related to cancer treatment in the Arabic language. In order to identify the search terms, Google Trends is utilized. To retrieve the most relevant videos, a simple python tool is developed using YouTube API V3. For this study, the first 150 relevant videos are quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. Objective data and subjective data are collected for each video and analyzed. Objective data include video title, URL, length, view count, like count, dislike count, comment count and the associated tags. For content analysis, coding themes are defined for the subjective data as follows: video format, video authorship and video content. Video content includes three categories: types of treatments, targeted part and evidence-based indicators.\nFindings: The study included 150 videos, from which 30 videos were not content related; therefore, 120 videos remain in the analysis. Using rounding values, it can be observed that the average video lasted 10 min, had 184,966 views, was commented on 263 times, was liked by 2,295 users and disliked by 148 users. Non-professional individuals (46 percent) posted less than half of the videos, whereas public institutions posted only 18 percent of videos. More than half of videos (56 percent) promoted using herbal, botanical, and other natural products for cancer treatment. The majority of YouTube video formats were videos (52 percent), followed by audio with captions (30 percent). News and stories were the dominant videos, with (16 percent), and other types of videos were mostly testimonials and private centers promotions. Only 6 and 9 percent of videos targeted the genetic and immune systems, respectively. Out of the 120 analyzed videos, 86 percent did not mention any risk factor for the recommended treatment, and 73 percent did not offer the details of their usage direction.\nResearch limitations/implications: Researchers need to understand the information that is currently available on social media platforms related to the high-risk diseases in order to design initiatives, tools, and actions to allow an easy effective transfer of knowledge.\nPractical implications: Recounting in-depth knowledge of YouTube cancer treatment contents will allow policy makers, YouTube management, medical organizations, and government agencies to understand the viewers' behavior of YouTube and their needs to provide accurate and trustworthy information to adopt evidence-based resources.\nSocial implications: Creating the suitable content, in terms of health promotion strategies, associated with the appropriate format and understandable language that people need will be one of the major responsibilities of YouTube management, government and professional bodies. The well-designed health messages will enhance users' engagement and attention to health issues from trusted sources.\nOriginality/value: There is very less information about Arabic messages in social media, YouTube in particular, specifically regarding cancer treatment. Thus, this study is one of the first studies to explore how Arabic messages are presented on YouTube. The aim of the assessment is to extract the current status and suggest future strategies for different bodies to have effective communication toward the Arabic communities.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Identification, analysis and treatment of risks in the introduction of new technologies by start-ups
|
[
"Risk management",
"Crowdfunding",
"Start-up",
"Emerging market",
"Startup",
"New technologies"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A start-up is a temporary organization in search of a repeatable, scalable and profitable business model (Blank and Dorf, 2012). In Brazil, it is increasingly common for entrepreneurs to invest in start-ups to start a business that covers solutions for various industries, such as health and education.\n2. Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework of this paper was guided to deal with aspects related to innovation as well as the NPVR framework and risks in the business environment.\n3. Methodological track: The choice of the methodological track of this research was guided by the questions and their respective goals. Yin (2014) established that the research design is the logic that combines empirical data to initial research questions of the study and, ultimately, to its conclusions. The approach chosen was qualitative. From its objectives point of view, the research is characterized as exploratory.\n4. Results: This item presents, discusses and analyzes the case of Catarse from the point of view of the conceptual approach adopted.\n5. Final considerations: The main objective of this paper was to establish, identify and analyze the treatment of business risks that an emblematic Brazilian start-up, leader of the Brazilian crowdfunding market, has encountered. This case study offers the possibility of presenting the main risks in which a start-up is subject to and adopts strategies to mitigate the exposure of the business to said identified risks. For example, you can highlight the relative risk of the user due to the lack of research by the primary users of the platform for crowdfunding in regard to its real life demands.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Innovation, digital solutions and scalability are some of the integral distinctive elements of start-ups. Due to these factors, the management of risks for businesses of this nature demands a specific approach. The purpose of this paper is to propose the identification, analysis and treatment of risks in the introduction of new technologies by Catarse, the biggest site for crowdfunding in Latin America, founded with the vision of net present value adjusted to the risk of developing a new product (NPVR) and enterprise risks in the environment of value, aiming to provide the guidelines for the improvement of this process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The empirical research realized in this study is of a qualitative nature and was conducted using the case study method, which had its data collected through interviews with key managers and documents provided by the organizations. Data analysis was based on Miles et al.'s (2014) model, whereby data were condensed and visualized, and conclusions were developed and checked.\nFindings: Among the main results, there is the proposition of a deductive-inductive analysis of risks in start-ups by means of calculation of the net present value adjusted to the risk of developing a new product (NPVR), analysis of the decisions made by the entrepreneur and the processes of business communication and development of the product.\nPractical implications: The authors propose the identification of important factors for the management of uncertainties and risks in start-ups.\nSocial implications: The authors present an important case study in Latin America, Catarse, which helps entrepreneurs to develop their start-ups.\nOriginality/value: As the main contribution, this paper proposes the identification of elements for the management of uncertainties and risks in start-ups, which brings elements to provide the calculation of the net present value adjusted to the risk of developing a new product (NPVR), process or service, as well as the contribution of the level of risk management maturity of the studied company.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Improving winery survey response rates: lessons from the Australian wine industry
|
[
"Wines",
"Surveys",
"Australia"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Data collection using traditional surveys can be time consuming from a planning, design and testing perspective. Moreover, even the most meticulously orchestrated survey can lead to researcher frustration when data collection is non-representative and/or minimalist due to a poor survey response rate. In general, it has been shown that response rates to mail questionnaires can be poor where the topic is of low interest to the population being surveyed, whilst questionnaires that are too long have also been shown to affect returns. It is generally accepted that a typically good response rate associated with the traditional postal survey is circa 10-15 per cent. Given this common held view that traditional survey methods have a low degree of response success, many PhD students and seasoned researchers still utilise surveys as part of their research strategy.\nFactors for improving winery survey response rates: The identified factors that were used to improve winery survey response rates included survey timing and length, the importance of testing, non-inclusion of a return date and industry association engagement.Survey timing\nSummary: Six significant factors were identified as having contributed to improved survey response rates in research conducted amongst Australian wineries. These factors entailed survey design (length, stakeholder engagement, return-by-date), preliminary testing (pilot survey testing) and implementation (survey timing, feedback of results). Some of the factors found to improve survey response rates amongst Australian wineries might also assist researchers in different countries to improve their own survey instruments and subsequent response rates.\nAbout the author: Carmine Sellitto is affiliated with the Centre for Hospitality and Tourism Research at Victoria University (Melbourne) and lectures in the area of management information systems and web-based applications. Dr Sellitto completed a PhD at RMIT University in 2004 examining Internet adoption by Australian wineries - a study that led to a proposed e-business best practice model. Dr Sellitto has also published widely on topics associated with e-business, information technology and tourism, Internet-marketing, information quality and small business technology adoption. He can be contacted at: Carmine.sellitto@vu.edu.au\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to document a set of important success factors that need to be considered when undertaking traditional surveys within the Australian wine industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Reflecting on the relatively high rate of survey returns from research conducted within the Australian wineries, the author succinctly identifies a set of industry-based values and operational conditions that appear to directly impact on improving survey response rates.\nFindings: - Six success factors should be considered in order to improve winery survey response rates. The factors entail survey design (length, stakeholder engagement, return-by-date), preliminary testing (pilot survey testing) and implementation (survey timing, feedback of results).\nResearch limitations/implications: - As a viewpoint, the article needs to be considered from an Australian context with the proposed factors being a preliminary starting guide for researchers undertaking surveys.\nPractical implications: - The identified factors associated with improving survey responses are wine-industry specific and will be useful to all researchers conducting surveys in the industry.\nOriginality/value: - The paper is significant in that it identifies a set of wine industry-based values and conditions that appear to influence survey response rates. The paper will be of interest to global wine-industry researchers that use the survey instrument.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Consumers' perception of farmed fish and willingness to pay for fish welfare
|
[
"Rainbow trout",
"Willingness to pay",
"Consumers",
"Retailers",
"Fish farming",
"Denmark",
"Fish welfare"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Aquaculture is an important animal farming activity, and the husbandry practices used, and the associated welfare issues are becoming increasingly focused on by policy makers, scientists and consumers. In the European Union minimum standards for the protection of animals bred for farming purposes including fish has been laid down in an EU Council Directive from 1998. In 2005 the Council of Europe adopted a recommendation on the welfare of farmed fish and in 2008 the World Organization for Animal Health adopted guiding principles for fish welfare; also the industry has adopted various measures to safeguard fish welfare (EFSA, 2009).Major driving forces behind the promotion of fish welfare in the EU are also demands from retailers and consumers. In the UK for instance it is thus common place for supermarket chains to conduct their own farm audits which thus place an increasing pressure on farmers to demonstrate that fish welfare is being safeguarded. Supermarket chains' concern with fish welfare, of course, ultimately reflects consumers' growing concern over the ethics of modern livestock production in general (Cooke, 2001). It is therefore important to recognize consumers' concern over animal welfare; in addition studies seems to indicate that consumers appear to use animal welfare as an indicator of product attributes such as food safety, food quality, and the healthiness of the food product, and in this manner equating good animal welfare standards with good food standards, (Harper, 2001; Berg, 2002; Kjaernes et al., 2007). This means that there need not be any conflict between good fish welfare and profitable farming practices as long as consumers are guaranteed good fish welfare and their belief in a link between good product quality and good fish welfare can be confirmed.Against this background and as part of the research project \"Strategies to improve health and welfare in rainbow trout farming\" conducted by DTU-Aqua, Technical University of Denmark, (Jokumsen, 2005) in cooperation with DTU-Vet, Technical University of Denmark; Faculty of Life sciences, University of Copenhagen; Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Aarhus; BioMar A/S and Aquasearch, it was the main objective of this study to investigate the willingness of Danish consumers to pay for farmed rainbow trout with a quality label certifying good fish welfare. Additionally to describe Danish consumers' perception and consumption of farmed fish and their beliefs about fish welfare.The remainder of this paper is organized into four sections. The next section provides an outline and discussion of the methodology. The results of an empirical analysis are presented and discussed in the third section. The conclusion and implications are contained in the fourth and final section.\n2. Methodology: A contingent valuation approach was used to evaluate consumers' willingness to pay for fish welfare because data collection was planned to take place via a mail questionnaire, and thus in the absence of a real purchasing situation. The contingent evaluation method allows a direct estimation of willingness to pay by means of different direct elicitation techniques. Several concerns regarding its reliability have been raised, for an overview and discussion see (Venkatachalam, 2004; Breidert et al., 2006). For example consumers may take a theoretical scenario less seriously than a real one and hence they may tend to bias their true willingness to pay.Four types of elicitation methods are commonly used in contingency valuation surveys that is open-ended techniques and different specifications of bidding games (Venkatachalam, 2004). The choice of elicitation technique depends on several factors such as the nature of the good being investigated, cost of the survey and nature of the respondents. Based on an evaluation of these factors we decided to use an open-ended elicitation technique. This approach is convenient to answer, and does not require an interviewer. Also, this technique would be efficient in the sense that it tends to provide a lower level conservative estimate compared to bidding game approaches. In a study of willingness to pay for \"food safety improvements\", (Ready et al., 1996), thus found that bidding techniques generated much larger estimates than the open-ended technique, also see (Brown et al., 1996; Carson et al., 1996; Ahmed and Gotoh, 2007; Balistreri et al., 2001). Furthermore, it should be noted that in our case consumers are familiar with the good under consideration, and therefore would not be expected to find it difficult to express their willingness to pay for fish welfare in an every-day situation as described in the questionnaire (see Figure 1).The open-ended approach, however, still is prone to criticisms, because respondents do not have an incentive to provide a true answer. Respondents may overstate or understate price. Thus when the goods being investigated have normative implications, in our case generating positive externalities (assuming production of welfare fish is eco-friendly), respondents may exhibit a social desirability bias, where they try to create a favorable impression on the interviewer/researcher, resulting in an overstatement of their willingness to pay, see for instance (Lusk and Norwood, 2006); also respondents might overstate prices because of prestige effects. \"Free riding\" could occur where respondents understate their true willingness to pay, and Nessim and Dodge (1995, p. 72) suppose that \"buyers in direct responding may also attempt to quote artificially lower prices, since many of them perceive their role as conscientious buyers as that of helping to keep prices down\". These factors would be difficult to eliminate in a survey, however. This would require a \"test-market\" set up. One must therefore be careful when using the results from contingency evaluation surveys.Data were collected from an on-line survey of Danish consumers 18 to 65 years of age in the spring of 2009 using self-administrated questionnaires. The questionnaires were distributed to consumers by the use of an internet-panel administered by a commercial marketing research company. The internet-panel includes 7,000+ Danish consumers representative of the Danish population 15 to 65 years of age with access to the internet from home; in 2009 86 percent of the population had access to the internet from home (Danmark i tal, 2010). The panel is updated continuously and consumers are selected by chance via an automatically generated telephone number. Respondents 18 to 65 years of age responsible or partly responsible for the household's food shopping were contacted. A sample of size 1,000 respondents with useable questionnaires was received. The socio-economic profile of the sample is presented in Table I together with the profile of the Danish population 18 to 65 years of age. The sample is slightly biased towards higher educational levels, higher income and larger household sizes. These biases can probably be attributed to the fact that only consumers with access to the internet have been included as respondents. Overall the agreement between the two profiles appears to be acceptable.The questionnaire starts with an introduction providing a description of five criteria that must be satisfied in order to guarantee good fish welfare, see Figure 2. This is followed by three sets of questions. First a set of general questions concerning fish welfare and consumption habits for farmed and wild fish, then a set of specific questions concerning consumption and purchase of farmed and wild fish, and hereunder questions eliciting willingness to pay for rainbow trout provided with a label guaranteeing that it has been raised under consideration of the fish welfare criteria. Finally, a set of classification questions are asked.There is a large amount of literature on consumers' willingness to pay for food quality and safety refer to (Henson, 1996; Fu et al., 1999; Govindasamy and Italia, 1999; Gil et al., 2000; Smed and Jensen, 2003; Krystallis and Chryssohoidis, 2005). Govindasamy and Italia (1999) contend that among the factors that were found to affect willingness to pay in the international literature, demographic characteristics such as gender, age, income and education are among the most important. Results regarding these variables, however, appear to be conflicting see for instance (Davis et al., 1995; Henson, 1996; Angulo et al., 2003). To determine the factors that may influence consumers' willingness to pay for fish welfare we will apply the binomial logit model (Greene, 2003). This model is one method applicable for analyzing the determinants of choice between two discrete alternatives, say y=1 (willing to pay extra for welfare rainbow trout) and y=0 (not willing to pay extra for welfare rainbow trout). In line with main stream consumer behavior models (Blackwell et al., 2006) and the international literature on willingness to pay for food quality and safety we assume that the choice of a particular consumer product can be described as a function of person/household descriptors, characteristics of the good and situational factors. The logit model estimates the probability: Equation 1 where X denotes the explanatory variables included in the model and b the parameters to be estimated.The next section presents the results of the survey.\n3. Results and discussion: We start by outlining consumers' perceptions of fish welfare and preferences for farmed and wild fish. Consumers' preferences for the two types of fish are described, and for consumers who do not like one or the other type of fish the reasons for this disliking are outlined. Consumption rates and shopping places for fish are then described. Next we shed light on consumers' willingness to pay for welfare rainbow trout. We estimate mean and median values as summary measures of willingness to pay, and attempt to identify factors that may influence the willingness to pay extra for welfare rainbow trout. The section is concluded by an analysis of the relation between consumption of farmed fish and the use of vaccine and antibiotics in the farming process.3.1 Perceptions of fish welfare and preferences for farmed and wild fish\n4. Summary and conclusion: This study shows that Danish consumers in general like farmed fish, and that more than one third believe that fish welfare is better in Denmark than in the other EU countries, only 1 percent believe that this is absolutely not the case. Furthermore, particular reasons for not liking farmed fish are concern over medicine residues in the fish, concern over the environmental impact of fish farming, and concern over farming conditions. Taste and smell are also important reasons for not liking farmed fish but this is not different from wild fish. Also consumption of farmed fish would be strongly negatively influenced by a potential use by farmers of vaccination and antibiotics.Little less than half of the consumers (48 percent) revealed that they were willing to pay extra for welfare rainbow trout. Among those willing to pay the median value is 10 DKK after eliminating bids indicating willingness to pay more than a 100 percent extra for welfare fish. It is primarily women, with a longer education, belonging to higher income households that are willing to pay extra, also age has an impact such that older consumers are more willing to pay extra than younger consumers. Also consumers who emphasize that production of welfare fish is eco-friendly, that welfare fish are fresher and have had a better life tend to be willing to pay extra.Standards for good fish welfare will probably in a few years be imposed by the EU, so that fish farmers will have to adhere to these standards. The indication that almost half of the consumers would be willing to pay extra for fish welfare therefore is important. How much of the increased production costs farmers would be able to cover is another question.\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: - Aquaculture is, an important animal farming activity, and fish welfare has recently become an important issue in the EU. Driving forces behind the promotion of fish welfare are demands from retailers and consumers. Given this background, it is the main objective of this paper in a Danish setting to investigate the willingness of consumers to pay for farmed rainbow trout with a quality label certifying good fish welfare. It also aims to describe consumers' perception and consumption of farmed fish and their beliefs about fish welfare.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A contingent valuation approach was used to evaluate consumers' willingness to pay for fish welfare, using an open-ended elicitation technique. To determine the factors that may influence consumers' willingness to pay for fish welfare the binomial logit model was used. Data were collected from an online survey of Danish consumers in the spring of 2009, sample size 1,000.\nFindings: - Of the sample, 48 percent were on average willing to pay 25 percent extra for welfare rainbow trout. Primarily women with a longer education, belonging to higher income households are willing to pay extra, also older consumers are more willing to pay more than younger consumers. Consumers who emphasize eco-friendly production of welfare fish, freshness, and animal welfare also tend to be willing to pay extra.\nOriginality/value: - While much literature has addressed animal welfare and willingness to pay for it, only a few studies have specifically considered consumers' perception of fish welfare and their willingness to pay for welfare fish.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Determinants of Bahraini managers' acceptance of business process reengineering
|
[
"Bahrain",
"Business process re‐engineering",
"Corporate strategy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Business process reengineering (BPR) is a management approach that can be used to radically transform organizations for dramatic improvement (Hammer and Champy, 1993; Davenport, 1993). BPR projects are strategic initiatives aim at making business processes more efficient, effective, and flexible. They allegedly achieve breakthroughs through a number of ways including: preventing errors; upgrading processes; employing joint problem solving; and/or facilitating workers participation in redesigning complex business processes (Bhatt and Stump, 2001).In the 1990s, BPR was repeatedly ranked as number one of the most important issues for chief information officers, because of the opportunities it creates for businesses (Brancheau et al., 1996). At the present time, researchers in this field do not need such statistics that indicate how important BPR is in the present global economy where organizations are transforming themselves to cope with such economy's rapid environmental, technological and economical changes. The quest behind these transformations is to radically enhance organizations' chances to differentiate themselves and satisfy customers' demands, while maintaining competitive cost structures and flexibility in the market place. Whatever ways of change or transformation used by an organization, such quests cannot be achieved without radically changing the traditional functional architecture and the division of labor inherited in our organizational structures to smoother business processes. Thus, an integration of cross-functions based on a process perspective is expected to increase organizational efficiency.Unfortunately, BPR implementations have not been as successful as organizations would like. Their implementations fail 50-70 percent of the time (Holland and Kumar, 1995; Al-Mashari et al., 2001). Owing to these high-failure rates reported in the 1990s, research has begun investigating different aspects of BPR projects implementation. One important aspect of them was the social context of implementing BPR. An area of much concern associated with that has been the ambiguity of senior managers' behavior towards adopting BPR. What appears to be missing is an examination of the possible underlying reasons or factors that influence senior managers' perceptions concerning adopting BPR. There has been relatively little research on this topic.Furthermore, most of the research in BPR has been examined from the point of view of western executives. This research reflects a developing country's experience, namely Bahrain. We expect that differences in business practices and environments will exist between countries and organizations. BPR involves relatively critical changes in many parts in the organization, such as: adoption of technologies, organizational structures, job designs, human resources, etc. Implementing such profound changes in different business environments, require careful considerations to these differences.The objective of this study is to develop such a framework that reflect a less-developed country (LDC) differences, concerning the factors that influence Bahraini managers' behavior intentions toward adopting BPR.\nLiterature review and research model: General streams of research on BPR\nMethodology: Settings: The Kingdom of Bahrain\nResults and analysis: The means and standard deviations of all variables are summarized in Table II. A multiple regression analysis was employed to identify which variables made significant contributions to predicting the dependent variables: use intentions, PU, and PEOU, to test H1a-H10a. Also a path analysis was used for H10b. Path analysis is a regression-based technique, widely used for studying the direct and indirect effects in models encompassing mediating variables like the research model proposed in this study (Field, 2000). The intercorrelation matrix (Table III) was first examined to assure the validity of the regression analysis looking for possible multicollinearity problem. All intercorrelations among exogenous variables were reasonably low. Field (2000) suggests that values of r>0.80 indicate a multicollinearity problem.The results of the regression analysis, including B coefficient, t-statistic, and significance level for each independent variable, are reported in Table IV. The first regression model shows that both PU and PEOU were found to be significant determinants of use intention with BPR, explaining 61.6 percent of the total variance as R2 value indicates in Table IV. The relative strength of their explanatory power, however, was different. PU (B=0.508, p<0.001) was much a stronger predictor of managers' use intentions of BPR as compared to PEOU (B=0.413, p<0.001). Hong et al. (2002) see that there are two reasons why PU has a stronger effect on behavior intention in such cases. The first explanation is time. In the early stages of exploring BPR, PEOU is the major determinant of use intentions. However, in the later stages of stable usage, when users have accumulated more experience with using such approaches, the significance of PEOU will decrease while the significance of PU will increase. The results provide support for H9 (PU - use intention relationship); and H10a (PEOU - use intention relationship). The second explanation is concerned with the characteristics of the user group in this study. Executives and other professionals in organizations, who are usually under a high degree of time pressure, will only use such approaches if they find it to be useful to their organizations. This finding strongly supports the appropriateness of using TAM to understand the intention of executives to use BPR as a managerial approach.In the second regression model, PU was regressed on BPR beliefs, project management, cross-functional coordination, need for change, resources availability, and competitive pressures. This analysis yielded a regression function (R2=0.365, p<0.001) with two significant predicators: project management (B=0.547, p<0.001) and need for change (B=0.251, p=0.01). The results provide support for H4b (project management - PU), and H6b (need for change - PU). The findings, however failed to support H3b, H5b, H7b, and H8b concerning the relationships between BPR beliefs; cross-functional coordination; resources availability; and competitive pressures, and the dependent variable PU.Also, a multiple regression method was applied to find out variables influencing PEOU. The results reported in Table IV show that education (B=0.174, p<0.05), cognitive style (B=0.289, p<0.01), BPR beliefs (B=0.272, p<0.05), project management (B=0.196, p<0.05), need for change (B=0.418, p<0.001), and competitive pressures (B=0.26, p<0.05) have significant effects on the PEOU of BPR. The antecedent constructs explain approximately 29 percent of the variance in PEOU. Based on these results, H1c (level of education - PEOU), H2 (cognitive style - PEOU), H3a (BPR beliefs - PEOU), H4a (project management - PEOU), H6a (need for change - PEOU), and H8a (competitive pressures - PEOU) are also supported. The analysis failed to support H1a, H1b, H5a, and H8a. They concern the relationships between gender; age; cross-functional coordination; and resources availability, with PEOU (Table V).Following the suggestions of Cohen and Cohen (1983), a hierarchical multiple regression was used to test the mediation hypothesis (H10b). I regressed behavior intention on PU in the first step, with PEOU in step two. The unique contribution of PEOU (in explaining behavior intention) was examined over and above the PU variable. Table VI shows that the change in R2 after introducing PU into the equation is significant (R2 change = 0.137, p=0.001), giving support to the proposed mediation hypothesis (H10b). This finding supports Davis et al.'s (1989) contention that PEOU may actually be a causal antecedent to PU, as opposed to a parallel and direct determinant of usage intentions. Table VI summarizes hypotheses testing results.\nDiscussions, conclusions, and limitations: This study threw some lights on the possible underlying determinants of promoting BPR in Bahraini businesses. The following are discussions of the role of each of these determinants or groups of variables showed in the research model. Comparisons with previous literature will be used - wherever related literature is available - to discuss the possible differences between Bahraini experiences with those in North America and Europe where BPR was originally born.BPR beliefs\nConclusion: BPR is an important approach that is usually used for transforming organizations. When met with high levels of competition and pressures from the industry, most organizations invariably turn to radical approaches for transforming themselves to help attain advantages in the market by performing better internally through saving resources and through becoming adept in responding to these challenges from the environment. Careful understanding of the factors that affect managers' perceptions and beliefs concerning such radical managerial approach would help organizations cultivate better innovative organizational culture that facilitate successful transformation for organizations. The study showed that some organizational capabilities such as effective project management and the ability to build an organizational-wide need for change are important requisites to gain positive salient beliefs toward accepting BPR as a managerial approach. Also, the study highlights some guidelines concerning the characteristics of the managers and project team members of BPR undertakings. According to the results of the study, it seems that persons with higher levels of creativity and ability to take risk; higher levels of education; higher levels of beliefs in the radical side of BPR have more positive beliefs towards accepting these types of managerial approaches. Such guidelines could be helpful for selecting BPR projects' team members, and in designing training programs for such approaches.This research has several limitations. First, we did not incorporate actual usage behavior in the proposed model. However, this is not a serious limitation as there is substantial empirical support for the causal link between intention and behavior (Taylor and Todd, 1995; Venkatesh and Davis, 2000; Venkatesh and Morris, 2000). Second, there may be other individual and external variables that may affect the intention to use these approaches. Future research can incorporate other variables into the research model. Potential individual differences include information-seeking skill and computer self efficacy, which have been repeatedly used in TAM applications before (Hong et al., 2002). Some other contextual factors such as IT capabilities, outsourcing, degree of strategic focus, have been included in relevant research studies (Bhatt, 2000). Future research can examine whether these factors have any influence on the acceptance of BPR as a radical managerial approach.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to examine the possible underlying factors that influence managers' intentions towards adopting business process reengineering (BPR) in a less-developed country (LDC) context, namely Bahrain.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study used a survey method to elicit opinions from 104 managers from 14 different big Bahraini businesses.\nFindings: - The results showed that the existence of some organizational capabilities such as \"effective project management experiences\" and \"the ability to build an organizational-wide need for change\" are important requisites to gain positive salient beliefs toward accepting BPR. Moreover, it showed that \"managers' cognitive style\" and \"level of education\" had significant influences on their \"intentions to adopt BPR approach.\" The findings also suggest that other external factors such as \"competitive pressures\" and \"managers' beliefs about BPR\" are significant antecedents to BPR perceived ease of use.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Conclusions are drawn about BPR experiences in countries such as Bahrain. Those experiences are compared and contrasted with the related prior studies, which are mainly from western countries' practices. Possible future research issues are raised to extend the author understanding of how BPR initiatives are promoted in organizations. However, the sample was limited to one LDC, which limits the possibility of generalizing its findings to all less-developed countries.\nOriginality/value: - The study provides insights into the required organizational capabilities, circumstances, and/or beliefs that ease promoting BPR initiatives in businesses. Accordingly, possible-related strategies can be devised to enhance BPR practices in organizations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Organizational identity and behaviors in strategic networks
|
[
"Performance",
"Organizational identity",
"Network capability",
"Strategic alliances",
"Opportunism",
"Open interaction"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Organizational identity, a concept that refers to \"who we are as an organization\", has received extensive research attention, particularly how identity is formed and may be subject to change (Gioia and Thomas, 1999; Nag et al., 2007). Organizational identity may also impact the way firms approach and interact in interfirm arrangements such as strategic networks, where firms aim to increase learning and innovation (Dyer and Hatch, 2004; Huikkola et al., 2013; Natti et al., 2014), develop new products and services jointly (Medlin and Tornroos, 2014; Partanen and Moller, 2012; Vargo and Lusch, 2011; Vargo, 2009), find new markets (Moller and Svahn, 2009) and increase sales and profit performance (Chelariu et al., 2014; van der Vaart and van Donk, 2008). Organizational identity may shape how an organization deals with its networks, how networks are governed, how consensus is reached and how relationships are ended. For example, some studies have demonstrated the importance of network behaviors and capabilities on improving both relational and network performance (Kohtamaki et al., 2013b; Ritter et al., 2002; Walter et al., 2006) and the role of organizational identity as a central component in determining such behaviors in strategic networks through managerial perceptions (Clark et al., 2010). Studies have also argued that organizational identity shapes managerial perceptions and behaviors (Rodrigues and Child, 2008; Weick, 2001), which further influence the existing identity through a feedback mechanism (Nadkarni and Narayanan, 2007; Narayanan et al., 2011). Yet, the performance influence of identity may be distal if it is mediated by cooperative or opportunistic managerial behaviors in strategic networks. Prior studies have not addressed the mediating causal mechanisms between organizational identities, network behaviors and performance.\nTheoretical framework and hypotheses: The model illustrated in Figure 1 extends the existing research on the influence of organizational identity through managerial perceptions (Brickson, 2005, 2007). Our theoretical model introduces a set of causalities that emerge from organizational identity, which generate certain network behaviors and performance results that subsequently provide feedback to organizational identity. In the present study, we define organizational identity as mental associations about the organization that enable an organization to answer the question: \"Who are we as an organization?\" (Gioia et al., 2000, p. 67). Specifically, organizational identity refers to \"members' understandings and claims about what is central, distinctive, and continuous over time about their organization\" (Clark et al., 2010, p. 397). To associate organizational identity with coopetition, we build on Brickson's (2005, 2007) identity models. While Brickson's (2005) tenets of collectivistic and individualistic identities have been applied successfully to organizational diversification, organization culture and performance measurement, prior studies have not applied this work to how strategic networks evolve. We define collective identity as a mental association that encourages developing dialogical, in-depth relationships with network partners. In contrast, individualistic identity is a mental association that encourages employees to identify network partners as self-interest-seeking and potentially opportunistic actors. In focusing on these two identities, we outline an alternate explanation than what is typically anticipated when examining why some relationships with potential cooperative benefits become hostile battles among network partners.\nMethods: Sample and data collection\nResults: We used AMOS structural equation modeling software to conduct the analyses to test our hypotheses (Aiken and West, 1991; Gefen et al., 2000). Table III presents the results of the hypotheses tests.\nDiscussion: Theoretical implications\nConclusion: Prior studies have mostly neglected the important effect of organizational identity on network behaviors. The present study, therefore, intended to analyze the interplay among organizational identity, network behaviors and network performance. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to address how strategic networks are managed and developed with an emphasis on collective organizational identity. This approach can be applied to further understand how organizational identity guides network behaviors to generate network performance and how the perception of strategic network performance feeds back to organizational identity to either strengthen or challenge the existing organizational identity.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop and test a framework describing the interplay between collective organizational identity, network behaviors and performance in strategic networks.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study uses data from 141 firms that participated in strategic networks. Structural equation modeling is used to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: This study demonstrates how a firm's collective organizational identity directs managerial perceptions toward partner's opportunism in strategic networks; how these views shape interactions with network partners; and how these interactions facilitate firm adaptations within strategic networks. Moreover, it demonstrates how network adaptations affect the satisfaction with strategic network performance and how this ultimately loops back to influence organizational identity.\nResearch limitations/implications: Given the limits of quantitative research to capture the mechanisms driving network collaborations, further case-based research on the role of organizational identity for network behaviors is needed.\nPractical implications: The results highlight the importance of collective organizational identity for network behaviors and positive performance outcomes. Firms that intend to engage in strategic networks should develop a collective organizational identity that supports implementing the network strategy. The results emphasize the importance of developing a collective organizational identity.\nOriginality/value: Organizational identity in facilitating network behaviors.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The determinants of hotel room rates: an analysis of the hotel industry in Warsaw, Poland
|
[
"Hotels",
"Hedonic price model",
"Room rates",
"Warsaw"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper studies the effect on prices through the differing characteristics and attributes of hotels in the city tourism segment of Warsaw, the capital city of Poland. To deconstruct the price effect of the various characteristics that compose a multi-attribute product, we used a well-known hedonic price estimation. The hedonic price model (HPM), which usually utilises ordinary least squares regression, commonly serves to reveal the manner in which sellers establish the implicit price of goods and services composed from a bundle of inseparable elements.\nLiterature review: Study area and data collection\nMethodology: Similar to a majority of previous studies, we decided to construct an HPM based on data from a metropolitan location to obtain a homogenous sample. The research sample consisted of all 79 hotels operating in Warsaw, Poland, in 2014, as listed in the Central Index of Hotel Establishments (Ministry of Sport and Tourism of the Republic of Poland, 2015). This data source allowed us to gather the information on basic hotel characteristics: brand, official star rank and address. Other characteristics were compiled manually by analysing the content of a given hotels' own websites: chain affiliation and number of rooms. Using Google Maps, we changed addresses into geographical coordinates which allowed us to estimate values for all investigated geographical variables.\nEmpirical results: We considered the problem of multicollinearity that may arise from the inclusion of highly correlated independent variables (Dohoo et al., 1997). Therefore, correlations between all pairs of predictor variables were calculated. The highest correlations involve both the official and OTA \"star ratings\". Thus, coefficients for two separate models (for three different samples available at different OTAs) were estimated: one involving the official \"star rating\" as a predictor of hotel room rates, and another one involving OTA \"star rating\". It is argued that multicollinearity is certain at the 0.9 level of a correlation coefficient or higher (Dohoo et al., 1997). However, no certain rules exist for the determination of significance of the multicollinearity phenomenon in a particular regression analysis application (Chen and Rothschild, 2010). Furthermore, we employed the VIF statistic to verify the existence of multicollinearity (Hung et al., 2010). The VIF values for all variables are below the critical value - equal to 10 as Lin (2008) has suggested. Thus, we decided to estimate models that consist of all predictors discussed (Table III).\nConclusions and discussion: Conclusions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to measure the effect on prices through the differing characteristics and attributes of hotels.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A hedonic price model (HPM) was adopted to estimate the impact of various site and situational factors on hotel prices in Warsaw, Poland. To better understand room rates not explained by HPM, spatial analysis of residuals was used. Datasets regarding prices from three different online travel agents (OTAs) and star ratings, either official or provided by OTAs, were investigated.\nFindings: A significant impact on hotel prices by star rating has been confirmed. Every additional star allows the hotel to set approximately 25 to 36 per cent higher prices, which is in line with previous studies. Moreover, two factors indicated a high but still underestimated theoretical hotel prices: location within the city centre and proximity to the international airport.\nPractical implications: The results of this study suggest that hoteliers should use a spatial analysis of room rates offered by the competing enterprises. Moreover, managers are expected to verify their price tactics and policies according to the geographical determinants of hotel prices investigated.\nOriginality/value: The uniqueness of the study is highlighted by comparison of HPMs based on data from different OTAs, analysing differences in HPMs based on star ratings provided by OTAs and official systems and spatial analysis of residuals of estimated HPMs. Moreover, this study is among the first to examine the usage of HPM in the hospitality industry in East-Central Europe.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The American Dream and the limits of transparency
|
[
"National cultures",
"Psychology",
"Transparency",
"American Dream",
"Psychoanalysis",
"United States of America"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In July 2012, the Pew Research Center, \"a nonpartisan 'fact tank' that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world\",1 published Pursuing the American Dream: Economic Mobility Across Generations. In it, the researchers referred to the American Dream (capitalization theirs) as an ideal of upward economic mobility as measured by family income and family wealth. The American Dream is a construct designed to foster a sense of cohesion and a salience and value to an identity as American (Jahromi, 2011).\nTheoretical background: Lacan: the imaginary, symbolic, and real orders\nResearch design: In the following section, we draw on a study of the accounts given by the two US Presidential candidates during the 2012 campaign. In May 2011, the primary debate initiated the official campaign, which unofficially began in 2010 and ended with the election in November 2012. During the campaign, the two candidates released accounts of taxes paid to the US Treasury and engaged in speechmaking. The candidates' most recent tax returns and selected speeches that refer to the American Dream are the data used in our study. Both authors of this study are American citizens, and, thus, we are close to the election as well as sensitive to the potency of the American Dream.Data\nDiscussion: Given the frequency with which the candidates mention the American Dream and emphasize that they are Americans, we have asked how the US Presidential candidates account for themselves and what their identifications as Americans mean. We have relied on a Lacanian perspective, so we begin with his notions of the mirror stage and the Imaginary, and we proceed to examine the breakdown of the Imaginary. Do the words \"American Dream\" point to something of substance? We suggest that, for both Obama and Romney, the American Dream is an image and that the American \"I\" is formed by the discourse of the other. \"American\" is a \"master signifier\": that is, a signifier that the subject deeply identifies with and which may be a signifier without a signified. As we explained previously, a master-signifier works not because it contains all of the meanings but because it is empty. Do the words \"American Dream\" point to something of substance? Based on our analysis of the candidates' accounts of themselves as Americans, we think not. Obama can define American differently than does Romney; the difference, too, is empty. This failure is akin to the pattern of failure described by Jones and Spicer (2005): \"What if entrepreneurship research has not failed at all, but has uncovered something significant about the underlying structure of entrepreneurship discourse, that is, that 'the entrepreneur' is an empty signifier, an open space of 'lack' whose operative function is not to 'exist' in the usual sense but to structure phantasmic attachment\" (p. 235).The candidates' efforts to be transparent advertise an ideal: i.e. as we explain previously, the ideal of a \"perfect-able\" (Roberts, 2009, p. 958) American who lives the American Dream. It is an ideal against which the candidates fail because it is the \"discourse of the other.\" This failure is important because it - like the failure of entrepreneurship research - uncovers something significant. Roberts (2009) argues, \"[I]f we rely only on transparency as a form of accountability then these positive effects are often countered by serious distortions to communication\" (p. 958). Within organizations, we cannot rely on transparency as promised by codes, and we cannot rely on ideals as promised by an American Dream. Roberts (2009) proposes a compassionate practice of accountability, and our paper supports his proposal. He says, \"What emerges in this space is something of the weight of our practical dependence on each other [...]. Accountability is thereby reconstituted as a vital social practice\" (p. 969). Within our organizations, we can work toward better relationships and better directions for change. We echo Tsoukas (2005, p. 98):We cannot understand human behavior unless we grasp the meanings informing it. But meaning now is understood to be not just in the mind, in the way people think. It is rather manifested in the way people act.\nConclusion: The inspirations for our analysis were twofold: one, a 1953 report in which Lacan said, \"The unconscious of the subject is the discourse of the other\" (Lacan, 1953/1977a, p. 55); two, a paper by Roberts (2009) in which he argued, \"[T]ransparency works to advertise an ideal against which we will always fail\" (p. 958). Influenced by Lacan and Roberts, we have said that the American Dream is a signifying construct that substitutes for identity and argued that the candidates' efforts to be transparent advertise an ideal: i.e. an ideal against which the candidates fail because it is the \"discourse of the other.\"Who is President Obama? Who is Mitt Romney? Who are we, the authors of this paper? How do we account for ourselves? We can explain ourselves at the level of code: in this case, the US Internal Revenue Code. We can provide you with our taxable incomes and our tax liabilities. Or, we can explain ourselves at an ideological level - the level of signification - the American Dream. However, no matter where we start, the Real interrupts. As Driver (2009) puts it, identity fails; identity breaks down and is followed by a process of re-identification. And so where we look for ourselves, at last, lies not in our Dreams but in our uncertainties and in our relationships. Within the organizations where we work, what matters is - albeit compensation is an issue - how we treat one another.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The question of whether the words \"American Dream\" point to something of substance is at the heart of the authors' inquiry. James Truslow Adams coined the term in his 1933 book The Epic of America as a way to re-establish a sense of optimism decimated by the Great Depression. Adams' contribution was to move the public discourse from that of individual effort to a sense of a collective identity. The American Dream is an element of the \"cultural stuff\" whose singularity (\"dream\") rapidly breaks down into a variety of interpretations about the American nation (\"dreams\"). The popular press suggests that the Dream proposes to balance collective membership in a national identity with the individual freedom to achieve prosperity and success. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Dream and the construction of an American identity by examining the accounts of men who surely represent the American Dream: US Presidential candidates.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In order to analyze the candidates' accounts of themselves as committed to their American identity and to the American Dream, the authors view the tax returns and speeches of Presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney through the lens of the psychoanalytic theories of Jacques Lacan and locate the American Dream as a construct of the imaginary and symbolic orders, as they are defined by Jacques Lacan. The inspirations for the authors' analysis are twofold. One is a 1953 report in which Lacan said, \"The unconscious of the subject is the discourse of the other\". The authors argue that the American Dream is the \"discourse of the other\" and suggest that the American identity is decentered: i.e. a signifying construct (the American Dream) substitutes for identity. The second inspiration is a 2009 paper titled \"No one is perfect\" by John Roberts, who argues, \"The ideal of a transparency pretends to a mere making visible [...] [But] transparency works to advertise an ideal against which we will always fail\".\nFindings: - It was found that the candidates' efforts to be transparent advertise an ideal: in this study, the ideal is the ideal of a \"perfect-able\" American who lives the American Dream. It is an ideal against which the candidates fail because it is the \"discourse of the other\".\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study has limitations. The subjects are two American citizens and the authors' interpretation might not be appropriate to other American citizens and residents.\nOriginality/value: - The authors are aware of no other study that uses Lacanian psychoanalytic views to examine the American Dream.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The certainty of uncertainty: risk management revisited
|
[
"Creative thinking, Risk management",
"Uncertainty management, Conflict",
"Decision making"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Our attempts to make adaptations may fail if we persist in pursuing the goals we started with, if we rely too heavily on identifying and minimizing risks, and if we maintain the ground rules we set at the beginning of an activity. Adapting means revising our goals, becoming resilient to threats we cannot predict, and changing the way we work together. To adapt, we have to learn, but we also have to unlearn (Klein, 2009, p. 81).\n1. Introduction: Risk is the potential for loss or gain: quantitative, qualitative, or both. We saw, in an earlier treatment in this journal of the vagaries of risk management (Vol. 11, No. 6), that the subject remains one that we understand insufficiently.In this essay we shall examine the hazard, danger, sometimes even peril that managers and other deciders must confront. Those who decide live in an environment of persistent uncertainty so that the challenge of risk accompanies almost every decision made. Potential gain must be balanced, therefore against putative loss. This is a reasoning intimately familiar to bankers, insurers, controllers of traffic of all kinds, inventors and manufacturers, security and defense managers - and to you and me as ordinary citizens.The present survey touches, in consequence, on a variety of risk situations. We shall look at urban and regional planning, finance and investment, industrial choices, work and health, science and research, medical practice, design, international relations, military management, and finally spaceflight. Quantitative parameters, as we shall see, loom large; but quality remains an essential part of a design, process, product or service that cannot be overlooked (see also Table I).\n2. Background: 2.1 The why, what and how\n3. Urbanism and national cohesion: 3.1 Towers more secure, cities more coherent than before\n4. Finance, banking and industry: \"People in business and in the military\", observes Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan, \"want to know what their chances of success are if they take a particular course of action. Will they lose their investment or, in the case of the military, the war?\" The eminent historian continues (MacMillan, 2009, p. 150):One way of narrowing the odds is to study similar situations in the past [...] Why was the Edsel [automobile] a failure and the Volkswagen a success? In 2008, as the effects of the subprime mortgage crisis rippled through the world's economies, market analysts turned to history to try to determine how long the downturn in the stock markets would last. (In the past fifty years, apparently, we have had nine bear markets, and they have lasted on average just over a year.)Projections made, in both western Europe and North America, at the time of preparing this article put the end of the current crisis sometime in mid-2010.Commentator Christopher Caldwell has noted that the recession of 2008 left men \"paying a higher price\" than women. \"A job is a claim on a certain amount of society's resources\", Caldwell (2009, p. 13) contended:[a]s men lose that claim, they lose the instruments by which they have traditionally controlled society. A lot of people see this as fitting punishment. There weren't any women among the high-profile malefactors in [the 2008] meltdown. Maldeness has become a synonym for insufficient attentiveness to risk.4.1 The Czech v. Slovak currency competition\n5. Health and work: 5.1 Incapacitated or temporarily unemployed?\n6. Non-medical research and science: To remind of the distinction between the two: science is the accumulated knowledge of how nature works, whereas research is the continuing quest for corrective and additional knowledge.6.1 Handling risk at basic biological levels\n7. The world of design: Good design derives directly from adequate knowledge of what design can do for the user, what the user seeks or prefers, and the integration of design elements with those of aesthetics, economics, law and the environment.Alice Rawsthorn is a design critic working in London who publishes a weekly design review in The New York Times. In a perceptive analysis of design applicable to new concepts in automotive design, especially for electricity-powered vehicles, she observes (Rawsthorn, 2009) that the process of design:Is so specialized that most car designers not only study together, but work together, which explains why their designs often seem immune from broader trends [...] [D]eveloping a new car is so expensive that manufacturers are usually vulnerable to the corporate pressures that bedevil every other area of industrial design and result in the fatal process of design by committee. That's why car companies are tempted to play safe, rather than risk an innovative approach that might produce something inspiring.\n8. International relations: 8.1 Tunneling through neighbors' soil\n9. Full-scale military operations: 9.1 Russian risk-running\n10. Future spaceflight: We end this essay with a glance at the probability - uncertain vs certain - of the nature of space exploration to come. The manned expeditions to the Moon that began in 1969 have given way, quite reasonably, to pondered exploration of the planets and possibly beyond. The Ares I rocket had its first launching on October 2009, holding some promise of further manned exploration because of improved propulsion, composite materials ever lighter in weight, and better information technology. The well-publicized success of Ares I paves the way to development of the Ares Lite and Ares V rockets and their spacecraft.Design engineers estimate that the main risk in spaceflight will continue to be the safety of landings and take-offs en route to both the Moon and the planets. Here the \"normal accident\" theory (NAT) plays a role; its author, Charles Perrow of Yale University, postulated in 1984 that any complex system, despite the best security safeguards, will produce accidents. The judicious response to such risk in spaceflight is likely, therefore, to be either fly-by exploration or automated, unmanned expeditions before return to Earth. Here again, NAT applies whether humans are present in the system or not. Whatever the choice, the certainty/uncertainty factors will have been carefully weighed before the scheduling of take-offs. President Barack Obama's decision in April 2010 to continue manned space flights by NASA, in order to orbit Mars by 2035, should provide further testing challenges and opportunities:Accepting all risks means accepting risks that are not acceptable (Jacques Lesourne).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The objective of this paper is to scan flagrant cases of uncertainty and hesitation in the conception of plans and strategy and to assess new results in risk management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper uses outstanding examples, present and past (and some future), of both risk taking and risk aversion and their concrete consequences - whether action follows or is blocked by lack of certitude or perhaps confidence.\nFindings: - The paper shows that the wilful overcoming of missing assuredness may incur, in its turn, hazardous risk.\nOriginality/value: - The paper illustrates the roles of knowledge, precautions wisely taken, and being willing or hesitating to risk the sometimes long shot.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The dynamics of public networks: A critique of linear process models
|
[
"Social interaction",
"Networking",
"Knowledge management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The re-shaping of the social structure termed as \"mixed economy\" (Austin and Hasenfeld, 1985), \"quasi-markets\" (Le Grand, 1991), \"the shadow state\" (Wolch, 1990), \"government through the third party\" (Salamon, 1981), \"the contracting state\" (Smith and Lipsky, 1993), or \"the relational state\" imply the fundamental idea that a variety of different actors must all be taken into account and made co-responsible of the search and implementation of solutions to cope with the new challenges facing current societies. This fact has displaced the traditional top-down public management towards newer management arrangements such as \"public-private partnerships (PPP)\" (Savas, 2000), \"policy networks\" (Kickert et al., 1997), and \"public networks\" (Agranoff and McGuire, 2001).Most research has focused on antecedent factors affecting the emergence of networks or on the different structures of networks (Ebers, 1997; Ebers and Jarrillo, 1997;Ring and Van de Ven, 1994). Much less research has been focused on the process through which the network evolves. Although understanding this process is fundamental to network management, since managers will have to take into account this process when deciding on inputs, investments or the structure (Ring and Van de Ven, 1994). The temporal implications of the process are also of great important since it will affect the evaluation of the network.This paper, by carrying out a review of the existent literature, tries to answer the question: what is the process an inter-organizational public network undergoes? The gap in our knowledge on public network process makes answering this question both theoretically relevant and significant to practice, given the increase in inter-organizational responses to the ever greater complexity of social challenges.Given the added value to public management of multi-disciplinarity, the work is based primarily on the policy networks (Kickert et al., 1997; Marsh, 1998), business alliances and strategic networks (Kanter, 1994; Doz, 1996), network theory (Ebers and Grandori, 1997) and collaboration theory (Huxham, 1996) perspectives. The main contribution of the paper is a comparative study of the conceptualizations of the process a network undergoes. We focus on the management of the process of the functioning network based on Ring and Van de Ven's (1994) three linear macro stages (emergence, evolution and dissolution).First we review different linear-sequential network process models proposed by different scholars. Thereafter, grounded on the existing literature, we identify some basic dimensions, which we will use to compare the different models proposed, highlighting complementarities and contradictions.\nThe dynamics of the network: Process - defined by Van de Ven as \"a sequence of events as describes how things change over time\" (Van de Ven, 1992, p. 169) - has been researched in organization studies using either one of four types of process theories (Van de Ven and Poole, 1995): linear-sequential, teleology (repetitive circular), evolutionary (driven by environment), and dialectics. With regards to research in network process, it is the first two which have been most popular: the linear sequential among public-private partnership (PPP) scholars (Lowndes and Skelcher, 1998; Osborne, 2000; European Commission, 2003; and Osborne and Murray, 2000)[1], while the alliance literature has also incorporated the teleology circular approach (Arino and De La Torre, 1998; Ring and Van de Ven, 1994; Doz, 1996).Linear sequential conceptualisations\nAnalytic dimensions of networks: The linear process models reviewed do not only present stages but also predict certain behaviour by the network through the different stages. Unfortunately, the models do not predict the network behaviour in terms of common dimensions. Therefore, in order to compare the different predictions offered by the models, we first identify some basic dimensions, which will be used as an analytic framework.Ebers (1997) identifies five dimensions relevant to the management of inter-organisational networks. Three dimensions refer to micro-level ties, or relations between actors, while the other two refer to the governance structure (centrality and governance mechanisms). The relational dimensions are mutual expectations flows, resource flows and information flows.Huxham (2003) using a similar rationale, identifies three leadership media, not always under the participants control. These media are structures (what Huxham refers to as the number of organisations and its openness, for example), processes (referred to as communication channels) and its participants. Hence, she also highlights, although in a less declassified manner, the meso-level (structures and participants) and the relational level (processes).Similarly, the policy network management approach using game management and network constitution, as the name implies, focuses on the game, which are the action channels and rules (game management), and the network (as understood by this model), its structure, internal context and membership of the network (network constitution), hence differentiating between structure and process.Relations: information, resource and mutual expectations flows\nRelations along the dynamic linear stages: Hereon, in order to compare the linear sequential models we focus on the evolution of these relations along the three stage linear dynamic model previously introduced.Emergence\nConclusion: This article has compared linear sequential models of network process and found that all the analyzed models are sequentially coherent with each other and differences with respect to the stages seem to arise solely at the terminological and stage aggregation level. The article also compares the evolution of the network along the different stages as predicted by the different models. The models are compared by focusing on relations among organizations in the network, namely information, resources, and mutual expectations. We conclude that different authors expect contradictory evolutions of the relations between actors.Research on inter-organizational networks, partnerships, and alliances in general, and in the public sector in particular, has overlooked process and management, dwarfed by investigations on the rationale for and formation of these networks. In turn, the little research on network process has been done using linear sequential models. Not only is more research on process necessary, but the more common linear sequential approaches should be complemented by other approaches.Although these linear approaches are undoubtedly necessary, other types of approaches, such as dialectical, for example, seem complementary and could prove useful in synthesising some of the apparent contradictions predicted by the linear models. Public network management researchers may do well in following other organizational scholars in adding to their perspectives some which go beyond the traditional, rational, linear episteme. Given the increasingly complex and changing interest of study, we may do well in opening our vision.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper, by carrying out a review of the existent literature, tries to answer the question: what is the process an inter-organizational public network undergoes?\nDesign/methodology/approach: - First, different linear-sequential network process models proposed by different scholars and disciplines are reviewed. Thereafter, grounded on the existing literature, some basic dimensions are identified, used to compare the different models proposed, highlighting complementarities and contradictions.\nFindings: - Different authors expect contradictory evolutions of the relations between actors along the stages. Complementing linear process models with other types of approaches, e.g. dialectical models, may well synthesize the opposing findings.\nOriginality/value: - The gap in knowledge on public network process makes the study of network process both theoretically relevant and significant to practice. The main contribution of the paper is a comparative study of the conceptualizations of the process a network undergoes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Intellectual capital practices and performance in Russian enterprises
|
[
"Intellectual capital",
"Organizational performance",
"Russia"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Increasingly, management scholars and practitioners are viewing intellectual capital as a key determinant of business performance in enterprises. However, relatively little is known about how intellectual capital really affects a firm's performance. Given the highly complex and ambiguous nature of intellectual capital, this is hardly surprising. Even less is known about the impact and implications of intellectual capital for small innovative enterprise (SIE) performance in transitional economies. In this paper, the authors present the findings of empirical research that examines the impact of intellectual capital on enterprise performance in small innovative enterprises (SIEs). The study examines the antecedents and consequents of effective intellectual capital exploitation against the background of some key external (socio-political, technological, and economic) factors in the characteristic transitional economy of the knowledge-intensive small innovative enterprise sector in the St Petersburg region of Russia.The key question addressed in this research is whether intellectual capital in small innovative enterprises represents an opportunity that has potential to override the threat imposed by the prevailing - and typically adverse - external economic, fiscal and legal factors facing small private enterprises in the transitional economy of Russia. This supposition formed the hypothesis. Hence, this work seeks to provide new insights in several areas. While a number of studies have looked at the impact of intellectual capital on enterprise performance per se, relatively little work to date has focused on the specific case of intellectual capital deployment in small innovative enterprises (SIEs). Very little, if any, work has focused on the impact of intellectual capital and its implications for private enterprise performance in transitional economies. In this respect, Russia represents a particularly interesting case on account of its rich scientific and intellectual legacy, even in Soviet times.The notion of the knowledge-based theory of the firm forms the conceptual basis of a framework that is developed to relate intellectual capital (human capital and structural capital) and key external factors (socio-political, economic and technological) to enterprise performance in SIEs in the context of the Russian transitional economy. A survey instrument designed on the basis of this model was applied in field research involving 20 SIEs in the St Petersburg region. The first phase of the research involving the survey was followed up with in-depth semi-structured interviews with a selection of the firms that participated in the survey. The research data was subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis using standard and advanced statistical analysis based on regression, correlation analysis. In a final step, structural equation modelling on the basis of a partial least squares technique was used to examine the validity of the hypothesis in view of the research findings.The research findings provide evidence suggesting that intellectual capital indeed does have a greater potential impact on enterprise performance than prevailing external factors. In as much, our hypothesis has been substantiated on the basis of this research.The premise explored in this paper is that the firm's internal resource base - foremost its intellectual capital - and its deployment of that base, is an equally, if not more, important factor in determining the competitive performance of a small innovative enterprise. It goes beyond simply viewing the SIE, particularly in a transitional economy, as being vulnerable and dependent on external conditions for success in the market place. Rather, the basic premise of this paper is that small innovative enterprises in such environments may indeed achieve competitive despite possible detrimental factors in their external business environment.This approach is not necessarily new. There is an extensive literature that examines various enterprise-specific factors involved in creating a position of competitive advantage for the firm, and the complex interplay between the firm's internal organizational factors and environmental factors. Research evidence suggests that while environmental contexts can be very influential, they do not necessarily outweigh a number of key internal factors that can be directly influenced by the enterprise, while those in the firm's environment generally cannot (Papadakis and Bourantas, 1998; Turgoose and Thacker, 2000; Thacker and Handscombe, 2003). For example, Sanchez and McKinley (1998) suggest that \"whether or not environmental regulation inhibits or promotes product innovation seems to depend at least in part on certain internal features of an organization\".Thacker and Handscombe (2003) argue that people in the organization and the interaction between the organization's people inevitably play a large part in enabling or constraining the organization's innovation process, which is seen increasingly to be a key determinant of profitable growth. West and Anderson (1996) emphasize the importance of the team's characteristic social process, and Burpitt and Bigoness (1997) discuss the role of team empowerment in this context. What the literature appears to be suggesting is that competitive advantage increasingly is achieved by those firms that succeed in mobilizing their intangible assets in the form of knowledge, technological skills and experience, and strategic capabilities toward creating new processes and product/service offerings. This is the fundamental notion of the resource-based view of the firm; more specifically, the knowledge-based view of the firm, whereby knowledge is seen to be the firm's key competitive resource. Intellectual capital in its various forms is the primary resource available to these entrepreneurial endeavors.Specifically, for the research discussed in this paper, we set out to explore the following questions:1. What is the potential impact of the small innovative enterprise's internal resource base on its innovation performance - and ultimately its competitive performance in the market place?2. Specifically, what is the impact of the firm intellectual capital in combination with prevailing environmental factors on SIEs' ultimate position of competitiveness?3. What is it about firms in this sector and their management of their intellectual capital that we need to understand - in terms of their constraints, limitations and opportunities for growth - in order to provide the most effective and efficient support?\nA knowledge-based view of the small innovative enterprise (SIE): The knowledge-based view of the firm is essentially an extension of the resource-based theory of the firm, which has been described exhaustively in the strategic management literature. Conner and Prahalad (2002) remind us that the knowledge-based view of the firm comprises the very essence of the resource-based view of the firm. Increasingly, the firm's stock of strategically relevant knowledge is being seen to be its fundamental source of competitive advantage. In the strategic management literature, the resource-based view deals with performances differences between firms on the basis of competitive asymmetries. The knowledge-based view of the firm argues that knowledge, in the form of the firm's competencies, capabilities, and relationships and not least, experience, endow it with this differentiation potential (see also Grant, 2002; Birchall and Tovstiga, 2001; Tovstiga, 1999). The enterprise uses its knowledge-based advantage to build the product/service offering features that appeal to the market. It has been pointed out that the application of the resource-based view of the firm to settings outside of the US has been only very limited; its application to small innovative firms in transitional economies has investigated by practically no one (Javenpaa and Leidner, 1998; Yu, 2001; Bruton and Rubanik, 2002).This work examines the Russian small innovative enterprise from the perspective of the knowledge-based theory of the firm. It explores the impact of the SIE's knowledge and capabilities base on its competitive position, whereby the firm's knowledge and capabilities base is represented by its intellectual capital. The firm's intellectual capital is assumed to consist of its human and structural capital. The study therefore begins by examining the SIE's intellectual capital and its internal manifestation and exploitation. The study then looks at the relationship between the firm's intellectual capital and its external environment represented by socio-political, technological and economical factors that might have an impact on the firm's competitive position.\nIntellectual capital and the small innovative enterprise (SIE): The conceptual framework used in this work draws on the knowledge-based view of the enterprise. Intellectual capital, unlike numerous external factors such as the enterprise's socio-political or economic environment, represents a set of internal factors that the small innovative can influence directly (Tovstiga et al., 2004). Intellectual capital, in this sense, represents a competitive lever that presents itself to the small innovative enterprise; in fact, intellectual capital is increasingly becoming the primary resource available to the enterprise in technology-intensive environments. Furthermore, the enterprise is viewed to be a dynamic repository of knowledge. Dynamic and continual conversion and recombination of the various forms of the enterprise's knowledge leads to new knowledge and this contributes to the enterprise's ability to differentiate itself competitively in the marketplace.Although it is very difficult to accurately measure and evaluate intellectual capital, its competitive impact of the firm's intellectual capital - whether linked to the firm's stock of strategically relevant knowledge, innovation or strategic capabilities - remains undisputed (Bontis, 1999). Stewart (1997) defines intellectual capital as the firm's intellectual material - its knowledge, information, intellectual property and experience base that can be put to use to create wealth. For our research, we assume that the firm's intellectual capital constitutes the internal determinant of competitiveness in the SIE. It is broadly broken down into two sub-categories - human capital and structural capital. Human capital embodies competence (people-embodied knowledge, capabilities and skills, and experiential knowledge), attitude (behavior, motivation, and ethical conduct) and intellectual agility (innovation, imitation and adaptation). Structural capital consists of relationships (involving strategic networks, alliances, relationships with customers and other key stakeholders), organization (databases, routines, infrastructure, processes and culture), and renewal and development (research and development, investments in organizational learning). Intellectual capital may exhibit both explicit and intangible characteristics. Of the two, the intangible form is the most challenging and difficult from a managerial perspective, but it is also the form with the greatest potential impact on competitive performance.The external factors of the enterprise include socio-political, technological and economical dimensions. The conceptual framework is presented in terms of a causal map, as shown in Figure 1.Conceptual framework and underlying hypotheses\nResearch design: The survey instrument developed for the empirical field research was designed to address the intellectual capital, external factor and enterprise performance construct described in the foregoing section of this paper. The instrument consists of a questionnaire that was originally formulated in English but was used in a translated Russian version for the field research in St Petersburg. It consists of a total of 62 items which query the respondents' perceptions with respect to various internal (intellectual capital) practices and the perceived influence of key external (socio-political, economic and technological) factors. Two measures of enterprise performance are used, as indicated in Figure 1. A five-point Likert-type scale (\"strongly agree\" to \"strongly disagree\") was employed for the scales relating to intellectual capital, external factors and performance outcomes. Comparative competitiveness was measured on a ten-point scale.\nResearch analysis and discussion of research findings: Sample description\nConclusions: The work reported on in this paper represents work in progress. As such, the outcomes and conclusions reported in this paper should be viewed as preliminary findings. Despite the rather limited sample size, the highly consistent data do allow us to derive a number of conclusions:* The respondents of this study - i.e. small and medium-sized innovative enterprises in the St Petersburg area - have identified intellectual capital as the most important factor driving competitive performance in the market. Specifically, this covers those factors relating to human capital and structural capital.* Our hypothesis - that internal factors outweigh the potential effects of external factors in the difficult environment of the Russian transitional economy - is largely substantiated, both by the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses.* The fact that the impact of external economic factors per se are not perceived to be detrimental to the business development and competitiveness is perhaps an indication of the improving situation of SIEs in Russia. However, we need to exercise caution before jumping to conclusions too quickly, as the follow-up interviews have indicated. External factors cannot simply be disregarded. They still remain an important determinant, especially in the case of firms focused primarily on the domestic market. If anything, however, the rules of the game are changing in this area, with mechanisms such as effective lobbying becoming much more important.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to present and discuss research that investigates the impact of intellectual capital practices on enterprise performance in small innovative enterprises (SIEs) in the St Petersburg, Russia region.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Research fieldwork uses a survey questionnaire focusing on technology-intensive SIEs in the St Petersburg region, supported by a select number of follow-up interviews. The research analysis is based on quantitative statistical evaluation of the research data.\nFindings: - Intellectual capital, particularly structural and human capital, is perceived by Russian managers of SIEs to be a primary determinant of enterprise performance, thereby substantiating the importance of the resource-based view for enterprise performance - even in the transitional economy of Russia.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research reported in this paper is limited by the relatively small sample size of firms surveyed; the quantitative research is based on perceptions of managers.\nPractical implications: - The research points to some key dimensions of intellectual capital-related practices that are particularly important for enterprise performance.\nOriginality/value: - The research reported in this paper brings together a unique combination of research related to the resource-based view of the firm in the setting of small innovative enterprises in a transitional economy environment.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Future war and superweapons, the perceptive fantasies of Albert Robida
|
[
"Weapons",
"Submarines",
"Military aircraft",
"Graphic arts"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: Graphic illustration of life - its delights and promises and risks - dates from Egypt of the Pharaohs and the millions of pictograms chiselled into stone that we can still see in Egypt and try to understand. The Chinese then invented the ideograph, capable of conveying even abstract ideas to the reader, while other pictorial forms evolved through brush, ink or paint to become coloured representations. Illustrations migrated to woven images (on textiles, carpets, tapestry and basketry), to murals, mosaics and sculpture and occasionally entire buildings[1]. Japan's early ukiyo-e woodblock illustrators depicted the classical drama, geisha and sword-swinging samurai of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; artists of two of the same period's superpowers, Britain and France, elaborated the political cartoon as a weapon of public diplomacy. (We are not concerned here with the impact of photography; its branching technologies compounded pictorialism exponentially, becoming ultimately electronic imagery.)Now all but forgotten, the nineteenth century journalistic illustrator Albert Robida was one of the earliest artists capable of developing tales of vivid futures through his expert drawings. A contemporary of future-seekers in prose such as Jules Verne, Edward Bellamy and H.G. Wells, the French artist also had the unusual gift of foreseeing not only what was possible, but also what could actually come true. Our purpose here is to show how close to the real thing Robida's uncanny foresight proved to be - or where it failed him - and the force of Robida's contribution to the development of contemporary graphic novels.Robida was 22 years old when the Franco-Prussian war was in full swing in 1870, a conflict of astonishing characteristics: the object of the war (to consolidate a German empire), and the German attack itself (the fruit of long brooding by the general staff); and innovations of scale: the speed of the assault, cannon barrels of steel to replace bronze. Robida, born during the revolutionary year of 1848 in Compiegne (a locale that would become famous in later wars as the surrender site of the Germans in 1918 and the French in 1940), seemed to have an instinct for both weapons of the future and a variety of civil novelties well before their invention or generalized use.\nTwo poles of fantasy: foresight and realization: The form of the present article is dual analysis, looking at the before and after of Albert Roboda's conceptions: before a new war had begun, and the verisimilitude of that war's evolution and its new hardware in terms of Robida's futurism.Foresight\nFighting in the air, under water: Foresight\nBattle-zone signalling: Foresight\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to compare the projections of future war by a talented illustrator with the true materialization of conflicts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper traces Albert Robida's sequential narrative, using a selection of imaginative pictures to demonstrate the artist's range of anticipation.\nFindings: - The paper finds that the illustrator's visualization proved to be uncanny in its accuracy of projection.\nOriginality/value: - Robida managed to be not only well ahead of his time; the accuracy of his foresight was largely exact from the point of view of feasible technology.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
IT investments and product development effectiveness: Iranian SBs
|
[
"Developing countries",
"Firm performance",
"Information technology",
"Iran",
"Product development",
"New product development",
"Small businesses"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Information technology (IT)[1] investment and implementation is always a main concern in a firm. Therefore, it is indispensable for a firm to evaluate the benefit of such investment (Huang et al., 2006). It is evident that small businesses (SBs) can overcome some of their innate disadvantages through investment in IT (Thong, 1999). Yet, SBs, particularly in developing countries, are highly risk-averse when it comes to investing in IT (Ghobakhloo et al., 2011b). This uncertainty is mostly due to the appearance of advancedly new and complex IT applications, which has made it more sophisticated to identify and evaluate the benefits of investment in IT for SBs (Ghobakhloo et al., 2011a).In IT productivity research context, the dominant theory base is the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, which integrates the rationale of economics with a management perspective (Melville et al., 2004). Consistent with RBV, recent scholars argue that prevalently available IT resources cannot by themselves generate sustained performance gains for a firm (Rai et al., 2006). Firm's IT resources are increasingly considered as complementary resources augmenting the value of other organizational resources and capabilities as the antecedents of firm performance (Benitez-Amado et al., 2010a, b). Therefore, indirect-effect model emerged through adding the third construct of \"organizational capabilities\" as the mediator between IT resources and performance gain (Bharadwaj et al., 2007; Pavlou and El Sawy, 2006; Rai et al., 2006). Firm (or business/organizational) performance is enhanced by the integration and synergy between organizational capabilities and IT resources (Liang et al., 2010).It is rational to believe that indirect-effect model of RBV can be an appropriate basis for research on the business value of IT investment within SBs, even in developing countries. However, the literature suggests that almost all previous studies in this research context have been carried out in developed countries focusing on huge and overpowering firms with billion dollars annual sales. Businesses in developing countries face different challenges from those firms in developed countries, and differ greatly in the aspect of IT benefits gained (Ghobakhloo and Tang, 2011; Tan et al., 2007; Walsham et al., 2007). The statistics show that in general, the productivity of firms in developing countries appears to be significantly low (Bloom et al., 2010). In managerial level, firms in developed countries were found to be way ahead in terms of managing effectiveness and best practices compared to firms in developing countries (Bloom and Van Reenen, 2010).Besides the differences between business conditions of developed and developing countries at different levels, the circumstances are much more complicated when it comes to generalizing the results of prior studies to the SBs of developing countries. Compared to large businesses, management techniques such as financial analysis, forecasting, and project management are rarely used by SBs (Ghobakhloo et al., 2011a). Tendency to employ generalists rather than specialists, reliance on short-term planning, informal and dynamic strategies and decision-making process, and lack of standardization of operating procedures are other distinctive characteristics of these businesses (Dibrell et al., 2008). Likewise, restricted resources controlled by SBs, which is commonly referred to as resource poverty (Thong, 1999), is the major differentiator between SBs and large organizations.Investment in IT is believed to provide SBs in developing countries with a variety of benefits (Molla and Licker, 2005). However, investigation of IT investment and adoption in these businesses has only recently gained attention in the academic press, which suggests that in most of the developing countries, IT utilization has been hindered by the quality, availability, and cost of accessing necessary infrastructure while developed countries have employed a relatively well-developed, accessible and affordable infrastructure for IT (Ghobakhloo et al., 2011a).From the above-mentioned discussion, it is interesting to find out how IT investments in SBs, particularly in developing countries are rationalized, and how to transform the value of IT resources indirectly to performance gain. Inspired by prior studies on large organizations, we believe that in justifying IT investment, we should look for capabilities that are tangible and understandable to SBs in developing countries which can be easily and promptly formed through IT investment (due to SBs typically relying on short-term strategies), and are formed at firm level and does not necessarily requires process integration with business/supply partners. Although few recent studies have investigated how IT can enhance the effectiveness of new product development (NPD; Durmusoglu and Barczak, 2011; Pavlou and El Sawy, 2006) extant research has largely ignored empirical examination of how IT affects NPD and thus business performance within manufacturing industry's SBs in developing countries The literature suggests that, despite the differences between SBs and large business in \"innovation processes\"and \"NPD practices\", SBs are also actively engaged in product innovation and they have sometimes been successful in their NPD processes (Marion et al., 2012). In particular, when less technology-dependent design industries are in question, the research indicates that design innovations can be generated and introduced independent of business size (Lindman et al., 2008). Given than SBs mostly operate in less technology-dependent design industries and in niche markets that are not served by large firms, their behavioral advantages regarding product innovativeness (e.g. entrepreneurial dynamism, internal flexibility, and responsiveness to changing circumstances) have made them competent to be successful in product innovativeness and NPD practices (Verhees and Meulenberg, 2004).Considering NPD as a tangible and vital process for SBs (Huang et al., 2002; Lindman et al., 2008; Marion et al., 2012), and drawing on the emerging IT-enabled organizational capabilities perspective, the scope of this case study is to analyze how investments in IT at different levels by Iranian SBs can create NPD capabilities in terms of IT leveraging competence in NPD and NPD effectiveness. Accordingly, we attempt to answer the following questions to address the discussed knowledge gaps particularly for Iranian SBs:* Question 1. Is direct IT investments in Iranian SBs associated with the IT leveraging competence in NPD?* Question 2. Is direct IT investments in Iranian SBs associated with the effectiveness of an NPD in different phases?* Question 3. Does IT-enabled NPD capabilities transform the value of IT investments to the business performance for Iranian SBs?\n2 Theoretical background and hypotheses development: The existing literature on the link between IT and business performance is dominated by RBV (Barney, 1991). Originated from the RBV, the knowledge-based view assumes that knowledge is a unique and inimitable resource, and business performance depends on how well-business members can enhance the firm's knowledge base, integrate different knowledge areas, and apply the knowledge to the development of new products (Durmusoglu and Barczak, 2011). NPD is an information and knowledge intensive process and is expected to be facilitated by the effective use of IT functionalities (Li et al., 2009; Pavlou and El Sawy, 2006), which requires investment on IT infrastructure, even for SBs (Dibrell et al., 2008). Therefore, scholars believe that managers' competency to conceive, implement, and exploit IT tools to support and enhance business activities such as NPD can potentially result in competitive advantage (Durmusoglu and Barczak, 2011; Huang et al., 2006).Recently, the focus on IT and product development has increased significantly (Nambisan, 2009) and recent studies have considered several issues ranging from the competitive advantage that could be gained from using IT applications in NPD (Nambisan, 2003) to the supporting role of IT in virtual NPD and in collaborative NPD in large organization (Bardhan, 2007; Schleimer and Shulman, 2011). Consistently, our proposed research model shown in Figure 1 assumes that Iranian manufacturing SBs can enhance their marketing performance through investing on IT and creating NPD capabilities.2.1 IT resources\n3 Research methodology: 3.1 Instrument development\n4 Data analysis: Data analysis was conducted with partial least squares (PLS), a structural equation modeling (SEM) technique that uses a component-based approach for estimation. This technique is well-suited for highly complex predictive models (Wetzels et al., 2009) and has widely been used in the literatures on IT (Saraf et al., 2007) and marketing (Jarvis et al., 2003). Accordingly, SmartPLS 2.0 (Ringle et al., 2005) was used for the analysis, and the bootstrap re-sampling method with 500 subsamples (Rai et al., 2006) was used to determine the significance of the paths within the structural model.4.1 Respondent characteristics\n5 Discussion: In this case study and in the light of RBV, we explored the role of IT-enabled organizational capabilities as a key mediator between IT investments and performance gain in the context of a developing country. This research provides empirical evidence for the IT-enabled NPD capabilities for Iranian manufacturing SBs that lack the resources and capabilities compared to huge and overpowering firms, particularly in developed countries. Our study can help manufacturing SBs in Iran with better strategies for justifying and thus optimizing IT investment. However, our finding may not be merely limited to Iranian SBs as its exploratory findings in signifying the noteworthiness of effects of NPD capabilities in transforming investment on technical and human IT resources to enhance firm performance are in line with parallel research streams in developed countries (Durmusoglu and Barczak, 2011; Pavlou and El Sawy, 2006).In particular, the study demonstrated that investments on both technical and human IT resources are key enablers of NPD capabilities for Iranian SBs. This finding in the Iranian context is consistent with prior IT research that has found a positive link between IT and NPD effectiveness (Ozer, 2000). However, our study shows how direct IT investments can create IT leveraging competence in NPD and NPD effectiveness, and how hard and soft IT investment complementarity creates super-additive value synergy, a link that have not been identified in prior research. We validated the conceptualization of IT leveraging competence (PRMS, KMS, CWS) offered by Pavlou and El Sawy (2006) and validated it in Iranian context as a non-Western culture, and further extended their work by showing that to better forming the IT leveraging competence in NPD, Iranian SBs should invest more on IT, and particularly their employees and IT personal to enhance their computer and IT knowledge and expertise.Our study further explored that IT leveraging competence in NPD has the largest impact on NPD effectiveness. This finding implies that Iranian SBs can enhance their NPD effectiveness if they manage their IT investment in a way that enables NPD group to effectively use IT functionalities to support IT-enabled NPD activities. Consistent with the study of Pavlou and El Sawy (2006), we found that effective use of PRMS has the largest effect on the formation of IT leveraging competence in NPD for Iranian SBs. However, effective use of PRMS dominance is much more significant in our study. This finding satisfy our expectations as based on the data collected, Iranian SBs have made a higher investment on PRMS compared to KMS and CWS.The study also shows that IT-enabled NPD capabilities leads to significantly better marketing performance for Iranian SBs which is consistent with the perspective of IT-enabled organizational capabilities that perceives IT resources as impacting positively on firm performance by means of other higher-order organizational capabilities (Benitez-Amado et al., 2010a; Rai et al., 2006). Similarly, the positive and significant relationship between NPD effectiveness and marketing performance enhancement in context of SBs in Iran is in line with corresponding research streams in developed countries (Durmusoglu and Barczak, 2011). These findings are significantly important, as well as useful for Iranian small business managers, consulting firms, and academics. There is no doubt that the choice of strategy impacts the performance of SBs and that only a certain set of specific strategies provide competitive advantage for these businesses (Smallbone et al., 1995). Each strategy demands different investments in resources, control procedures, organizational structures and incentive systems (Leitner and Guldenberg, 2010). Different strategies employed by businesses traditionally aim to achieve one of the two primary types of competitive advantage: differentiation or low cost (Thornhill and White, 2007). The extant research argues that innovation differentiation appears to be the most popular competitive strategy used by SBs in market niches[2] (Leitner and Guldenberg, 2010; Smallbone et al., 1995). Innovation differentiation is linked to product development and strives to create innovative and attractive products by leading competitors in quality, efficiency, design innovations, or style (Entrialgo et al., 2000). Recently, it has been found that with the emergence of modern resource-based management methods and flexible production technologies, even SBs (which suffer from limited resources) have employed combination strategies to simultaneously reduce costs and differentiate products (Leitner and Guldenberg, 2010; Spanos et al., 2003). Seeking effectiveness in NPD can be regarded as combination strategy which helps firms to efficiently[3] combine cost-efficient production and product innovation differentiation (Leitner and Guldenberg, 2010; Souder et al., 1998) through a closer integration of marketing and manufacturing functional concerns (Swink and Song, 2007). Consistently, our finding suggests that NPD effectiveness can be considered as a viable strategy for SBs even in developing countries (Iran in this study). Unlike other complex organizational capabilities such as supply chain process integration which might be impractical and/or unfeasible for SBs of developing countries, particularly in Iran, NPD is a process in which majority of SBs (including Iranian SBs) are also involved in it. Effectiveness in NPD may lead to both differentiation and low cost competitive advantage for SBs of developing countries as we observed that NPD effectiveness has provided Iranian manufacturing SBs with higher sales growth, market share growth, and customer satisfaction, the benefits which are tangible, easy to measure, and achievable immediately once a new product is released to market.\n6 Conclusion: 6.1 Contributions to the theory and research\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine if, and how, investments in IT at different levels can create new product development (NPD) capabilities in terms of IT leveraging competence in NPD and NPD effectiveness. The paper also investigates how Iranian small businesses (SBs) can achieve desired marketing performance through developing these capabilities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper is consistent with the perspective on IT-enabled organizational capabilities. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to collect data from 218 businesses or NPD managers of SBs in Iran.\nFindings: - IT leveraging competence in NPD and NPD effectiveness are valuable key capabilities that transform the value of IT resources to a firm's performance for Iranian SBs. Investments in both technical and human IT resources have positive effects on the development of NPD capabilities, and thus performance in the surveyed SBs.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Among other limitations, relying on a small sample size and cross-sectional data of this research, and lack of generalizability of findings tend to have certain limitations.\nPractical implications: - The results suggest that the investments in both technical and human IT resources increase firms' ability to develop effectiveness in NPD. However, IT investments strategy should be aligned with effective use of IT functionalities, as the effect of IT leveraging competence in development of NPD effectiveness is more pronounced. Second, IT leveraging competence in NPD and NPD effectiveness are important intermediate organizational capabilities through which the benefits of both technical and human IT resources are converted into performance effects at the firm level for Iranian SBs.\nOriginality/value: - This case study explores how Iranian SBs can develop NPD capabilities, and subsequently, marketing performance, a topic that has received little attention to date.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Developing cross-cultural awareness through foreign immersion programs: Implications of university study abroad research for global competency development
|
[
"Cross-cultural development",
"Expatriate development",
"Foreign immersion programs",
"Intercultural development inventory",
"Study abroad programs",
"USA – Brazil"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The development of cross-cultural competence is being seen as a central concern for universities and workplaces alike. In a globalized economy, the job responsibilities of university graduates in fields like business, engineering, agriculture and education are likely to require the ability to form effective working relationships with individuals, groups and institutions from other cultural backgrounds. For working adults, the quality of interaction with colleagues, customers, suppliers and stakeholders from different cultures often determines the success or failure of projects, initiatives, contracts and other business interactions. Intercultural encounters, once the rare exception in organizational settings, have become commonplace not only among professional populations, such as researchers and engineers, but also among those working in customer service, supply chain management, product development and other functions. As Holmes and O'Neill (2012, p. 702) observed: \"As people become citizens of the world for the purpose of work, education, and business, they are required to span boundaries of language, ethnicity, and nationality\".\nReview of literature, instrumentation and hypotheses: Given the dramatic increase in the importance assigned to the need to assess and understand cultural differences in people in the context of rapidly growing levels of economic interconnectedness and mutual dependence across countries, a voluminous literature has developed on the topic of cross-cultural competence and related concepts, such as intercultural competence, cultural intelligence and intercultural sensitivity (Budworth and Degama, 2012; Engle and Crowne, 2014; MacNab et al., 2012). Although not synonymous, these terms are intricately connected. Earley and Ang (2003, p. 103), for example, define cultural intelligence (\"CQ\", alluding to the intelligence quotient, IQ) as \"a level of consciousness of and body of experience in diversity issues in the USA workplace (helping to) produce a more diverse workforce over the years\". They propose four factors, namely, metacognitive, cognitive, motivational and behavioral, as essential aspects of CQ. Thomas (2006, p. 78) proposed a somewhat different definition of this concept, stating that it is \"meant to reflect the capability to deal effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds\". Thomas emphasized the attentive and reflective aspects of CQ and discussed three components:\nMethod: This study was conducted in conjunction with a student exchange program among four universities, two in the USA (University of Minnesota and University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign) and two universities in Brazil (University of Sao Paolo and University of Brasilia). The two co-authors served as project directors and had responsibility for recruitment, selection, arrangement of pre-departure orientation and overall support and guidance during the stay. The first author was engaged as an expert in program evaluation and is certified to administer, score and interpret the IDI. The data reported here were obtained as part of the required accountability process of the project and have been submitted to the US and Brazilian funding agencies as part of a more comprehensive project evaluation report.\nFindings: The pre/post group analysis demonstrated little variation in IDI scores. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, there was a slight decrease in the raw scores for the group, but not enough to change the primary orientations of the group profile. The pretest PO for the group was acceptance (122.20) and the DO was minimization (95.41). The post-test PO for the group, again, was acceptance (122.89) and the DO was minimization (94.77). The shift in the group's DOs indicated a small negative change of less than one point (0.54). Such a small change is not significant, and one can say that overall, there was no change in the group's overall DO between the pre- and post-tests. Based on the group mean scores, one might conclude that there was little to no impact on the students' intercultural competence as a result of their exchange experience. However, if one analyzes the individual results, then the conclusion would change.\nConclusion and discussion: Overall, the results of the study suggest that the exchange program participation had little effect on intercultural development scores of the group and the majority of individual students, even though self-reports of cultural learning indicated the opposite. This is consistent with recent research that posits that participating in an exchange program in and of itself is not sufficient to cause an increase in intercultural competence (Vande Berg et al., 2012; Eisenberg et al., 2013). However, how the experience is supported and interpreted can make a significant impact. Indeed, in our study, though the changes were minimal for most students, a few saw significant increases or decreases in their DO. One would expect to find that the experience of the exchange by these students would correlate to their score. Those with a significant increase in IDI scores would report either a very positive experience or strong support and good learning during the exchange. For those with a significant decrease, one would expect to find that they faced significant challenges and did not have the support needed to process the experience into increased intercultural competence and growth. Our findings mirror carefully designed studies in the management and cross-cultural psychology literature on expatriate development, cultural intelligence and intercultural competence (Ang and Van Dyne, 2008; Earley and Ang, 2003; Elenkov and Manev (2009); Sternberg and Grigorenko, 2006; Templer et al., 2006). Overseas assignments alone rarely provide sufficient developmental support to increase intercultural competence in significant ways. While experienced managers, like our exchange students, might score high in terms of perceived orientation, an objective measurement of their development orientation can show dramatically lower levels of developmental orientation. Moreover, overseas stays can, indeed, improve developmental orientations toward a greater level of acceptance and, indeed, adaptation, but for some, a decrease toward mono-culturalism and ethnocentrism may result. The need for specifically tailored interventions toward intercultural development is perhaps the most important outcome of our study. Such interventions need to move far beyond the standard pre-departure training and consist of in-country, real-time coaching and mentoring, focused on specific interactions and experiences and include feedback, probing and exploration of the cross-cultural dynamics of specific situations with the help of an experienced mentor. The tendency to stay confined in daily work interactions and during off-hours within the circle of colleagues from the same or highly similar cultural background may actually detract from the opportunity to experience culture-based disconfirmation of deeply held believes and values and lead to a lack of intercultural development.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the efficacy of foreign immersion programs in terms of increasing cross-cultural awareness among university students in business, accounting, human resources and agriculture. The authors extrapolate from their population to the practice of developing business professionals on international assignments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper presents findings of a four-year, government-sponsored university exchange program involving 40 professional management and agriculture science students from four US and Brazilian top research universities who participated in a semester-long study abroad experience. Pre-departure and post-exchange data were collected using the well-established Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). In addition, the authors collected academic performance data and verbal mid- and end-project personal assessments. Two of the authors of this paper served as project directors, the third as evaluation specialist.\nFindings: Despite intensive pre-departure preparation, in-country support and cultural immersion, the research subjects failed to attain significant and consistently higher levels of intercultural awareness. Students tended to overestimate their own level of cross-cultural competence both before and after the program. While students tended to perform well academically and voiced high levels of satisfaction with their own overseas stay, objective measures of cross-cultural awareness did not mirror these outcomes.\nResearch limitations/implications: Multiple measures of cross-cultural competence exist, and it is possible that the development in areas other than those measured by the IDI did take place. It is also sensible to assume that cognitive development might take longer and was not captured by the post-test right after return.\nPractical implications: The paper suggests that cross-cultural development requires carefully designed interventions, feedback and mentoring/coaching. Simply sending individuals on overseas assignments, no matter how well prepared and supported by the institution, does not guarantee the development of multi-cultural attitudes and cognitive frames of mind.\nSocial Implications: The development of cross-cultural competence has been described as a central concern for universities and workplaces alike. The burgeoning research literature on cross-cultural development reflects not only the importance of the topic but also the struggle to find effective pedagogical and andragogical approaches to fostering such development in university students, expatriate managers, working professionals and members of the workforce in general.\nOriginality/value: The paper presents evaluation findings of a carefully designed and well-supported exchange program over a period of four years and involving three cohorts of students. These students are at the cusp of moving into the workplace, where many will assume professional and leadership positions in international settings. Given the high failure rate of international development and placement and the increasing global interconnectedness of academic and business organizations, the paper suggests the need for carefully designed and well-supported overseas programs to maximize cross-cultural development.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Plastic promises: the disruptive potential of OLEDs and e-paper for the European display industry
|
[
"Europe",
"Innovation",
"Communication technologies",
"Light‐emitting diodes"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) play an instrumental role in the transformation of the economy, through their own rapid growth and change as well as through contributing through changes in other sectors that use ICT goods and services. While the EU has some comparative advantages in knowledge intensive production of high quality products, in many parts of the ICT-sector, Europe's competitiveness is comparatively weak, as indicated by trade-deficits and low presence of market leading companies (see e.g. European Commission, 2006).\nDefining the technologies: Strictly speaking, it is incorrect to describe OLEDs and e-paper as \"two technologies\": OLEDs are really a family of technologies, and e-paper is an application that can be produced using a number of different technologies. Nevertheless, for convenience, this paper refers to e-paper as \"a technology\" throughout.OLEDs are defined as polymers that emit light when a current is passed through them in one direction. In multi-pixel color form, OLEDs can be used for displays for ICT-products, consumer goods and industrial applications. In the single-pixel form, OLEDs can be used as a new kind of lighting. E-paper, on the other hand, is a portable, reusable storage and display medium, typically thin and flexible. It is literally the electronic substitution for the printed page. Typically it reproduces mainly static text, usually monochrome, with high flexibility of the whole screen so ultimately it may even be folded or rolled like traditional paper.Theoretically OLEDs have several advantages over LCD. First, since they generate their own light, they do not require backlighting like LCDs, meaning they can be made thinner and lighter. This attribute also means they consume less power, which makes them attractive for applications such as laptops and mobile handsets. Also, the potential quality of OLEDs in terms of color range, resolution, brightness, contrast, response time and viewing angle is impressive in comparison with LCD. Their manufacture could be via a simpler continuous method at low temperature rather than the batch processing in high temperature clean-room conditions necessary for LCDs. This implies a far lower cost base would be attainable in volume production compared to LCD and plasma FPDs.On the downside, being organic, OLEDs suffer from degradation in the basic material affecting their lifespan. Longevity no doubt will improve but early OLED TV screens have perhaps only one-third of the lifetime of an LCD. Moreover, OLEDs degrade such that the red, green and blue colors deteriorate at different rates adding to the complexity in producing them. These are serious drawbacks that will limit their application and may hamper the investment in volume production necessary to enable their cost advantages to be realized.As to e-paper, as already mentioned, this is an application that can use several alternative technologies[1]. These different technologies bring different advantages and drawbacks in terms of their features and their manufacture. Like OLEDs, e-paper is light in weight and has even lower power requirements because images remain without needing to be refreshed. The characteristics of ultra-thinness and flexibility, however, really make e-paper different to current displays.Envisioned for decades, e-paper has been slow to arrive because two entirely new technologies have to be put together. The first is the \"electronic ink\" that will create the actual printed display on the e-paper page, and the second is the flexible electronics required to generate the pattern of text and images on the flexible page of electronic ink. The challenge is to produce low-cost, high-volume flexible display products using organic electronic materials that can be used at room temperature allowing the circuitry to be mounted upon a flexible plastic substrate rather than glass.Applications and the disruptive potential of the two technologies\nValue chain analysis of the opportunities for Europe: Examining the value chain for OLEDs (see Figure 2), from the generation of the IPR up to integration of an OLED display in a product to end of lifecycle, we can begin to make an assessment of the strength European players in the ICT sector in different parts of that value chain.From the above value chain it is possible to examine the general position technically and strategically of EU companies, as measured by the attributes needed for each link. We observe that market presence and strength overall in each link across the value chain is quite variable. Table I explores the overall strategic position of EU players on the key OLED segments.There are three discrete segments in the OLED value chain where any discontinuity could offer EU firms the opportunity to play a more significant part in the displays sector:1. Original R&D and IPR for devices and for the manufacturing process and material supply/verification: innovation by the EU in OLED technology is strong and growing in the basic OLED mechanisms, manufacturing and materials.2. Bulk materials for manufacture and glass: the EU is potentially strong in this and has leading special organic compounds suppliers, but other global suppliers are also present.3. Process equipment: there are some strong EU players but also major competition from Asia and the US.Evidently, from the point-of-view of an entry for EU companies, the optimal strategy would be to pursue these particular segments in the potential new markets.However the question arises then of whether suppliers in this segment would have enough of a critical mass to change the balance of industrial power in the whole display segment.With the EU's fairly restricted access to finished goods production cycle, especially television and laptops, i.e. screen dimensions of over 10 inches, this seems remote. Only in smaller screen sizes for mobile handsets could there perhaps be a possibility of entry by EU display screen suppliers.Thus the real point of entry in OLED FPDs for Europe is most likely to be in the mass production of smaller FPDs for mobile handsets. This is an enormous market with some 3 billion users globally and still growing. The replacement and growth handset market volume combined may be of the order of 1 billion FPD units per year, depending on global economic conditions and OLED handset pricing.In Figure 3, we outline a somewhat different value chain for e-paper and its end-user device.For e-paper, the global assessment of the relative industrial strength of Europe is summarized in terms of the EU competitivity for each link in the value chain in Table II.From this analysis of the e-paper value chain, we can see that the entry of EU suppliers is perhaps possible across more value chain segments than for OLEDs, specifically in:* Original IPR and/or material supply/verification as innovation by the EU in e-paper technology is strong and growing in the basic OLED polymer photonic mechanisms, as well as the key areas of manufacturing processes and production materials.* Supply of bulk and refined materials - the EU suppliers have a high profile and established reputation, so there is a medium to strong chance here, as the EU has one of the leading special organic compounds industries. But other global suppliers are also present closer to the electronic manufacturing centers in Asia while the US specialist chemical suppliers are also strong.* As a process equipment supplier, there is a medium level chance of success with the EU's advanced players and its presence in printing technology, but there is also strong global competition from the US as well as Asia (Toppan, etc.).* The EU does have some pilot plants for OEM e-paper film and/or screen manufacture, for instance in Germany, so there is a medium chance here with a few EU players but major competition from Asia and the US. This could spill over into other applications, for packaging and signage.* Branded application device and display manufacturers with retail device sales do exist in the EU (Polymer Vision, iRex, Endless Ideas, etc.) and there is a strong resellers element so there is perhaps a medium level possibility of success for the EU players.* Europe is not yet at the level of the US in product design and tied retail sales channels yet but preparations by the publishing industry in e-books are under way and so there is a medium level chance. In other application areas, such as signage the USA and Japan seems to lead but it is too early to estimate whether the EU could successfully compete globally on this market.* The EU is quite strong on content for e-readers - publishing e-books - many established publishers in the EU are preparing titles for a nascent e-book market using open standards, which may possibly lead to global exports as well as European sales in each national language, if e-readers take off.* Overall, a concerted effort by EU suppliers could lead a revision of the current state of play in consumer electronics in the e-paper/e-reader segment but it may in complete devices such as e-readers rather than the e-paper film.\nEurope's relative strength in OLEDs and e-paper: Following from the above value chain analysis for Europe, we may now gather the findings into an overall positioning of the EU from each link in the value chain for OLEDs and e-paper, compared against other regions/countries. The aim is to assess the strength of the EU across the value chains. This should also incorporate expected competitive behavior.The competitive behavior of the major players, both globally and in the EU market may be centered on two tenets which are somewhat opposing - obtaining a first mover position while guarding existing advantages in the market for consumer electronics and ICT goods. Typical players who are trying both strategies at once are Sony and Samsung. Both of these have strong presence across the value chain, not just in finished televisions and mobile handsets but also in the original R&D and in the manufacturing processes. Moreover they have \"conglomerate\" position in consumer and business electronics, able to finance loss-making product lines for up to decade if required, in order to achieve an ultimately dominant position with its attendant payback of long-term investments. They are not short-term players. This twin strategy may well establish their future ascendancy in these segments, as successors to the LCD display industry. Where the EU may be able to gain a foothold and then expand its presence is only in the areas identified above in the value chain analysis, i.e. in R&D and materials, perhaps process equipment especially if it is based on print technologies.Use of IPR protection will be important but its impacts are likely to be mitigated through cross-licensing agreements, so the important point is not necessarily to have all the patent protection for complete manufacture, but to have some IPR resources in order to trade to get the full set required. From our research, specifically interviews with major players and other desk research comparing the global market in original technology IPR, materials and processes, we found that Europe has a relatively strong position through players like CDT (although owned by Sumitomo Chemical), Merck, BASF, etc. as well as centers of research in clusters such as Cambridge and Dresden.On the demand side, identification of real applications with real consumer/business-led demand for OLEDs has already been made. If the technology can be made robust at low cost, it will trigger new application areas, perhaps, but the three leading markets - mobile handsets, televisions and laptops - will take all production initially.In the value chain segments where it competes, the EU has a good probability of export market success. This could be driven further by the likelihood of further technical innovation in its core areas of expertise, which is good. Moreover the technical problems of OLEDs ensure there is great space for improvement in the two key areas - fundamental technology, especially polymer chemistry and volume processing techniques. These are the domains that count in solving its color and aging problems. However the capability of bringing these innovations to market is possibly difficult for the EU. That may well be left to the large Asian suppliers, although the advances in volume processes such as printing are likely to be incorporated into the manufacturing equipment produced in the EU.Assessing the position of the EU in OLEDs\nConclusions: OLEDs and e-paper have the potential to disrupt current displays market and in so doing they may enable EU companies to enter at selected points in the value chain to compete with the Asian ICT industry. Interestingly, although OLED is a pure technology and e-paper an application with many technologies, the market entry strategy has common features.The pragmatic strategy for the EU entry may be to be a competing participant in certain segments, supplying some elements of the production chain to other players who perform final assembly rather than being a dominant player, end to end. Such a strategy gives reasonable credence to the notion of a potentially disruptive phase with several avenues for market entry into the supply chain.A summary of how Europe can enter the display market with both OLEDs and e-paper is shown in Table V.Our analysis implies that the EU position gives a reasonable chance to re-enter the display industry. It is weak in the key area of complete FPD or device production, owing to its lack of eco-systems of components. Nevertheless, if EU industry concentrates in participating in the value chain, not hoping to dominate it end-to-end, then it can be a player in those segments. Moreover there is the possibility in e-paper that for certain devices such as e-readers, it could enter the global export market via production in lower cost eastern and central member states. In OLED production, the EU might enter for small screen sizes, but this is a very important market in itself, with mobile handsets being a major component demanding high volume.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to explore two developing display technologies, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and e-paper, with a view to assessing their potential to disrupt existing markets and thereby offer an opportunity for European firms to play a larger role in the Information and communication technologies (ICTs) sector.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper is based on an extensive study including literature review and detailed desk research on the technologies themselves, their potential application and market analysis. Selected interviews with industry representatives were also carried out, which further informed a detailed value chain analysis and assessment of the EU position in these technologies.\nFindings: - OLEDs and e-paper have the potential to disrupt current displays market and in so doing they may enable EU companies to enter at selected points in the value chain to compete with the Asian ICT industry.\nOriginality/value: - Although there is a huge literature on the technical aspects of these technologies, speculative market analysis and journalistic assessments, this paper brings all of these facets together in a sophisticated value chain analysis that indicates opportunities for Europe's ICT sector.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Greek university students: a discouraged workforce
|
[
"Part‐time students",
"Students",
"Employment",
"Internal labour market",
"Greece"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The significance of young workers in the Greek labour market has been largely neglected in studies addressing the issues of high unemployment and low participation rate in the labour force of the country. This is rather striking given that the Greek Ministry of Labour and Social Security (2002, pp. 13-14) in its last National Action Plan reports the incidence of a relatively high rate of unemployment among young people (up to 25 per cent) and stresses that unemployment in Greece is \"primarily an expression of the failure to gain entry to paid employment\". Not surprisingly, the youth unemployment rate in Greece is almost twice as high as the average one for the whole EU; in fact it is the highest in the region. To make things even worse, the country exhibits the second highest unemployment rate and the second lowest employment rate in the EU (European Commission, 2002, p. 24).Among younger people, aged 20 to 24, there is a constant downward trend in employment over the last years. This decline is attributed by policy makers to the fact that Greek youth tend to spend longer periods of time in higher education, and to the reluctance of Greek students to participate in the job market during their college years (Greek Ministry of Labour and Social Security, 2002, p.16). However, nowhere can one find an elaborated explanation about why Greek youth are reluctant to combine studies with work. Hence, the main research question that emerges is: why are most of the 80,000 students who enter the higher education institutions each single year reluctant to find a job during term-time? There is available information about youth employment in the country, but still we face a dearth of relevant data on a substantial part of this group: the university students. This study launches a survey among 466 undergraduate university students and attempts to fill two gaps: first, to shed light on the extent to which Greek students are not working by figuring out the rate of unemployed and inactive students; and second, to examine the main reasons behind students' attitudes towards paid work.This paper is organized in four parts. Following the first that serves as an introduction, the second discusses issues concerning the demand for and supply of student labour, the third provides information on the method and data collection of the survey and discusses the main findings of the empirical research. In the last part the most important policy implications and conclusions of the survey are summarized.\nMatching employers and students' recruitment needs: Modern companies are looking for more than a student can learn in class. These companies seek graduates with an array of skills that will be an asset to their organization from their first day on the job. Ellis (2000, p. 35) points out that research has shown that both in the UK and the USA, employers are often disappointed with the lack of practical skills of their new employees. As a way to address the skills gap, specialists recommend students to enhance their long-term career via paid work experience.The Federation of Greek Industries (FGI), the central organization representing industry and private enterprises in Greece, echoes the same concerns about the Greek labour market. Greek employers have adopted the report of the National Committee for Competitiveness and Development that stresses the failure of the Greek educational system to establish effective links with market oriented organizations. (Federation of Greek Industries, 2004, pp. 5-6). Indeed, the FGI claims that the lack of work-based learning such as internships and other work placement mechanisms is a crucial factor that inhibits Greek youth from developing work skills that would enhance their employability (Federation of Greek Industries, 2003).Recent studies launched in the UK have shown that working, besides covering living expenses, tends to enhance students' employability (Curtis and Lucas, 2001; Watts and Pickering, 2000). There is evidence that students accumulating work experience during their term-time are better equipped as graduates in matching the personal and transferable skills and attributes that employers require in the labour market (Davies, 2000).Having noted that, the main implication of Greek university students abstaining from the job market seems to impair their chances of pursuing a career as graduate applicants. The irony is that the economy is expected to generate an increasing number of job positions, mainly part-time, in labour intensive service industries that fit university students' profiles. Labour market restructuring has been engineered by continuous company reorganization seeking flexible arrangements in terms of working time and employment contracts. Indeed, over the past decade atypical employment, such as part-time and temporary agency work, has increased impressively in the EU. The crux of the matter is that women and younger workers concentrating on services, such as hotels, restaurants, retailing, and clerical occupations are the most frequently employed in flexible working arrangements. Employers tend to offer job openings to articulate young people who usually work during unsocial hours, receiving relatively low pay (Lucas and Ralston, 1996).Even though there seems to be bright prospects for the demand of student labour, literally no information is available for the supply side. Hence, the aim of the present empirical research is to explore the perceptions of students concerning paid work during their term-time. We investigate work attitudes from the point of view of two different groups of undergraduates: economically inactive students with no intention of working whatsoever, and unemployed students seeking jobs. The survey seeks to discern non-working students' reservations and motivations necessary to outline a policy orientation towards encouraging students to combine school learning and work experience for their professional development. The following research problems were addressed:* What is the extent to which students seek to enter the labour market during their term-time?* What are the main reasons for avoiding employment as perceived by students?* What are the main motivations of unemployed students for combining coursework with paid work?* What are the types of work preferred by students seeking a job?* Which ways of contacting potential employers do unemployed students use?\nMethod and findings: This section sets out the methodology used and reviews the main findings of the survey. A structured questionnaire was used in exploring students' perceptions of working and studying full-time simultaneously. This investigation was necessarily selective sorting out the bulk of students who are not inclined to find a paid job, and assessing the reasons for their choice. In assessing reasons for choosing not to work, students were asked to rate the levels of significance of these factors on a scale from 1 to 5 (the higher the score, the more important the factor). A survey of 466 full-time undergraduate university students, 153 male and 313 female, aged over 18, at the University of Macedonia and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, was conducted in May 2003. These two universities, located in Thessaloniki, are among the largest in the country providing higher education to the vast majority of youth studying in northern Greece. Questionnaires were distributed to 307 students all attending core courses throughout the fourth-year programme of Business Administration at the University of Macedonia, and therefore the response rate for those attending was 100 per cent. The rest of the questionnaires were completed by students registered at Aristotle University and attending courses in a large variety of Schools and Departments of this public academic institution.Discouraged students\nPolicy implications and conclusions: Over two decades high unemployment has created an immense burden for Greek society. Yet one of the most skillful and flexible parts of the Greek workforce, university students, is not working. There is not a demand side problem since employers, especially in the service sector, look for a low wage, versatile, sophisticated and flexible workforce among university students. Apparently, the problem lies on the supply side, and more particularly on the masses of inactive students. Having pinpointed, above, the main impediments to job seeking, one could speculate that this could be reversed with bold, innovative measures. Indeed, the findings from the survey can now be used to make recommendations concerning encouraging non-working undergraduates to gain work experience during their term-time.It is reported that only one out of three students holds a job, and only one out of five students is employed as a wage labourer. Inactive students, who make up the vast majority (more than 50 per cent) of the respondents, need job opportunities to stimulate their interest in paid work, enhance their work commitment, and combine effectively work burden with coursework. The other 12 per cent of the surveyed undergraduates are unemployed, actively seeking a job, preferably with a part-time, fixed-term contract. Besides financial independence, the main motivation for job search is the enhancement of career prospects at graduation through acquisition of new skills and work experience. Though students rely on family members and friends for contacting potential employers, this is an outmoded practice that is incompatible with an environment of open labour markets in Greece.This empirical research has focused upon attitudes and perceptions of non-working students. The findings suggest the need for a catalyst, an efficient mechanism, to stimulate the supply of student labour while matching students and companies' recruitment needs. Policy makers, whilst decrying high youth labour inactivity and unemployment, have missed the opportunity to elaborate co-operative education or work-school programmes similar to those launched in advanced countries, primarily in North America and the UK. In these countries universities and government have been pioneers in establishing such work-study projects that encourage current students to take up off-campus and on-campus part-time jobs to gain exposure in the real world of work and acquire transferable skills (Brindley and Ritchie, 2000; Knouse et al., 1999; Ellis, 2000; Callanan and Benzing, 2004).Apart from companies in the private sector, such co-operative programmes could offer part-time job opportunities in public organizations and institutions. This could be put forward by utilizing newly passed legislation that allows for first time part-time contracts in public entities. Given that all Greek universities are public institutions, a well-designed study-work project could be implemented within academic institutions. This would be an excellent opportunity for universities to restructure their internal labour market and offer job openings for temporary, part-time positions to their students. New job positions would extend needed services in the university such as library, restaurant, secretarial work, teaching, and research assistance (Wu, 2003; Rafenstein, 1999).Working and studying at the same place would alleviate both schedule conflict, enhance work prospects for students and even more importantly change attitudes and inclination towards labor inactivity. If students are reluctant to approach wage labour, why not make it more accessible to them by opening part-time job positions in the internal labour market of the Greek universities? Such a policy orientation would serve two primary purposes: it could allow universities to expand services to their students and the general public, and at the same time to enhance job prospects and employability for a lot of discouraged students.Yet, the present survey is limited in simply sketching policy orientation for promoting employability of skillful youth. It is our intention to elaborate on policy adjustment in future studies. Hence, further research needs to address issues of design and implementation of co-operative education programmes, analyzing the matching process between students' employment aspirations and employing organizations' work needs.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The significance of young, well-educated workers in the Greek labour market has been largely neglected in studies addressing the issue of low participation rate in the labour force of the country. This study focuses on the reluctance of Greek students to enter the labour market and combine studies with paid work. This article reports on a survey that aimed to examine to what extent university students in Greece seek to work during term-time and to explore student perceptions of combining studies and work.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The survey was conducted in May 2003 and involved 466 full-time undergraduate students at the Universities of Macedonia and Aristotle in Thessaloniki, Greece. A structured questionnaire was used in exploring students' perceptions of working and studying full-time simultaneously.\nFindings: - The survey found that only 22 per cent of students have entered wage labour, while inactivity rate is very high, amounting to 55 per cent. Although many students assess employability after graduation as the main motivation for working, the majority of them are discouraged to search for a job because of schedule conflicts and lack of job opportunities.\nPractical implications: - In breaking this deadlock the article explores the idea of restructuring the internal labour market in Greek universities by expanding services and offering part-time job positions to their students.\nOriginality/value: - Given the dearth of empirical research on youth employment in Greece, this paper aims to contribute to debates in the wider academic community on the issue of preparing young, well-educated people to enter the Greek labour market.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Data center maintenance: applications and future research directions
|
[
"Operations management",
"Information technology (IT)",
"Maintenance management",
"Facilities management (FM)",
"Data center (DC)",
"Maintenance scheduling"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A data center (DC) is a major infrastructure and facility which contains a high quantity of servers and computers to provide internet services for many companies in the world (such as Google, Amazon, etc.). The term \"data center\" may have different meanings from various points of view and there are also some other similar names such as data hall, data farm, data warehouse, computer room, server room, etc. which have been used by researchers and scholars. According to U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA), DC is a type of principle electronic equipment that is used for processing data (server devices), storing the data (storage equipment) and communications including networking tools and devices. DC requires special power conversion and backup equipment to preserve high-quality and reliable power system. The system maintains important environmental factors such as proper temperature and humidity for the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment (Geng, 2015). The principal components and equipment located in DCs are computers, servers, cooling systems, storage devices and supply devices. Three main subsystems located in a general (traditional) DC are continuous power supply, air conditioning and network connectivity (Saha et al., 2016).\n2. Literature review: In this paper, at first, review papers have been searched in the field of O&M management systems, generally. The purpose was to find previous similar literature reviews, published in the past five years, which have discussed these systems generally or for specific applications or systems in the industry. Based on findings, up to now, there are a few papers that have focused on various models and methods of O&M management. The most relevant review papers have been selected and discussed in the next paragraphs of this section. They present a wide range of studies about the maintenance and operations, their evolution and application in different systems. They have also discussed, classified and reviewed the applied methodologies.\n3. Data center infrastructure management: It is worthwhile to note that the DC infrastructure expense makes up to one-third of the total IT budget. This amount of investment is also used for DC operations. Unfortunately, companies have not completely focused on applying new methods, models and technologies to manage their capital expenses related to the DC infrastructure operations. This section focuses on the DC infrastructure management (DCIM) definition which has been introduced recently to assist in managing and monitoring several systems in a DC (Geng, 2015). Other studies have considered the DCIM defining it as a combination of the IT systems management with FM systems (Hubbell et al., 2015). Before introducing DCIM, IT professionals were engaged only with IT equipment (servers, storage, networks, etc.) and facility managers took care of the DC building. But now because of increasing investments in high-performance computing (HPC) and cloud services infrastructure, it would be more effective if DC and its IT equipment be considered as one single system to bring more benefits. Some useful tools and methods, such as the Big Data model, 3D gaming technology and 3D monitoring and management (MM3D), which have been developed at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, were used to provide in-depth analysis of historical trends and conditions to optimize operations for reaching higher efficiency and reliability. Managing to compute resources and identifying troubles in the system and providing real-time insight into critical facilities systems, IT infrastructure, lifecycle management, cost reduction strategies and historical analytic capabilities with less effort and cost are other objectives of these methods. The US Government along with major companies (Google, Microsoft and Facebook) are studying the expenses for the DCIM implantation. Based on the results, some future works could be conducted toward developing a smart tool for green DCs (such as delaying the jobs until the evening hours or off-peak hours because of lower electric rates) (Hubbell et al., 2015). Researchers have noted that DCIM is used to monitor, check, control and manage the energy usage of IT devices in a DC. It has principle points which are input, process and output. Devices such as sensors are considered as input components and are transmitted in the process stage to collect and analyze various data and finally are offered to the users as the output component. The information of DCIM assists DC asset management as a useful source. Important parameters such as space, power and cooling capacity could be predicted well. The availability of DC is improved by receiving information from the current power level and cooling capacity. Operational costs will be decreased by improving total efficiency (Abbas et al., 2015).\n4. Data center operations management: An operation is defined as a task that should be conducted in a service many times during an application's performance (Diouri et al., 2015). Because DC should always provide the required services and operations, any interruption in its services will cause major problems and will have negative effects on the whole system. Therefore, fast recovery of operations is an essential issue in the case of DCs. Providing cloud services has become an important factor for DCs because of giving information to numerous users worldwide which are using several types of intelligent and portable gadgets and devices. Reports prepared by organizations indicate that the total DC traffic will reach up to 8.6 zettabytes in 2018 (Janacek and Nebel, 2017). In Section 3 of this paper, the authors have presented recent research and studies on various aspects of DC operations such as DC cooling technologies, quality and project management in a DC, issues in DC networks operations and the operational expenses.\n5. Data center maintenance management: In the area of maintenance management, several studies have been performed and various methods and models have been used, implemented and developed by scholars. In this section, efforts have been taken to cover most of the recent studies related to this topic by investigating the maintenance management issues of DCs and IT infrastructures. The methods and models applied in various industry sectors will be also discussed. This approach could assist in finding new methods to develop an optimized maintenance management schedule and framework for DCs.\n6. Research gap analysis, limitations and future research: Based on the reviewed publications and research works, which were discussed in the previous sections, it is observed that a considerable number of works have been done in the fields of system operations, maintenance, reliability and availability along with proposing new frameworks, methods and models to improve the performance of several systems in the industry. This paper's objective was to find and discover studies which have focused on DCs. Only a few research works were found in this area of application. In this section, all publications have been organized in Table II based on their topic of research, methodology and their area of application.\n7. Conclusions: In this paper, efforts have been made to represent a critical literature review on the topic of operations and management. The objective was to discover new publications in this area, and especially for DCs. In the previous section, a summary of the literature is reported to clarify the research topics, methodologies and case studies to obtain the remaining unstudied works, which are the research shortcomings. As represented, the literature in the field of DC maintenance is not rich, and thus, more studies have to be performed in the future.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: One of the most critical infrastructures is a data center (DC) because of it having many servers, computers and other equipment. DCs provide online services for various companies in the information technology (IT) industry. DC facilities should provide reliable online services while addressing the required quality and performance level considering maximum reliability and availability. The purpose of this study is to represent and classify the main findings in this area and to identify the main research gaps and shortcomings from the perspective of research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper provides an organized and systematic literature review focusing on topics regarding the operation and maintenance (O&M) management of DCs.\nFindings: Although there are several studies on O&M management systems for industrial systems and facilities, a limited number of studies with few methods and models have focused on DCs so far and these facilities require more attention. This paper identifies the issues and challenges for DC buildings and facilities and provides a conclusion of the findings to highlight the main research limitations for discovering new potential methods as future research opportunities.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper has highlighted the main practical issues of DCs in terms of maintenance management. Several research works have been discussed specifically for DC's maintenance, which makes this paper a credible source for researchers, maintenance managers and companies involved in the area of DC. Because several of the reviewed literature were based on real case studies, decision-makers in the DC maintenance sector can take advantage of new research on maintenance scheduling to reduce the costs of maintenance.\nOriginality/value: The paper has presented a comprehensive list of frequent keywords in recent publications related to O&M management for DCs. It has provided a categorized list of publications based on by their topic, methodology and case study. Because this paper has discussed research works specifically for DC's maintenance, it is a credible source for researchers, maintenance managers and companies involved in the area of DCs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Buyer-supplier integration in project-based industries
|
[
"Buyer-supplier relationships",
"Purchasing",
"Partnering",
"Project management",
"Procurement"
] |
[
{
"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 the article.\n1. Introduction: There is increasing interest in buyer-supplier integration both among purchasing professionals and academics within the field of relationship marketing (Hunt et al., 2006; Spekman and Carraway, 2006; Boeck et al., 2009). Practically, one notion is that joint projects lower financial risks. At the same time, establishing and maintaining relationships add other types of social risks (e.g. conflicts and disputes). Practically, and in relationship marketing, project-based companies develop practices that reduce social and financial risks. One essence in this literature is tying emerging risks to past relationships or integrating relationships in socially and profound contracts. In integrated relationships, both buyer and supplier perform focal activities jointly in a cooperative way instead of unilaterally (Heide and John, 1990). Practitioners and academics embrace the idea that buyer-supplier integration in long-term relationships may yield improved performance (Joshi and Stump, 1999; Rokkan et al., 2003). Yet, as integration is not always beneficial (Gadde and Snehota, 2000), purchasing practices and governance arrangements have to be adapted and tailored to different business models, social settings, and cultural contexts (Cox and Thompson, 1997; Spekman and Carraway, 2006). Increased integration in terms of joint action entails relationship handling costs, which may not be recovered in simple and standardized transactions (Joshi and Stump, 1999; Gadde and Snehota, 2000). Strong integration is therefore deemed justified and suitable when transactions are characterized by complexity, customization, and uncertainty (Eriksson, 2008a). Then, the benefits of integration may exceed the relationship handling costs (Gadde and Snehota, 2000; Hunt et al., 2006).\n2. Theoretical framework and proposed model: Many studies highlight how collaborative relationships entail interpenetration of organizational boundaries through an increased integration between buyers and suppliers (Heide and John, 1990; Duffy, 2008). Previous research proposes that joint action, which entails activities that are performed jointly, rather than unilaterally, is a central element of buyer-supplier integration (Jaspers and van den Ende, 2006; Barnes et al., 2007; Duffy, 2008). There are two main collaborative purchasing practices that facilitate increased integration and that deter supplier opportunism: by a priori selection of competent and motivated suppliers and/or by designing incentive structures that motivate suppliers to perform well by rewarding desirable behaviors (Wathne and Heide, 2004). Similar to Stump and Heide (1996) and Wathne and Heide (2004), we study the two independent variables - partner selection and incentive structure - in buyer-supplier relationships. Accordingly, we develop a model and hypothesize that the occurrence of joint action is affected by the clients' use of partner selection and incentives.\n3. Research design: The empirical data was collected through two survey rounds in 2006 and in 2009. This approach facilitates analyses of differences and similarities in clients' behaviors at two different points in time, which may be more revealing than a conventional snapshot study (Barnes et al., 2007). Additionally, the two provided samples can be merged into one larger sample in order to achieve more robust results based on more observations.\n4. Results: 4.1 Confirmatory factor analysis\n5. Discussion: The first step of our analysis indicates that our proposed model is theoretically consistent, meaning that measurements and goodness-of-fit indexes meet acceptable criteria. In the second step, the support of H1 indicates that it is useful to couple incentive-based payment (IBP) with a careful partner selection (PS) based on multiple criteria. This result supports earlier case study findings that IBP requires a socially effective collaborative climate in order to avoid disputes regarding target cost adjustments when client-initiated design changes are implemented (Olsen et al., 2005; Kadefors and Badenfelt, 2009). The support of H2 and H3 confirms that IBP and PS based on multiple criteria are important collaborative purchasing practices that enhance joint action (JA), which is the core of our buyer-supplier integration model. This corroborates quantitative research findings in continuous relationships in manufacturing industries (Heide and John, 1990; Stump and Heide, 1996; Wathne and Heide, 2004) and tentative results from case study research within the construction industry (Clegg et al., 2002; Bayliss et al., 2004; Caldwell et al., 2009).\n6. Conclusions: The abstraction of this paper is that entering new temporal projects adds uncertainties to project-based companies, which means they search for situations that lower financial risks without adding social risks. In line with this reasoning this paper develops and tests a buyer-supplier integration model based on collaborative purchasing practices in project-based industries. The test of the theoretical model receives strong empirical support, since our two independent variables incentive-based payment (IBP) and partner selection (PS) based on multiple criteria explain 28-81 percent (depending on the various samples in this study) of the variance in the dependent variable joint action (JA). This indicates that our model is parsimonious.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of the study is to propose and test a buyer-supplier integration model, based on clients' collaborative purchasing practices, in a project-based industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Hypotheses regarding the relationships among the three variables - i.e. incentive-based payment (IBP), partner selection (PS) based on multiple criteria, and joint action (JA) - are tested using structural equation modeling. Empirical data was collected through two survey rounds of 87 and 106 Swedish construction clients.\nFindings: The test of the proposed theoretical model receives strong empirical support, indicating that IBP should be coupled with PS based on multiple criteria in order to facilitate JA. Furthermore, it is seen that the occurrence of JA is higher in 2009 than in 2006 and that this is achieved through increased use of IBP.\nResearch limitations/implications: The hypothesized and tested model provides a theoretical contribution, indicating how to facilitate buyer-supplier integration in project-based industries. In future studies it would be useful to adopt a multiple-informant approach, also including suppliers as respondents in order to capture their views on integration.\nPractical implications: An important managerial implication is that public clients need to improve their understanding of how to design bid proposals and evaluate bids based on multiple criteria instead of lowest price, without infringing public procurement acts.\nOriginality/value: This paper offers unique contributions by addressing a gap in the relationship marketing literature and a lack of quantitative studies of buyer-supplier relationships in project-based industries.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Global research on air pollution between 2005 and 2014: a bibliometric study
|
[
"Bibliometric analysis",
"Pollution",
"Air pollution",
"Mapping",
"Citations",
"Research evaluation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Air pollution refers to the contamination of air, both inside and outside of our living environment; it can be physical, biological or chemical alteration to the air in the atmosphere (Jones, 1999; Ramanathan and Feng, 2009). The introduction of particulate matter, biological molecules and other harmful materials into the Earth's atmosphere causes pollution (Kanakidou et al., 2005). Pollutants of natural or man-made origin in air bring about diseases in plants (Heagle et al., 1973), animals, human beings (Becker et al., 1996) and other macro and microorganisms and cause damage or death (Babich and Stotzky, 1985). As the natural and built environments become polluted, it is difficult for living organisms to survive (Bozinovic and Oleksiak, 2011; Klerks and Weis, 1987).\nMethodology: The research works carried out worldwide on air pollution are enormous. Mapping of the research outcome is important from the point of our focus on future environment conservation. In this study, we have collected the data of research publications on \"air pollution\" from Web of Science Core Collection with the following search strategy: publications with terms \"Air contaminat*\", \"Air pollut*\", \"pollut* air\" or \"contaminat* air\" in their titles for the period of 2005-2014 were collected; a similar search strategy was used by Guo et al. (2014) in case of soil contamination. Further, we restricted our search to scientific research articles, as our purpose was to analyze the trends in air pollution research at the global level for the period spanning one decade (2005-2014). A total of 4,424 articles were published on air pollution during the period of 2005-2014. A large number of articles were published in English language (4,276, 96.65 per cent), followed by French (34), German (24), Spanish (19), Italian (19), Polish (18), Portuguese (17), Chinese (7), Japanese (3), Czech (1), Korean (1), Russian (1), Serbian (1), Serbo-Croatian (1), Lithuanian (1) and Turkish (1). A total of 4,424 articles' bibliometric data were retrieved as a result of the search strategy from the database, and the same were used for creation of a database in Microsoft Excel for the analysis purpose. As in other studies (Kolle et al., 2015), network analysis interface for literature studies application and VOSviewer software were used for mapping the literature (Knutas et al., 2015).\nResults and discussion: Publication profile and distribution\nConclusion: In this paper, we evaluated the research works on air pollution published in 2005-2014 collected from Web of Science Core Collection. The trends in publication of literature on air pollution kept increasing in a linear manner. Almost 96 per cent of the articles were in English language. The literature is growing in a rapid phase every year along with citations, because of the relevance of the research in the present context of environmental conservation. Most of the articles are published in the journals that are specifically devoted for research dissemination on air than of multidisciplinary. Atmospheric Environment and Environmental Health Perspective are the two dominant journals; they published 11.79 per cent air pollution research of the total articles published. The article \"Health effects of fine particulate air pollution: Lines that connect\", published in Journal of The Air & Waste Management Association and contributed by Pope and Dockery (2006), was a highly cited article. Major literature was confined to air pollution, indoor air pollution, outdoor air pollution, air pollutants, particulate air pollution, ambient air pollution and air pollution exposure. Particulate air pollution, indoor air pollution and risks of air pollution on humans are the major current hot topics for research on air pollution. The results of this study are practical to researchers and scientists in understanding trends in air pollution research during 2005-2014. The major limitation of the study is the publication data and citation details collected for the study were confined to publications that are indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze research works on air pollution published in 2005-2014 and indexed in Web of Science Core Collection.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The data of research publications on \"air pollution\" from the Web of Science Core Collection database were collected with following search strategy: publications with terms \"Air contaminat*\", \"Air pollut*\", \"pollut* air\" or \"contaminat* air\" in their titles for the period of 2005-2014 were collected. A total of 4,424 articles were published on air pollution during the period of 2005-2014, and the data were used for creation of database in Microsoft Excel for the analysis purpose. Bibliometric analysis techniques were applied wherever necessary.\nFindings: Out of 4,424 articles published on air pollution in different languages, 4,276 articles were in English. The years 2013 and 2014 showed rapid increase in number of articles published, 563 and 638, respectively. The increased number of articles resulted in an increase in number of pages published and references cited in the articles. The articles published in the year 2006 had received more number of citations (12,318), and the average citation per article for the period was 17.59. Environmental Science was the major Web of Science subject category under which a greater number of articles were published. Article entitled as \"Health effects of fine particulate air pollution: Lines that connect\", published in Journal of The Air & Waste Management Association by Pope and Dockery (2006), was the highest cited article (1,743) for the period, and the top most active journals that published huge number of articles were Atmospheric Environment and Environmental Health Perspective, with 11.79 per cent of the total articles (4,424) published.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings of the study are limited to the journals covered under Web of Science Core Collection database and articles having the following keywords in their titles: \"Air contaminat*\", \"Air pollut*\", \"pollut* air\" or \"contaminat* air\".\nOriginality/value: This study would be useful to researchers and policy makers to get an insight into the research trends of air pollution for effective decision-making and formulation of new research proposals.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
With growth comes accountability: could a leisure activity turn into a driver for sustainable growth?
|
[
"International tourism",
"Sustainable growth",
"Growth drivers",
"Long-term forecasts",
"PEST analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the past six decades, tourism has experienced continuous expansion and diversification to become one of the largest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the world. Despite occasional shocks, international tourist arrivals have shown virtually uninterrupted growth from a mere 25m in 1950 to 277m in 1980 and 935m in 2010. The latest count puts international tourist arrivals at 1.323bn worldwide (World Tourism Organization, 2018b).\n2. Global tourism development between 1950 and 2010: During the 1950s, a climate of austerity permeated Western societies, who were paying the high costs of post-war reconstruction, of conflicts engendered by the Cold War (such as the Korean and Vietnam wars), and of the decolonisation process of former European colonies. In advanced economies, tourism was a popular activity among members of the upper and middle classes, but it remained a privilege for the few who could afford it. Social policies and private initiatives, such as holiday funds and camps for workers, helped spreading holiday consumption also among the less affluent segments of the population, especially in post-war Europe (Schumacher, 1890; Kaspar, 1965; Lanquar and Raynouard, 1978; Hachtmann, 2010). International tourist arrivals rose from 25 to 70m in just a decade, thanks to resumed security and improving living conditions (World Tourism Organization, 2018a).\n3. Drawing lessons from the past: key drivers of tourism growth: The analysis of those factors underlying growth in global tourism demand has been the object of a vast body of literature. In tourism economic studies, for instance, consensus have been reached on the role played by population size, disposable income, exchange rates (and the relative cost of tourism) and transport costs as key determinants of tourism development from the demand side (for a review, see Witt and Witt, 1995; Lim, 1997, 1999; Song and Li, 2008; Vanhove, 2011).\n4. Will future tourism development be a continuation of the past?: The coming decades will present destinations significant opportunities, equally matched by challenges, to tap the potential of a healthily growing sector. Shocks and crisis will still temporarily affect tourism development over the next decade, but the long-term trend will remain steadily upwards, as increasing affluence in well-populated world areas will feed a far from exhausted demand for travel, and technology will keep driving innovation. If global volumes increase, their distribution across world regions is going to change. Led by emerging economies, domestic and intra-regional travel is expected to be the most relevant form of travel for the next decade and the following period (World Tourism Organization, 2011a, b). This will bring the diversification process further, with the proliferation and development of new destinations leading to increased competitiveness coupled with challenges to sustainable development, whose principles might be more difficult to observe in developing economies (Tosun, 2001).\n5. Tourism as a driver of change?: Growing at the pace forecast by UNWTO (2011), tourism is set to establish itself as a relevant significant sector in an increasing number of countries worldwide. Tourism currently accounts for 10 per cent of global GDP and its business volume equals, or even surpasses, that of oil exports, food products or automobiles (World Tourism Organization, 2017). As more and more economies opened up to tourism as a way to relaunch or diversify economies (see e.g. Arab countries' strategic vision for the year 2020; Mortimore, 2007) or rejuvenate depopulated rural areas, tourism economic importance to create jobs, increase export revenues and stimulate infrastructure development will further consolidate. According to World Tourism Organization (2018c), \"continued growth and deepening diversification [...] have turned tourism into a key driver for socio-economic progress\".\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to retrace the past development of the global tourism sector to identify past drivers of growth and try to understand which factors will shape the sector development in the long term. The paper also intends to initiate a discussion on critical areas the global sector needs to address if it wants to establish as a model for sustainable and inclusive growth.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper analyses the political, economic, socio-cultural and technological factors that influenced tourism growth.\nFindings: The global tourism sector has experienced continuous expansion and diversification to become one of the largest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the world. With increased recognition of tourism contribution to economic growth and development, more opportunities will arise for tourism to take centre stage in the political and economic agendas worldwide. Such opportunities can be successfully realised only once the global tourism sector eventually engages to mitigate negative impacts.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper is based on an extensive review of published literature; hence, it reflects the view major organisations dealing with tourism have on the future development of this sector. The factors included in this analysis have been prioritised based on the sector knowledge of the authors and may not be reflect other viewpoints.\nPractical implications: Tourism could establish itself as a model that puts aspects such as the conservation, preservation and protection of the cultural and natural heritage at the heart of economic development. For global tourism to become a driver of socio-economic change, stronger guidance is needed to set priorities that would lead the sector to mitigate its negative impacts. The paper critically discusses some of those aspects that could become policy priorities for the next decades.\nOriginality/value: The main value of this piece of research is the extended, cross-disciplinary literature of the factors that conducted to the rapid and healthy growth of the tourism sector worldwide.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Attitudes towards women managers in theUnited Arab Emirates: The effects of patriarchy, age, and sex differences
|
[
"Culture (sociology)",
"Attitude surveys",
"Gender",
"United Arab Emirates",
"Women executives"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The issue of measuring attitudes towards women managers has been an important concern in the twentieth century. It became of particular importance in the Arab world when women began to enter into the labour force in record numbers. For example, in 1960, women in Arab world constituted only 12 per cent of the labour force. While in 1995 they constituted 30 per cent. In 1980 UAE women constituted 3.4 per cent of the labour force. By 1995 this figure had only risen to 13 per cent, despite the fact that the majority of university graduates are women (United Arab Emirates Yearbook, 2001). A recent study found that the female labour force in the Arab world does not exceed 20 per cent where the global participation of women in the labour market is 40 per cent and that the figure increases to 44 per cent in the industrial countries (Al-Shaikh, 2004).Attitudes towards women involve expectations directed at women (Spence and Helmreich, 1972), and these ideas are often based on negative stereotypes and broad assumptions about women's characteristics (Conway and Vartanian, 2000). Research indicates that the gender roles commonly lead to the discouragement of women's employment outside the home in non-traditional jobs (Heilman, 1997; Schreiber, 1998).Research on attitudes to women's roles showed over the last two decades or so a universal trend of increasing liberalism and acceptance of more egalitarian role definitions, especially among women (e.g. Allan and Coltran, 1996). Twenge (1997), in a meta-analysis of literature on attitudes towards women (1970-1995), suggested that mean scores of attitudes towards women were strongly, positively correlated with the year of the study. Twenge argued that this statistic suggests a trend toward more liberal attitudes towards women over the course of this period. However, Arab societies seem to be reluctant to abandon their traditional viewpoint of women primarily committed to the house and children (El-Jardawi, 1986; Abdalla, 1996; El-Rahmony, 2002; Orabi, 1999). Most Arab men consider households and domestic activities suitable for women and most Arab families educate their sons rather than their daughters on the assumption that boys are a greater economic asset than girls (El-Ghannam, 2001, 2002). Some conservative Arab societies like Saudi Arabia are completely dominated by men: women cannot go out in public without being covered from head to toe in black. They cannot drive, nor can they run a business in their own name (Gulf News, 2004). As a result of these traditional viewpoints towards women in Arab societies, Connors (1987) found that the majority of women are employed in three occupations: elementary school teacher, secretary, and nurse. In 1995, the total number of women in the labour force in Arab societies was divided up as follows: more than 40 per cent worked in social services, 21 per cent worked in industry, and 39 per cent worked in agriculture (World Bank, 1996).Arab countries scored high in Hofstede's (1980) masculinity dimension. Although little work has been done to specifically examine the role of masculinity in relation to sexist attitudes, Western researchers (Archer and Rhodes, 1989; Spence, 1993) have confirmed the contribution of masculinity to sex-related attitudes, implying that these sex-related traits significantly influence biased sex-related attitudes. The strong emphasis in Arab culture on masculine role attributes (Dedoussis, 2004) is expected to contribute to the UAE society's traditional attitudes towards women managers.Perceptions of and attitudes towards women managers have received extensive research in the West (e.g. Dubno, 1985). Our purpose in the present study is to extend the research in this area to an Arab non-Western context where little research has been done.\nResearch objectives: It has been noted that less than 1 per cent of the 236 articles published in the ten-year period between 1990 and 1999 in a prestigious international journal focused on an Arab country in the Middle East (Robertson et al., 2001). An even more rare exception is research involving attitudes towards women managers in the Arab world (Mostafa, 2003). The present study takes a small step in attempting to fill this gap by analysing attitudes towards women managers in the UAE as we believe that gaining a systematic understanding of the issues related to women managers in this part of the world is a worthwhile objective for both intellectual and policy reasons. More specifically we aim in this research to:* analyze the UAE society's attitudes and expectations towards women managers;* examine the impact of some variables such as sex and age on the attitudes towards women managers in the UAE; and* test the validity of the recently developed multidimensional aversion to women who work scale (MAWWWS) in a non-Western culture.This study represents one of the first applications of the scale in the Arab world and, hence, the reliability and convergent validity of the MAWWWS will be examined.\nLiterature review: In past years, numerous studies on the attitudes towards women managers have been conducted in the West. For example, according to Mott (1998, p. 26):... women of all ages remain under-represented in skilled career fields due to misconception regarding gender-specific abilities and preferences and under-valuation of women's skills.There is sometimes a reluctance to hire women in key managerial positions (Eyring and Stead, 1998), so female leaders are consequently given job assignments with lower visibility and fewer chances to make important contacts (Ohlott et al., 1994).Women also tend to earn significantly less compared with men in equivalent occupations, they frequently find high-level promotions difficult, and they experience barriers when seeking mentors (Anderson and Tomaskovic-Devy, 1995; Bhatnagar and Swamy, 1995; Browne, 1997; Pfeffer and Ross, 1990; Kirchmeyer, 2002). Some studies even show a distinct preference for male direction among subordinates (Cann and Siegfried, 1987; Jeanguart-Barone and Sekaran, 1994), and this fondness translates into higher ratings for male managers (McGlashan et al., 1995) and increased trust (Jeanguart-Barone and Sekaran, 1994). Women sometimes doubt their own abilities and skills (Hammick and Acker, 1998; Maccoby and Jacklin, 1974; Talmud and Izraeli, 1999), suggesting that stereotypes may be prevalent among both men and women.In an Arab non-Western context, the influence of exposure to Western culture on attitudes towards women in the workforce was examined in a sample of Libyan college students living in the USA (Abdalla and Gibson, 1984). No relationship was found between the amount of time spent in this country and attitudes towards working women, but females expressed more \"modern\" attitudes than males.Abd El-Latif (1988) studied the Egyptian society's attitudes towards working women. The study found a negative attitude towards women managers and women in top managerial and leadership positions. The study also found that women occupy only 11 per cent of the top managerial positions in Egyptian organizations.Askar and Ahmad (2003) studied factors determining attitudes towards women occupying supervisory positions at various organizations in Kuwait perceived by a sample of 278 participants. The results of the study indicate a relatively positive attitude towards women managers. Sex of the participant was found to be statistically significant in determining attitudes towards women managers with female more supportive to women in supervisory positions.Mensch et al. (2003) found evidence of extremely strong traditional attitudes about gender roles among Egyptian boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 19. Gender socialization was found to be extremely patriarchal and strongly supportive of traditional family values, with a particular emphasis on women's primacy in the domestic sphere.Mostafa (2003) investigated the Egyptian society's attitudes towards women who work held by a sample of 217 participants. The results of the study reveal that, contrary to our expectations, Egyptian students have very similar attitudes towards women who work to those of the older generations. There are also significant differences between males' and females' perceptions towards women's roles and participation in society. Finally, the study predicted that modernity may diminish patriarchal attitudes towards women in Arab societies.From this brief literature review we find that while there is a large amount of research in this area in the West and other parts of the world (e.g. Steinhoff and Tanaka, 1987; Adeyemi-Bello and Tomkiewicz, 1996; Sakalli-Ugurlu and Beydogan, 2002), little research has been conducted to assess the attitudes towards women managers in the Arab world and the UAE is no exception. The paucity of research on attitudes towards women managers in the UAE can be ascribed, among other things, to the relatively late entry into the labour force in qualitative and quantitative terms. This lack of academic attention to attitudes towards women managers in the UAE may also be attributed to the prevailing assumption that work life is less central to women than to men (Kaufman and Fetters, 1980) and that men are usually perceived as the primary breadwinners in the Arab world (Kasl and Cobb, 1979; Tary, 1983). The current study fills the gap and tries to examine the validity of a recently developed multi-dimensional aversion to women who work scale (MAWWWS) in an Arab non-Western context.\nHypotheses development: H1. The UAE participants will report traditional attitudes towards women managers as expressed by higher scores on both the employment skepticism and the traditional roles preference dimensions of the MAWWWS.\nMethod: Sample\nResults: Validity and reliability\nImplications: Research implications\nLimitations and future research: The results of the present study should be viewed with caution because of the limited generalisability of the studies involving college student participants. It is possible that gender role perceptions are more conservative and traditional in other areas of the country; the MAWWWS may be less valid in some regions than in others. This should be kept in mind when viewing the results of the present study, and may be a direction for future research.The present results suggest that the need for validation of the MAWWWS should not end with this study, but should continue to be investigated as the gender role perceptions in the UAE society change over time.Several different forms of validity can serve as criteria for assessing the psychometric soundness of a scale (Grapentine, 1995). In this research we performed only one form: convergent-validity analysis. This form of validity pertains to the extent to which scale items assumed to represent a construct do in fact \"converge\" on the same construct. Future researchers using the MAWWWS may test the scale's discriminate validity or predictive/concurrent validity. Discriminate-validity analysis shows the extent a scale is new and not just a reflection of other variables. The predictive or concurrent facet of validity refers to the extent to which scale scores are associated as hypothesized with other conceptually related measures.This study was conducted in the UAE, so some caution should be exercised in generalizing its results to other Arab societies. However, Muna (1980) suggests that Arab societies (moderate and traditional) have an inner similarity and share certain values despite the obvious differences in the economic attainment of their members. It should also be noted that Hofsted's (1980) seminal work on cultural values around the world detected no significant differences among the Arab countries studied; therefore, they were placed into a category titled \"Arab\" countries, which include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates.Future research should also investigate hypotheses that derive from the traditional gender role- stereotyping present in the Arab culture. Foe example, future researchers may study the relationship between masculinity and hostile sexism in the Arab world.\nSummary and conclusions: The goal of this study was to explore the attitudes towards women managers in the UAE. The sample for the present study consisted of 186 participants. The data of the study were collected by a ten-item recently developed multidimensional aversion to women who work scale (MAWWWS), validating the scale in an Arab non-Western context. From the research findings we can conclude that there exists a moderate change from expected restrictive traditional attitudes towards women managers in the UAE to a more liberal view. However, a considerable gender gap in attitudes towards women managers persists even when other factors held constant, with females consistently more supportive than males. This finding suggests that males should not be overlooked in modernization and equal opportunity programs in the UAE.Despite the liberal view reflected by participants in this study, the results of the research should by no means be interpreted as the UAE moving away rapidly from a patriarchal and traditional society, Emirate's society is generally regarded as highly patriarchal, with clear-cut gender role differences. The institutions of marriage and the family are highly patriarchal (Ramzy, 2002). Men are the dominant sex, and are expected to have control of the home. The husband is culturally accepted as the ruler of the family and is regarded as the formal authority to whom the wife and children must ultimately respond. The husband's role is authoritarian, and he assumes responsibility for maintaining the family structure by whatever means he feels justified. In short, The UAE's society still generally value patriarchy.As expected, our results showed that students held more favourable attitudes toward women managers in the UAE than were older generations. The result was consistent with a recently published opinion poll which showed that 73 per cent of the student participants believe that older generations in the UAE are very traditional and conservative, while only 20 per cent think that they are open-minded and modern (Al-Khaleej, 2003).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This study aims to investigate the United Arab Emirates (UAE) society's attitudes towards women managers held by a sample of 186 participants.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The subjects completed the newly developed multidimensional aversion to women who work scale (MAWWWS). The study validates the scale in an Arab non-Western context.\nFindings: - The results reveal that UAE students have significantly different attitudes towards women managers from those of the older generations. There are significant differences between males' and females' perceptions of women's roles and participation in society. The study predicts that modernity may diminish patriarchal attitudes towards women managers in the Arab world.\nOriginality/value: - This study has provided some insights into the factors associated with attitudes towards women managers in the UAE. This research contributes to the literature on cross-cultural studies by systematically assessing the attitudes towards women managers in the UAE.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Workplace policies and training in China: evidence from matched employee-employer data
|
[
"China",
"Training",
"Shanghai",
"Workplace policies and practices"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is growing interest in life-long learning, in particular in the form of education and training, as means to address skill shortages, respond to organizational and technological change in the workplace and counter the potential disruptive effects of the demands for increased labor market flexibility. There are now a large number of studies on the determinants of training (see e.g. Green, 1993; Harris, 1999; Murphy et al., 2008; Tam and Chiu, 2010; Xu and Lin, 2011). One area, though, which has been relatively neglected, is the role of workplace practices, including organizational change, in promoting training. There are few studies that explicitly consider the relationship between workplace policies and practices and training (see e.g. O'Connell and Byrne, 2012; Osterman, 1995; Whitfield, 2000). The reason for this is that the dominant theoretical framework for informing most of the research attempting to understand patterns of participation in training has been the human capital approach. The human capital approach has arguably led to emphasis on the existence of a competitive labor market with a focus on the supply side and to the neglect of processes, institutions and relationships in the workplace (O'Connell and Byrne, 2012).\nWorkplace practices and training at work: The traditional economic framework for explaining participation in on-the-job training has been the human capital approach (Becker, 1975). The human capital approach posits that employers are unlikely to fund general training because it is transferable to future employers. However, a large empirical literature suggests that most training is general in nature and most occurs in the form of employer-funded on-the-job training (see e.g. Lowenstein and Spletzer, 1999; O'Connell and Byrne, 2012). Once it is recognized that competitive labor markets do not exist in practice, alternative explanations emerge for why it is perfectly reasonable to expect employers to provide on-the-job training of a general nature. For example, Acemoglu and Pischke (1999) show that in the presence of imperfect competition in either labor or product markets, firms will provide general training because they benefit from reducing employees' wages below their marginal productivity. Others, such as Lazear (2003), have argued that employers will provide general training because general training is complementary to specific training and, as such, beneficial to employers.\nThe chinese context: China represents an interesting case study to explore the relationship between workplace policies and on-the-job training. The implementation of market reforms in China has brought about rapid change in the labor market. The rapid change in the labor market has generated a serious skill shortage, particularly as China confronts the prospect of transitioning from cheap manufacturing base to higher value-added production in the face of rising wages. There is wide acknowledgment that there is a serious mismatch between the training that graduates from China's universities are receiving and the attributes for which employers are looking (Farrell and Grant, 2005).\nExisting literature: While there is a large literature on the determinants of training, only a limited subset of this literature examines the relationship between workplace policies and training. Empirical findings on the relationship between workplace policies and training in western contexts are mixed, although it is fair to say that there is more evidence supporting a positive relationship between the introduction of a suite of policies designed to increase organizational performance and training than not. Most of the earlier studies use data for the USA. Osterman (1995), employing firm-level data for the USA, found that some workplace policies (quality circles, total quality management and statistical process control) were positively correlated with training, but others (job rotation and teamwork) were not. Frazis et al. (1997), using matched employer-employee data for the USA, found a positive relationship between the prevalence of several workplace policies and practices (employee participation, job rotation, quality circles and self-directed teams) and training.\nData and methodology: We use a matched employer-employee data set from Minhang district in Shanghai collected by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in 2007. The data set, which contains information on 784 employees from 78 firms, was selected by probability proportion to size sampling according to a list of all manufacturing firms in Minhang district whose annual sales were at least five million RMB. In addition to basic information on the firm, the employer survey asked questions related to financial performance and industrial relation practices. It was completed by the General Manager, Chief Financial Officer and Human Resources Manager or other senior managers with responsibility for these areas[1]. Each of the employee questionnaires was completed by the employee participants in the study. After removing observations for which there was missing data (i.e. item non-responses from the survey) we had data for the variables of interest in the study for 571 employees and 70 firms[2]. Table I gives descriptive statistics for the firms in the sample and compares them with statistics for firms in Minhang district and Shanghai as a whole. Table I suggests that the sample is representative of firms in Minhang district and Shanghai.\nMain results: Table IV reports the marginal effects for a logit model for whether employees participate in training. Age is significant with a negative coefficient. While age squared is significant in specifications (1)-(3) suggesting a non-linear relationship, the turning point is very late (around age 54). In the final two specifications, there is a linear negative relationship between age and training. Years of schooling is significant with a positive coefficient in specifications (1) and (5). Each additional year of schooling increases the probability of participating in training by 1.8-2.1 percent, depending on the exact specification. This suggests that education and training are complementary activities - education is a proxy for cognitive skills, such that training those with better education will yield higher returns at lower cost.\nFurther robust checks: Single-site, single administration cross-sectional designs are often subject to common method variance (CMV), whereby observed variance is actually attributable to the measurement method rather than to the construct(s) of interest. Podsakoff et al. (2003) have described a range of statistical remedies and diagnostic techniques. Among these is Harman's single-factor test. Following Podsakoff et al. (2003), we loaded all variables into an exploratory factor analysis and examined the unrotated factor solution. There was no evidence of the existence of an underlying, general factor, with the first extracted factor explaining just 10.57 percent of the variance. As some researchers have argued that confirmatory factor analysis is a more sophisticated test of the hypothesis that a single, general factor can account for the majority of variance in a data set, we also test the goodness of fit of a one-factor model of all study variables. Results showed a very poor fit to the data of the single-factor model (x2/df=14.22; IFI=0.75; CFI=0.75; RMSEA=0.22), providing further evidence that CMV is not a major problem in this study and does not warrant further statistical remedy.\nImplications: We highlight four implications of our findings. The first implication is for theory. Our results are consistent with an institutional approach to job training, which emphasizes the way institutional factors affect employees chances of receiving training over and above standard human capital variables (Tam and Chiu, 2010). The results represent a challenge to elements of the human capital approach, which emphasizes the supply side of the labor market and predicts firms would not implement policies to promote general training (O'Connell and Byrne, 2012). Our results extend findings for the institutional approach, and, in particular, the relevance of the employer dimension, from Anglo Saxon countries to an Asian context, which arguably represents a tougher challenge for the workplace policies-training nexus.\nConclusion: The purpose of this paper was to test the hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between workplace policies designed to devolve responsibilities to employees and incentivize staff and participation, frequency and duration of training in the workplace. This was the first study to test this hypothesis using data for a developing or transition economy. We find that about half of the workplace policies considered in this paper do have a positive association with participation in training and/or with the duration and frequency of training. Employing the Lewbel (2012) IV approach, we also show a causal relationship between a bundle of workplace policies and duration and frequency of workplace training. Several of the controls also exhibit consistent findings across different measures of training. These include demographic and human capital characteristics of employees, such as age, education and time spent with the firm as well as the occupational and ownership dummies.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which workplace policies and practices are related to participation in, and frequency and duration of, workplace training, controlling for worker and workplace characteristics.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors regress variables depicting participation, frequency and duration of workplace training on workplace policies and control variables. In the case of participation in training, the dependent variable is binary; hence, the authors use a logit model. To examine the number of times which employees participate in training and the number of days they spend training the authors use a Tobit model. The Lewbel (2012) method is used to examine whether there is a causal relationship between workplace policies and the frequency, and duration, of training.\nFindings: The findings suggest that about half of the workplace policies considered are positively correlated with the incidence and breadth of workplace training. There is also some support for the view that bundling of policies is positively correlated with the provision of workplace training. The Lewbel (2012) results suggest a causal relationship between a bundle of workplace policies and the frequency, and duration, of workplace training. There is, however, no evidence that workplace policies designed to devolve responsibilities to workers and incentivize staff polarizes skills through resulting in more training for professional staff over others.\nOriginality/value: The authors use matched employer and employee cross-sectional data for Shanghai in China. To this point most studies that have examined the determinants of training use data for Europe or the USA. There are few studies of this sort for countries in other regions and, in particular, developing or transition countries. There are no studies at all on the relationship between workplace policies and practices designed to promote organizational performance and training in developing or transitional countries. This study addresses this gap in the understanding of the factors related to on-the-job training in transitional countries, such as China.\n",
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Customer journey analyses in digital media: exploring the impact of cross-media exposure on customers' purchase decisions
|
[
"Digital media",
"Individual-level data",
"Experience tracking",
"Customer journey",
"Media synergies"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Digital media have dramatically changed how customers communicate with brands. Rather than being passive recipients of information, modern customers actively co-create brand meaning through social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2010; Leeflang et al., 2014). Whereas company-controlled advertising previously dominated, currently peer-to-peer media, such as consumer reviews, social media activities and word of mouth (WOM) represent equally important sources of brand information (Jahn and Kunz, 2012). Such media fragmentation requires service managers to rely on customer journey analyses, conducted by internal departments (e.g. marketing, data science) or external service providers (e.g. marketing agencies), to understand what they can do to create superior customer experiences (Homburg et al., 2017; Lemon and Verhoef, 2016). Customer journey analysis accordingly has emerged as a distinctive service offered by marketing agencies (e.g. Custellence), consultancies (e.g. Bain and Company) and software as a service (SaaS) platforms (e.g. SAS). These service providers go beyond identifying series of touchpoints and instead provide relevant, actionable metrics that promise to capture the overall journey and experience (Bain and Company, 2018; McKinsey and Company, 2019).\nResearch background: Customer journey, media touchpoints and purchase decisions\nMedia entropy: a new metric to capture cross-media exposure with individual-level data: Our customer-centric cross-media exposure metric seeks to go beyond simple measures of overall media exposure and media frequency to account for the information structure entailed in a customer's individual customer journey. Measures of media frequencies and their interactions are not well suited for customer journey data, because more frequent media encounters do not necessarily mean better information or risk reduction that would lead to a purchase decision. During their customer journey, some customers might seek to reduce their purchase risk early, such that they do not encounter many touchpoints; others continue searching but never purchase, despite frequent interactions. We therefore use a structural measure of the information accessed during the customer journey, independent of the frequency of exposure to an information source.To provide such a metric, we build on information and signalling theory. The structure in which information is provided influences customers' information processing and decision-making process (Lurie, 2004; Van Herpen and Pieters, 2002). According to information theory, assessing the structure of information is particularly important in rich information environments. To capture the structure of information, we operationalize cross-media exposure in individual-level customer journey data as the entropy of paid and earned media calculated over all previous media touchpoint encounters. Entropy is a common measure in information theory (Shannon, 1948) that also has been applied to customer decision-making in information-rich environments as an elaborate concept to assess the variability of an information structure (Lurie, 2004; Van Herpen and Pieters, 2002). Specifically, entropy is a variety measure of categorical data, such that it equals zero when only one information type is present and reaches its maximum when all information types are represented equally. In other words, higher levels of entropy indicate greater information variety. For a given customer, we calculate the cross-media exposure of media types in the customer journey for a given brand asMedia Entropy= -[?]k=1Npk logpk,where pk is the proportion of all media touchpoints categorized as the kth media type.Entropy also has two features that make it specifically applicable in our context. First, it provides an operationalization of the variation of categorical data, such that it can capture the heterogeneity of paid versus earned media touchpoints prior to the purchase decision. Second, it is independent of the total number of brand encounters in the customer journey. As such, it goes beyond simple measures of overall media exposure and media volume by capturing cross-media exposure. Low entropy of information sources describes a situation in which customers are mostly exposed to either paid or earned media touchpoints. In contrast, high entropy means that customers encounter media touchpoints from both paid and earned media categories. The cross-media exposure indicated by the entropy of information sources then provides a new layer of information, which can reveal better how information-rich environments affect consumer decision-making. Drawing on information economics and signalling theory, we develop specific hypotheses for the influence of this media entropy metric on customers' purchase decisions.\nThe effect of media entropy on brand purchase: To be relevant for customer journey analyses, media entropy, as an operationalization of cross-media exposure, must exert an effect on brand purchases. We rely on information economics to provide a justification for why our media entropy metric should influence brand purchases.Customers lack full information about brands before purchase, so they search for brand-related information to reduce their purchase risk. In general, two key factors determine the value of a signal: clarity and credibility. Signal clarity depends largely on the consistency of brand-related information; it captures the extent to which a company's communication activities reflect the intended, overall message and provide unambiguous information. Signal credibility refers to the trustworthiness of the brand-related information, depending on the believability of the source. That is, clarity ensures information consistency across brand encounters, and credibility determines whether a source conveys information effectively (Erdem and Swait, 1998).Signalling activities provided through paid media likely suffer from a lack of credibility but achieve greater clarity, due to the company's direct influence and desire to align communication activities. In contrast, signalling activities through peer-driven earned media tend to possess greater credibility but lack clarity, reflecting divergences in peer-to-peer interactions (Ho-Dac et al., 2013). If customers encounter a brand through focussed media activities, based on either paid or earned media, they likely experience high levels of either clarity or credibility. These high levels of signal clarity and signal credibility remain mutually exclusive in cases of low media entropy, which could reduce customers' willingness to purchase the brand (Erdem et al., 2006).Conversely, purchase likelihood may increase if a media mix compensates for the weakness of obtaining either signal clarity or signal credibility through focussed media exposure. If customers encounter high levels of media entropy across paid and earned media, they might perceive high clarity and high credibility of the brand-related information concurrently. This notion is in line with the confirmation bias detected in consumer psychology, which leads people to ignore evidence that contradicts their existing beliefs, ideas or expectations (Nickerson, 1998). High media entropy should reinforce the effect of coherent company-controlled signals, because customers tend to focus more on favourable than unfavourable information conveyed by other customers. Similarly, positive peer-driven information about a brand (high levels of signal credibility) may be reinforced by company-orchestrated communication (high levels of signal clarity). The potential harmful effects of negative earned media coverage even might be alleviated by coherent paid media initiatives. Overall, we predict that greater cross-media exposure, as measured by the entropy of information sources in the customer journey, enhances purchase likelihood.Compared with traditional, offline environments, digital channels typically are associated with greater uncertainty and lower perceptions of the clarity and credibility of paid and earned media (eMarketer, 2017; Nielsen, 2015). The incremental information gains caused by cross-media exposure thus should be more effective in digital (online) compared with traditional (offline) channels. That is, we propose that increases in media entropy are more effective in the online than in the offline channel. Thus,H1. The increase of media entropy, measured as the extent of a customer's cross-media exposure in the customer journey, has a positive effect on customers' brand purchase likelihood.H2. The effect of media entropy on customers' brand purchase likelihood is greater in digital (online) compared with traditional (offline) media environments.\nModerating effects of brand strength and brand ownership: When assessing media entropy as a metric, we also account for contextual factors that might influence the effectiveness of customers' cross-media exposure. In particular, the strength of the positive link between cross-media exposure and brand purchase might depend on factors that determine how customers interpret available information (Lurie, 2004). One prominent context factor that might influence the effectiveness of exposure to different type of media on purchase decision is rooted in prior brand knowledge (Pauwels et al., 2016). Customers' previous brand ownership and perception of brand strength thus might represent important contextual variables, because they reflect customers' cumulative prior exposures to a brand's communication efforts and peer-to-peer interactions (Basuroy et al., 2006; Erdem et al., 2006). Previous brand ownership and strong brands both provide valuable sources of information for customers seeking to reduce their purchase risk. Conversely, previously non-owned brands or those perceived as weaker by customers lack pre-existing signalling strength that could decrease their purchase risk. That is, customers who do not currently own the brand and weaker brands should benefit relatively more from incremental information gains caused by media entropy. Thus:H3. The effect of media entropy on customers' brand purchase likelihood is greater for customers who do not own the brand, compared with current brand owners.H4. The effect of media entropy on customers' brand purchase likelihood is greater for brands that are perceived as weak, compared with brands perceived as strong.\nData: Data collection\nModel development: Our unit of analysis is at the individual touchpoint level. Because customers encounter many media touchpoints throughout their customer journey for each brand, we decompose the customer journey into a series of periods. Each period consists of a particular interaction with a touchpoint and a decision to purchase. To test our hypotheses, we use a probit model that incorporates unobserved individual-level heterogeneity. Let yijn=1 if individual i purchases brand j during the interaction with the nth media touchpoint and 0 if we do not observe any purchase activity. We specify i's latent purchase utility as:(1) Uijn*=bi0+b1MediaEntropyijn+b2OfflineEarnedijn+b3OnlinePaidijn+b4OnlineEarnedijn+b5NumTPijn+b6Priceij+ b7BrandOwnershipij+[?]ijnThe focal variable is MediaEntropyijn, which measures the extent of cross-media exposure entropy across the type of media touchpoints previously encountered over touchpoints 1, 2, ..., n. That is, our measure for cross-media exposure is updated for each individual i and each brand j up to the nth period. In addition, bi0 is an individual-level fixed effect that captures unobserved heterogeneity. Then OfflineEarnedijn, OnlinePaidijn and OnlineEarnedijn are dummy variables that indicate the type of media touchpoint individual i encounters during the nth period. Offline paid media serves as the baseline. We also control for other observable factors: (1) the total number of previous media touchpoints NumTPijn, (2) the purchase price Priceij of brand j that individual i paid and (3) whether individual i currently owns the brand using the indicator variable BrandOwnershipij, which equals 1 if individual i owns brand j.We are also interested in the moderating effect of brand ownership and brand strength. To assess the interaction between media entropy and brand ownership, we apply the following model:(2)Uijn*=bi0+b1MediaEntropyijn+b2OfflineEarnedijn+b3OnlinePaidijn+b4OnlineEarnedijn+b5NumTPijn+b6Priceij+b7BrandOwnershipij+ b8BrandOwnershipij x MediaEntropyijn+[?]inFor the interaction between media entropy and brand strength, we average the three items that measure perceptions of brand strength, obtained from the pre-survey before the experience tracking period, to create BrandStrengthij. Because it was measured in the pre-survey, it only varies across individuals for a specific brand. We assess both its main effect and interaction with media entropy in follow-up models. In particular, we specify:(3)Uijn*=bi0+b1MediaEntropyijn+b2OfflineEarnedijn+b3OnlinePaidijn+b4OnlineEarnedijn+b5NumTPijn+b6Priceij+b7BrandOwnershipij+ b8BrandStrengthij+b9BrandStrengthij x MediaEntropyijn+[?]in.Identification\nResults: The effect of media entropy on brand purchase\nDiscussion: Theoretical implications\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: In the age of digital media, customers have access to vast digital information sources, within and outside a company's direct control. Yet managers lack a metric to capture customers' cross-media exposure and its ramifications for individual customer journeys. To solve this issue, this article introduces media entropy as a new metric for assessing cross-media exposure on the individual customer level and illustrates its effect on consumers' purchase decisions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Building on information and signalling theory, this study proposes the entropy of company-controlled and peer-driven media sources as a measure of cross-media exposure. A probit model analyses individual-level customer journey data across more than 25,000 digital and traditional media touchpoints.\nFindings: Cross-media exposure, measured as the entropy of information sources in a customer journey, drives purchase decisions. The positive effect is particularly pronounced for (1) digital (online) versus traditional (offline) media environments, (2) customers who currently do not own the brand and (3) brands that customers perceive as weak.\nPractical implications: The proposed metric of cross-media exposure can help managers understand customers' information structures in pre-purchase phases. Assessing the consequences of customers' cross-media exposure is especially relevant for service companies that seek to support customers' information search efforts. Marketing agencies, consultancies and platform providers also need actionable customer journey metrics, particularly in early stages of the journey.\nOriginality/value: Service managers and marketers can integrate the media entropy metric into their marketing dashboards and use it to steer their investments in different media types. Researchers can include the metric in empirical models to explore customers' omni-channel journeys.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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A flow-through analysis of the US lodging industry during the great recession
|
[
"Lodging",
"Bottom-line profitability",
"Flow-through",
"Top-line measures"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The US lodging industry suffered one of its worst declines in operating and financial performance in 2009, a direct result of financial crisis and economic recession. Data from PKF's Trends\nBackground information: The relationship or \"flow-through\" between the top-line measures and bottom-line profitability can best be explained by using a simple case scenario to illustrate the fundamental concepts. This scenario is depicted in Table I.\nExisting empirical evidence: Industry research\nMethods: Sample\nResults: Descriptive statistics\nDiscussion: A number of initial observations can be made from the regression results in Table V. First, the absolute value of the changes in top-line measures explain between 65 percent and 85 percent of the variations in bottom-line NOIPAR, and 80 percent-90 percent of the changes in GOPPAR. For example, for all hotels, a 1 percent change in ADR yields a 1.9 percent change in NOI, and an estimated 1.6 percent change in GOP, while the same magnitude change in occupancy results in a 1.8 percent NOI change and 1.6 percent change in GOP. The explained variance is relatively higher for GOPPAR than NOIPAR largely because additional fixed costs such as property taxes and insurance are subtracted from GOP to arrive at NOI. Second, changes in occupancy and ADR by chainscale are all significantly positively related to profitability. Third, the results show a significantly positive relationship between top-line and bottom-line measures when they are measured as percentage changes. Fourth, the results indicate that ADR not only has a significantly positive relationship with bottom-line NOIPAR, but it is also more precise as evidenced by smaller errors and large critical t-values. When we ran the regressions by year, we found ADR to have a greater impact on NOIPAR with larger coefficients and t-statistics. Only in the upscale segment do we observe occupancy changes having larger regression values and larger variances. Our findings on ADR also differ from those of O'Neill and Mattila (2006a, b) and are consistent with the industry research in that they indicate that ADR is a better predictor of profitability than occupancy. Fifth, the results for GOPPAR again show that ADR is still the better measure across all chain scales, even though occupancy values are larger than the ADR values in the Luxury/Upper Upscale and Upscale chain scales. The regression values for GOPPAR in Panel B are also smaller than those of NOIPAR in Panel A. This finding exists because the computation of NOI includes additional deductions for various fixed charges, which would magnify the impact on the bottom-line. Accounting for these additional fixed charges also explains why the relationship between RevPAR and GOPPAR is stronger than the relation between RevPAR and NOIPAR.\nConclusions: The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between top-line revenue measures and bottom-line profitability measures over the three year period from 2007 to 2009, before and during the recent recession. The analysis was performed in a number of different ways that generated some useful, informative and relevant insights into the performance of hotels over the three year period. First, our analysis provided evidence of a significantly positive relation between top-line measures and bottom-line profitability. All three top-line measures - occupancy, ADR and RevPAR - have significant, positive relationships with GOPPAR and NOIPAR. The correlations and explained variations are also higher than those reported in prior research. Our results show that both occupancy and ADR are important drivers of RevPAR growth and bottom-line profitability. More specifically, ADR is a stronger predictor than occupancy in driving RevPAR growth and bottom-line profitability. These results are consistent with industry belief and practice. In addition, some of the results of this study differ with prior academic research with respect to the finding of a positive relation between ADR and NOI (O'Neill and Mattila, 2006a, b). Our results also extend prior research by providing evidence on drivers of GOPPAR as a bottom-line profitability measure for managed hotels, indicating that the effects are similar to NOI but at a lower degree of magnitude. As an additional insight into the relationship between top-line and bottom-line measures, we derived RevPAR flow-through ratios of between 1.83 and 1.91 for NOIPAR and between 1.55 and 1.65 for GOPPAR across all chain scales. These results indicate that changes in RevPAR at the top-line have a significant impact on bottom-line profitability. Although there are no industry norms to indicate what a flow-through ratio should be for a hotel, previous research by STR Analytics and PKF (Mandelbaum, 2010, Wilson, 2011) indicates an overall industry average between 1.5 and 1.6 times the change in RevPAR.\nPractical implications: The results of this study also yield a number of practical implications for managers. First, managers should not exclusively focus on ADR or occupancy in driving profitability. Hotel managers should employ both measures in combination to drive profitability, but ADR should be the key driver of that impact. For example, if a 10 percent growth in RevPAR is expected, then that growth should perhaps be driven by an estimated 6 percent change in ADR and 4 percent change in occupancy, i.e. a 60 percent contribution from ADR and a 40 percent contribution from occupancy. Mandelbaum (2010) noted that the greatest growth in NOI was achieved by those hotels where ADR was the primary driver of RevPAR growth. He also suggested that each hotel must find the right combination of these RevPAR drivers to maximize its profits. Second, this study shows how the flow-through ratio can be easily derived without the necessity of detailed financial statements. Only year-to-year percentage changes in the top-line and bottom-line measures are needed as inputs in the computations. These flow-through ratios can then be used to make financial forecasts or used as inputs in valuations models to forecast future profitability. Since flow-through ratios are not constant, managers must keep track of these ratios over time to assess their sensitivity and impact on profitability when they make decisions to change their cost structure in response to changing economic conditions.\nLimitations: Our analysis is limited to those hotel companies that participate in PKF's Trends\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: The objective of this exploratory study is to investigate the \"flow-through\" or relationship between top-line measures of hotel operating performance (occupancy, average daily rate and revenue per available room) and bottom-line measures of profitability (gross operating profit and net operating income), before and during the recent great recession.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study uses data provided by PKF Hospitality Research for the period from 2007-2009. A total of 714 hotels were analyzed and various top-line and bottom-line profitability changes were computed using both absolute levels and percentages. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between top and bottom line measures, and to derive flow-through ratios.\nFindings: The results show that average daily rate (ADR) and occupancy are significantly and positively related to gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) and net operating income per available room (NOIPAR). The evidence indicates that ADR, rather than occupancy, appears to be the stronger predictor and better measure of RevPAR growth and bottom-line profitability. The correlations and explained variances are also higher than those reported in prior research. Flow-through ratios range between 1.83 and 1.91 for NOIPAR, and between 1.55 and 1.65 for GOPPAR, across all chain-scales.\nResearch limitations/implications: Limitations of this study include the limited number of years in the study period, limited number of hotels in a competitive set, and self-selection of hotels by the researchers.\nPractical implications: While ADR and occupancy work in combination to drive profitability, the authors' study shows that ADR is the stronger predictor of profitability. Hotel managers can use flow-through ratios to make financial forecasts, or use them as inputs in valuation models, to forecast future profitability.\nOriginality/value: This paper extends prior research on the relationship between top-line measures and bottom-line profitability and serves to inform lodging owners, operators and asset managers about flow-through ratios, and how these ratios impact hotel profitability.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
iTunes U: an opportunity for students
|
[
"ITunes U",
"YouTube",
"Podcast, Real‐world learning",
"Authentic learning",
"Students",
"Australia"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. What is iTunes U?: Apple has made the mantra for mobile education of \"learn anything, anytime, anywhere\" manifest in the form of iTunes U - a section of the iTunes Store dedicated to the distribution of educational audio and video podcasts by universities and institutes from around the world. Launched in May 2007 for US colleges and universities (Apple Inc, 2007) and June 2008 for institutes in Australasia and Europe (Nagel, 2008), iTunes U is a free, highly visible and easy-to-use platform through which educational organizations can reach out to their students, staff and lifelong learners within the general public.The process is simple. Once approved by Apple Inc., institutes are given access to iTunes U and can develop their site in whatever way they wish. Some institutes opt to only make the content available to their staff and students (i.e. they create a private iTunes U site) while others utilize the broad reach of the platform to make their content available to the world through a public iTunes U site. Swinburne chose iTunes U rather than YouTube or another distribution platform partially because of the availability of the private site option (something Swinburne will look to explore further in the future). In addition, iTunes U supports simple audio files and PDF (not just video) and allows users to download content, not just view it online.Located in Melbourne, Australia, Swinburne University of Technology was one of the first universities outside of the USA to launch its iTunes U site. The university has 35,000 students enrolled into both Higher Education and Vocational Learning, and offers a diverse range of courses from the sciences, engineering, and information and communication technologies, through to design studies, business and entrepreneurship, health and the environment and sustainability. Swinburne on iTunes U is designed to inform students and staff currently at Swinburne, but also to attract and inform potential students and staff, alumni, industry partners and other life-long learners. To achieve these ends, Swinburne's iTunes U site has initially been created as a public site, showcasing student work, teaching excellence, research highlights, and information about Swinburne and its courses.\n2. iTunes U as an opportunity for students: As an initiative of the Swinburne Higher Education Office, the iTunes U project needed to integrate with a key element of curriculum renewal at the university: the Swinburne Professional Learning Model (Swinburne, 2010). This model aims to ensure that graduates are professionally oriented and equipped with skills matched to contemporary industry needs, and consists of four cornerstones:1. real-world learning;2. curriculum flexibility;3. career preparation; and4. global perspectives.It was decided to integrate the iTunes U project with the first of these cornerstones - real-world learning - in several of the creative arts courses. This decision provided the opportunity for students to produce specific content for the site according to creative briefs developed by the iTunes U content coordinator. In effect, the iTunes U project became the client for the students.Here we present three approaches Swinburne has trialed for embedding the creation of content for iTunes U into existing courses. No additional budget was allocated for any of these projects, as the aim was to incorporate the creation of content into existing teaching and learning practices.2.1 Approach 1: utilizing existing curricula and student outputs\n3. Recommendations: When undertaking a broader university initiative (such as developing an iTunes U site), consideration should be given as to involving students. In any project, there will be elements that may be suitable to implement as real-world learning opportunities, and consultation with relevant teaching staff will quickly identify those with real possibility.Some recommendations from our experiences in involving students in the process of creating content for Swinburne on iTunes U:* Embed the creation of content (or whatever element of the project you are having the students work on) deeply within student assessment and make sure it provides a relevant and valid learning experience.* Act as a real client for the students and establish a realistic client-service-provider relationship.* Identify a motivated and enthusiastic project person to seek out opportunities, liaise with academic teaching staff and be involved with the students as the client.These recommendations, with sufficient planning and development time, will allow broader university initiatives offering innovative opportunities for students through the provision of real-world learning experiences. In the case of establishing a publicly visible digital media site (such as iTunes U or YouTube or a website), it also provides added incentive for students by establishing a highly visible, university-sanctioned platform through which students are able to promote their work to potential employers.\n",
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},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that, with a bit of creative thinking, elements of certain university-wide projects (in this case study, establishing an iTunes U site) can be incorporated into student studies and assessment as real-world learning opportunities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Describes three different approaches adopted by Swinburne University of Technology to provide real-world learning opportunities for its students through its project to establish an iTunes U presence. Highlights the problems encountered with these approaches and what Swinburne would do differently to overcome these issues.\nFindings: - iTunes U provides a real opportunity for showcasing student work and talent beyond the university. The key to success lies in embedding what you want the students to do deeply within assessment processes to ensure the work provides a relevant and valid learning experience. Part of this is establishing a realistic client-service-provider relationship with the students.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This paper is based on the observations and anecdotal feedback given to the content coordinator for iTunes U at Swinburne. Future research should seek ethics clearance so that students and staff can be interviewed about their experiences in more depth.\nPractical implications: - This paper offers advice to other institutions looking to engage students in broader university projects, through integration with coursework.\nOriginality/value: - Hundreds of universities have iTunes U sites, or are exploring the use of iTunes U and/or YouTube. Ideas for how to successfully involve students in these broader university initiatives will be of interest to all these institutes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Do entrepreneurial knowledge and innovative attitude overcome "imperfections" in the innovation process? Insights from SMEs in the UK and Italy
|
[
"Entrepreneurial knowledge",
"Entrepreneurial innovation attitude",
"Entrepreneurial risk management",
"Hold up problems",
"Knowledge intensive"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the world of the digital era where intangible assets are predominant, entrepreneurial knowledge is considered the main asset for a business (Burns et al., 2011; Swart and Henneberg, 2007; Oystein Widding, 2005; Wiklund and Shepherd, 2003; Jones et al., 2003). Knowledge is of value to an entrepreneur and when it is integrated and stored within an enterprise, it becomes an entity capacity which is also defined as a \"mutually dependent knowledge system\" (Leonard-Barton, 1995, p. 595 in Oystein Widding, 2005; see also Nonaka, 1994; Huber, 1991). Most commonly noted in large companies and less notable in small to medium enterprises (SMEs), knowledge leverages a competitive advantage (De Boer et al., 1999; Gomezelj Omerzel and Antoncic, 2008; Ferraris et al., 2017, 2018). SMEs are less structured because of the lack of a formal knowledge management procedure, lack of tangible resources and lack of access to advanced new technologies (Nunes et al., 2006; Broccardo et al., 2017; Santoro et al., 2018). This can generate \"imperfections\" in the development of new innovations. These \"imperfections\" are identified in risk management, asymmetric information in the knowledge management process and hold-up problems (Zsidisin and Ellram, 2003; Smith, 2003; Moore, 1983; Liebenberg and Hoyt, 2003).\n2. Theoretical framework: 2.1 Entrepreneurial knowledge within knowledge-intensive small and medium enterprises\n3. Methodology: two explorative case studies: Knowledge-intensive SMEs have received an increasing amount of attention from scholars because of their capacity to enhance economic growth and create new jobs (Storey, 1994; Rickne and Jacobsson, 1996; Jones-Evans and Westhead, 1996; Mason and Harrison, 1999).\n4. Final remarks: Imperfections such as ERM, asymmetric information and hold up problem are all capable of interrupting collaborative partnerships and limiting innovation opportunities. This research shows how entrepreneurs face these imperfections during the innovation process by using their entrepreneurial knowledge and exploiting their attitude towards innovation. Notwithstanding, both entrepreneurs had to deal with all \"imperfections\", their skills, attributes, attitude and aptitude allow them to grow their business and continually develop new products. Hence, these imperfections do not limit their innovative capacity. In fact, Kestros Ltd was sold even though the business was profitable. The entrepreneur considered this action as an opportunity to further generate new innovations. Whilst the Innovation Group Ltd business is still running and exploiting the \"imperfections\" through a collaborative approach with its ecosystem.\n5. Implications: In this study, we have attempted to respond to questions around how the theoretical aspects of the innovation process such as how entrepreneurial knowledge is viewed and used (Burns et al., 2011; Jones et al, 2003) and how entrepreneurial risk is perceived and managed (Meulbroek, 2002), are enacted in the real world. In particular, this research sought to explore if entrepreneurial knowledge combined with the attitude to innovate can overcome the key \"imperfections\" of the innovation process (Smith, 2003; Moore, 1983) generated by dynamic, current technological progress in the knowledge-intensive sector. Whilst this area has been researched to some degree, this study provides a clear definition of these \"imperfections\", namely, risk management, asymmetric information in the knowledge management process and hold up problem and places them firmly in the context of innovation and entrepreneurship where knowledge is viewed as a form of capital (Del Giudice and Maggioni, 2014). This research will be of benefit to entrepreneurs and stakeholders in that it will help to raise awareness and understanding of these issues through the analysis of two case studies based around innovative, technology driven SMEs. Here, evidence has been provided which examines material practices around open innovation which is a key and proven approach to overcoming imperfections in the innovation process (Meulbroek, 2002). These cases provide a validation of the conclusions presented here. This paper has implications for both theory and practice by firstly contributing to the wider knowledge base around barriers to innovation whilst also informing entrepreneurs and innovators about the practical approaches which can be adopted to overcome the aforementioned obstacles (Minniti, 2004). The cases analysed document an exploratory study that gauges the role and importance of aspects such as information transfer, collaboration and attitude to risk which are critical to the product development process (Chrisman, 1999; Zhai et al., 2018).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Entrepreneurial knowledge spurs innovation and, in turn, generates a competitive advantage. This paper aims to explore if entrepreneurial knowledge combined with the attitude to innovate can overcome the key \"imperfections\" of the innovation process generated by dynamic, current technological progress in the knowledge-intensive sector. The \"imperfections\" identified in risk management, asymmetric information in the knowledge management process and hold-up problems can all disrupt collaborative partnerships and limit opportunities for innovation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A theory-building approach is applied which offers a case study analysis of two small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These two SMEs operate in Europe but in two different territories: the UK and Italy. The study explores three key imperfections, risk management, asymmetric information in the knowledge management process and hold-up problems, which occur in the innovation process.\nFindings: The entrepreneurs face these imperfections by adopting an open innovation model. Notwithstanding, both entrepreneurs had to deal with all \"imperfections\", and their skills, attributes, attitude and aptitude allowed them to grow their business and continually develop new products. Therefore, the imperfections do not limit the innovative capacity of an entrepreneur but rather enhance their challengeable attitude. In this regard, the case studies induce a further analysis on entrepreneurial knowledge intertwined with entrepreneurial risk management and networking skills.\nResearch limitations/implications: The empirical significance of the two cases does not allow theorisation. However, this research offers interesting results which can be strengthened by a comparative case study with other countries or deeper investigation by applying a quantitative approach.\nOriginality/value: By leveraging entrepreneurial knowledge, the imperfections noted in the innovation process can be overcome. Entrepreneurial knowledge is recognised as the main asset of an enterprise if it is combined with external talent or human resources. Entrepreneurs aim to develop innovative approaches and ideas through establishing both formal and informal collaborative partnership relationships which are used thanks to the entrepreneurs' networking skills, knowledge and abilities.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The formation of networks in the diaspora
|
[
"Diaspora",
"Networks",
"Immigrants",
"International trade"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: \"Diaspora\" is derived from two Greek words meaning \"a scattering or sowing of seeds\" and refers to the displacement or dispersion of members of an ethnic group from their country of origin to foreign lands. The diaspora is defined as people who have migrated away from their homelands, as well as their descendants, but who maintain a connection to their home country (see Plaza, 2013). Examples of a diaspora are the Jews who were exiled from Israel, the Mexican diaspora in the USA, the Turkish diaspora in Germany, and the Indian and African diasporas in all major regions of the world.\n2. Network formation among immigrants and natives: Suppose a society of natives exists where, in each period, a new immigrant joins that society. The new immigrant decides with whom to form a link (only with natives, only with immigrants, or with immigrants and natives), with each linkage costing e in terms of time, effort and/or money. Immigrants speak different languages and have different customs than the natives, hence when the linkages are formed between immigrants and natives, there is an adjustment cost c, in addition to the variable linking cost (e multiplied by the number of linkages). The adjustment cost includes language acquisition and getting to know the new culture and manners of the new society. Information is assumed to be complete, i.e., when a new immigrant joins the society, he or she is aware of the links between the members of the group. One could also think of these costs as a function of the distance between the different members in the diaspora.\n3. Who incurs the linking cost?: As assumed above, the person who benefits most from the connection incurs the linking cost, e. Since u\n4. Discussion: We present a theoretical model of network formation when a sequence of homogeneous individual immigrants with the same background emigrate to different countries in the world - the diaspora. When the immigrant forms a link with the natives worldwide, he or she incurs adjustment costs, in addition to the variable linking costs such as language acquisition and getting to know local customs and the new culture. The agents (immigrant and native) benefit from the linkage via the possibility of international trade with all countries in which the immigrants are present. However, at least in the first stages, the benefit to the immigrant can be higher than that for the local population.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine possible types of network formation among immigrants in the diaspora and between those immigrants and the locals in different countries. The authors present the model by considering different possible interactions between immigrants and the new society in their host country. Spread of migrants from the same origin in the diaspora may well increase international trade between the different countries, depending on the types of networks formed. The authors present possible applications of network structure on the country of origin, such as on international trade. The authors find that when the size of the diaspora is sufficiently large, the natives in the different countries will be willing to bear the linking cost with the immigrants because the possible benefits increase with increasing size of the diaspora.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Developing a theoretical approach for the formation of networks in the diaspora.\nFindings: Those that immigrated first determine the outcome. Policy maker can affect the type of network formed by allocating resources to the first immigrants. They can approve subsidies and tax reductions for international trade. The type of network formed (assimilation, integration, separation or marginalization) affects the level of, and benefits from international trade worldwide, as well as the composition of the imported products. The authors show how leadership is established and how leadership increases over time. More immigrants from the same origin become established all over the world, and new linkages are created with the first immigrant, increasing the possibilities for global trade.\nOriginality/value: The research in this paper is original.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Kantian ethics within transaction cost economics
|
[
"Ethics",
"Transaction costs",
"Organizational culture"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Kant (1724-1804) believed that the sole feature that gives an action moral worth is not the outcome that is achieved by the action, but the motive that is behind the action: act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. But there are problems with the universalisation of the maxim. For an action to be right in one set of circumstances but wrong in another, there must be a relevant difference in the circumstances. For example, it may be right for a beggar to steal but wrong for a millionaire to do so. Critics may point out that being rich is irrelevant to the question of the rightness of stealing, whereas being a beggar is decidedly relevant.\n1 Business context: In a business context, it has been argued that insofar as:[...] they possess a rational will, both management and workers in a Kantian world, are not merely subject to the forces that act upon them; they are not merely means to ends. They are ends in themselves (McNutt and Batho, 2005, pp. 656-66).All means to an end have a conditional worth because they are valuable only for achieving something else - traditionally, profits in a neoclassical firm.The clearest example of morally right actions within a firm is precisely those in which an employee's determination to act in accordance with duty overcomes their evident self-interest and obvious desire to do otherwise. McNutt (1994) outlined how the \"desire to do otherwise\" could impact positively on measured productivity within a company. In the transaction cost economics (TCE) literature, Williamson (1985, 1996) had identified opportunism as one of the determinants of transaction costs. If employees are to fulfil their duties then there is a need to focus on the ethical foundation of ownership and governance within a firm. In particular, there is the need for an ethical approach that stresses the importance of idiosyncratic elements of production and work effort within the firm. This ethical dimension, which has been ignored for too long, should permeate the theory of the firm.In this paper, we argue that the decision not to engage in opportunistic behaviour, for example, by any one individual, may have resulted from a personal sense of duty or been influenced by the ethical values and beliefs embedded within the culture of the organisation or the firm. Management may therefore decide not to abuse their discretionary power; workers may opt not to shirk. The recognition of opportunism as one of the determinants of transaction costs suggests an implicit link between TCE and ethical issues. Insofar as the decision to be opportunistic depends on the disposition towards the other party in a transaction, opportunistic behaviour presumes an absence of morality.Furthermore, we contend that Kantian ethics may offer some support for managerial theories of the firm in circumstances ascribed to a principal-agent conflict of interest: for example, in situations where managers attempt to reduce profits (which are legitimately shareholders') by increasing their level of remuneration (and therefore satisfaction) or in the promotion of productivity within the firm (McNutt and Batho, 2005). When duty determines management behaviour, a moral law will guide us to the right action in every possible set of circumstances, each acting according to our own conception of rules.\n2 Precis on TCE[1]: TCE examines and analyses the reasons for the existence of the firm and its boundaries in a context where markets and organisations are considered as alternative mechanisms of exchange governance. While the focus in neoclassical economics has historically been on the study of markets as exchange mechanisms, new perspectives on the topic of co-ordination were introduced by Coase (1937), who posed the question as to why so much economic activity took place within organisations if markets were so efficient. The enquiry resulted in a theory contending that the use of markets comes at a cost, which Coase (1937) coined \"transaction cost\" and included the cost of negotiating, monitoring and enforcing contracts. Subsequently, exchange is internalised within the organisation or firm when the transaction costs connected to the use of markets are greater than the costs incurred in coordinating exchange through authority.The subject was further developed by Williamson (1975, 1985, 1996), who outlined the sources of transaction costs and set out a number of governance modes explaining transactions. Williamson's conceptualisation of TCE, which maintains the bipolar distinction between markets and hierarchies/organisations introduced by Coase while permitting the existence of hybrid forms (Todeva, 2010), led to a theory explaining the reasons for the existence, the boundaries and the internal organisation of the firm from an economic perspective. Williamson (1975) built on Coase's contention that the choice of exchange mechanism depends on the cost incurred, by pointing out the factors influencing transaction costs. These included the extent to which complete contracts are possible, the extent to which there is potential opportunism, the frequency of the transaction and the level of asset specificity.\n3 A code of ethics, values and beliefs: As alluded to earlier, the decision not to engage in opportunistic behaviour, for example, by any one individual, may have resulted from a personal sense of duty or been influenced by the ethical values and beliefs embedded within the culture of the organisation or the firm. Ouchi (1979, 1980) pointed out that in addition to the bipolar distinction between markets and organisations (or bureaucracies), another mechanism known as \"clan\" coordinates exchange through socialisation, which involves the communication of the common values and beliefs constituting the organisational culture. As argued by McNutt and Batho (2005), the degree to which an ethical code supports the organisational culture is inextricably linked to that culture. A code of ethics can be thought of as a set of moral principles or guidelines which govern behaviour and which enshrine a set of values and beliefs. Codes of ethics therefore concern what is good and bad, and right and wrong in the organisation's decision making, and often reflect senior management's attempts to mould the culture of the organisation.For example, if employees observe that management are behaving in an unethical manner, perhaps by artificially inflating revenue figures or by deploying inappropriate revenue recognition policies, then staff ultimately end up following their lead. Before too long the entire organisation is characterised by an absence of ethics which may take a short time to infiltrate into the culture of an organisation but will take many years to be extracted. So the only relevant feature of the moral law is its generality, the fact that it can be applied at all times to every moral agent. From this chain of reasoning about our moral concepts, Kant derived, as a preliminary statement of moral obligation, the notion that right actions are those that practical reason would be as universal law.\n4 Actions and freedom: In a Kantian world, we, as individuals, find ourselves in the situation of possessing reason, being able to act according to our own conception of rules. We have the ability to choose the rule or principle to guide our actions. Thus, we must exercise our will or intention - the capacity to act according to the principles provided by reason - and our reason to act. Reason assumes freedom and conceives of principles of action in order to function. The fact that we can choose between alternate courses of actions (we are not determined to act by instinct or reason) introduces the possibility that there can be better or worse ways of achieving our ends and better or worse ends, depending upon the criteria we adopt. The presence of two different choices adds another dimension, a moral dimension.Management, rather than employees, possess more of this freedom to choose due to the more discretionary nature of their work (Chryssides and Kaler, 1996). This may be why the discrepancy in pay between management and employees has widened over the last two decades - because management used their discretion to make decisions, which were not always ethical in the sense of what ought to be done. Management made decisions that were ultimately in their own best interest rather than necessarily in the interest of their corporations or employees. For example, the share options that management were awarded may have cost them little or nothing to acquire yet they undertook high-risk strategies to increase the value of these share options to the maximum.Nevertheless, failure of these strategies costs management no financial hardship other than their reputations (as seen in the recent \"reward for failure\" culture) yet ultimately cost some organisations their future. In the late 1990s, for example, this gap between director and employee wealth widened considerably. The September 2002 edition of Business Week survey showed that in 2000, Chief Executive Officiers of quoted American companies made 531 times the amount earned by the average worker. This compared with just 42 times in 1980 (Chryssides and Kaler, 1996). There is no doubt that some of this unequal distribution of wealth was engineered through a form of corporate mis-governance. This supports Kant's argument in part that wealth can be used for ill purposes and therefore cannot be intrinsically good.\n5 What ought to be done: Modern firms are structured as complex organisations. Consequently, top management has become more distanced from the details of the business. This lack of understanding from the top can facilitate an ethical dilemma wherein employees shirk responsibility. Williamson (1975) used the concept of \"bounded rationality\" as outlined by Simon (1957) to argue that humans are limited in their capacity to process information; consequently wrong decisions are taken or decisions are made on incorrect information. Bounded rationality in turn increases transaction costs.Values are intimately connected with moral and ethical codes, and determine what people think ought to be done. For example, individuals and organisations that value honesty, integrity and openness, consider that they (and others) should act honestly, openly and with integrity because that is the right thing to do. A code of ethics, through beliefs and values, forms the building blocks of organisational behaviour within a stakeholder firm. Values and beliefs are part of the cognitive sub-structure of any organisational culture.The value set is composed of rights and duties (McNutt and Batho, 2005). The distinction is reasonably straightforward. For the most part, rights and duties are the opposite ends of a given spectrum. If management in their function as employers have a duty to ensure reasonable standards of health and safety for workers, workers have a right to expect it. If it has become a norm that workers have a right to a minimum wage, then management as employers have a duty to pay it.Within the stakeholder firm, s-firm (McNutt, 1994), there are role-specific rights and duties. For example, all workers have a right to use the firm's canteen or parking spaces. A role-specific duty may also be a legal duty: for example, the sales manager who failed to promote the firms' goods could also be in breach of contract. Or a worker who shirks on the production line would be failing in a role-specific duty, but may not be acting illegally. While insofar as any role-specific right or duty is moral as opposed to legal, it derives its moral force from being a restricted instance of a general right or duty. The sales manager or worker, for example, could be demonstrating an absence of a firm-specific value set; in other words, the value set within a firm is akin to a universal morality.In the absence of a value set, there is a role-specific failure of a general moral duty of fidelity and obligation within the stakeholder firm. Let us consider the following circumstances wherein rights and duties are performed.5.1 Specialisation\n6 Concluding thoughts: In deriving a moral philosophy, we need to distinguish between contracting across outcomes, issues, decisions and contracts. The latter require enforcement in law to ensure that the concept of efficiency includes the enforcement costs of contracts. While TCE does not consider an ethical dimension, there is implied enforcement in the recognition of trust as an important determinant of transaction costs. Likewise, there is an emphasis on duty within the organisation or firm.The tendency to behave opportunistically depends on the benefits resulting from such behaviour and the disposition towards the other party to a transaction (Douma and Schreuder, 2002), which suggests that some people will not cheat in a transaction because it would be against their morality or ethical values. The firm can thus promote its own ethical values and in turn influence the disposition of employees towards other parties in economic exchange through a code of ethics. Trust between individuals could subsequently result in mutually beneficial relationships or transactions in agreements-as-bargain form by fulfilling one's duty.The reciprocal act can prove useful in explaining, for instance, how the development of relationships built in trust have led to successful forms of long-term relational contracting between independent organisations in the value chain using \"just in time\" systems. The recognition of the benefits of developing relationships built in trust may reduce transaction costs connected to opportunism and subsequently trigger the use of markets or norms in exchange coordination. We would argue that the avoidance of an ethical dilemma supports the role of trust in TCE. However, there are two practical problems. First, we are not wholly rational beings, so we are liable to succumb to our non-rational impulses. Second, even when we exercise our reason fully, we often cannot know which action is the best.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is twofold: first to add to the debate on trust and opportunism within transaction cost economics (TCE) and second to describe a partial solution, a code of ethical practice (CoEP) originating in Kant's moral philosophy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The methodology has centred on ethical values of right and wrong within an organisation in terms of fulfilling one's duty.\nFindings: - The contracting or exchange objective in any transaction is to arrive at a mutually satisfactory outcome, an equilibrium point. With opportunism, a free rider problem may well arise; if so, a partial solution emerges. This has to be avoided. In this paper, the authors focus on simple contracts as a solution, that is, an agreement-as-bargain in a CoEP not made in deed but made in reason, so that each party to the arrangement, has \"dignity\". The avoidance of an ethical dilemma in not fulfilling one's duty is linked to the role of trust in TCE.\nPractical implications: - It is argued that the decision not to engage in opportunistic behaviour, for example, by any one individual, may be rooted in a personal sense of duty or influenced by the ethical values and beliefs embedded within the culture of the organisation or the firm. Management may therefore decide not to abuse their discretionary power; workers may opt not to shirk.\nOriginality/value: - The paper builds on a new approach to understand governance and ethics insofar as a firm teaches people morality. This CoEP supports the role of trust in modern companies and links across to the literature on TCE. The paper should be of value to shareholders, workers and management, trade unions and commentators on the theory of the firm.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Tacit knowledge transfer and spillover learning in ramp-ups
|
[
"Laboratory experiment",
"Knowledge transfer",
"Ramp-up",
"Spillover learning"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: For production ramp-ups, defined as the \"period between completion of development and full capacity utilization\" (Terwiesch and Bohn, 2001, p. 1), learning is of central importance to reduce uncertainty and instability. With shorter product life cycles and an increasing number of product variants, operations managers are more frequently faced with ramp-ups (Fjallstrom et al., 2009; Matta et al., 2007; Schuh et al., 2005). Dominant topics in the operations management literature related to learning and knowledge transfer are lean management and agile manufacturing practices (Hines et al., 2004; Elmoselhy, 2013). A central goal of lean manufacturing systems as well as for ramp-up management is the realization of smooth production flows due to continuous learning and improvement processes (Elmoselhy, 2013). Furthermore, agile manufacturing is defined as \"the capability to survive and prosper in a competitive environment of continuous and unpredictable change by reacting quickly and effectively to changing markets, driven by customer-designed products and services\" (Gunasekaran, 1998, p. 1223). That means firms have to adapt to changes and reconfigure their manufacturing systems frequently in the above-mentioned market conditions. In this context, researchers stress the aim of balancing the intuitive trade-off between responsiveness and efficiency, especially during ramp-up phases (Yin et al., 2017). For firms to prosper in work environments which constantly change due to modifications to product variants and designs, shop floor employees have to adapt constantly (Alavi et al., 2014; Yusuf et al., 1999).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Spillover learning in production ramp-up\n3. Hypothesis development: Organizational learning in production ramp-ups and spillover learning have each received attention as separate literature streams. However, spillover learning is a valuable way for companies to improve performance in production ramp-ups by reducing uncertainty and instability. Moreover, analyzing the role of spillover learning allows further insight into the dynamic nature of learning processes when the tasks and the employees who perform these tasks change over time.\n4. Methodological approach and experimental procedure: 4.1 Laboratory experiments as a scientific economic methodology\n5. Results: 5.1 Descriptive statistics\n6. Discussion of the results: In this paper, an experimental design was employed to investigate the influence of different work settings on individuals' performance in a manufacturing task and especially on learning effects. A particular focus was laid on how knowledge spills over between tasks and between workers.\n7. Conclusions, limitations, outlook: This paper's findings have important practical implications for ramp-up management in manufacturing firms. First, managers should not only view a process or product ramp-up as a single, isolated project. Instead, they should take into account how learned knowledge can be transferred to other ramp-ups, either in the future or in another shift or in another plant of the company. While different codification mechanisms and information system solutions exist to manage organizational knowledge (Beck et al., 2014) and are found to be superior compared to knowledge transfer through observation (Letmathe et al., 2012), some tacit knowledge cannot be codified. This study has shown that ramp-up managers can nevertheless manage the transfer of such tacit knowledge by relying on spillovers between consecutive ramp-ups and between people when allocating personnel. Consequentially, newly introduced workers should be assigned to a more experienced co-worker in order to observe and learn through tacit knowledge transfer rather than working with an equally unexperienced colleague. In the experiment, the pure presence of an experienced colleague working beside a newcomer leads to significant performance improvements with regard to quality (27.18 percent less defects) and time (18.39 percent faster). Especially during production ramp-up where personnel often changes, managers should consider these learning dynamics in dyads. In real-world production ramp-ups, managers face a variety of challenges in an uncertain and instable environment (Terwiesch and Bohn, 2001). Usually, available workers have different degrees of experience with regard to manufacturing comparable products and some have experienced the ramp-up of previous product generations (Kampker et al., 2014). This means that holders of certain tacit knowledge exist, which is not or cannot be codified. These knowledge holders can be a valuable source to induce spillovers. Overall, and very importantly, this research shows that ramp-up managers should concentrate more on the allocation of personnel in ramp-up phases despite the many other uncertainties and constraints they usually face.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: With shortening product life cycles and an increasing number of product variants, manufacturing firms perform more production ramp-ups. In this context, learning is crucially important to quickly achieve high production process quality and stability. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Through a laboratory experiment, this study analyzes spillover learning between consecutive ramp-ups and how this phenomenon is influenced by tacit knowledge transfer through observation and imitation.\nFindings: The results prove the existence of spillover learning between consecutive ramp-ups. Moreover, they provide evidence how tacit knowledge transfer through observation and imitation enhances learning of new tasks in consecutive production ramp-ups.\nResearch limitations/implications: Future research could focus on the specific psychological processes driving tacit knowledge transfer and spillover learning, a topic which is only touched upon in this paper.\nPractical implications: The findings show that manufacturing firms should not only aim at reaching a steep learning curve during a single production ramp-up, but should also take into account the effects of spillover learning with regard to future production ramp-ups. Furthermore, the paper provides novel insights concerning the allocation of workers to production tasks with regard to previous experience when introducing new personnel and during ramp-up phases.\nOriginality/value: Previous evidence on the existence and characteristics of spillover learning in production ramp-up situations is not conclusive. This paper provides new and unambiguous insights by considering different organizational settings.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
An analysis of collection development in the university libraries of Pakistan
|
[
"Pakistan",
"Academic libraries",
"Collection management",
"Collection development",
"Factors influencing collection development and management in the academic libraries",
"University libraries in Pakistan"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nCollection development: In libraries and information centres, collection development is considered an essential element of the information life cycle. Nevertheless, the actual reflections that converge in it are one of the most significant processes in the effective performance of any unit of information (Vignau and Meneses, 2005). Collection development is the most important factor for library quality and among the most expensive aspects of library operations (Adams and Noel, 2008). Reitz (2013) describes collection development as the process of planning and acquiring a balanced collection of library materials over a period of years, based on an ongoing assessment of the information needs of the library's clientele, analysis of usage statistics and demographic projection. According to Feather and Sturges (2003), collection development is \"the process of planning a library's program for acquisitions and disposals, focusing on the building of collections in the context of the institution's collection management policy\". Evans and Saponaro (2012) refer to collection development as \"the process of identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a library's materials collection in terms of patron needs, community resources, and attempting to correct existing weaknesses if any\".\nUniversity libraries in Pakistan: Pakistan is a South Asian developing country that came into existence on 14 August 1947, as a result of the partition of British India. According to the census report of 1998, the total population was 135.57 million which has increased to 186.5 million in 2014 (Census Organization, 2014). Pakistan is basically an agricultural country, where 75 per cent of the population lives in villages with agriculture as the main source of livelihood. Pakistan is a multi-ethnic and multi-linguistical state where Urdu is the national language and English is the official language. The literacy rate of Pakistan is 50 per cent. Politically, Pakistan is a federation of four provinces (Punjab, Sindh, KPK and Baluchistan) and the Federal Capital Area of Islamabad. Administratively, the provinces are made up of divisions, districts and sub-divisions.\nHistory of university libraries in Pakistan: The history of university libraries in Pakistan goes back 99 years when the University of the Punjab was established by a Special Act of Incorporation by the Government of India in 1882. In fact, this was the fourth university established in the sub-continent after Bombay, Calcutta and Madras which was established in 1857. Until 1904, these universities remained only affiliating and examining bodies. They did not direct teaching work, but contented themselves by testing the educated in affiliated colleges. The Indian Universities Act of 1904 made an important change and enlarged the function of the universities from merely examining bodies to teaching institutions. It laid down:\nAdministrative structure of the university libraries in Pakistan: Universities in Pakistan have administratively different library structures, such as:\nFactors influencing collection development and management in university libraries of Pakistan: There are several factors that influence collection development and management activities in the academic libraries. These factors include users' community, users' needs, CDPs, collection development goals and objectives, selection procedures, format of materials, acquisition management, gifts and donations, fiscal management, access management, marketing of collection, collection evaluation, weeding, preservation and conservation of collection, cooperative collection development and resource sharing. Evans and Saponaro (2012) and Gregory (2011) list these influential factors as: information on needs assessment, CDPs, selection procedures, type and format of materials, acquisition, fiscal management, de-selection, collection evaluation, resource sharing, collection protection and legal issues. Sivadas (2012) divides these factors into two broad categories, that is, internal factors and external factors. According to him, internal factors include: the institution's missions and objectives, purpose of the library, the users' community, the present collection and the available resources. External factors contain the government policies, economic conditions and financial support to the institution, academic environment and publishing, users' attitude towards various types of formats and their information seeking and their attitude towards education.\nUsers' needs assessment: The mission and goals of any library revolves around meeting the informational, educational or recreational needs of its clientele. In libraries, users' needs assessments are usually carried out for collection development. However, libraries also do needs assessments for improving various library services, building arrangements and for administrative purposes (Gregory, 2011). Knowledge of serving the community is the keystone of effective collection development and management policies and procedures. Evans and Saponaro (2012) state that library services and collections should be developed based on an understanding of the service community's information needs and wants. Therefore, the more the collection development staff knows about the work roles, general interest, education, information and communication behaviour, values and related characteristics of the potential library users, the more likely it is that the collection will be able to provide the necessary information when it is needed (Gregory, 2011). Data collected about library users are a valuable source for policy formulation, selection decisions and evaluation projects.\nCollection development policies: CDPs serve as blueprints for the operations of a library. Through these, policies libraries carry out their central tasks of acquiring, organizing and managing library materials (Gregory, 2011). CDPs have proven valuable for many collection development and management librarians. Various authors have defined CDP according to their own perspective. However, Harte (2006) observed that there is no agreed definition of CDPs in the literature.\nCollection development budgets: Without funding, most library collections would be relatively small, consisting of items individuals no longer wanted and probably of little value to other people. With funding, the potential is almost unlimited, if used wisely and properly. This is how money spent on materials for the collection constitutes the second largest expense category for the libraries (Evans and Saponaro, 2005).\nCollection evaluation: Collection evaluation is the most important measure of collection development (Agee, 2005) which provides quantitative feedback for improving future collection development (Carrigan, 1996). Collection evaluation helps to build a balanced and relevant collection of materials according to the information needs of the users' community. Many researchers consider that collection evaluation is among the core missions of libraries to ensure that they are meeting the information needs of the user, and that they support the educational mission of the parent institution (Henry et al., 2008).\nResponsibility for selection of reading materials in academic libraries: The responsibility of selection \"who shall select the resources\" is considered a central question related to selection policies and procedures. The phrase \"who selects\" is a fundamental issue in the process of collection development (Ameen and Haider, 2007b). Collection development is a joint venture of faculty and library staff in academic institutions which should be clearly mentioned in the manifesto of academic libraries (Van Zijl, 2005).\nFormats in which materials are selected: Traditionally, academic libraries collect materials primarily consisting of printed materials, both books and journals. Some libraries also collect audio video materials. The revolution of emerging technologies has completely altered the conventional library system. This has been changing the landscapes of librarianship. There has occurred a dramatic shift in the formats in which information is offered to the library users. CD-ROM, e-journals, e-books and the Internet are relatively recent developments. Singh (2004) and Van Zijl (2005) also observed this diversification in the range of electronic formats due to the emergence of new technologies.\nAccess versus ownership: The emergence of ICT has repositioned the frontier of academic library resources, operations and services as well as users' expectations. This has made academic libraries to struggle to keep their place as a major source of inquiry. Digital technology has not only revolutionized the way information is packaged, processed, stored and disseminated, but also how users' seek and access information. Before the advent of ICT, academic libraries were the sole custodians of information, which was predominantly in print. But in the present era, they can no longer restrict themselves to print resources because electronic information is challenging their monopoly. Under these circumstances, academic libraries can maintain their place by serving as an access point to both print and electronic resources (Anunobi and Okoye, 2008).\nCooperative collection development: Escalating material costs combined with budget constraints and increasing numbers of volumes published are leading libraries to depend more on other libraries and source centres to meet user needs and expectations. Library cooperation is an important part of collection development and management activities. The ability to leverage funds through cooperative purchasing and shared storage facilities and to offer library users access to the world's vast information resources are powerful forces toward cooperation (Johnson, 2009).\nWeeding: Weeding is the process of removing materials from the active collection for withdrawal or transfer. Alternately, this activity is referred by many terms, such as \"pruning\", \"thinning\", \"culling\", \"de-selection\", \"de-accession\", \"relegation\", \"de-acquisition\", \"retirement\", \"reverse selection\", \"negative selection\" and \"book stock control\". Weeding is the most undesirable and the most important and challenging task for libraries (Johnson, 2009; Covey, 2002). Many researchers consider weeding the result of evaluation. However, it is not necessary that collection evaluation is done for weeding purposes only. According to Gregory (2011), collection evaluation does not necessarily imply weeding. Academic libraries can assess specific subject collection to develop it for research purposes. They can also perform it for accreditation and recognition purpose prior to the visits of affiliation-granting institutions.\nLegal issues in collection development: Legal issues are always implicitly or explicitly connected to collection development activities. The most obvious areas are copyright and licensing. These concepts have become more important as more and more collection materials are received or made available in electronic form. In this connection, Digital Right Management (DRM) software and hardware also present important question for the collection development staff (Gregory, 2011).\nConclusion: It became apparent from the above discussion that various factors affect collection development activities in the university libraries of Pakistan. These include dwindling budgets, absence of standards, absence of CDPs, lack of assessments of users and collections, insufficient coordination between faculty and LIS professionals, fast growth of electronic resources, application of ICTs, inactive role of library association in the formulation of standards, absence of consortial plans and alternative plans. The review of local literature shows that university libraries in Pakistan develop their collections in isolation, mostly comprising books and journals. To support instruction and research, 90 per cent of books and other reading materials are imported from abroad, mostly from the USA and UK. Moreover, the nature of acquisition of library materials is collection-centred instead of users-centred. Teaching faculty plays a major role in the selection of library materials for purchase, while LIS professionals' role is merely of facilitators, providing them catalogues, booklists or books on approval. However, neither faculty nor LIS professionals have a balanced role in the selection process which affect the in-time supply of materials and acquisition process. Subscriptions to online resources provide only access rather than ownership. Libraries face problems when the subscription is over. However, this issue has been controlled by HEC Digital Library program since 2004. The electronic resources of HEC Digital Library are made available free of cost to the universities and institutes of higher learning in Pakistan, which helps them to access required information resources without any subscription.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The study aims to explore the factors which influence collection development and management in academic libraries. In libraries and information centres, collection development is considered an essential element of the information life cycle. Collection development and management activities do not emanate from a vacuum. Several factors have a direct bearing on the way in which collections are developed and managed in the academic libraries. These factors are bridges and barriers for effective collection development and management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An extensive review of the available literature was made to conduct the study.\nFindings: The study found that several factors have a direct bearing on the way in which collections are developed and managed in the academic libraries. These factors include goals of collection development and management policies and procedures, user needs, collection development policies (CDPs), collection development budgets, collection evaluation to determine the strength and weaknesses of various subjects in the collections, selection of reading materials, formats in which materials are selected, the issues of access versus ownership, cooperative collection development, resource-sharing programs and legal issues in collection development and management.\nOriginality/value: This study provides an overview of various factors that influence collection development activities in the academic libraries. It provides an insight for the selectors of library resources to take these factors into account for building effective collections in the academic libraries of Pakistan and abroad.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Foreign direct investment and employment in manufacturing and services sectors: Fresh empirical evidence from Singapore
|
[
"Causality",
"Foreign direct investment",
"Employment",
"Singapore"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Singapore is one of the most globalised nations in the world as a result of the adoption of open foreign investment policy and liberalised trade regime over a long period of time[1]. In 2007, Singapore was the third largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Asian region with flows valued at US$24.1 billion after China (US$83.5 billion) and Hong Kong, China (US$59.9 billion) (see Table I). By the same token, Singapore was also one of Asia's largest foreign sources of direct investment (DI), and the bulk of Singapore's stock of DI abroad went to financial services and manufacturing (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2008a). According to the official report, although the 12 per cent growth in the country's stock of FI abroad (which amounted to S$226.3 billion in 2006) was comparable to the 12.4 per cent increase in its stock of inward FDI in 2006 (which stood at S$363.9 billion), the latter is significantly larger than the former in terms of magnitude (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2008a, b).In the course of globalisation, a large part of the manufacturing and services sectors in the Singapore economy have been dominated by multinational corporations (MNCs), which use the host country as a hub for global operations and international business (Islam and Chowdhury, 1997). Thus, both manufacturing and services sectors are the major recipients of FDI. In 2006, out of the total FDI stock, financial and insurance services had the largest share of 38.7 per cent followed by manufacturing (29.9 per cent) (see Table II). Moreover, the distribution of FDI stock in financial and insurance services sector in 2006 was 81.5 per cent in investment holding companies, 7 per cent in banks and 4.9 per cent in insurance services (see Table III). In terms of share of manufacturing FDI stock in 2006, pharmaceuticals accounted for 35.2 per cent compared to electronics (29.7 per cent), petroleum (13.2 per cent) and chemicals (7.1 per cent) (Table III).In recognition of the strategic importance of both sectors in terms FDI promotion, employment generation and contribution to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth, the Singapore Economic Development Board (2004) noted manufacturing and services will continue to be the \"twin engines\" of growth for the nation's economy. For instance, the services industry cluster is Singapore's leading contributor to some of the key macroeconomic aggregates. In 2007, services' contributions to real GDP and employment were 63.3 and 67.7 per cent respectively, while the manufacturing sector accounted for 26.1 and 20.8 per cent share for the former and the latter respectively (see Table IV). However, with reference to investment commitments, which include both fixed assets investments and business spending by both local and foreign firms, the manufacturing sector tends to attract the bulk of the total investments as compared to the services industry cluster (see Table IV). In 2008, foreign investments still remained as the largest contributor to investment commitments in both the manufacturing and services sectors in Singapore with 89.7 per cent share (S$16,183 million) compared with 10.3 per cent (S$1,863 million) in domestic investment (Ministry of Trade and Industry, Republic of Singapore, 2008).In fact, manufacturing and services could mutually reinforce each other. For instance, diversifying the manufacturing sector to high value chain activities could generate intermediate (also known as derived) demand for services ranging from logistics and ports to business and finance. Conversely, a strong complementary services sector could encourage more manufacturing activities; thus creating as mutually reinforcing growth cycle[2].Broadly speaking, this study contributes to the existing literature on FDI by exploring the long run relationships and causal linkages among FDI inflows, and employment in manufacturing, and in services, for a small open economy namely Singapore. In general, the existing studies (i.e. Feenstra and Hanson, 1995; Mickiewicz et al., 2000; Ernst, 2005; Jenkins, 2006; Jayaraman and Singh, 2007) use aggregate and sectoral data to examine the relationships between FDI inflows and employment. For instance, Feenstra and Hanson (1995) found that inward FDI increased the relative demand for skilled labour in Mexican manufacturing. Mickiewicz et al. (2000) concluded that the role of FDI in employment creation/preservation had been most successful in Hungary attributable to its structural similarity to developed economies. Ernst's (2005) findings showed that Mexico, except for Argentina and Brazil, experienced a strong employment creation as a consequence of a surge in manufacturing FDI. Using Fiji as a country case study, Jayaraman and Singh (2007) found that there was unidirectional long-run causality running from FDI to employment.However, this study explores the possible interactions between FDI inflows and employment in manufacturing and services sectors as well as the employment linkages between manufacturing and services using Singapore as a case. It is important to highlight that this study aims to examine if there is a cointegrating relationship as well as causality patterns among these variables of interest from the macroeconomic perspective, rather than providing empirical evidence of what determine the FDI inflows into Singapore, in particular using firm level data such as by Greenaway et al. (1994); Blomstrom and Kokko (1994); Lipsey (1994); Urata (2006). Moreover, this study applies the error-correction version of autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration and causality, which has the advantage of avoiding the stationary pre-testing for small sample size (Pesaran et al., 2001).The rest of this paper is organised as follows. Section 2 describes the analytical framework exploring the inter-linkages among FDI inflows, employment in manufacturing and in services. This section also discusses the data and methodology - determination of the stationarity of each variable based on unit root tests and the Granger causality (Granger, 1969, 1988) test procedure based on the error correction adaptation of the ARDL approach. Results are reported in section 3. Concluding remarks and policy discussions are documented in section 4.\n2. Analytical framework, data, and autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach: 2.1 Analytical framework\n3. Results: Figure 2 presents the ordinary least square (OLS) estimates of ARDL-error correction model as in Pesaran et al. (2001) for the VAR(2) as suggested by the lag length selection criteria reported in Table VII. The Ramsey RESET statistics (with large p-value) show no evidence of model misspecification in equations (1) to (3). Again, the plots of CUSUM statistics reveal no structural break(s) for the underlying equations. These diagnostic test results suggest that the two outliers (such as a sharp decline in FDI in 1998 and 2001 due to the Asian financial crisis and the September 11 terrorists' attack respectively) did not affect the stability of the ARDL estimates of equations (1) to (3).The bound testing statistics (F-statistics) for equations (1) and (3) as reported in Table VIII are 3.018, and 1.265 respectively, which are below the lower bound critical value (3.437), while the test statistic for equation (2), 4.460 is closer to the upper bound critical value of 4.470. Clearly, as highlighted by Bahmani-Oskooee and Brooks (1999) and Bahmani-Oskooee and Rehman (2005), no final conclusion can be made about a cointegrating relationship among FDI, EM, and ES without looking at other test for cointegration based on the error correct term. The estimated coefficients and p-values for the error correction terms in equations (1) to (3) are reported in Figure 2, which shows that the estimated coefficients of the error correction terms for equations (1) and (2) are statistically significant (at 0.10 level of significance), implying there is a cointegration among FDI, EM, and ES for Singapore. They have correct sign with considerable variation in the speed of adjustment (e.g. how long does FDI take to restore long-run equilibrium after some short-run changes in its regressors). For example, DlnFDIt takes about one quarter (one divided by the estimated coefficient of the error correction term) to converge to long-run steady state, while DlnEMt requires approximately thirteen quarters to restore long-run equilibrium. On the other hand, the results of Johansen's multivariate cointegration tests suggest at least one cointegrating vector (not reported here but are available from authors upon request), which also support the earlier findings on cointegration on the grounds that an equilibrium relationship is present among the variables on interest.The first panel in Table IX provides the chi-square statistics and p-values for the error correction terms for equations (1) to (3). These statistics show that both EM and ES do jointly Granger-cause FDI inflows in the long run (equation 1), while there is also a long-run causality running from FDI inflows and ES to EM (equation 2). These results corroborate the arguments that employment in both manufacturing and services can encourage FDI inflows into Singapore in the long run owing to its well-endowed skilled workforce in both sectors. On the contrary, inward FDI as well as employment in services can potentially promote employment in manufacturing in the long run due to higher capital investment by MNCs in the manufacturing sector on one hand, and the strong complementary services sector on the other, hence, this can lead to more employment in manufacturing.The second panel (in Table IX) reports the results of joint significant test of the lagged first differenced variables which can be used to determine the direction of causality in the short run. The summary of the direction of the short-run causality among FDI, EM, and ES for Singapore is given by Figure 3, which shows that there is a short-run causal relationship running from FDI inflows to employment in manufacturing, which in turn Granger causes employment services but not in the reverse direction. This implies that as the inward FDI is moving up the value chain from downstream to upstream activities, an expansion of skilled workforce in this sector can potentially create employment in the manufacturing, which could lead to increased employment in services ranging from logistics and information technology to business and finance, for example. This empirical observation is well in line with the studies by Thangavelu and Tan's (2008) findings, who ascertained the employment linkages in the Singapore economy using input-output framework for 18 industrial sectors at 2-digit industrial classification. This unique causality pattern advocates the argument that the high value-added FDI, i.e. in manufacturing and services sectors, is capable of creating demand for employment in view of the fact that these two sectors could form the \"twin-engines\" of growth for Singapore economy. In turn, a significant proportion of FDI tends to attract skilled workforce from domestic manufacturing, and employment in manufacturing causes employment in services. The empirical evidence of FDI-employment in manufacturing-services linkage would be consistent with multinational trade and investment activity that involves in forward linkages. As a result of sustained FDI inflows into the country, Singapore is in the position to promote highly educated and well-trained labour force (i.e. in both manufacturing and services) to undertake high value-added manufacturing activities and provide professional and technology services locally and internationally.\n4. Conclusions: The present study empirically investigates the inter-linkages between FDI inflows, manufacturing and services employment for a small open economy - Singapore, which is well endowed with human resources, offers attractive environments and incentives for foreign investors and, both manufacturing and services sectors are seen as future engines of growth. The basis for such an investigation is that an increase in FDI inflows could lead to higher employment in the host country if it complements with domestic investment. The employment effect of FDI inflows is greater if it is concentrated in labour-intensive industries (Jenkins, 2006). Conversely, the growth in the skilled workforce in emerging industries could attract FDI, which can potentially lead to technology transfer.The cointegration results indicate that there is a unique long-run relationship among FDI inflows, employment in manufacturing and in services. Besides, the findings show that there is unidirectional causation that runs from employment in manufacturing and services to FDI inflows in the long run, implying apart from her strategic location in the region, sophisticated infrastructure, and attractive investment incentives, an expansion of skilled workforce in these sectors is instrumental in drawing FDI inflows into the country, thus, opening up a channel for important source of technology and better international business network. On the other, there is also evidence of causation running the other way, from FDI inflows and employment in services to employment in manufacturing, suggesting the presence of MNCs has lower propensity to establish linkages with local industries, and the services employment can be seen as a complement to manufacturing employment given these sectors are mutually supporting. The possible explanations for low local sourcing by MNCs are MNCs have massive resources and international network, and local firms' business methods are not suited to global markets. To forge linkages between MNCs and domestic firms, the government should assist local companies to tie up with foreign partners (e.g. forming strategic alliances with MNCs), which can increase the transnationality of domestic firms. Furthermore, the government should continue to develop programmes for manpower development focusing on critical skills needed by the wholly owned subsidiaries of foreign corporations in order to increase local sourcing.The findings also provide robust evidence of short-run causation that runs from FDI inflows to manufacturing employment and in turn, employment linkage is running from manufacturing to services, which supports the view that as the manufacturing industries move up the value chain, they tend to generate employment spill-over effects to the services sector. Hence, in light of the fact that both the manufacturing and services are regarded as the \"twin engines\" of growth for Singapore economy and these two sectors are interlinked, the appropriate strategy to increase the job opportunities in the services sector is to diversify the manufacturing base and increase high value-added activities in emerging manufacturing industries.Even though this study provides fresh empirical evidence on the patterns of causation between overall FDI inflows and employment in manufacturing, and services in Singapore in both short and long run, one likely area of future research is to extend the present study by using disaggregated data on FDI inflows (e.g. FDI inflows specifically in manufacturing as well as services instead of using the aggregated FDI as employed in this paper), which not only may reveal some interesting asymmetries and comparable results but also are able to allow one to determine whether the findings in this paper can be generalized or not.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to examine both the cointegrating and causal relationships among inward FDI and the host country's employment in manufacturing and services sectors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper applies autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) framework to test the cointegration and causality patterns using Singapore as a case.\nFindings: - Apart from the presence of a unique long-run relationship, the findings also show evidence of long-run causality, running from employment in manufacturing and services to FDI inflows, and from FDI inflows and services employment to manufacturing employment. Furthermore, there is evidence of short-run causality showing strong FDI-employment and employment linkages, predominantly from the manufacturing to services.\nResearch limitations/implications: - One likely area of future research is to extend this paper by using disaggregated data, e.g. FDI inflows by sector (manufacturing and services), and employment by the respective sectors.\nPractical implications: - Manufacturing and services have been regarded as the \"twin engines\" of growth for the Singapore economy. As the economy is moving up the value chain from downstream to upstream activities, a significant proportion of foreign direct investment (FDI) has been attracted to the manufacturing and services sectors. The present study provides useful policy implications towards promoting foreign investment in emerging areas of and manpower development in both sectors of the economy.\nOriginality/value: - This paper explores the possible interactions between FDI inflows and employment in manufacturing and services sectors as well as the employment linkages between manufacturing and services in Singapore.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Intellectual capital and financial performance in the Serbian ICT industry
|
[
"Serbia",
"Intellectual capital",
"Intangible assets",
"Corporate performance",
"ICT industry",
"Value-added intellectual coefficient"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction - the nature and role of intellectual capital (IC): In conventional management, tangible assets like land, factories, machinery, equipment, and raw materials were used as the basis for performance improvement. When these sources of corporate wealth became scarce or harder to obtain, managers took a U-turn toward finding ways of gaining competitive advantage even while having less physical capital at their disposal. In other words, managers had to do more with less, and had to focus on working smarter, not harder. Thus, the knowledge-based economy was born. The knowledge-based economy supports a business model that relies mainly on wealth creation through development, deployment, and utilization of companies' intangible assets or IC. The cornerstones of IC that drive enterprise performance include knowledge, competence, intellectual property, brands, reputation, and customer relationships (Janosevic and Dzenopoljac, 2014).\n2. Main components of IC: Efforts toward a sound categorization of the IC of a company are also efforts toward better management of this IC. One of the early categorizations of IC, made by Karl-Erik Sveiby (1997) (cited in Sveiby, 2002) distinguished internal structure, external structure, and employee competencies. Internal structure consists of internal company systems, databases, business processes, and routines that are used as business supports. External structure entails relationships with external stakeholders and networks. Finally, employee competencies include individual experience, knowledge, and employee abilities. One of the pioneering attempts to categorize intangibles was made by Hall (1992), who categorized intangibles into two groups, depending on their ability to be viewed separately from human resources. Intangibles that reside within human resources are labeled as human capital (HC). HC is based on various forms of knowledge, which are predominantly generic or specific. This notion is in line with generally accepted ideas that organizational advantage is extracted from knowledge residing in the heads of employees and represents the most valuable asset of a company (Crane and Bontis, 2014). On the other hand, intangibles that can be separated from human resources are defined as organizational capital (e.g. company norms, rules of behavior, databases, organizational routines, and corporate culture), technological capital (e.g. patents, trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights, and intellectual property rights), and relational capital (RC) (e.g. reputation, brand, customer loyalty, long-term customer relations, trade name, and distribution channels).\n3. Empirical evidence of the relationship between IC and corporate performance in knowledge-intensive industries: While the theoretical foundations for investigating the importance of IC for corporate performance are clear and require no further explanations (Bontis et al., 2000), the practical side of this relationship is questionable. There are three main reasons for this. The first is that the literature and practice still lack an appropriate measure of IC's absolute value, or its relative contribution to corporate performance. Therefore, the use of various (less than perfect) measures restricts the ability to compare given results adequately. The second reason is that analyses are performed in different contexts, especially in regards to different places and in different points in time. IC's impact on corporate performance differs in developed compared to developing countries. Additionally, the research results may vary depending on the time of the research. If we analyze IC's impact on corporate performance in a time of economic crisis, we might encounter results indicating that IC does not affect performance. Finally, due to the time-delay effect of IC, it is vital to analyze corporate performance several years after initial investments in IC and organizational learning have taken place (Bontis et al., 2002; Bontis and Fitz-enz, 2002). Despite these restrictions in research studies, one thing is clear: the IC of a company must be seen as an asset with the potential to create extra value. The ways in which managers combine this asset with material ones lead to achieving competitive advantage. However, the main problem with IC and its impact on value is the inability to grasp its potential because many authors simply try to compare it to market or book value, for example. According to Bukh et al. (2001), the focus should be on how IC is being put to work, and therefore on IC-related activities.\n4. Research methodology: Sample description\n5. Results and discussion: Descriptive statistics\n6. Concluding remarks: The value-creation process using IC entails several important points. First, IC's value-creation potential generates future benefits for the firm. Second, IC's ability to create value is based on the intangible resources of the firm, which have no physical or financial embodiment. Third, IC rarely affects value creation directly, since IC creates value indirectly. Fourth, various components of IC are interlinked, both among themselves and with different forms of tangible resources, and hence cannot be valued separately from other assets. Fifth, IC is closely related to knowledge management. Sixth, IC is a kind of resource that is extremely difficult to imitate or substitute, which often leads to the creation of long-lasting competitive advantage if applied properly. This leads to the seventh important principle, which places IC as an important potential source of competitive advantage. The eighth principle of creating value with IC highlights that, unlike tangible resources in a firm whose value erodes with increased use, the value of IC increases with increased use. Finally, IC is the main resource for creating extra value in the information age.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether intellectual capital (IC) creates value in the Serbian information communication technology (ICT) sector. More specifically, it examines the degree to which IC and its key components affect the financial performance of selected ICT companies compared to effects on physical and financial capital.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analysis included 13,989 Serbian ICT companies during 2009-2013. Value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) was used to measure the level of IC contribution to value creation. Measures of financial performance used in the study were return on equity, return on assets, return on invested capital, profitability, and asset turnover.\nFindings: Results indicate that, when using firm size and leverage as control variables, only capital-employed efficiency has significant effect on financial performance. Finally, the research confirms that there were no significant differences in financial performance among different ICT subsectors.\nResearch limitations/implications: Main research limitation is related to the disadvantages of VAIC as the measure of IC's contribution to value creation.\nPractical implications: Owners and managers of Serbian ICT companies must recognize the importance of managing both the physical capital and the intangible resources embedded in their employees and processes.\nOriginality/value: This is the first paper to examine comprehensively the impact of IC on financial performance in the ICT sector in a transitional economy. This study differs from prior studies in that the authors analyzed every company that operated in Serbian ICT sector.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Why teachers trust school leaders
|
[
"Trust",
"Leadership",
"Education administration",
"Education",
"Teachers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This study aimed to determine how important to teachers is leader trustworthiness in carrying out their instructional work and to identify leadership characteristics and more specific practices that are interpreted by teachers as indicators of such trustworthiness. While conceptions of trust are many and contested, this study adopted an integrated understanding of the concept proposed by Robinson (1996) as follows:[...] one's expectations or beliefs about the likelihood that another's future actions will be beneficial, or at least not detrimental, to one's interests [...] As a social construct, trust lies at the heart of relationships and contracts, influencing each party's behavior toward the other [...] as a general positive attitude toward another social entity, trust acts as a guideline, influencing one's interpretation of social behaviors within a relationship (p. 576).Trust is a critical concept for leaders to understand and develop because it serves as a \"lubricant\" for most interactions in their organizations (Fukuyama, 1995; Luhmann, 1979), allowing less time to be spent on details, planning and attending to messages, and more time to be spent on actions that contribute to organizational improvements. Without trust, \"the school is likely to experience the overheated friction of conflict as well as a lack of progress toward its admirable goals\" (Tschannen-Moran, 2004, p. xi). So trust is an enabler of change.Most available evidence indicates that trust is a core component of leadership. Trust in leaders is significantly related to, for example, student achievement (Bryk and Schneider, 2002), healthy work environments (Hoy et al., 1992), teacher morale (Black, 2001), effective leader-follower relationships (Podsakoff et al., 1990) and organizational citizenship behaviors (Konovsky and Pugh, 1994; McAllister, 1995; Robinson, 1996), although this evidence still leaves open the nature of such relationships (whether causal or reciprocal, for example). Trust in leaders helps explain variation in organizational members' willingness to risk innovative practices, risk being the reason trust matters at all. The interdependence of organizational change creates risk; and trust is essential when interdependence and risk are joined (Rousseau et al., 1998). Change in organizational behavior involves a temporary shift from \"optimal\" performance of an existing behavior to \"sub-optimal\" performance of a new behavior (the well-documented \"implementation dip\"); realizing the superior potential of a new practice over an existing practice typically results in initial efforts which are clumsy or less than skillful. Trust in leaders increases the likelihood that a person will temporarily risk unskillful performance. Trust, as this explanation implies, is important because it reduces social complexity (Luhmann, 1979). \"Schools are fundamentally social institutions that depend daily on the quality of the interpersonal relations with which they are imbued\" (Goddard et al., 2009, p. 293). So collegial and leader trust are social resources that make up much of a school's capacity (Cosner, 2009).\nFramework and review of research: The framework for this study consisted of those characteristics and practices of leaders which, when perceived by organizational members (teachers in this study), result in attributions of trustworthiness. These characteristics and practices were identified through a systematic review of empirical research conducted in both school and non-school contexts. The study also provided opportunities to discover characteristics and practices in addition to those uncovered by the review, although none were identified. Specifically, this study aimed to:\nMethods: Evidence for the study was provided by a secondary analysis of data collected as part of a larger, multi-methods study carried out in US schools and school districts (Louis et al., 2010; Leithwood et al., 2004). This secondary analysis was carried out in two stages.Stage one\nResults: Leader characteristics contributing to perceptions of trustworthiness\nConclusion: Results of this study should be interpreted cautiously in light of its limitations. In particular these limitations include: the small sample size; outlier school trust environments which may or may not be similar to typical school trust environments and; interview methods which precluded probes to deepen our understanding of trust-building characteristics and practices further. In addition, all data were collected in a US research context dominated by the harsh accountability demands of No Child Left Behind legislation. Leader trust may be especially salient in such a context since teachers risk initial failures in their efforts to implement significant changes in their practices.Notwithstanding, these limitations results confirm earlier evidence about the salience for teachers of leader trustworthiness in thinking about their work and addressing the challenges they face in improving their practices. Results also provide additional support for something comparable to the \"big five personality traits\" of successful leaders (e.g. Bono et al., 2012) - the \"big five characteristics of trustworthy leaders\" - competence, consistency and reliability, openness, respect and integrity. Our evidence suggests that these characteristics prevail among teachers in both high- and low-trust school environments, although the frequency of mention or relative salience sometimes varies.While we believe that confirmation of these earlier findings is an important contribution of our study, its' unique practical contribution is identification of the relatively specific practices and characteristics which teachers interpret as evidence of the big five characteristics of trustworthy leaders. These practices are explicitly available to teachers when making judgments of trustworthiness and they provide practical guidance for school leaders in their efforts to build trusting relationships with their teacher colleagues. Since trust in leaders appears to be so salient to teachers thinking about their work, initiatives aimed at further developing school leader capacities would do well to explicitly focus on the trust-building practices and characteristics identified in this study. Useful follow-up research would include a deeper exploration of leaders' trust-building practices with different samples of teachers in different contexts.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Trust among teachers in schools is significantly related to student achievement and trust in school leaders is an important influence on such trust. The purpose of this study is to identify leadership practices which teachers interpret as signs of trustworthiness on the part of their principals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Evidence for the study was provided by post-observation interviews with 24 randomly selected teachers in three \"high trust\" and three \"low trust\" schools selected from a much larger sample of schools included in a national study. Coding of interview data was guided by a framework of trust antecedents identified through a wide-ranging review of empirical research.\nFindings: - Results demonstrated that teacher trust in principals is most influenced by leadership practices which teachers interpret as indicators of competence, consistency and reliability, openness, respect and integrity.\nOriginality/value: - These results, generally consistent with previous research, specify, in much greater detail than has been reported to date, leadership trust-building practices.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Parents' experiences with hiding vegetables as a strategy for improving children's diets
|
[
"Child-feeding practices",
"Vegetable intake",
"Hiding food",
"Food preferences"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As occurs elsewhere in the world, Australian children are not consuming enough vegetables (Baxter and Schroder, 1997; Guenther et al., 2006; Krebs-Smith et al., 1996; Magarey et al., 2001). In Western Australia, the context of the present study, over half of junior school children do not meet the recommended daily intake of four to five servings of vegetables (Martin et al., 2008; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), 2013). Given the benefits associated with vegetable consumption, such as weight management and reduced risk of bladder, colon, lung, pancreas, and stomach cancers, it is important to help improve children's diets by increasing their vegetable intakes (Block et al., 1992; Epstein et al., 2001; Krebs et al., 2007; Rolls et al., 2004; Steinmetz and Potter, 1996).\nMethod: The findings reported in this paper were derived from a larger project that explored the factors affecting low SES children's health. The qualitative, longitudinal study involved 37 low SES parents and sought to identify the barriers, facilitators, and motivators pertinent to these parents providing their children with healthy diets and physically active lifestyles. Interviews (Patton, 2002), focus groups (Fontana and Frey, 1994), and self-introspections (Ellis, 1991) were used to collect the data. The topic of hiding vegetables emerged during the data collection process and hence became the topic of more detailed analysis.\nResults: In all, 24 of the 37 parents taking part in the research mentioned that hiding vegetables was a practice they used to increase their children's vegetable consumption. The other parents either did not feel that it was necessary to hide vegetables in order for their children to consume them or the topic of hiding vegetables did not arise during their data collection episodes. Zucchini and carrot were the most commonly mentioned hidden vegetables, followed by leek, pumpkin, silver beet, celery, and potato. The stated rationale behind hiding vegetables was to render them unrecognisable in taste and texture in an attempt to circumvent their children's dislike of vegetables and achieve higher levels of consumption. Various aspects of this process as described by the study participants are outlined below.\nDiscussion: In the present study, the practice of hiding vegetables to increase children's vegetable intakes was explored. While it is encouraging that these parents understood the importance of increasing their children's vegetable intakes, there appeared to be a general lack of understanding of the need to use this strategy in combination with multiple exposures to foster preference for healthy foods as recommended in the nutrition literature (Birch et al., 1987; Birch and Marlin, 1982; Golan and Weizman, 2001; Sullivan and Birch, 1994).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the practice of hiding vegetables among low socioeconomic parents.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative longitudinal study involving 37 low socioeconomic Australian parents with at least one overweight or obese child aged five to nine years. Data were obtained with the use of interviews, focus groups, and self-introspections.\nFindings: Identified issues relating to the practice of hiding vegetables included: how parents manage hiding vegetables, children's presence in the kitchen during vegetable preparation, the employment of deception when hiding vegetables, the use of cookbooks and blogs, and the alternative views of parents not strongly in favour of hiding vegetables.\nResearch limitations/implications: Hiding vegetables is a practice used by some parents to increase their children's vegetable intake. Children who are unaware of hidden vegetables in their meals are potentially missing the opportunity to develop an appreciation for vegetables and learn about vegetable preparation and cooking.\nPractical implications: The findings are relevant to dietitians, general practitioners, and other health professionals providing advice to parents on appropriate child-feeding strategies.\nOriginality/value: This appears to be the first study to provide an in-depth account of low socioeconomic parents' use of hiding vegetables to facilitate higher levels of vegetable consumption.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Bayesian networks for statistical process control with attribute data
|
[
"Bayesian network",
"Control chart",
"Statistical process control",
"Variable sample size",
"Variable sampling interval"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Control charts were originally created by Shewart (1931) to monitor the output from production processes. These tools distinguish between two sources of variation in production systems: common causes and assignable causes. Common causes are due to random variation in a process and are inherent in any production system. When a machine, person or material is not performing as intended, deviation in the system output is deemed to be attributed to an assignable cause. Assignable causes can be differentiated from common causes by the use of control charts so that the manager can investigate the system and initiate corrective actions as required. Control charts are a tool for statistical process control (SPC), where the output of a process is monitored to ensure that it operates as intended. This paper suggests using Bayesian networks (BNs) (Spiegelhalter et al., 1993) for SPC to incorporate both quantitative sample data and qualitative managerial judgment into the quality control framework.\n2. Literature review: The literature review will be sub-divided into categories based on whether a static, adaptive or Bayesian approach is used.\n3. BN quality control model: This section defines the BN model and describes the quality control problem to which it will be applied.\n4. Example 1: A process produces an expected proportion defectives E[Pt|s0]=0.05 in state s0, but output can shift to state s1 where E[Pt|s1] represents the expected proportion defectives. Values of E[Pt|s1] from 0.06 through 0.15 in increments of 0.01 will be considered. The mean time between occurrences of the special cause is 1/l1=1/0.01=100 hours. The process is sampled every hour of a 40 h work week and scheduled maintenance is performed prior to the beginning of each week. Thus, T=40 and ht=1, which means that g0,t=0.99005 and g1,t=0.00995 for t=1, ..., 40 in the FSSI and VSS models.\n5. Example 2: The Mars Candy Company website describes M&M's milk chocolate candies as \"the classic that's loved around the world\" (Mars, Inc., 2015). A package of M&M's contains candies in six different colors - blue, brown, green, orange, red and yellow. Though the M&M's website does not currently contain references to the desired proportion of M&M's in a bag by color, research by Madison (2007) indicates that the website historically reported, for example, the targeted percentage of blue M&M's to be 24 percent. We conjecture that a significant amount of marketing research was involved in establishing this target, so Mars is undoubtedly interested in maintaining a consistent proportion of blue M&M's, lest its customers be unsatisfied. Prior research has involved the use of quality control tools to examine the proportions of various M&M's colors (Fish, 2009; Fish and Braunscheidel, 2012).\n6. Conclusions and future research: This paper described the use of BNs as a graphical and numerical probability model for SPC where attribute data is used to classify output into two possible categories. At each time period, a random sample is selected and the number of defective units is counted. The results provide feedback on whether the process is in-control (producing an acceptable proportion defectives or proportion of output with the desired attribute) or out-of-control (producing an unacceptable proportion defectives). The proportion defectives produced by the system in each state can be modeled as a continuous random variable. This is a departure from prior work on adaptive and Bayesian statistical control models for attributes.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Bayesian networks (BNs) are implemented for monitoring a process via statistical process control (SPC) where attribute data are available on output from the system. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The BN provides a graphical and numerical tool to help a manager understand the effect of sample observations on the probability that the process is out-of-control and requires investigation. The parameters for the BN SPC model are statistically designed to minimize the out-of-control average run length (ARL) of the process at a specified in-control ARL and sample size.\nFindings: The BN model outperforms adaptive np control charts in all experiments, except for some cases where only a large change in the proportion of sample defects is relevant. The BN is particularly useful when small sample sizes are available and when managers need to detect small changes in the proportion of defects produced by the process.\nResearch limitations/implications: The BN model is statistically designed and parameters are chosen to minimize out-of-control ARL. Future advancements will address the economic design of BNs for SPC with attribute data.\nOriginality/value: The BNs allow qualitative knowledge to be combined with sample data, and the average percentage of defects can be modeled as a continuous random variable. The framework of the BN easily permits classification of the system operation into two or more states, so diagnostic analysis can be performed simultaneously with statistical inference.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Bundling cloud software to fight piracy: an economic analysis
|
[
"Digital rights management",
"Software piracy",
"Bundling strategy",
"Internet-enabled software service",
"Software product"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Nomenclature\n1. Introduction: Following the emergence of ubiquitous internet-enabled technology, software service, also referred to as cloud computing, has become a viable alternative to on-premises software. In this alternative, buyers do not own the software; rather, software firms maintain software ownership and deliver software functionalities through the internet. The use of software service has also enabled firms to manage software piracy problems more effectively through continuous user authentication and software use monitoring. This management is in stark contrast to that of conventional on-premises software, where the software can be easily duplicated and distributed. Given that the software industry has long been plagued with software piracy problems, leveraging the software service model presents an alternate way to fight software piracy. However, despite the growing popularity of software service, the demand for on-premises software has not dissipated due to concerns about data privacy and security, internet broadband access constraints, etc. Thus, the current prevailing norm for software firms is to sell both software products and services to consumers[1], leading to the product bundling strategy widely used in marketing.\n2. Literature review: Tracing back to the 1960s, there is an extensive line of studies examining product bundling. The optimal bundling strategy has been at the center of discussions. The following are some major findings: MB has been found to be an optimal strategy under general settings (Adams and Yellen, 1976; Schmalensee, 1984; McAfee et al., 1989; Stremersch and Tellis, 2002); PB is the optimal strategy when product values are negatively correlated (Adams and Yellen, 1976; Salinger, 1995); the pure components strategy is the least favorable when the marginal cost is low and the mean valuation of the product is high (Schmalensee, 1984). When PB and MB are compared, MB is more profitable if there are substantial differences (heterogeneity) in the valuation of the second product (Pierce and Winter, 1996). Recently, some studies have extended the bundling studies by incorporating other elements, such as the effect of network externalities (Prasad et al., 2010; Pang and Etzion, 2012) and capacity limit (Cao et al., 2015). In this paper, we extend the existing bundling literature by considering piracy, which is especially relevant to information goods.\n3. Model setting: The goods of interest include: the \"on-premises\" software product; and an associated auxiliary cloud component, which can only be sold together with the \"on-premises\" software product and cannot be sold as a standalone good (i.e. can only be sold in bundle). Consider that an individual's reservation value for the software product (hereafter identified as Product) is homogeneous and is denoted by r, which is a constant[8]. The individual's reservation value for the software bundle (hereafter identified as Bundle) is given by r + thb, where thb is simply the net additive value of the Bundle compared to that of the Product. Random variable\n4. Results and analysis: We establish three models to investigate piracy's impact on the firm's optimal bundling decisions. Model 1 could serve as the benchmark model where piracy is absent. The purpose of Model 1 is to build the connection between our results and existing literature, and show the consistency between them. The main contributions of this paper are derived from Model 2 and Model 3. In Model 2, it is assumed piracy is present and the firm does not adopt DRM to curb piracy. Thus, piracy is costless and is the perfect substitute for the legitimate Product. In Model 3, the firm could adopt DRM to mitigate the software piracy problem and thus the piracy cost is increased. The effectiveness of the on-premises DRM and that of the online DRM can differ. Model 3 is more general and more realistic than Model 2, and provides an opportunity to investigate the effects of piracy on the firm's optimal bundling decisions. In each model, we analyze PB strategy and MB strategy individually. The effects of piracy on individual product bundling strategies are presented in lemmas and the effects of piracy on optimal bundling decisions are presented in propositions.\n5. Heterogeneous valuation of product: In this section we consider a more general case by relaxing the assumption on product value r. Instead of a constant value, we let product value r is user specific (Bontis and Chung, 2000) and follow a distribution with the density function of g(r). Additionally, it is assumed that r and thb are independently valued. Thus, the joint distribution of (r, thb) is h(r, thb)=g(r)f(thb). The analytical solutions are not available in this case. The numerical approach is adopted in this model by assuming that (1) r and thb follow an exponential distribution: g(r)=ee-er and\n6. Discussion and conclusion: In the cloud computing era, because of technology limitations in cloud computing and the already huge investment in legacy systems, software firms are not totally abandoning on-premises software but simultaneously embracing both on-premises software and cloud software service. Thus, the emergence of internet-enabled software services has increased the relevance of studying the software piracy problem together with the product bundling strategy. Based on a general model, our work aimed to contribute to two well-established but disconnected streams of research: software piracy and product bundling.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The emergence of internet-enabled technology has led to the software service model in which the software firm, instead of the consumer, maintains software ownership. This model can curtail software piracy more effectively than the traditional on-premises software model. However, software firms are not abandoning traditional on-premises software but embracing both models simultaneously. In this study, the authors consider a firm's software bundling decision in combination with its piracy deterrence strategy. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors build three stylized models to analytically compare the bundling strategies under three scenarios: no piracy, piracy is present and piracy is present while the firm applies digital rights management (DRM).\nFindings: The authors find pure bundling (PB) to be the optimal strategy due to the combination of competition and cannibalization effects in mixed bundling (MB). Simultaneously, consumers may enjoy greater surplus in PB than in MB, making PB the preferred strategy for both the firm and consumers. Interestingly, the win-win outcome coexists with some degree of piracy in the market.\nOriginality/value: The results provide important insights for firms and policy-makers and contribute to the literature on piracy and product bundling. First, the authors show piracy could be another driver for product bundling, which has never been discussed in prior literature. Second, the authors suggest an alternative perspective; that PB may be a desirable outcome for both firms and consumers when considering piracy and DRM. More surprisingly, this desirable outcome occurs with some level of piracy in the market. The presence of piracy leads to competition and cannibalization effects in MB, which eventually results in the win-win outcome in the software market for both the firm and the consumers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Recruitment process outsourcing: Towards effective implementation
|
[
"Malaysia",
"Outsourcing",
"Human resource outsourcing",
"Recruitment process outsourcing",
"RPO stages",
"HR functions"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: When outsourcing first emerged during the 1980s, initial impressions were predominantly negative. Massive growth in the practice during the new millennium is a testimony to the fact that opinions have altered somewhat. One consequence is that a variety of a firm's business functions are now often handed over to external providers.\nThe pros and cons of outsourcing recruitment: Outsourcing is especially prevalent within human resources (HR). Globally, the human resource outsourcing market is approaching US$200bn in value. This encompasses many different HR functions, with recruitment being among them. In the five years to 2015, the recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) market more than doubled. Much of this is down to its extensive presence throughout North America and Europe. The practice is less evident within many Asian countries. However, prevailing labor shortages suggest that considerable scope for greater use of RPO exists in the region.\nRecruitment process outsourcing phases: decision, implementation, outcomes: In this instance, the firm chose to outsource just the sourcing aspect of recruitment. Its decision was driven by:\nHow to increase chances of success: Successful implementation of RPO requires due diligence on the company's part. Awareness of critical factors within the organization and its operating environment is a crucial part of this. The HR manager should identify the firm's unique needs, competencies and resources in the first instance. Knowledge of labor market conditions is equally important as is the likelihood of fit between available providers and the organization. In the latter respect, the discontentment among end users suggests that the MNC came up short. It could easily have been avoided though by involving line managers much earlier in the outsourcing process. They were best positioned to assess whether prospective external partners possessed the degree of technical competence and industry knowledge essential to the role.\nComment: The review is based on \"Recruitment process outsourcing: A case study in Malaysia\" by Siew-Chen and Vinayan (2016). This fascinating case study provides valuable insight in to the growing popularity of recruitment process outsourcing (RPO). Factors that drive the decision to outsource are identified and the experience of the case study firm offers important implications for practitioners considering RPO.\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: When outsourcing first emerged during the 1980s, initial impressions were predominantly negative. Massive growth in the practice during the new millennium is testimony to the fact that opinions have altered somewhat. One consequence is that a variety of a firm's business functions are now often handed over to external providers. Outsourcing is especially prevalent within human resources (HR). Globally, the human resource outsourcing market is approaching US$200bn in value. This encompasses many different HR functions, with recruitment being among them. In the five years to 2015, the recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) market more than doubled. Much of this is down to its extensive presence throughout North America and Europe. The practice is less evident within many Asian countries. However, prevailing labor shortages suggest that considerable scope for greater use of RPO exists in the region.\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"
}
] |
The value of undergraduate capstone experiences: stepping stones to future organizational engagement
|
[
"Deep learning",
"Bridging experiences",
"High-impact activity",
"Learner self-efficacy",
"Student-centered problem solving"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: What do employers think about the business graduates they hire? A review of current research fails to provide an unequivocal answer, yet many employers do indicate a negative gap between their expectation and new graduates performance. Even more anticipate that this gap will widen as we move into the brave new world of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Firms take these concerns and their hiring expectations very seriously and adopt selection criteria designed to identify candidates who possess promise and value. Surveys, from both the US and Europe, have identified key value-considerations for new graduate hiring (Humburg et al., 2013; Suleman, 2016):\nThe Nature of the Capstone Experience: Capstones take place in the final year of the undergraduate program. They have multiple forms: advanced seminars, integrated courses, supervised internships, or undergraduate dissertations. Our capstone - which we argue provides optimal advantage for all - is an in-depth research project that result in a 50-page undergraduate dissertation. This gives students an opportunity to integrate, consolidate, reconsider, and reflect on business-related themes that they have encountered or which have emerged during the undergraduate program.\nImpact on Undergraduate Learning and Growth: The capstone experience is recognized as a high-impact educational activity that leads to sustained interest and engagement. Formulated as an undergraduate dissertation, capstones provide business students with a set of significant skills and encourage competencies that will be of value after graduation. In promoting the capstone dissertation, we and others have identified a number of positive student-centered outcomes (Kiener et al., 2014; Kinzie, 2013).\nImpact on Business Education and Organizations: Capstones provide an excellent vehicle for consolidating and integrating the knowledge that business students acquire in their coursework. In many ways, capstones provide a valuable terminal point or focus in the undergraduate program. They bring together and hold in place, as it were, the different multidisciplinary studies that form the elements of a solid business degree - hence the name \"capstone\", the final strengthening layer of stones in a wall.\nConclusion: The capstone experience provides multiple benefits for students, institutions, and the wider community. With business education in particular, capstones serve as a valuable stepping stone for soon-to-be graduates who are transitioning from the academic to the organizational world.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This conceptual article describes the capstone experience. It argues that this final-year undergraduate study, particularly when centered on in-depth research and writing a dissertation, provides significant value for institutions, students, and future employers. It is argued that the criteria for capstone experience success neatly align with the skills and competencies most source by organizational employers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This is a short reflection on the present author's engagement with capstones and business undergraduates. It is limited in scope, reviews the author's extensive experience and practice, but may have limited generalizability. Nevertheless, it will likely be of value to business educators and to organizational members seeking to hire high-potential business graduates.\nFindings: Properly designed and executed, capstones can develop the skills and competencies currently considered the most desirable in organizations. Those who have successfully completed their capstones (in this case, in-depth research and an undergraduate dissertation) have a demonstrated advantage in the hiring process. Students are encouraged to see the capstone as a bridging activity between college and the workplace. This fosters student engagement with targeted organizations and the creation of contacts and networks that provide mutual advantage on graduation.\nOriginality/value: The article provides novel insights that are personal but informed and considered. It offers original perspectives on the value of the capstone experience for students, educational institutions, and hiring organizations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Learning to face global food challenges through tourism experiences
|
[
"Sustainability",
"Food tourism",
"Sustainable development goals",
"Ecopreneurship",
"Educational tourism",
"Transformative experiences"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This study presents and discusses a futuristic scenario about food, tourism and sustainability. As was highlighted by Luks (2014), attempts to promote sustainability might need not only measurements and models but also engaging narratives. The goal of this study is to provide such a narrative. This is in line with the suggestions of Bina et al. (2017) in their review of fiction in relation to the global goals identified in the European policy since the development of the \"2007 Green Paper\" on research areas. Imagining the future through fiction can be useful for reflecting on and framing global challenges; consequently, it can be determinative in the search for feasible solutions and the consideration of their effects.\n2. Educational potential and food tourism challenges: 2.1 Educational potential of tourism experiences\n3. Re-thinking food tourism: Arctic veggies and food ecopreneurship: 3.1 Polar Permaculture Solutions\n4. Imagining the future: food tourism in the coming decades: 4.1 The construction of the fictional scenario\n5. Reflections: The scenario depicted in this paper offers hope for the future of food tourism. The potential for tourism as an educational and transformative experience and the possibilities offered by ecopreneurship are the bases for such hope. The scenario suggests that the food tourism could contribute substantially to overcoming the global food challenges. This might depend on the ideals and abilities of food and tourism ecopreneurs, and the support that they might receive from national and international organisations. Food tourism as described in this futuristic scenario provokes critical reflections on several aspects of the possible events and actions for realising some of the sustainable goals identified by the UN.\n6. Conclusion: This study has posed the question of the contribution of food tourism experiences to the alleviation and eradication of hunger and malnutrition in the future. It was answered by the presentation of ideas from various streams of scholarly literature, in particular educational tourism, food tourism and entrepreneurship. Methodologically, this study adopted a creative approach, developing a fictional futuristic scenario inspired by a factual company. Such scenario and its discussion contribute to deepen the scholarly debate about food tourism experiences, going beyond the broadly investigated issues of authenticity, localism and regional development, and highlighting its potentials in relation to possible responses to global challenges.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provoke reflections on the potential contribution of food tourism experiences to achieving the sustainable development goals for eradicating hunger and malnutrition.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In line with the creative analytic practice in scientific inquiry, this study develops and discusses a futuristic scenario inspired by a factual company. The case is based on ideas derived from studies on educational and food tourism and entrepreneurship, more precisely ecopreneurship.\nFindings: Food tourism can offer an opportunity for discussing food challenges in the context of ideas and projects to alleviate hunger and malnutrition. This study shows that imagining such possibilities and projects is challenging because of the complexity of the issue.\nPractical implications: This study suggests that despite some limitations, educational food tourism experiences might go well beyond the issues of regional development, localism and authenticity. Practitioners, including tourism entrepreneurs and private and public food and tourism organisations, might be essential to exploring alternative food tourism futures in ways that truly contribute to urgent global challenges.\nOriginality/value: The value of this paper lies in the use of a scenario to imagine and to reflect on the future of food tourism in relation to the global challenges of hunger and malnutrition. The paper suggests that the ideas from tourism studies and ecopreneurship can offer interesting perspectives on future developments in the sector.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Facilities management in the NHS: overlapping authority and demarcation disputes
|
[
"Hospitals",
"Power",
"Facilities management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Understanding general management theory and academic writing on the related issues of power, conflict, overlapping authority, line staff and functional relationships appears to be a neglected area in facilities management (FM). Using a ward housekeeper (a multi-skilled domestic and catering role) in the UK National Health Service (NHS) as a focus, the series of case studies presented in this paper suggests how the relationship between the FM directorate and core business - in this case health care - is an important operational consideration.\nLiterature review: The central research question for this study was to investigate the ward housekeeper role and evaluate its implementation longitudinally. As an applied research study, the theoretical framework is substituted by one which outlines the conditions for implementation of the ward housekeeper role. The ward housekeeper guidance issued by the Department of Health (NHS Estates, 2001a) provides this framework. However, the underpinning themes of power and organisational structures provide some useful context to the study and are discussed below.\nMethodology: The research aimed to understand the new ward housekeeper role from the perspective of senior facilities and estates staff, NHS ward nurses and the ward housekeeper. The context of the implementation of the role was also deemed a necessary feature, particularly to understand the organisational structures. In this case, the context was the NHS hospital and the underlying mechanisms were in place, such as local recruitment and retention issues.\nFindings: The findings from the study led to a set of themes identified. The original key themes as central issues for the implementation of the ward housekeeper were: role; recruitment; induction; training: integration; and management (May and Smith, 2003; May and Suckley, 2005). Later case studies, including those that were included as part of the longitudinal repeat visits, suggested other issues that became apparent over a longer period of time. The initial case studies 1-13 were conducted over a three-year period. The later case studies as part of the longitudinal visits were completed six years later.\nDiscussion: This section proposes a model to show the level of involvement from FM departments and ward teams when managing the housekeeper role. This is based on the initial six key themes (role; recruitment; induction; training: integration; and management) and the two new themes presented above. This model is untested but does provide the opportunity for future research. In addition, as the model is yet to be tested, it cannot be proposed as best practice. Instead, Model A is a template which NHS hospitals may wish to consider when either implementing the housekeeper role or re-designing their existing services. The model interprets the various case studies and summarises the level of involvement from the FM departments and ward teams in relation to the ward housekeeper role. It also draws upon literature already discussed in the theoretical framework. The areas of power, conflict and overlapping authority are relevant for the suggested model. Power, in the sense of how groups and departments exert power over others (French and Raven, 1958), in this case can primarily be seen as the power relationship between the FM department and ward team. Conflict is relevant for Model A as NHS trusts are pluralistic organisations (Fox, 1966, 1973) and consist of a collection of groups with their own interests. The concept of overlapping authority is also evident in the model which leads to demarcation disputes (Huczynski and Buchanan, 2007). Model A is illustrated below in Figure 2.\nConclusion: The significance of this study emerges through the advancement of methodology within the context of facilities in health care and through the contribution to knowledge and practice as a result of the proposed Model A. This was the first type of study to look in detail at ward housekeeping models, using an interpretive approach over a relatively long period of time. Fifteen in-depth case studies were completed to construct a representation of the ward housekeeper role across the UK since its introduction from the NHS Plan. Such a study had not taken place.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This research aims to investigate the implementation of the new ward housekeeper role in a hospital setting. The purpose is to propose a model to demonstrate how facilities management (FM) departments and clinical ward teams work together effectively to deliver catering and cleaning services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The context of the implementation of the role was deemed a necessary feature, particularly to understand the organisational structures. In this case, the context was a hospital, and the underlying mechanisms that were in place included local recruitment and retention issues. Therefore, an interpretive approach was taken, and a series of semi-structured interviews was the primary method to collect data, supplemented by some non-participant observation and document analysis.\nFindings: The findings from the two themes enable the development of a model to illustrate the working relationships between FM departments and clinical ward teams.\nPractical implications: The findings from the study are of significance for hospital facilities and estates departments and clinical stakeholders who have the responsibility of ward catering, cleaning and the environment.\nOriginality/value: The significance of this study emerges through the advancement of methodology within the context of facilities in health care and through the contribution to knowledge and practice as a result of the proposed mode. This was the first type of study to look in detail at ward housekeeping models, using an interpretive approach over a relatively long period of time.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The nature and role of different types of commitment in inter-firm relationship cooperation
|
[
"Buyer–seller relationships",
"Commitment",
"Cooperative advantage",
"Relationship value"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A firm's competitiveness depends on more than its own characteristics, skills and resources. Also critical are the relations it has with other firms and organizations, through which key resources, knowledge, skills and functions are accessed and co-created. The ability to gain such a value from a relationship depends, to a great degree, on how cooperative it is, and this has led researchers to focus attention on the importance of cooperation or collaborative advantage as a source of firm's competitive advantage (Jap, 1999; Kanter, 1994; Wilkinson and Young, 2002).\n2. Aspects of cooperative business relationships: Business relationship research highlights a substantial number of aspects that are hypothesized to drive cooperative advantage (see Wong et al., 2010 for an overview). This model focuses on relational commitment as central to this advantage (in line with Barney, 1991; Ray et al., 2004). Commitment increases the likelihood of continuity and thereby the performance potential of relationships (Young and Denize, 1995). It operates in conjunction with other relational factors such as trust, relational value and conflict.\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Database and measures\n4. Tests of hypotheses: Structural equation modeling was not suitable for hypotheses testing, as the sample size was less than 200 (Garver and Mentzer, 1999; Hoelter, 1983) and was also contraindicated by the proposed processual nature of the model with its (interacting) feedbacks. This is in line with the complexity theory and the critical realist stance which guides our research and others', who consider the evolutionary processes of relationships, including the IMP group (Hakansson, 1989; Wilkinson and Young, 2002). They argue that it is the deep processes of relating that interact and thus produce business relationships. This requires different methods of research and analysis than those that have been used in marketing's research in recent decades (Wilkinson and Young, 2013).\n5. Discussion: These findings help to develop our understanding of differing ways that various elements of relationship commitment interact to produce and reproduce business relationships. In addition, the links between different forms of commitment and trust, relationship value, conflict and cooperation are different for each form of commitment, highlighting the differences in their nature and role in relationships.\n6. Implications, limitations and future research: Various implications for business practice arise. The findings suggest that in the eyes of informants, relationships develop and are developed by commitment of trading partners toward the business relationship (Rong and Wilkinson, 2011). This underscores the importance of creating and delivering value to the partner, which is facilitated by understanding the idiosyncratic composition of relationship partner's requirements in line with ones' own capabilities.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to consider the nature and role of commitment in delivering value in customer-supplier relationships by developing and testing a model of relationship cooperativeness.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected using an extended version of the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP2) Group's instrument. Pre-qualified managers largely self-completed the survey. Model associations were tested via regression and causal path analysis.\nFindings: Various aspects of commitment play differing roles in relationship development. The role of commitment was less than expected; the exception is value-based commitment which is strongly associated with value creation, conflict management, trust and cooperation.\nResearch limitations/implications: Findings provide explanations for some inconsistencies in previous findings including reported relationships between trust, cooperation and commitment. The composition of the commitment construct(s) strongly influences relationship processes.\nPractical implications: There are various kinds of commitment to build and multiple pathways to levering this into more effective relationships. In addition, an important part of these findings is strong indications that illustrate what the nature of ineffective commitment-building paths is likely to be. This is extremely important for managers in guiding deployment of relationship management resources and developing relationship management practice.\nSocial implications: The regulation of close business-to-business relationships remains an important issue, and the ways in which commitment can be appropriately extended are an important part of this.\nOriginality/value: This work focuses on the components of commitment in ways that previous work has not. The centrality of commitment in relationship value creation - beyond increased sales and revenue and predictability - is highlighted, and there is considerable extension to the understanding of the nature of this process.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Foresight evaluation: lessons from project management
|
[
"Project management",
"Framework",
"Evaluation",
"Foresight"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: High levels of uncertainty and risk are among the main obstacles for decision-making in the current economic and political situation. foresight is one of the most effective tools for building long-term strategies and policies with the goal of promoting economic, political, and social sustainability. Strong evaluation procedures are therefore important and should be applied where practical through all stages of foresight implementation. One of arguments in favour of evaluation is that foresight projects[1] attract time, human, and financial resources, and it is important to understand whether the resources are allocated efficiently. Georghiou (2003) stresses \"three basic tests\" for foresight evaluation: accountability, justification and learning. This means that evaluation can assist stakeholders to identify the efficiency of conducted activities, to analyse the effects of foresight, and to find the ways for its improvement.\nProject evaluation: methods and approaches: Studies related to project evaluation have become an important part of project management research (e.g. HM Treasury, 2003; Phillips et al., 2002). Determining evaluation types, developing an evaluation framework, and identifying project performance are the main issues of project evaluation investigation.\nApproaches for foresight evaluation: Several specific features of foresight projects should be pointed out before beginning an analysis of foresight evaluation. There have been numerous attempts to define what foresight is (e.g. Coates, 1985; Georghiou, 1996; Keenan, 2003; etc.): nonetheless, there is no single shared understanding (partly due to the changes in comprehension of foresight and the development of related methods and tools). Despite the absence of a common definition, the following basic features of foresight are usually emphasised: future orientation, broad participation (large number of actors with different interests and knowledge), evidence (different kinds of data used), coordination, action orientation (support for actively shaping the future), and multidisciplinarity (Popper et al., 2010).\nComparison: project evaluation vs foresight evaluation: As mentioned in the previous sections, the approaches applied to evaluation of economic efficiency and project implementation are quite different, but some elements of both can be applied to foresight evaluation. For the purpose of identifying these elements, we compared a traditional approach to project evaluation and foresight evaluation approach (Table IV). Although there is no universal methodology for foresight evaluation, the common features of frameworks used in practical cases and proposed by scholars were identified (e.g. Alsan and Oner, 2004; Meissner and Cervantes, 2008; Daim et al., 2009; Popper et al., 2010).\nConclusions: Projects of all types are subject to evaluation processes at every stage of their implementation. ex ante evaluation is aimed at supporting decision-making activities, which seek to decide whether the project should be implemented, while ex post evaluation helps to identify the project's strengths and weaknesses. This research focuses on ex post evaluation mechanisms applied to project evaluation in general, with special attention paid to foresight projects.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The aim of this paper is to identify ways for improvement of the foresight evaluation framework on the basis of analysis and systematisation of accumulated experience in the field of project management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a detailed literature review devoted to an evaluation of foresight and traditional projects. The approaches to project evaluation in the field of project management were investigated, and the main steps of traditional project evaluation process were determined. The most commonly applied steps of foresight evaluation were identified by the analysis of recent foresight evaluation projects. The comparison of evaluation frameworks for foresight projects and traditional projects allows to provide recommendations for foresight evaluation framework improvement.\nFindings: The paper identifies several lessons for foresight evaluation from project management. The elements which can enrich foresight evaluation framework are the following: the development of an evaluation model; the extensive use of quantitative methods; the elaboration of evaluation scales; the inclusion of economic indicators into evaluation; and the provision of more openness and transparency for evaluation results.\nOriginality/value: Given the importance of foresight evaluation procedures and the lack of a commonly applied methodological approach, the value of this paper consists in identifying a foresight evaluation framework and enriching it with elements of project management.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The use of performance-based contracting in managing the outsourcing of a reliability-centered maintenance program: A case study
|
[
"Performance measurement",
"Outsourcing",
"Incentive",
"Risk–reward payment schemes",
"Reliability-centered maintenance",
"Maintenance performance measurement and management",
"Performance-based contracting"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent decades, collaborative relationships have received much attention from firms attempting to generate benefits such as improving process efficiency, increasing productivity, reducing costs, accessing valuable resources, sharing risk and strengthening market and competitive positions (Ding et al., 2013). Of these collaborative relationships, outsourcing, in particular, has grown in size and significance, and it has attracted a great deal of interest in industrial and business practices (Gietzman, 1996; Langfield-Smith and Smith, 2003). Since the early 1990s, it has been featured in both public and private sectors, and it has increasingly been applied, not only to traditional in-house administrative and management functions, but also to core business activities (Langfield-Smith and Smith, 2003; Smith et al., 2005). Companies primarily outsource their functions to generate cost savings, free up internal resources for other activities or processes, improve the service or quality by gaining access to more specialized skills, state-of-the-art technology and world-class capabilities.\n2. Literature review: Performance measurement plays critical roles in focusing people and resources on various aspects of the business such as monitoring performance, identifying areas that warrant attention, preparing the path for corrective actions, enhancing motivation, improving communication and strengthening visibility and accountability (Waggoner et al., 1999; Tsang, 2002). Within the context of maintenance performance management, Parida and Kumar (2006, pp. 241-242) pointed to some important factors perceived crucial in the success of the maintenance outsourcing arrangement: measuring the value created by the maintenance, justifying investment, revising resource allocation, focusing on knowledge management, adapting to new trends in operations and maintenance strategies and directing attention to health, safety and environmental issues. Waggoner et al. (1999) noted that a carefully designed performance measurement framework can possibly define the boundaries of the outsourcing contract, volume of work, target sets, expected deliverable outcomes and responsibilities and accountability of each party to the contract. Lack of a performance framework according to Konda (2006) can lead to excessive communication, micro management by the client's supplier spending excessive time in reporting and every stakeholder feeling out of control.\n3. Research method and data collection: Data were collected in 2013-2016 and over a period of 18 months using a variety of sources. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the outsourcing company's staff mainly in areas of administration, finance, accounting, maintenance and operations. The personnel covered by the interviews included the operations manager, a reliability maintenance engineer, a cost engineer, a project accountant and a senior management accountant. These staff personnel were directly involved in the outsourcing contract operation with respect to their technical, financial, cost and administrative capacities. Some of the questions used in the interviews were open ended, and the opportunity was given to the interviewees to talk about a variety of issues including the motivation for outsourcing the RCM program; criteria used for selecting the contractor; the use of the performance measurement system in managing the outsourcing relationship; the design of the incentive schemes; monitoring mechanisms; costing and financial issues; and the role of accountants and technical staff in data processing and use. Each interview typically lasted 1.5 h and certain key personnel were interviewed more than once in order to clarify key issues that emerged as the study progressed. Second, access to a limited internal company documents was obtained. Data and records in these documents provided insights into some of the components of the outsourcing contract, in particular, PP's approach to RCM, KPIs, rules of engagement, the design of risk-reward paying schemes, in addition to a limited number of reports containing program results for the first year of operation. The documentary evidence and company's records were carefully investigated, and some insights were obtained before going to the personal interviews. Third, the outsourcing contractor's website proved to be a useful source of secondary information such as PP's standard maintenance contract model, including its financial philosophy. Fourth, the researcher benefited from discussion and presentation on outsourcing practices made by one of the oil refinery's accounting staff members who at the time was an MBA student at a Saudi university and closely involved in the outsourcing project. This company's employee, who is currently a senior management accountant, eventually became a contact person and valuable information source. Finally, in order to check the functioning of the outsourcing program and validate some of the data earlier collected, two additional visits to the company premises were conducted by the researcher in 2016. For confidentiality purpose, the identities of the oil refinery company and the outsourcing contractor will be referred to as SIGMA and PP, respectively.\n4. Case description: 4.1 Company background\n5. Managing the maintenance reliability program project: At the operational level of managing the MRP, the study observed a detailed activity and data analysis, and detailed reporting of financial and non-financial aspects of the project functioning. The discussion with SIGMA's engineering and accounting staff indicates that the company has standardized measurement procedures and instructions of calculations and reporting, which have been designed to collect, compile, and report on all projects and contracts in a systematic manner. According to the operations manager, the MRP function has increased the need for a continuous flow of operational data, including management accounting reporting. For example, calculations and estimates have to be prepared for monthly average, annual and three-year targets for rotating outages for each type of rotating equipment, in addition to recording, documenting and reporting the actual outage performance of all machines on a monthly basis (see Table IX and Figure 1). Importantly, the total expected outage costs, average annual cost per repair and a five-year cost reduction forecast for each equipment type have to be prepared. The payment for the rotating equipment materials cost requires the company to prepare the rotating equipment annual materials budget on a five-year basis, in addition to annual actual performance (see Table VIII and Figure 2). As explained in Section 4, determining the annual deferred fee payments that cover rotating equipment outage reduction and rotating equipment inventory reduction requires annual projections and data collection and analysis. Furthermore, the outsourcing agreement requires the outsourcing contractor to carry and report monthly statistical analysis and data on all rotating equipment operations. This includes reports and analysis of FAT, Mean Time Between Maintenance, Bad Actor Identification, Bath Tub Analysis, number of outages per equipment type, cost repair per equipment type (CPR) and maintenance cost per installed equipment. According to the senior management accountant, the monthly statistical analysis report itself is a standard budgetary control requirement for all operating business units.\n6. Conclusion and directions for future research: This paper investigated performance measurement and risk-reward payment schemes implemented by a Gulf oil refinery to support the management of its outsourced RCM program. The case analysis reveals how a carefully designed risk-reward payment scheme was combined with routine budgetary control systems and other informal mechanisms to form a framework for supporting the management of the outsourced maintenance function. Whereas a significant part of SIGMA and PP' sharing rewards was tied to the achievement of financial and non-financial KPIs, there were other performance metrics and benchmarks that were not followed through to the financial outcome of the outsourcing project (e.g. Solomon Top 10% and Shell East Zone Top 10%, and equipment availability and reliability). This indicates that PP was fully aware of the socio-economic environment in which SIGMA operates including benchmarking its performance against the oil industry metrics and compliance with environmental and safety regulations. Importantly, the outsourcing contractor also accepted the roles of SIGMA's cross-functional committees that perform routine tasks such as the review of contracts' budgets, cost compliance and internal audit applicable to all contracts including outsourcing arrangements. This awareness and positive behavior on part of PP seems to have encouraged the development of shared goals and enhanced co-operation and goodwill trust between the two strategic partners (Sako, 1992; Tomkins, 2001; Langfield-Smith and Smith, 2003; Dekker, 2004; Langfield-Smith, 2008). Thus, the outsourcing governance mechanism did not appear to be totally structured around formal control mechanisms (e.g. a written contract, goals setting, KPIs and financial incentive systems), but it also involved the use of informal control elements such as trust, knowledge sharing, mutual understanding and co-operation between the contract partners (Dekker, 2004; Langfield-Smith, 2008; Bresnen and Marshall, 2000). This case finding seems consistent with Tomkins' (2001, p. 77) suggestion that the major value of formal control systems is to specify the goals and methods that facilitate mutual planning and monitoring, rather than being primarily an ex post control device.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a case study on the use of performance-based contracting in the outsourcing of a reliability-centered maintenance program of a Gulf oil refinery.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A case study method is used whereby data are collected through semi-structured interviews, informal discussions with executives from the participant companies, in addition to official documents and secondary materials.\nFindings: The case analysis reveals the use of a risk-reward payment scheme and key performance indicators (KPIs) deployed to support the management of the outsourced maintenance function. The financial incentive scheme was clearly designed to motivate the outsourcing contractor to achieve more financial benefits when meeting a defined set of KPIs while also delivering operating cost savings and other qualitative benefits to the outsourcing company. Managing the outsourced function also involved the use of routine budgetary control systems, in addition to other informal control mechanisms such as trust, knowledge sharing, mutual understanding and co-operation between the two collaborative partners.\nPractical implications: The evidence presented in the case description and analysis may assist in increasing the understanding of how outsourcing relationships in maintenance business are managed and evaluated. The case findings may also provide the opportunity for further research investigating the use of performance measurement systems and incentive-based schemes in a variety of maintenance contracts.\nOriginality/value: The case study presents new empirical evidence on the use of performance risk-reward payment schemes in the management of an outsourcing relationship. Findings reported in the study will add to the existing literature on maintenance performance measurement and management practices in outsourcing relationships.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
I feel like a hypocrite: a beginning teacher's disconnect between beliefs and practice
|
[
"English language arts",
"English teaching",
"English teacher education"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: My philosophy is very different than what I have been enforcing [...] Maybe that's my flaw with my standard classes is that I am the leader rather than the coach. And, that's what I wrote my inquiry paper about, about how we should coach but not lead students, which is ironic. I feel like a hypocrite.\nTheoretical framework: This study is built upon the premise that criticality is a desirable trait for educators but that social constructs and context often impede an individual teacher's movement from critical ideals toward critical practice. This exploration of context and tension illustrates the \"obvious connections between political forces and individual lives\" (Barone, 2007, p. 457) and reminds us that \"teaching is political\" (Nieto, 2006) and cannot be apolitical because teaching and teacher education poses moral, social, philosophical and ideological questions (Cochran-Smith, 2006). Using a critical theoretical framework, the researcher analyzes how Anya navigates the sociopolitical factors of the contexts in which she operates. This research takes into account the two school site contexts and also looks at the broader context of this current \"era of political retrogression\" (Barone, 2007, p. 457) dominated by the \"corporate reform paradigm of education\" (Thomas, 2013).\nMethods: The research reported here was conducted as a qualitative case study, an effective research design in accord with the theoretical assumptions outlined above, specifically related to \"the production of meaning and its dependence on context\" (Dyson and Genishi, 2005, p. 4). I was \"moved to study\" (Stake, 2005, p. 446) this single case when Anya contacted me during her new teacher training. It was this conversation that inspired this research. I wondered what the year ahead would hold for her and, in the moment, I wondered how she would hold on to her commitments, her passion and her beliefs.\nFindings: Three themes emerged from the analysis that illuminated Anya's struggle to move from critically minded toward criticality. The first two themes indicate how she had taken up conventional understandings of teachers and students rather than to challenge and critique these constructions. These first two themes highlight the contradictions between Anya's beliefs and actions. The third theme examines how isolation hindered her actualization of criticality of practice. The three themes are essentially about what Anya loses. The three themes are:\nDiscussion and recommendations: I came in with these great noble ideas, but this is has been so realistic [...] I don't think I'm ready for teaching in this type of setting in America [...] I don't like my school. I can't say anything about other schools, but I don't like this school.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to examine the lived experiences of a beginning teacher to understand the constraints and possibilities she faces in moving from a critically minded preservice teacher toward a critical educator during her first year of teaching secondary English Language Arts at a public high school in the Southwestern USA.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research was conducted as a qualitative case study. The data set was collected through interviews, documents and observations. Data were analyzed inductively using open coding techniques and grounded theory in order to establish themes.\nFindings: The research describes three themes: losing a sense of self, losing hope and losing sight. These themes explore in order to illustrate the participant's sense of loss, the disconnect between her stated beliefs and practice and how contextual factors contribute to her experiences.\nPractical implications: The paper includes recommendations for teacher induction and undergraduate initial teacher education.\nOriginality/value: This research contributes to the literature about beginning teachers and their challenges to realize their stated beliefs in practice. It extends this body of literature with a specific focus on criticality and an exploration of how the current corporate reform paradigm impacts beginning teachers and how these topics can be taken up in teacher education.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Academic women's promotions in Australian universities
|
[
"Australia",
"Universities",
"Promotion",
"Academic staff",
"Women",
"Gender discrimination"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This investigation was sponsored by the AVCC in response to its commitment to promote gender equity in Australian universities by developing strategies that are based on research (AVCC, 2002). The project included a review of literature to establish the major issues. The original research consisted of an analysis of promotions policy and practice in Australian universities and of promotion statistics.The promotion policies and practices of 34 of the 38 Australian universities were reviewed against 16 criteria considered to affect the promotion applications of women. The analysis was supplemented by interviews of key staff from 17 universities to compare policy with implementation. The interviews also covered specific issues and strategies that support the promotion of academic women.Statistical data on women's representation by academic level is available nationally and is summarised in this paper to provide a background of women's representation, which declines significantly from Levels A to E (Associate Lecturer to Professor). Promotions data by level and gender is not available nationally and had to be collected individually from the universities interviewed. Statistics relating to the promotion of women in 16 of the 17 universities (one did not provide data) were collected and analysed to evaluate progress towards gender equity and the success rates of women applicants for promotion.The research was based on the hypothesis that under-representation of women in academia reflects barriers in the promotion process. These have been described in the literature which suggests that women are less likely to apply for promotion, are more reticent in putting themselves forward and are less successful in applying for promotions generally than men (Carrington and Pratt, 2003). Men are considered to be advantaged by a gendered conception of merit which values a full-time, uninterrupted career trajectory and research success (White, 2003a). Women are more likely to experience career interruptions for family reasons and are over-represented in teaching positions and disciplines such as nursing and the humanities which do not attract large research grants (Bain and Cummings, 2000). Policies that do not take career interruption into account or which focus primarily on research as a criterion for promotion would disadvantage women. Such policies would in effect constitute barriers to their promotion.In this study, the analysis of policy and of the statistics first examined the national picture and then undertook a more detailed examination of a sample. This approach reflected the size and scope of the project which was a broad-brush approach supplemented by a more detailed examination of a representative sample of universities. Universities in the interview and promotions data sample were from all states and included both metropolitan and regional universities as well as members of the major groups of universities. A list of the universities included in the sample is shown in Appendix 1.Women in Australian universities\nGender equity and promotion statistics: The final section of this paper examines the representation of women academics by level and the promotions data for 16 of the 17 universities interviewed. The data were examined to determine whether women are under-represented in academic staff and, if so, to identify where the under-representation occurs, and whether under-representation is attributable to either poor success rates of women applicants or to failure of women to apply for promotion.Statistical data were obtained from the Department of Education Science and Training (DEST) staff datasets 1996-2004. They show the numbers of full-time and fractional full-time women in academic and non-academic positions in Australian universities (see Figure 1 and Table II).Other data consisted of promotion statistics provided by 16 of the 17 universities that were interviewed. From this information, reports were produced in relation to success rates for women and the pool of available women.Women academic staff as a percentage of total academic staff\nConclusions: Many universities have undertaken considerable work on promotions in line with their commitment to the AVCC Action Plan and Policy Statement. However, the number of women in higher levels remains lower than sought. The rate of progress in women's representation at senior levels has changed only incrementally since the early 1990s. This study of the promotions process shows, however, that there is good practice generally across the sector and that there are sound success rates for women who apply for promotion.Universities that build a culture to support the promotion of women provide an environment for achieving gender equity that reduces the barriers for advancing the careers of women. This is achieved at three distinct levels.At the policy level, policies assist women when they recognise diversity of experience which take into account their family responsibilities, such as the development of selection criteria that acknowledge different pathways taken in academic life (such as part-time employment and responsibility for pastoral care of students), and innovative ways of undertaking leadership and developing teaching roles. Policies that specify gender representation, involvement of EEO representatives and training in equal opportunity for committee members are likely to assist women by directly confronting cultural issues.At the support level, progressive universities have strategies in place to increase the numbers of women promoted. Such strategies include: focused forums and discussion groups on leadership for women; career development and promotion workshops; and formal mentoring and nurturing networks and programmes. In addition, a formal process of identifying and \"recruiting\" potential leaders encourages women to take the steps to promotion.At the organisational level, there are strategies available to dismantle cultural barriers that prevent women from achieving seniority in universities. Specific measures include the establishment of KPIs at the corporate level and strategies to achieve them through performance management of senior managers. Mandated training for committee members and formal acknowledgement and discussion of \"glass ceiling\" issues and gendered norms within universities also help bring about cultural change.This study has shown that within the Australian university sector there is considerable good practice in promotions policy and implementation. The under-representation of senior women in Australian universities is not a result of poor policy or erratic implementation, but is a deep-seated cultural issue requiring cultural and generational change. The results of this paper support those of Probert (1995) whose analysis of gender inequity in Australian universities found that the lack of women in senior positions was not due to discrimination or bias.Nonetheless the report to the AVCC made a dozen recommendations for policy improvement (listed in Appendix 2, particularly related to the inclusion of equity principles in policy, training of committee members and the explicit eligibility of part-time staff. These recommendations have been implemented or considered in a number of Australian universities and have relevance for the sector internationally.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this research is to examine the hypothesis that under-representation of women in Australian universities reflects barriers in the academic promotion process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study uses three complementary approaches. Promotion policies and guidelines are examined using content analysis of documents from all Australian universities. A sample of 17 universities was selected for interviews with key gatekeepers to examine promotions practice. Data on promotions by level and gender were analysed for 16 of these universities 2000-2002.\nFindings: - The analysis of promotions policies and guidelines established a range of practice. Policies supporting women's participation and success in promotions included explicit consideration of part-time and non-traditional careers, clear equity statements, and gender representation on promotions committees. Interviews emphasised the importance of support for and identification of female candidates, and the need for the establishment of institution-wide and performance targets for senior managers. Implicitly, most interviewees accepted the premise that women experienced barriers in the promotion process, including reticence in applying and stereotypically gendered notions of merit. However, the analysis of promotions data showed a more encouraging picture. Application rates and success rates for women are similar to men's and, at professorial level, slightly higher. Nonetheless women remain under-represented at senior levels, comprising only 16 per cent of the professoriate.\nPractical implications: - The study provided a report to the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee (AVCC) with a number of recommendations for improving University promotions policies. These recommendations are available on the AVCC website and have applicability beyond the Australian university sector.\nOriginality/value: - This study is an original study across all Australian universities which has international applicability and policy relevance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Marshall plan for Haiti: initial project of the global partnership for development
|
[
"Forecasting",
"Economic development",
"Haiti"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: During the course of history several times there have been ideas that have appeared that, when realized, became catalysts for positive far-reaching changes. After Second World War, the Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program[1], showed how a grand vision could successfully shape a particular activity.The Central European Node of the Millennium Project initiated a special study to develop this idea. In total, 80 people from 20 countries participated. Principal findings are published in AC/UNU Millennium Project report Global Partnership for Development (Novacek and Mederly, 2002).We identified Haiti in 2003 as priority candidate for an initial project of the Global Partnership for Development (the poorest country in western hemisphere, GDP per capita US$ 367, adult illiteracy rate 50 percent, life expectancy at birth 52.9 years, unemployment rate is 34 percent, 29 percent of the population makes less than US$150 per year).\nSWOT analysis of Haiti: A SWOT analysis of Haiti can be found in Table I.\nQuality and Sustainability of Life Index for Haiti: The main aim of sustainable development is to increase quality of life in long-time horizon with respect to other living beings. But to make sustainable development generally understandable, measurable and manageable, we need to have set of indicators.The Sustainable Development Index was developed and published in 2000-2001 by Central European Node of the Millennium Project (Glenn and Gordon, 2001) in the framework of the \"Global Partnership for Development\" study (Novacek and Mederly, 2002). It was updated in autumn 2003 on the basis of the World Development Indicators 2003 database (Glenn and Gordon, 2005). The follow up of this new version is the Quality and Sustainability of Life Index (QSLI) for Haiti which was developed in 2004. The second stage, prepared in 2005, evaluated previous development in Haiti for the period 1970-2002 and these trends were extrapolated for the period 2005-2015.The QSLI was calculated as an average of all examined variables in seven major areas (see Table II) and therefore expresses development trends in all areas in an unified form. The general development of the overall Index for the period 1970-2005 and the extrapolated trend to 2015 is presented in Figure 1 and expressed graphically in Figure 2. These figures document a very slight improvement in the Index, which continues to the present day. After a steep decline in the decade from 1990-2000, this trend continues to the present.The analysis of basic indicators of quality of life highlights the unsatisfactory course of development and contemporary situation in Haiti.QSLI for Haiti - overall results\nAlternative scenarios: Four different scenarios are submitted here for evaluation of potential future threats and opportunities:Scenario 1: pervasive stagnation\nConclusion: When searching for an explanation to illustrate why Haiti has become so poor, one must examine the historical context in which the country has evolved.From 1492 to the present date, Haiti's resources have been exploited by all major powers around the world, each plundered during different periods in the history of the nation. Today, sadly, the country has very little to offer. It is only through pity and humanitarian considerations, or perhaps because Haiti's problems have reached distant shores and affected the politics of neighboring powers, that countries are coming its aid. While the population is grateful for the generosity of the Americans, Canadians, French and German, it cannot remain an eternal burden to the taxpayers in those countries. In fact, if Haiti had used the resources obtained from these international donors more efficiently, she would have had a place of envy in the concert of nations.In the past, Haiti has played a major role in the histories of other nations throughout the world. Not only did Haiti contribute to the abolition of slavery, but it also served as an instrument in the process of the liberation of some countries in Latin America.Bilateral and multilateral aid pouring through non-governmental agencies must be reviewed to be better adapted to the developing conditions of the country. These funds need to be integrated into the major development programs of the day and should be specific in nature. Too often, these projects are temporary and not conceived to support an institutional structure or to create a permanent institutional framework. Obviously, as a result, the country has become a cemetery of projects. In this perspective, for a Marshall Plan to be implemented, it is important to mobilize human, technical and financial resources on a global level - from major corporations to various governments, in order to make such an attempt a successful one.With the help of a well-planned program and the resources of this Marshall Plan, Haiti can finally come into its own. If its citizens in-country and those in the Diaspora can join hands to reverse the unbearable conditions of the masses, a joyful return to prosperity is on the horizon.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of the study is to formulate future-oriented vision of development for Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - SWOT analysis, development indicators and alternative scenarios have been used in the study.\nFindings: - The paper reveals the construction of the Quality and Sustainability of Life Index for Haiti and normative proposals for future-oriented development for Haiti.\nPractical implications: - This study can be used by governmental institutions in Haiti as well as by nongovernmental development organizations.\nOriginality/value: - According to the authors' knowledge such future-oriented study has not been done yet for Haiti; methodologically new is construction of Quality and Sustainability of Life Index for Haiti.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Working to your strengths: Pharmaceutical firm's choice for change
|
[
"Recruitment",
"Culture change",
"Team development",
"Management",
"Restructuring"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Much is said about people's strengths - and weaknesses - and it is generally considered a worthy goal to \"work to your strengths\". The question \"What are your strengths?\" is also one of those seemingly innocuous questions that can pop up at a job interview, but it is not just a question to get candidates talking about themselves; it is an important attempt to check out whether someone is likely to fit in with the organization's culture and have the appropriate outlook to carry out the work effectively.\nAn attempt to discover latent talent within the organization: Over recent years, Boehringer Ingelheim, UK, has embraced strengths and positive psychology in its organizational-development and learning-development landscape. It had a history of using strengths-based development in pockets of the business before 2012. One of the greatest challenges of the \"strengths work-stream\" was to be able to demonstrate that the development interventions that were brought in would stick and would outlast the initial implementation phase.\nInterventions developed as part of a manager summit: Learning from the success of the strengths-validation process, a cross-functional team was created to help in the development of the Boehringer Ingelheim development materials. After initial diagnosis, it was identified that all development interventions had to serve the purpose of allowing all employees the opportunity to know what their strengths were and to see how these could help them to perform in the new culture. With this in mind, it was clear that Boehringer Ingelheim and Capp needed to develop materials and tools that could be self-led and practically useful for all.\nComment: This review is based on \"Living the future: a strengths-based example of restructure and culture at Boehringer Ingelheim\", by Garcea et al. (2014). The paper sets out the ways in which a UK-based pharmaceutical company embedded a strengths-based approach to the assessment and development of field-based staff during a period of cultural and structural change.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Sets out ways in which a pharmaceutical company embedded a strengths-based approach to the assessment and development of field-based staff during a period of structural and cultural change. Provides an overview of how strengths-based methods were implemented and embedded.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Describes how collaboration with a people-management consultancy introduced strengths through recruitment and development to the company.\nFindings: Relates the positive perception of the assessment and development program by candidates and assessors.\nPractical implications: Provides advice for how other organizations could introduce strengths-based solutions into similar culture change, team and personal-development projects.\nOriginality/value: Points out that the pharmaceutical company - Boehringer Ingelheim - is one of the first UK-based organizations to take a strengths-based approach to aid culture change.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Essential precursors and effects of employee creativity in a service context: Emotional labor strategies and official job performance
|
[
"Job performance",
"Emotional labour",
"Emotional exhaustion",
"Employee creativity",
"Affective commitment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In an increasingly competitive environment, service firms are immersing themselves in developing their capabilities for change and innovation (Agnihotri et al., 2014). For labor-intensive and interactive services, employees as actual service providers are part of such change and innovation (Berry et al., 2006), because their creative insights and solutions allow their organizations to adapt to the rapidly changing business environment and to find new opportunities for organizational innovation (Cadwallader et al., 2010; Coelho et al., 2011). This significance of service employee creativity requires us to establish a systematic understanding of comprehensive processes including its antecedents and consequences.\nTheoretical review and hypothesis development: Emotional labor strategies and service employee creativity\nMethods: Sample selection and data collection\nResults: Validity and common method bias testing\nDiscussion: The significance of the creativity of frontline employees, who in their boundary spanning positions greatly influence service firms' effectiveness through their direct interactions with customers, continues to increase. The major purpose of the present study was to explore the antecedents and consequences of service employee creativity in service organizations. This study first identified how the types of emotional labor differently influence the level of service employee creativity, drawing on emotion regulation theory and conservation of resources theory. We found that emotional exhaustion and affective commitment were the principal intervening factors in the links between emotional labor strategies and employee creativity. In other words, service employees using deep acting were less emotionally exhausted and more affectively committed toward their organization, which led to a high level of creativity. Conversely, those selecting surface acting suffered more emotional exhaustion and had less affective organizational commitment, and in turn showed a low level of creativity. Additionally, this study explored the actual effectiveness of individual creativity in service organizations, focussing on the link between the creativity of service employees and their job performance as officially evaluated and actually applied within an organization. In doing so, we found that customer service personnel behaving creatively achieved superior official job performance.\nConclusion: Service organizations continue to be confronted by new challenges including the generation of progressive and innovative ideas by service employees, which are providing new opportunities to explore what shapes service employee creativity and what it in turn shapes. In response, this study reveals that the creativity of service employees is determined by their emotional labor strategies, and that their motivational resources play pivotal roles in the links between employee acting strategies and emotional laborer creativity. Furthermore, by presenting evidence that the creativity of frontline employees actually elevates the level of their job performance, we emphasize the value of employee creativity. This study from a context-specific perspective offers theoretical implications and managerial directions with regard to managing service employees' emotional strategies and preserving their motivational resources with a view to enhancing their creativity and productivity.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how the emotional labor strategies of service employees differently influence the level of their creativity, and whether creative employees consequently benefit from that creativity in terms of achieving a high level of job performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors surveyed flight attendants from an airline in South Korea. The authors distributed 150 questionnaires to flight attendants, received 126 responses, and finally obtained 119 usable data. The authors used Mplus 7.13 to evaluate validity and test the hypotheses.\nFindings: Whereas employees using deep acting were found to be less emotionally exhausted and more affectively committed toward their organization, which produced a high level of creativity, those who selected surface acting were shown to suffer more emotional exhaustion and have less affective commitment, which generated a low level of creativity. Customer service personnel behaving creatively resulted in superior official job performance appraisals.\nOriginality/value: This study makes distinct contributions to the literature by proposing emotional labor as the key antecedent of employee creativity in service organizations, by confirming emotional exhaustion and affective commitment as the motivational mechanisms through which emotional labor strategies influence service employee creativity, and by suggesting the value of employee creativity.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Career-focused employee transfer processes
|
[
"Career development",
"Employee development",
"Selection"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Effective career development in organizations has long been seen as requiring an integrated career-focus throughout all aspects of an organization's human resource (HR) management system (Von Glinow et al., 1983). Role changes, particularly transfers to new positions, are significant career-related events from both organizational and individual perspectives. From the organization's view, this process links needed human capital to vacant positions and new performance demands. From the individual's view, it is potentially a transition to new learning opportunities, recognition for past accomplishments, higher status, and rewards. For both, it can signal the expectation of a continuing employment relationship and reciprocal commitments. While inter-organizational career processes or boundaryless careers are now well-recognized (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996; Peiperl et al., 2000), career development within organizations remains important for both organizations and individuals (Hall, 2002). Organizations clearly need competent and motivated individuals (Pfeffer, 1998) and, while individual career paths are less organizationally bound and linear (Baruch, 2004) over the long-run, career opportunity and employee development within organizations continue to be important to individual career success (Baruch, 1996; Chen et al., 2004).\nSocial exchange theory and perceived organizational support (POS): The social exchange theory view of the organization-employee relationship argues that a norm of reciprocity directs workplace behavior and attitudes (Blau, 1964). In this view, organizational procedures and decision processes are the basis for employee benefits and reciprocal behavioral and attitudinal obligations (Levinson, 1965). Research on perceived organizational support (POS) has proved to be a reliable measure of the extent that employees see their employers as valuing their contributions and caring about their well being (Eisenberger et al., 1986). Research has documented a number of outcomes that are associated with increases in POS. These range from behavioral outcomes (e.g. higher job performance and lower absenteeism (Eisenberger et al., 1990) to attitudes such as lower turnover intentions and affective organizational commitment (Wayne et al., 1997).The observed antecedents for achieving higher levels of POS are consistent with social exchange theory. Armelio et al. (1998, p. 288) conclude that \"research has shown POS to be influenced by policies, procedures, and decisions indicative of the organization's concern with employee welfare and positive valuation of employee contributions\". Possible antecedents include favorable developmental experiences (Wayne et al., 1997), participation in goal setting and performance feedback (Hutchenson and Garstka, 1996), and procedural justice in appraisal and reward practices (Fasolo, 1995). Allen et al. (2003, p. 100) make a similar point in noting that \"HR practices that suggest investment in employees and show recognition of employee contributions signal that the organization is supportive of the employee and is seeking to establish or continue a social exchange relationship with employees\". Growth opportunities (and developmental investments) are one of three categories of antecedents of POS supported by the Allen et al. (2003) study. From a social exchange theory perspective, addressing employee development and career concerns should help create a positive view of the organization as a committed exchange partner and incur corresponding reciprocal social obligations (Blau, 1964; Gouldner, 1960). While this logic focuses on beneficial organizational outcomes, there are individual benefits associated with adding a career development thrust to an HR practice, including employability security (Kanter, 1989; Prince, 2003).Employee transfer and development\nMethod: Sample\nResults: The correlation data on Table I provide preliminary information on the first two hypotheses concerning the direct positive relationship between the use of career-focused criteria in the transfer decision and the three dependent measures: career development support, development satisfaction, and POS. The significant positive correlations between career-focused criteria and those variables, noted in column 4, all provide support for the hypothesized relationships. The substantial correlations within the two transfer decision criteria and three dependent variable sets, however, underscore the importance using regression analyses to better understand these relationships. Table II presents these analyses.The three dependent variables are separately evaluated with hierarchical regression analyses. These results are summarized in Table II. The entry of the gender and tenure control variables in step 1 is intended to control any extraneous variance associated with these demographic characteristics. No significant relations are found. The entry of the organization-focused criteria variable on step 2 explains significant criterion variance in all three dependent measures. The significant incremental explained variance is noted on the step 2 row and the adjusted DR2 columns under each dependent variable in Table II. This indicates that having a decision process focused on getting employees into openings where they are expected to perform well (e.g. good person-job fit) is positively related to all three attitudes. The effect sizes (adjusted DR2) are all significant and range from 0.08 with developmental satisfaction to 0.12 in the regression with POS. The third step adds the career-focused criteria scale to the three regression equations. The results indicate that adding this term significantly increases explained variance in all three dependent measures. The entry of career-focused criteria term explains an incremental 0.03 (DR2) criterion variance in career development support (increasing the cumulative R2 to 0.13), and an additional 0.06 (DR2) variance in both developmental satisfaction and POS. These results provide the definitive test of H1 and H2. The b coefficients from the step 3 regressions are presented in the top-half of Table II (in the \"b\" columns under each dependent variable). In all cases, the organization-focused criteria variable moves from statistical significance (in step 2) to non-significance when the career-focused criteria variable is added. In the case of career development support and POS, the organization-focused criteria variable reached trend-level (0.05<p<0.10) significance in the third-step equations.H3 argues that career development support and developmental satisfaction will mediate the relationship between career-focused transfer criteria and POS. Baron and Kenny (1986) present three requirements for a mediation effect. First, the independent variable (i.e. career-focused criteria) must be significantly related to the hypothesized mediators. This is seen in the significant Pearson correlation coefficients (0.37*** and 0.38***) in Table I and the significant career-focused criteria b coefficient (0.25*) seen in the step 3 regressions with career development support (see column 3 and step 3 row), and development satisfaction (0.33**). The second requirement is that the independent variable (career-focused criteria) must be significantly related to the dependent variable (POS). This requirement is satisfied by the significant Pearson correlation coefficient (0.39***) in Table I and the significant career-focused criteria b coefficients (0.31*) seen in the step 3 regression with POS presented in the last column (top-half) in Table II.The bottom-half of Table II presents the analyses for Baron and Kenny's (1986) final requirement for a mediator effect. In the bottom-half of that table, the two mediator variables are entered in step 4. The earlier entering variables are re-stated in the bottom of that table in order to present the full equation b coefficients at step 4. Adding the mediators at this final step tests whether they add significant incremental variance after controlling for the independent variable (career-focused criteria) added in step 3. This condition satisfies Baron and Kenny's final mediation requirement. The bottom-half and right side of Table II presents the regression equation results for step 4 when both mediators are added into the POS regression. The effect size (DR2) at step 4 is significant (0.21***) and increases the cumulative R2 increases from 0.18 (on step 3) to 0.39. The b coefficients from the step 4 equation (presented in the last column) indicate that only the developmental satisfaction measure is significant. This indicates that it has the stronger relationship to POS and that career development support does not explain significant independent variance in POS. The separate analysis of career development support as a sole mediator on step 4, however, found that it explained significant incremental variance (DR2=0.12***) in POS. This technically satisfies the Baron and Kenny requirement, but clearly developmental satisfaction is the stronger mediator of the career-focused criteria and POS relationship. These results support H3.Supplemental analysis indicates that there is substantial overlap in the effects of the two mediator variables. This analysis is presented in the bottom-half of Table II in the first six columns. With the entry of developmental satisfaction in the step 4 regression with career development support (presented in the first three columns), we see that the cumulative adjusted R2 increases from 0.13 (at step 3) to 0.41 (DR2=0.28***). Parallel results are found in step 4 when career development support enters into the developmental satisfaction regression. The cumulative adjusted R2 increases from 0.15 to 0.42 (DR2=0.27***). The 0.64 correlation between the two mediator variables (noted in Table I) also supports that these variables are closely related.\nDiscussion: While exploratory in nature, this study provides strong support for the view that the inclusion of career development oriented criteria in the employee transfer decision is associated with perceived support for career development and satisfaction with developmental opportunities provided by the organization. These attitudes are, in turn, positively related to POS. This research extends the Allen et al. (2003) and Wayne et al. (1997) research efforts by evaluating a specific HR practice, the internal employee transfer decision process, and identifying how it relates to key outcomes. These past research efforts speak only generally about supportive HR practices that promote development and then proceed to focus on the various outcomes of POS. Proper theory building requires that antecedents be more fully specified and this research addresses that requirement. The focus on a specific HR practice, such as the employee transfer process, helps ground the Allen et al. (2003) and Wayne et al. (1997) research in a specific organizational HR practice and provides important support for the practical implications of this line of research. There are many ways that organizations can provide a context that is supportive of employee development. This research clearly identifies the internal selection decision process as a good candidate for promoting employee development.Another noteworthy finding of this research is that the use of organization-focused criteria (i.e. selecting high performers) is not antagonistic to the use of individual career development oriented selection decision criteria. In the initial conceptualization of this study, the person-job fit criteria (captured by the organization-focused criteria items) were seen as a short-term consideration (i.e. hiring those expected to be near-term effective performers) and the career-focused criteria items were seen as both benefiting the individual career needs and building organizational human capital needed for long-term viability. These exploratory results suggest that trying to hire both a solid performer and someone who will also grow from the new challenges in the new position are not antagonistic considerations. Arguably, in an organization where employee development is a consistent and important consideration, it is more likely that there will be several applicants qualified to adequately meet the new job's performance demands and hiring applicants who can also accrue developmental benefits by learning new skills and knowledge is not an unusual challenge. In such cases, longer-term development and immediate performance effectiveness outcomes can both be satisfied. While this emphasis is not presently seen in the employee selection literature (Gatewood and Field, 1998), good selection processes may be better conceived as emphasizing both considerations. Selection validity, while often defined in terms of relationship between selection criteria or methods and incumbent performance, can logically be extended to include the longer-term organizational benefits of having a workforce with sufficient breadth and depth of skills. In the face of changing demands and hyper-competitive economic forces (Cappelli, 1999), a flexible workforce, with adequate skill breadth and depth, that can adapt to changing work demands is key to competitive viability (Wright and Snell, 1999).The Wright et al. (2001) discussion of the resource-based view of the firm, reminds us that firm-specific skill development strategies, such as using career-focused internal selection criteria, can help create a unique and hard-to-copy human capital resource that provides a basis for competitive advantage. Internal selection may have advantages beyond skill resources. Movement of employees from different units can also have social capital advantages (Adler and Kwon, 2002). New transfers from other units in the organization are in a unique position to facilitate knowledge exchanges and aid coordination between those units. If employees leave the organization, the human capital and social capital benefits associated with developmental HR practices are lost. Research supports that developmental opportunities increase organizational commitment and this, in turn, aids retention (Allen et al., 2003; Prince, 2003; Wayne et al., 1997). This finding suggests that the gulf that sometimes exists between the HR management and career development literatures represents an unfortunate academic schism. Effective organizational practices have joint implications for both organizational effectiveness and important individual career development outcomes.Weaknesses\nConclusions: This exploratory research provides the basis for future research. More methodologically sophisticated designs are needed to test the causal path shown in Figure 1 and verify the unique influence of using career-focused selection criteria in the internal transfer process and explore the suggested contingencies. The practical benefits of a career or HR investment oriented systems (Tsui et al., 1997) have obvious benefits to individuals and societies. More research is needed to understand when they make sense for organizations and their employees. This research, while identifying a key possible antecedent for POS and adding to the research programs developed by Allen et al. (2003) and Wayne et al. (1997), provides only a starting point for those future inquiries.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The employee selection process has generally focused on the near-term performance potential of internal candidates in filling vacant positions. This research addresses the potential influence of adding a career development emphasis to the employee transfer decision process. In a career-focused transfer process the applicants' individual career development needs and growth opportunities are a key basis for internal selection decisions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using web-based survey methodology, a US financial services firm is used to evaluate the relationship between the use of career-focused employee transfer criteria and key employee attitudes.\nFindings: - The study finds that the use of career-focused processes are positively related to employees' developmental opportunity satisfaction and perceived support for career development. Regression analyses finds that these two attitudes mediate the positive relationship between the use of career-focused transfer criteria and perceived organization support (POS). Other research efforts (e.g. Allen and Shore) have linked POS to a variety of positive outcomes, including lower employee turnover. Past research, however, has not considered how specific human resource practices can be the basis for the development of key attitudes.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This research - while limited due to it cross-sectional methodology - builds on that stream of research by focuses on the design of the employee transfer process and how it can be a key practice for achieving a developmental focus and associated benefits.\nOriginality/value: - The results suggest that focusing on performance potential of applicants and career-focused criteria are not necessarily antagonistic but can be used jointly to make internal selection decisions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
SafeLine: reporting illegal internet content
|
[
"Internet",
"Data security",
"Computer crime",
"Greece"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: The internet is a global system which has quickly become everybody's favorite instrument. More and more people nowadays turn to the internet in order to obtain information, to communicate with people and to use it as an entertainment medium. As the variety of topics and activities one can find on-line is so vast, it attracts users from different ages and interests. Within the framework of this diversity offered by the internet, certain individuals misuse it and commit criminal offences by taking advantage its possibilities. Users come face-to-face quite often with inappropriate material, which sometimes is regarded illegal under the Greek Law. Surfing the internet safely is a right for both adult and teenage users and should be safeguarded in every possible way by the international community. Since the beginning of its operation on 14 April 2003, SafeLine contributes dynamically to this effort.SafeLine's primary goal is to safeguard children's basic rights and to promote their safety while surfing on-line. It is first priority is to eliminate photographic and audiovisual material that portrays ill-treatment of minors as well as their harassment via the internet or a mobile phone.SafeLine is in direct collaboration with the Greek police in order to achieve its main objective: the uncovering of the individuals that traffic the illegal material on the internet. It forwards reports with illegal content. The investigation of internet crimes falls under the responsibility of the Greek Cyber Crime Unit. Two units of this kind exist in Greece at the moment. One is located in Athens (and was established in 2004) and the one in Salonika (founded in 2006).Apart from the recorded reports, SafeLine receives queries from parents concerning social networking systems (SNS). Teenage users register with and spend endless hours in social networking sites that may bring on internet addiction as well. The parents are increasingly concerned about their children's cross-network \"friends\" and the dangers that are hidden behind the use of such networks.Finally, the topics analyzed below touch upon \"the role of SafeLine\", \"reporting procedures\", \"a significant increase in the number of reports\", \"trends in the content of the received reports\", \"Greek children, keen on new technologies\", \"Greek children, keen on new technologies\", \"social networking systems\", \"legal framework\" and \"useful safety tips\".\n2 The role of SafeLine: SafeLine, the Greek internet safety hotline, accepts reports from users about web sites and newsgroups and P2P systems that contain:*photographic material picturing child sexual abuse anywhere in the world;*racist and xenophobic-oriented content; and*other material that can be considered, illegal violating the Greek Law (SafeLine, 2008).SafeLine's primary goal is to safeguard children's basic rights and at the same time to promote their safety while surfing on-line. SafeLine's first priority is to eliminate photographic and audiovisual material that portrays child sexual abuse as well as their harassment via the internet or a mobile phone. It is really indubitable that these actions are harmful for children's dignity and inevitably affect their mental and psychological stability and growth.SafeLine is supported since the beginning of its operation in 2003 by the Safer Internet Plus Programme of the European Commission (EC) within the framework of the NetWatch, SafeLine and SafeLine2 projects. SafeLine's operation has been assigned by the EC to the following organizations:*FORTH-ICS. Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Institute of Computer Science, web site: www.ics.forth.gr*SAFENET. Hellenic Self-regulatory Body for Internet Content, web site: www.safenet.grSince, 18 October 2005, SafeLine has been a full member of INHOPE (www.inhope.org), the International Association for Internet Hotlines which is supported by the EC's Safer Internet Plus Programme. Currently, there are 35 hotlines in 31 different countries all around the world whose activity is coordinated by INHOPE. The number of existing internet hotlines is the proof of the necessity for making a safer internet for minors! SafeLine follows INHOPE's best practices in its report processing procedure, takes part in all workshops organised by the INHOPE Association and has contributed substantially in the field of worldwide report analysis by creating and publishing the \"2007 Global Internet Trend Report\" (INHOPE, 2007).2.1 Reporting procedures\n3 Greek children, keen on new technologies: Youngsters in Greece seem to be keen on the new technologies, such as personal computers and mobile phones (SafeLine, 2008). According to a recent research conducted by the Observatory for the Greek Information Society (2008), 73 per cent of children ages between ten and 15 use a computer in comparison to 30 per cent of the general public. From the percentage of children that use the internet 36 per cent of them use it almost daily. It seems that the teenage users spend their time playing on-line games, communicating with friends and visiting social networking sites (such as facebook, youtube, myspace, hi5, etc.), downloading songs or movies, while spending far less time researching and collecting information for their school work. Moreover, they appear to be aware of potential internet dangers; however this knowledge is precarious as the number of children that become intimidated by or come across inappropriate material is significant. Youngsters tend to hide these facts from their parents in fear of limitation of the amount of time they spend on-line.The number of teenage individuals that own a mobile phone is already high and is increasing constantly. The Observatory for the Greek Information Society reports that a mobile telephone is used by 74 per cent of children, a percentage that reaches 87 per cent when the sample is narrowed down to 12-15 years old youngsters. This percentage increases considerably when children start high school, as they tend to use the mobile phones for sending and receiving messages, making calls and exchanging pictures with their friends.3.1 Internet addiction\n4 Social networking systems: SNS become more and more popular not only among teenagers but also to adults. According to INHOPE's (2009) definition:A social network service focuses on the building and verifying of on-line social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are primarily web based and provide a collection of various ways for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, e-mail, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups and so on.At the moment, the most famous SNSs are Facebook, Hi5, MySpace and Youtube. SafeLine receives daily an increased number of reports concerning SNS. In the first six months of 2009, 17 per cent of illegal report received by SafeLine came out of the SNSs. From the SNS's reports that 78 per cent were about Facebook, 12 per cent for Hi5 and 10 per cent for MySpace, as shown in Figure 3.The most common risks an adolescent may encounter while surfing on SNs is cyber bullying, trolling, grooming and personal data violation.According to WiredKids Inc. definition (Stop Cyberbullying, 2009):Cyberbullying is when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones. It has to have a minor on both sides, or at least have been instigated by a minor against another minor. Once adults become involved, it is plain and simple cyber-harassment or cyberstalking. Adult cyber-harassment or cyberstalking is NEVER called cyberbullying.In many cases, the person who bullies is also bullied by others, which means that usually the roles change. The psychological consequences of cyber bullying are usually very serious, as the child is harassed, afraid, isolated and sometimes turns to depression.Trolling resembles cyberbullying as an action but in the case of a trolling phenomenon the troll attacks not an individual but a whole group while using negative remarks and fake comments. The Indiana University Information Technology Services (2009), has defined what a troll is:A troll is not a grumpy monster that lives beneath a bridge accosting passers-by, but rather a provocative posting intended to produce a large volume of frivolous responses. The term can also refer to someone making such a posting (\"a troll\") or to the action (\"trolling\" and \"to troll\"). The content of a troll may consist of an apparently foolish contradiction of common knowledge, a deliberately offensive insult to the readers of a newsgroup or mailing list, or a broad request for trivial follow-up postings. The result of such postings is frequently a flood of angry responses.Grooming (INSAFE, 2009b) is the activity where a paedophile pretends to be an adolescent while trying to attract minors on-line for sexual abuse. INSAFE declares that:Grooming occurs when paedophiles use chat rooms to groom children for abuse by pretending to be teenagers themselves. Paedophiles initiate conversations with likely victims to develop a relationship with the victim and to elicit as much information about location, interests, hobbies and sexual experiences.Last but certainly not least, personal data violation is a usual cyber crime and takes place when someone steals from another person the name, address, telephone number, videos, photos or anything else that is strictly personal and publishes them without his/her permission. SafeLine has received many reports about fictitious profiles in Facebook or Hi5 reported by people different from the ones portrayed on these profiles.\n5 Legal framework: SafeLine's main role is to mediate between citizens and the Hellenic Police, by receiving complaints from the former and forwarding them to the latter. The rights and obligations of citizens, both as individuals and as a whole, are provided by the legislation and constitution of Greece and guarantee the legality of SafeLine's role.As foreseen by Article 36 of the Hellenic Penal Code:[...] in cases where no indictment or request is necessary, prosecution follows ex officio [automatically - without an order by the Public Prosecutor], following any reference, charge or other notice that a criminal act has been committed,and in Article 42:[...] besides the person that has been harmed, any other person also has the right to denounce these criminal acts to the authorities, and these are prosecuted ex officio, irrespectively of how the authorities were notified about them.As the number of crimes that may be committed on the internet is comparable to that for the \"real world\", SafeLine will accept all reports for illegal content. There will, however, be a distinction between crimes that are prosecuted ex officio and those that are prosecuted under specific charges, as certain crimes, such as verbal abuse (Article 361 P.C.), must be denounced either:1. by the immediate victim of the criminal act (Article 118 P.C.), i.e. the bearer of the legal benefit, who is protected by the above penal provision and is affected by the criminal act; and2. or by the wronged party, who has been directly harmed by the crime in any way, but who is not, at the same time, a victim, as described in (1).In these cases, SafeLine cannot forward the denouncements to the police; instead, the victim or wronged party must denounce the crime directly to the police.Mentioned below are the most significant legislative adjustments for cyber-crimes whose suppression is of greater importance for the protection of society and in particular of its more vulnerable groups (children, immigrants, etc.).Child pornography\n6 Useful safety tips: As the internet is an integral piece of children's life, parents should advise their children with the best ways of protection. At the moment, parents are not so aware of the dangers their children may come across while surfing the internet. Some useful tips are provided to the public by INSAFE (2009a) and Safer Internet Hellas (2009).6.1 Using the internet in a safe way - useful tips for parents\n7 Conclusions: SafeLine's operation for more than six years now, has managed to gain the public's trust to a large extent and the proof of this is the increased number of reports received. Additionally, SafeLine's staff does not stop informing students, parents, teachers, etc. about the internet threats on one hand and about the ability of reporting illegal internet content on the other hand. That means that SafeLine has a dual role, receiving reports and enhancing internet safety awareness. The promotion of internet safety is SafeLine's main goal. Moreover, SafeLine's staff tries to strengthen its cooperation with Law enforcement and other Governmental authorities, to influence governmental parties for improving and completing Greek legislation for the public's better protection. Hence, the increase of success stories reported by individuals will be conclusive proof of SafeLine's effective strategies. In conclusion, the aim of this paper is to inform the public on simple ways of safeguarding while surfing the internet.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present the operational framework of SafeLine (www.safeline.gr), the Greek Internet Hotline. SafeLine's mission is to eliminate illegal internet content with emphasis on images of child sexual abuse and to combat against users who encroach on children's rights through illegal internet activities like grooming or cyberbullying.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - SafeLine serves as a contact point for those individuals that wish to report illegal internet content or activities that they encounter while surfing the internet. Upon receipt of a report verified as illegal, SafeLine forwards it to the Greek police, to other governmental authorities, or to the hotline of another country.\nFindings: - An analysis of the reports received by SafeLine indicate a clear shift on the type of reported content. A large number of recent reports concern financial fraud and personal data violation, activity related to the newly emerged social networking sites.\nPractical implications: - The resulting aim of this paper is to inform internet users about their ability to report illegal internet material.\nSocial implications: - Interesting topics such as internet addiction, illegal activities in the emerging social networking systems and legislation regarding cyber crimes will also be analyzed while trying to give an overall view about internet risks for children. Finally, useful tips for the public are presented as a means of promoting a safer internet for children and adults.\nOriginality/value: - The paper reports on the latest trends in illegal internet content based upon an analysis of the reports received by SafeLine. A clear shift to illegal activity in social networking sites clearly emerges.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Measuring follower confidence in top leadership direction
|
[
"Top leadership",
"Top management",
"Individual follower",
"Organizational change",
"Leadership",
"Managers",
"Senior managers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The best leader does not ask people to serve him, but the common end. The best leader has not followers, but men and women working with him [...] We want to arouse not the attitudes of obedience, but the attitudes of co-operation, and we cannot do that effectively unless we are working for a common purpose understood and defined as such. Mary Parker Follett (Follett, 1942).\nDefining the top leadership direction construct: Our instrument is intended to assess follower perceptions of top management as a function with a specific aim (i.e. directing the organization). Employees typically do not have firsthand experience with the top leader. Rather, employees are more likely to form their impressions of leadership from their observations of the upper echelon. Thus, we suggest that employees are likely to view leadership as a shared influence process. Consequently, our measurement evaluates followers' perceptions of top leadership direction without focussing on the identification of a single individual as leader (cf. Chen and Bliese, 2002). We propose that this idea is comparable to the notion that the organization can be evaluated without reference to a specific individual (cf. Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002; perceived organizational support). In sum, we wanted to capture the confidence that an employee would have that the leadership team of his or her organization was guiding the organization toward success. Therefore, we defined the top leadership direction construct as the perception that the top management team is providing competent direction for the organization.In our measure, we use the terms top leadership and top management interchangeably. We acknowledge the distinctions between leadership and management (Daft, 2008; Kotter, 1990), recognizing that the construct leadership contains the ideas of creating and articulating a vision for the organization, as well as a broader view of the organization, including the development of a shared culture. Managers are typically portrayed as having a more restricted view of the organization, being concerned with the bottom line and the productivity of subordinates. We accept the view of Kotter (1990) who suggests that leadership and management complement one another. In particular, we take the OD perspective in which a key theme is how those with decision-making power engage their followership to enact change. Therefore, our focus includes leaders and managers with legitimate power working in concert - as example, leadership provides the vision and its management implements that vision. In addition, unlike researchers of leadership, followers are unlikely to make a distinction between top management and top leadership, but rather are likely to think of top leadership as top management. For our purposes then, we expect that followers will consider those who are at the helm of their organization as the top leadership and top management[1].We conducted two studies. Our goal for the first study was to develop and provide preliminary validation evidence of the Top Leadership Direction Scale (TLDS). The second study provided additional validation at the level of the individual follower.\nStudy 1: Using the definition we created, the first author wrote four items to measure the perception of top leadership direction in the organization. Specifically, the items were written to assess follower confidence in the direction as provided by top leadership and perceived instrumentality of that direction. Items are shown in Table I. The items were scaled on a six-point Likert scale from \"disagree strongly\" to \"agree strongly,\" with the top anchor (6) signaling greater confidence.Construct validation strategy\nMethod: Sample\nResults: Properties of the TLDS\nDiscussion: Evidence from Study 1 suggests the psychometric properties of the TLDS are sound and the results of the construct validation data are promising. The TLDS had significant weak to strong correlations with individual perceptions of organizational characteristics. The strongest of these was coordination, a construct that captures an aspect typically perceived as controlled by top management: the extent to which work is organized within the organization (Rousseau, 1978). Weak and moderate relationships were found with formalization and centralization. The extent to which decision making was seen as controlled at the top levels of the organization (centralization) was consistent with the evaluation of top management as providing direction (Hage and Aiken, 1967). The amount of regimentation (formalization) within the organization was only weakly related which suggests that confidence in top leadership direction is not influential in how the rank and file view the rules and policies of the organization. Satisfied employees who expected to stay with the organization rated their top management favorably (cf. Niehoff et al., 1990). Weak and nonsignificant relationships with the Big Five Personality factors provided discriminant validity for the TLDS.\nStudy 2: Study 1 demonstrated that key perceptions of employees were related to their confidence in top leadership direction. With Study 2, we wanted to identify additional individual perceptions of other organizational characteristics and attitudes that confidence in top leadership direction should predict. The purpose of the second study, therefore, was to confirm the factor structure of the TLDS and provide additional validation evidence.We examined the types of communication from the organization's top leadership to employees for their relationship to TLDS scores. The communication received from leaders via organizational outlets such as newsletters, management meetings, and company web sites would be expected to have an impact on employees' perceptions of their top leaders' ability to provide direction to their organizations (Farmer et al., 1998). Employees' positive perceptions of their leaders would most likely emanate from a climate that fosters confidence in and open communication between leaders and employees. When employees are encouraged to share suggestions and new ideas (innovation) with organizational leaders who seriously consider that input, we would expect that these employees would have more favorable views of their top leadership, discerning that their influence on management was felt (Axtell et al., 2000). Finally, we measured workers' commitment to the organization (Meyer and Allen, 1997) and their organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) (Organ, 1988) as potential individual outcomes of confidence in top leadership direction.\nMethod: Sample\nResults: First, the structure of the TLDS was examined with a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)[5]. Subsequently, overall scale scores were calculated and correlated with the TLDS scale score to establish convergent validity for the scale.Structure of the TLDS\nDiscussion: Results of the second study provide additional evidence that the TLDS is a valid measure of employees' confidence in leadership direction. The a for the overall scale, 0.87, is strong and consistent with the first study a of 0.81. Further support for the measure was found with a CFA. A single factor with all items loading significantly was confirmed. When the loadings are compared for the two studies, they are remarkably similar.The total number of sources of communication that top management used to communicate with the employees was not significantly related to scores on the TLDS. However, point biserial correlations of each of the methods with the TLDS revealed that having meetings with top management was significantly, though weakly, associated with TLDS. These findings suggest that the direct presence of top leadership may be the only form of communication that influences employees' perceptions of their leadership's capacity to guide the organization. Indirect communication sources such as newsletters and web sites can be effective to inform employees about their company, but perhaps not in relaying leadership's direction to the extent that followers comprehend that direction (cf. Farmer et al., 1998).The positive relationship between trust in innovation and the TLDS suggests that employees who perceive top leadership as guiding the organization competently also see their voices and participation valued by top management, and they see themselves as sharing in the organization's benefits and outcomes produced by their input (Clegg et al., 2002). As organizational leadership promotes the active participation of the employees in the development of the organization, employees are going to perceive their top leadership team more positively (cf. Bijlsma and van de Bunt, 2003). Engaged followers are ideally suited for effectuating change because they are committed to the cause. When they trust their leaders, they work hard on their behalf and are committed to the organization and its goals (cf. Kellerman, 2008).The relationship between organizational commitment and the TLDS suggests that perceived leadership direction corresponds with employees' identification and sense of belongingness with the organization (cf. Niehoff et al., 1990). The pattern of results by subscale is especially insightful. Both normative and affective forms of commitment tie to the fabric of the organization, and thus are consistent with top leadership action; in contrast, continuance commitment represents an acknowledgement of the costs of leaving the organization and is thus unrelated to confidence in top management direction. In general, these findings support our expectations and are consistent with past work and theoretical expectations of organizational commitment (Allen and Meyer, 1990; Meyer and Allen, 1997).We had anticipated that OCB would be correlated positively with the TLDS; we had hypothesized that when employees have confidence in their top leadership as directing the company competently, employees would be more likely to demonstrate OCB (i.e. altruism, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, courtesy, and civic virtue). Three OCB dimensions (altruism [r=0.12], civic virtue [r=0.18], and sportsmanship [r=0.14]) did correlate significantly with the TLDS, but all were very weak relationships. The weak relationships found with the OCBs suggest that the direction leaders set for the organization may not, therefore, have a direct effect on extra-role behavior (Organ, 1988). The relatively low a's for the OCB subscales also recommend caution in interpreting these correlations.\nGeneral discussion: We propose that a measure of employee confidence in their top leadership would serve a useful purpose, both theoretically and practically. We have taken as our primary directive the idea that the social construct of leadership rests largely on the perceptions of the followers (Follett, 1942; Meindl, 1990). The purpose of this paper has been to present a scale for use in gauging employees' confidence in their top leadership, considering top leadership as a collective of competent individuals guiding an organization.The evidence thus far for the TLDS is excellent. The scale's psychometric properties are adequate: all items are contributing to the scale, the items collectively account for a sizable amount of variance, and a in both studies easily exceeded the minimum reliability value customarily accepted (0.70; Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994).The construct validity evidence for the TLDS is also supportive. Individual perceptions of organizational characteristics that would logically be influenced by guidance from top leadership - centralization, formalization, and coordination - were related to confidence in top leadership direction. The pattern of correlations between work attitudes and the TLDS was also supportive. Employees who expressed confidence in their top leadership were more satisfied, more committed, more trusting that their ideas would be heard, and less inclined to leave the organization[6]. Personality variables were either unrelated or weakly related to TLDS, providing discriminant evidence. Finally, OCBs were unrelated or weakly related, suggesting a limit to top leadership influence on individual follower attitudes.Taken together, the support for the construct of confidence in top leadership is compelling. The scale, TLDS, is ready for additional research with new samples and additional variables. We also believe that it can make a practical contribution for top leadership interested in assessing their followers' confidence.Limitations\nConclusion: With these two studies, we have provided psychometric and validation evidence of the TLDS. The pattern of associations with theoretically similar perceptions of organizational variables indicates that the top leader direction construct is a meaningful one. Expanding the notion of leadership to contain top leadership direction is warranted, and the TLDS presents as a potentially valuable tool for organizations.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to define the construct of confidence in top leadership and to develop a brief measure of that construct.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Two studies were conducted in which 674 working adults completed measures of work-related attitudes. In both studies, the scale demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity with like and unrelated constructs.\nFindings: - The results provide evidence for the construct validity of the new measure.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Respondents were relatively young and drawn predominantly from a working student population in a single region of the USA. Additional research should be conducted with additional working populations, especially in the context of addressing organizational change.\nPractical implications: - The short five-item scale would be useful as a diagnostic tool for assessing the confidence of organizational members in their top leadership.\nOriginality/value: - This study supports a concept, confidence in top leadership, that as a followership variable, can be used to identify if top leadership has the support of its followers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Weather-risk hedging by farmers: An empirical study of willingness-to-pay in Rajasthan, India
|
[
"Derivatives markets",
"Risk assessment",
"Agriculture",
"India"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Weather derivatives are at a nascent stage the world over. No standardization of contracts has been achieved and very few pricing mechanisms have been developed. Although some trades have been done and some thinking has gone into the rigors involved, volumes are nowhere near being comparable with those of other derivative products.There has been a prolonged debate and a few experiments with these under Indian conditions. Weather derivatives could be an effective hedge against the vagaries of weather, which could result in a lower-than-expected agricultural output. And this would be true both, at the individual farmer's level, or collectively, at a larger level. The availability of weather derivatives would result in increased risk-taking ability and this in turn could result in improved allocation of resources (Ahsan et al., 1982). Once again, the same argument would hold true for many other sectors where sales and revenues earned would be weather-dependent.The role of weather derivatives in risk management for agriculture in developing countries has been brought out by many researches. The vulnerability of agriculture to weather is especially pronounced in developing countries. Also of importance is the fact that agriculture has a link to many other sectors, thus creating a connection between the GDP of a developing country and the weather. It has been estimated that in India, as much as 20 per cent of the GDP is wiped out whenever there is a bad monsoon (Sharma and Vashishtha, 2007). The poor have very little means of risk management and resort to short-term strategies like selling their assets in times of crisis. The number of farmer suicides in India at times of crop failure is a pointer to this.Poor, small farmers are especially susceptible to variations in income because of weather-related risks to their crops. In fact, even those rural poor who are not directly involved in agriculture get affected because their incomes are often tied to the success of the agricultural production (Barnett and Mahul, 2007).Traditionally, small farmers and the rural poor have used various types of mitigation techniques for weather-related risks to their income. These include savings, selling their assets, selling their livestock, etc. However, the implied premium on these types of techniques was estimated by Rosenzweig and Biswanger (1993) to be as high as 35 per cent.Government interventions exist, but to a limited extent. The Minimum Support Price (a procurement price assured by the government) and government-sponsored crop insurance schemes have absorbed a lot of public money, without being too sure of success rates.Research into the demand for weather derivatives and willingness to invest in such products would give an insight into the potential market and the manner in which they could be structured (Seth et al., 2008). Such a study has not been done in India, and this could possibly boost the market, while simultaneously feeding into regulatory and policy issues that would have to be in place as the market takes off.Many market makers have been entering the weather markets, and many more who are in the risk management market would be able to find value in the dynamics of the weather market. Besides, swapping risks in different geographical locations in the world, holding of weather derivative contracts creates a diversity in portfolios, something most risk managers would look for. Cross trading of weather and commodities is another arena. For example, sellers of rainfall derivatives may buy futures in commodities where the lack of rainfall could result in shortages and so drive up prices. The combination of weather and related commodity risks adds depth and breadth to the weather market and is the source of innovative products in the risk management arena (Sattiah and Gunaranjan, 2005).India has experimented with the crop insurance program for many years (Ifft, 2001; Raju and Chand, 2008). Whilst most of the schemes have been government programs, a few private players have also ventured into the field. However, the primary question has not always been what the Indian farmer is able to pay, but also of what he is willing to pay. Unfortunately, most debates start with the assumption that a farmer would not be able to pay for hedging his yield, and so the government would necessarily have to subsidize any scheme that is floated. On the other hand, Nelson and Loehman (1987) argue that the social returns from government expenditure on information collection to improve the structure of insurance products would be larger than the social returns from government subsidization of insurance.An empirical study into farmers' willingness to pay for a weather derivative would give the required insight into the structuring of such products, whether such products can be introduced without any government subsidy, as has been the case with all crop insurance thus-far, and the viability of private players coming up with innovative hedging products for farmers.\nContingent valuation: Arriving at a monetary value to be placed on a service provided, is not an easy task. However, in order to aid in policy-making and in order to act as a starting point for structuring weather derivatives, it is essential that we have some idea of the amount that people would be willing to pay for them. One method, which has been used fairly extensively is the contingent valuation (CV) method.CV uses surveys to obtain responses to hypothetical situations and then determines preferences through respondents' willingness to pay for a proposed service or for an improvement in an existing service. The method is named so because it determines \"willingness to pay\" values which are contingent upon a hypothetical situation or market described to the respondent.\nThe survey: This paper is the outcome of a survey carried out in villages in the Indian State of Rajasthan, amongst small farmers, in the second half of 2007. At the outset, it was decided to target a mix of those farmers who had, earlier, opted for some form of crop insurance, and those who had not.One of the specific objectives of the survey was to assess farmers' willingness to pay, in order to hedge their yield risk through purchase of weather derivative products.The study area\nDetermining willingness to pay: Since the CV responses were either \"Yes\" or \"No\", the response could be considered a binary variable and a statistical model appropriate for a discrete dependant variable could be used. The intention was to be able to analyze covariate effects on responses, e.g. the effect of education, age, awareness of insurance schemes, etc. on the willingness to pay. Carson and Mitchell (1992), for example, have shown the effect of 14 variables on the willingness to pay. The major advantage of coming up with a model with covariates is that it could easily be used to expand the findings from this research, in a way that can be corrected by exogenous variables.The basic concept used was that of the random utility model (RUM) devised by Hanemann (1984), where a respondent answers \"Yes\" to a payment if he perceives that the benefits which would accrue by paying that amount are greater than the cost of paying for it. Preferences for willingness to pay would differ across individuals based on their social-demographic characteristics, and their preferences on the type of structuring that the weather derivatives should have.In the model, we envisage an element of weather-related risk to the yield that a farmer expects from his cultivation. If this risk q0 were to reduce to q1 through the purchase of weather derivatives by paying an amount t, then, the probability of a respondent, j, answering \"Yes\" to a bid amount is: Equation 2 where zj, is a vector of attributes and characteristics, and; ej, is the non-observable (inherent to the respondent) component of preferences.Assuming that the error term ej is independently and identically distributed, with mean zero, the normal and logistic are two commonly used distributions and these are done using LIMDEP software.In order to understand the determinants of respondents' willingness to pay for weather derivatives, which would be consistent with intuition and with economic demand theory, a series of multivariate regression analyses were performed with the survey data. Those variables having little effect on the dependant variable were left out from the final model. In our final model, nine variables - education, age, monthly savings, livestock holding, perceptions on surety of yield, awareness of crop insurance schemes, preference of weather factor to hedge, preference for time period of contract and preference for individual vs group schemes were taken as independent variables. Income is not taken as a determinant in the model, since, as in the RUM with linear utility function, marginal utility of income is assumed constant across scenarios posed by CV questions (Haab and McConnell, 2002).Table I describes the independent variables and gives an idea of the means. Some of the variables have been categorized for convenience. Details of the categories in each of the nine variables considered are given in the Appendix.Binomial logit and probit models\nConclusions: The effect of nine independent variables on the willingness to pay for weather derivatives by small farmers in the state of Rajasthan in India has been brought out. Both, probit and logit models give us near equal results for CV of willingness to pay. Mean willingness to pay is determined to be around 8.8 per cent of the maximum payout in a weather derivative contract.This study would be helpful in providing insights into the amounts that farmers would be willing to pay for hedging the weather risks that they face while growing crops. Although this study has been carried out in one state in India, it would help in the structuring of weather derivative products not only in India, but also in other developing countries.One important finding is that the willingness to pay is at a level where it might be possible to introduce weather derivative products without government subsidy, which has been the case for most crop insurance schemes so far. Of course, the costs of such products would need to be carefully researched for specific areas and for specific crops, before the introduction of these derivatives.\nScope of further research: With weather derivatives at a nascent stage, the scope for further research is enormous. An attempt is made to detail some of the areas in which future research can be done, but this list is by no means exhaustive:* The ideal situation, and one in which the scope of cost reduction would be maximum, would be where weather derivatives are in demand not only by farmers, but also by different businesses. As mentioned in the introduction, revenues of a large number of businesses would be affected by weather, and weather derivatives would be a source of hedging for them. Similar research, bringing out the demand, the willingness-to-pay, and the valuation of weather derivative products for different businesses would help in determining the structure of products which would be in demand across businesses.* Government subsidies to crop insurance schemes could be diverted to building up the infrastructure required for up-scaling the access and quality of weather derivatives. One of the first requirements, in order to reduce basis risk in these products, would be to have a large network of reliable weather stations capable of recording basic weather parameters. Future research could go into the geographical requirements and the costs of setting these up.* Research could be done on the effect of meteorological forecasts on weather derivative prices. Would farmers, for example, be willing to buy weather derivatives, as a hedge against low rainfall, at a higher price if the meteorological forecasts predict a lower-than-normal rainfall? However, this research would be meaningful only when market data for weather derivative trades are available.* From a speculator's point of view, individual weather derivative contracts would be fairly risky propositions. However, research could be carried out on the amount that his risk can be reduced by holding a portfolio with diversified weather contracts in different locations, or by holding a portfolio consisting of weather contracts along with, say, correlated energy/electricity contracts.* Again, once market data for weather derivative trades is available, research can be carried out into possible correlations between weather derivative contracts and commodity futures prices. In fact, there could be the possibility of use of weather derivatives to improve the efficiency of forward markets for food-grain commodities.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - Small farmers in developing countries have very little means of managing the weather-risk to their agricultural produce. Weather derivatives could provide a solution, but the demand for such instruments and the willingness to invest in them needs to be researched. The purpose of this paper is to assess weather-risk hedging by farmers, focusing on the willingness to pay in Rajasthan, India.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper presents results of a contingent valuation study done on the findings of a survey carried out in six villages in the state of Rajasthan. The survey was done on over 500 farmers after explaining the concept of weather derivatives and how they would work to help them hedge their weather-related yield risk. The survey included questions on factors, which could have a bearing on the farmers' willingness to pay, and a bidding game where responses were solicited to premiums in a hypothetical market. Probit and logit models are used to determine probabilities of \"Yes\" responses to various bids and the mean willingness-to-pay.\nFindings: - The paper brings out a model, which uses nine independent variables affecting the probability of a farmer saying \"Yes\" to a price quoted to him for a weather derivative. Using the results from the probit and logit models, the farmers' mean willingness-to-pay is determined to be around 8.8 per cent of the maximum possible payout of a weather derivative contract.\nOriginality/value: - With weather derivatives being accepted as a means of risk management for agriculture in developing countries, the willingness-to-pay figures determined in this paper would provide an insight to the structuring and pricing of weather derivatives, especially in developing countries.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Employee loyalty and organizational performance: a critical survey
|
[
"Value creation",
"Performance",
"Employee loyalty",
"Manifestations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The economic performance of firms, whatever their sector of activity, is becoming ever more dependent on the participation, commitment, and more generally, loyalty of their employees (Boltanski and Chiapello, 1999). Loyalty has become a fundamental concern for organizations, particularly in a context of the economic tensions related to the \"psychological contract\" between employers and employees (Naus et al., 2007; Sverke and Goslinga, 2003). An employee's dedication to the job, his/her emotional investment, and the regularity of his/her commitment to the organization, are important for the longevity and the performance of organizations (Bakker and Schaufeli, 2008).\n2. Theoretical background: Many works on loyalty in economics and management science are based on the analytical framework proposed by Hirschman (1970), and interpret it either as an attitude that encourages expression (voice) and deters departure (exit) from the organization (e.g. Luchak, 2003), or as an alternative form of behavior to both exit and voice (Farrell, 1983; Rusbult et al., 1988).\n3. A positive link depending on the type of loyalty and performance studied: Many studies argue that employee loyalty is value creating; the resource-based view considers that \"engaged employees within an organization provide a competitive advantage to organizations\" (Bhatnagar, 2007, p. 7). However, this idea needs to be put into perspective: despite evidence on the positive links between certain forms of loyalty and certain types of performance, it is difficult to draw any conclusions that could be applied generally. It can be seen that the performance criteria in the literature vary across studies. For Paille (2004), the objectives include increasing the value of the firm, improving work efficiency and customer loyalty, and reducing social dysfunction. Others show that employee loyalty is correlated with service quality, consumer satisfaction, and firm profits (Yee et al., 2009), or with increased revenue and market share (Bhatnagar, 2007). In parallel, some authors renew discussions (Diefendorff et al., 2002; Paille, 2006) and advance that job involvement predicts organizational citizenship behaviors - like helping behavior, civic virtue, and sportsmanship - which can be viewed as components of organizational performance (MacKensie et al., 1998).\n4. Discussion: The diverse arguments developed in Section 3 raise two central issues to a deeper understanding of the links between employee loyalty and performance.\n5. Concluding remarks and further lines of research: The aim of this paper was to clarify the relationship between employee loyalty and organizational performance based on a critical overview on this fragmented theoretical field of analysis. By proposing a refined synthesis of the literature, we questioned the positive impact of employee loyalty on organizational performance: we showed that the nature of the impact varies according to the type of indicators used. In doing so, we pointed out that although employee loyalty is an important issue, and especially in times of economic and social crises, there is no consensus on the definition of the concept. Given these shortcomings and the multiplicity of indicators for employee loyalty to their organization, much research remains to be conducted.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between employee loyalty and organizational performance. It starts with the idea that the employee loyalty creates value for the organization. This statement is widely endorsed in the literature although there is little consensus on the definition of loyalty. The paper proposes a refined synthesis of the literature on the link between employee loyalty and organizational performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper addresses the question of whether there is a robust positive link between employee loyalty and organizational performance. The paper starts by reviewing the various, sometimes divergent, approaches to employee loyalty in the literature and then compare the different indicators of loyalty in relation to their relevance to different indicators of performance.\nFindings: The paper provides a critical overview of the different existing conceptions of employee loyalty. It points out ambiguity about both the theoretical contours of the concept, and practical means of making it a source of value for the organization. The paper shows that the link between employee loyalty and performance varies according to the type of indicators used.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper highlights a variety of indicators for employee loyalty to their firm and for organizational performance. But much research remains to be conducted, notably on the managerial levers that might consolidate or improve organizational performance.\nOriginality/value: This paper fulfills an identified need to survey a fragmented theoretical field of analysis.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Time for "resilience": Community mediators working with marginalised young people offer a novel approach
|
[
"Social care",
"Marginalized communities",
"Critical understandings of “resilience”",
"Social welfare delivery",
"Theory and time",
"Young people in gangs"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: People \"on the margins\" are not generally identified as normatively resilient despite the fact that they often respond to situations of adversity in creative and novel ways which ameliorate suffering and social exclusion (Fisher, 2007, 2008; Theron, 2012; France et al., 2013). Unorthodox forms of resilience, sometimes referred to as \"actually existing resourcefulness\" (Evans and Reid, 2014, p. 84) remain largely unacknowledged beyond the communities and groups which co-create them. This paper offers an original perspective in that it considers the hitherto neglected intersections between time and resilience. It is suggested that hegemonic understandings regarding the right and proper use of time, both in relation to everyday activities and to understandings of the lifecourse, may neglect the resilience strategies of marginalised groups that act within alternative temporal understandings. The research presented here is based on a study that investigated the actually existing resourcefulness of community mediators (CMs). CMs, often former \"gang members\" themselves, are of interest as they have re-configured their life biographies by engaging positively with young people who are involved in gang-related activities, or who are at risk of becoming involved in gang-related activities.\nBackground to the study: The CMs who participated in this study work in close collaboration with a third sector organisation in the north of England which provides training in mediation skills. There is a lack of consensus in the literature regarding the relationship between the third sector and the state (Amin, 2009). What is clear is that in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, the relationship between the third sector and the state varies significantly across the globe (Halsall et al., 2016; Pape et al., 2016). The underlying assumption is often that it is the role of the third sector to re-integrate the marginalised and vulnerable back into the \"mainstream\" (Pape et al., 2016). Resilience, in other words, becomes a normalised standard for mapping out normal from abnormal behaviour. In relation specifically to young people who have become involved in inner city gangs, the goal is to prevent \"anti-social\" and criminal behaviour by aligning young people's sense of success and self-worth with goals which are in tune with the normal functioning of society (Amin, 2009; Southwick et al., 2011). Many, however, regard the third sector as offering a distinctive value system which privileges human solidarity in order to develop new and alternative forms of social power (see Gibson-Graham, 2006; Amin, 2009; Fisher and Byrne, 2012; Downing, 2016). This paper contributes to this debate by addressing the understandings and enactments of resilience amongst CMs, arguing that their understandings of resilience and its relationship with time deserve greater acknowledgement.\nLiterature review: Understanding resilience\nMethodology: The study was developed in collaboration with a third sector organisation, and with representatives of stakeholder organisations working collaboratively with the CMs, with the shared aim of reducing gang-related anti-social behaviour among children and young people. Recruitment was via the co-chair of the third sector organisation who was approached by the researchers who explained that they were interested in investigating the CMs' understandings of resilience, personal resilience strategies and approaches to working with children and young people. The CMs were keen that their approaches to their work, sometimes seen as unorthodox by public and statutory organisations, should receive greater recognition.\nConceptual framework: From the sixteenth century onwards the imprecise temporality provided by sunrise and sunset and the seasons became subordinate to clock time and the discipline associated with it, namely, that activities should adhere to an abstractly fixed time plan external to the activities themselves (Adam, 1995). Clock time is based on certain assumptions: these are that time proceeds at a constant pace, and that it is measurable, divisible and linear. Elias (1992) argued that the introduction of clocks and calendars prompted the development of individual responsibility as a concept, encouraging people to take control of time by utilising it as productively as possible. Failure to adhere to the disciplinary framework of clock time on a daily basis is often interpreted as \"not coping\". The epithet \"time is money\" requires the order of activities to adhere to an abstractly fixed time plan external to the activities themselves. For example, a class or seminar ends after a certain period of time has elapsed rather than when it comes to its natural completion.\nFindings: Generosity of time\nDiscussion: A new way of looking at resilience?\nConclusion: In a society which is now characterised by precariousness (particularly for marginalised groups), people are expected to respond by constantly updating skills and being on the lookout for opportunities (Hartmut, 2013). In the face of these pressures, there is often a sense that there is little time available for genuinely valuable activities. The \"deadline\" determines the serial order of activities and, as time is scarce, goals that are not bound to time deadlines are lost from view. As a result, people spend their time, by and large, on activities which they consider hold little value or which give them little satisfaction (Hartmut, 2013).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Since the 2008 financial crisis, state retrenchment has added to the harshness of life for marginalised groups globally. This UK study suggests community activism may promote human capacity and resilience in innovative ways. The purpose of this paper is to address the relationship between non-normative understandings of time and resilience.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research paper is based on qualitative study of the work of a third sector organisation based in an urban area in the UK which provides training in mediation skills for community mediators (CMs). These CMs (often former \"gang members\") work with young people in order to prevent conflict within and between groups of white British, South Asian and Roma heritage.\nFindings: CMs are reflexively developing temporalities which replace hegemonic linear time with a situationally \"open time\" praxis. The time \"anomalies\" which characterise the CMs' engagement appear related to aesthetic rationality, a form of rationality which opens up new ways of thinking about resilience. Whether CMs' understandings and enactments of resilience can point to broader changes of approach in the delivery of social care is considered.\nPractical implications: This paper contributes to critical understandings of resilience that challenge traditional service delivery by pointing to an alternative approach that focusses on processes and relationships over pre-defined outcomes.\nSocial implications: Hegemonic understandings of time (as a linear process) can delegitimise potentially valuable understandings of resilience developed by members of marginalised communities.\nOriginality/value: This paper is original in developing a critical analysis of the relationship between resilience and time.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Strategy means choice: also for today's business school!
|
[
"Business schools",
"Teaching",
"Learning",
"Strategic change"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: the knowledge revolution: The knowledge revolution is gaining momentum, with far-reaching strategic implications for organizations in both the corporate and private sectors. More than ever before, knowledge in itself is becoming part of value creation in an organization. And since \"human capital\" is increasingly seen as the key asset in the value-creating equation, a high quality of \"human capital\", with a relevant knowledge base, is vital. Thus, strategic human resource management will be essential for an organization to be more competitive, effective and - in the end - successful today. This means that all the organizational entities in a networked, less hierarchical society will have to make new choices. Firms will adopt knowledge-driven strategies and will have to choose which know-how to focus on primarily. And, based on this, they must see new business opportunities before their competitors, by concentrating on particular areas of thought leadership where their proprietary know-how can be applied.Business schools will also have new choices to make, relating to how they would prefer to serve the new, networked society. Which entities in this networked society will they primarily target? Where can they add value? What competences can be researched, developed and taught? Where can they find areas of growth?\nFuture trends in management education: A new competitive map for today's business schools is emerging (Lorange, 2002). We shall look at some of the key changes in the competitive landscape in order to better understand some of the major choices that business schools are facing today.First, it should be noted that many of the classic supply-driven offerings of business schools are fundamentally rather commodity-focused today. Many schools typically provide the basic offerings. Despite claims of innovation, there is still relatively little differentiation in what most of these schools offer.In the undergraduate segment for business education, for instance, literally thousands of business schools are active today, with an enormous number of faculty members teaching a huge population of students. Much of what is on offer is built around narrowly defined disciplines. We certainly cannot expect the undergraduate area to add much growth, particularly bearing in mind the demographic realities in many countries, with declining numbers of young people. However, some growth could perhaps be achieved here through more innovative teaching. This could include carefully linking business disciplines to other basic university disciplines, thus creating new professional offerings that provide a better foundation for young people entering the knowledge society.Perhaps a more active decision-making dimension will be necessary here, as opposed to merely asking students to passively list various alternative theories. This might better prepare students to operate in the networked society, where decisions will have to be made based on self-generated initiatives and self-imposed responsibilities. To understand that strategy means choice - also for the young student - will be increasingly important. To borrow from Norman Schwartzkopf (1992), \"When in doubt, he/she must be prepared to do the right thing!\". The undergraduate business curriculum is ripe for innovation to meet these new challenges - but are business schools delivering?The MBA segment is also a crowded field, and much of the classic MBA education is rather conventional (Mintzberg, 2004; Pfeffer and Fong, 2002). But, as Mintzberg states, the call should be to develop \"managers, not MBAs\". The issue here is thus also one of bringing more relevance into the curriculum, in terms of what students will need when entering the networked society. The focus will perhaps increasingly be on integrated offerings for various disciplinary fields, through integrative modular program designs, rather than through offering semester-length courses in particular specialist topics, such as finance, accounting, etc. More orientation toward project work will probably be called for, including practical \"consulting projects\", etc. Experienced faculty will be essential here, since they must understand what effective knowledge utilization actually means in the real-life networked society. Needless to say, many of today's MBA program offerings are far off this model. And many of the professors are probably not up to par. So here, too, there are significant challenges for most business schools.The executive MBA segment is perhaps growing in importance, since it attempts to build on what practising executives in the networked real world actually need. It builds on participants' specific needs from their own work settings, i.e. it deals with executives who are already active in today's knowledge society. The call for relevance here will be just as strong as it is on conventional MBA programs. Perhaps many of these demands are more often met when it comes to executive MBA programs - they are typically newer, with less tradition to take into account, and they are often taught by professors who also have executive experience. Above all, the students are more likely to be vocal - to demand relevance.The doctoral program curriculum may also be in need of change. Perhaps a key challenge now will be to educate professors to also play a role as thought leaders through their research and teaching in the new networked society. This would mean training them to do different types of research than before, perhaps also more team-based research, and perhaps preparing them to be comfortable about dealing with new research methodologies, such as non-axiomatic clinical work, small-sample second-generation multivariate analysis, etc. Perhaps new faculty members will need to be trained with more cross-functional breadth, rather than in the traditionally deep, narrow, discipline-specific way.This has several implications when it comes to calling for a revised strategy for business schools. Let me point out three.Research is probably becoming even more important\nIn short, the business school's value offerings will be demand-driven: We have seen that the students, i.e. the participants, indeed the market itself, will decide what they want, what they demand, based on their assessment of their need. This will be shaped by what the networked knowledge society requires. This demand-driven focus stands in sharp contrast to the classic supply-driven focus, where business school professors offered their courses as individual faculty members and with a typically narrow, discipline-specific focus. This supply-driven approach is unlikely to find demand any more.We can, however, now ask: does this mean too much of a \"give, give, give\" situation for faculty members? Does it create a lack of balance between faculty members and students? Will it signal an endless trend toward the ultimate loss of meaningful perspectives for the faculty members? Is there anything in it for them? The answer can be found in the premise that two-way learning will now become critical. The new breed of faculty members will also be learners - from their own students. The one-way teaching mode will be less and less prevalent, and two-way interactive learning processes will take over. It will be key for the progressive faculty member to thus learn from good students. Good, demanding students become critical. And in this lies the ultimate reward for the faculty member. But how can such a new context be created at the business school? A new strategy will be necessary.\nKey strategic issues facing today's business school: What type of strategy will now take the business school to the cutting edge, the forefront? Where can the business school add value? \"Strategy\" clearly means \"choice\" here, in that there will be a vast set of possible opportunities for the business school to focus on. The potential domain is enormous.This therefore implies that, more than ever before, the modern business school needs to choose where to focus - that choice means survival, even prosperity. Let me now raise several issues to do with the choices the business school probably needs to make to be able to play a more effective role in the modern knowledge society (Lorange, 2002).Choice of strategic terrain\nConclusions: We may have to look at the modern business school - as part of the new networked society - as more of a network entity itself and less of a classic free-standing organizational entity with its own academic departments. More than ever before, the business school is networked with business and with other key institutions in society, such as regulators, government agencies, etc.Business school users are more like \"participants\" and less like \"students\" in the classic sense of the word. The key will be to develop a value creation proposition for these typically older participants with their own pedagogical challenges. Research is critical, above all for the business school to be at the cutting edge of thought leadership. This research must be quickly added to the teaching agenda to maintain relevance. Typically, research is more and more team-based, with less classic, narrow, discipline-specific focus. Faculty and staff may increasingly be part of a single team, with no separate worlds for the various academic departments, compartmentalized administrative departments, hierarchies and tenure. The business school itself may become a prime example of a networked organization.In short, the modern business school should offer an alternative way of delivering quality and value to its participants, to corporations and to the modern networked society, different from that of the classic, discipline-based, supply-driven business school. The days of the Humboldtian-type business school seem to be numbered.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To share some key strategic paradigms for business schools with leading educators, academic administrators and executives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The article is normative. The normative propositions and conclusions are drawn from the research done for the author's monograph New Vision for Management Education: Leadership Challenges. A number of case studies are reported, as well as an inductive study of IMD.\nFindings: - There is a need to focus on growth niches, such as executive education rather than MBA, undergraduate or PhD education.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Limitations include the lack of a large-scale database established from rigorously compiled survey data, and the lack of parametric/non-parametric statistical analysis.\nPractical implications: - Leading business schools must be demand-oriented, must listen to customers-cum-executives and corporations, should undertake research that points towards thought leadership, and should work with the business world through lifelong learning networks.\nOriginality/value: - The article draws on IMD's strategy, implicitly and explicitly, and builds on experiences tried out there. IMD's strategy is unique. The paper also reports on unique, new thinking on strategy-setting and key priorities for business schools and academic institutions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Six Sigma metrics based on lognormal distribution for life tests
|
[
"DPMO",
"EGPMO",
"Lognormal distribution",
"Six Sigma metrics"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Looking at the records of successful organizations, Six Sigma quality initiatives gained momentum among quality practitioners and business managers, and played a major role in achieving business excellence. Referring to Motorola's Six Sigma quality initiative that started during 1988, McFadden (1993) highlighted the components of an effective Six Sigma quality program which include process mean, standard deviation, capability indices and defects per unit. In fact, a typical Six Sigma methodology applies statistical tools and techniques to identify process inefficiencies and then applies strategic tools to eliminate defects by decreasing process variation. The name Six Sigma comes from the statistical term that refers to a coverage probability of 1-0.002x10-6 within six times of standard deviation for a centered process and up to 1-3.4x10-6 on one side for a shifted process. Clearly, Six Sigma refers to a process that allows for no more than 3.4 errors per one million opportunities.\n2. The lognormal distribution and Six Sigma metrics: 2.1 The lognormal distribution and its properties\n3. Significance of left- and right-tail DPMOs: Setijono (2008, 2010) and Ravichandran (2016) suggested that there are situations where only left-tail or right-tail DPMOs are meaningful. For example, in case of a customer satisfaction survey, those who register scores less than the average of scores on a Likert scale only are treated as dissatisfied customers. Obviously, the DPMO corresponding to this lesser score is the left-tail DPMO (or DisPMO to mean dissatisfied PMO). The DPMO corresponding to the higher scores is the right-tail DPMO (or DelPMO to mean delighted customers). Further, Setijono (2008, 2010) observed that the customer survey data are often non-normal and represent DisPMO and DePMO accordingly using normal approximations. Similarly, Ravichandran (2016) proposed the concept of EGPMO to mean extremely good PMO either or the left-tail or on right-tail along with DPMO on the other tail. For example, in the case of a puncture resistance test, while parts with lower puncture resistance observations are corresponding to DPMO, the parts with higher puncture resistance observations are corresponding to EGPMO.\n4. Illustrative examples: 4.1 Example 1\n5. Discussion and conclusions: Ever since Motorola developed the concept of Six Sigma Quality, there has been increased interest mainly due to the overwhelming benefits including the achievement of business excellence. The Six Sigma concept is originally based on normality assumption to the process under study. However, in reliability studies, many non-normal distributions such as exponential, Weibull, lognormal and g distributions are found to be more relevant than the normal distribution for life testing problems. Since these distributions are skewed ones, the Six Sigma metrics originally developed for normal process may not hold good or use of it may mislead the practitioners. Therefore, in this paper, the lognormal distribution, being the most appropriate distribution for life tests, is considered for which the Six Sigma metrics are developed.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach for studying the Six Sigma metrics when the underlying distribution is lognormal.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The Six Sigma metrics are commonly available for normal processes that are run in the long run. However, there are situations in reliability studies where non-normal distributions are more appropriate for life tests. In this paper, Six Sigma metrics are obtained for lognormal distribution.\nFindings: In this paper, unlike the normal process, for lognormal distribution, there are unequal tail probabilities. Hence, the sigma levels are not the same for left-tail and right-tail defects per million opportunities (DPMO). Also, in life tests, while left-tail probability is related to DPMO, the right tail is considered as extremely good PMO. This aspect is introduced and based on which the sigma levels are determined for different parameter settings and left- and right-tail probability combinations. Examples are given to illustrate the proposed approach.\nOriginality/value: Though Six Sigma metrics have been developed based on a normality assumption, there have been no studies for determining the Six Sigma metrics for non-normal processes, particularly for life test distributions in reliability studies. The Six Sigma metrics developed here for lognormal distribution is new to the practitioners, and this will motivate the researchers to do more work in this field of research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
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