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Voice and silence as immediate consequences of job insecurity
|
[
"Job insecurity",
"Voice",
"Diary study",
"Silence",
"Need fulfilment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The subjective fear of losing one's job (for reviews see De Witte, 2005; Shoss, 2017) is different from actual job loss. Yet, the consequences of this subjective fear of losing one's job seem to be as detrimental as actually losing one's job (e.g. Dekker and Schaufeli, 1995; Latack and Dozier, 1986). Whereas relatively stable differences between individuals in the extent to which they feel insecure about their job result from relatively stable individual differences, such as one's personality (Debus et al., 2014; Lastad et al., 2014), intra-individual fluctuations in feelings of job insecurity are likely to have situational antecedents such as rumors or inconsistent communications (Brashers, 2001; DiFonzo and Bordia, 1998). As a consequence, employees may worry about losing their job in one week because of rumors of a planned merger or take-over, but these worries may quickly decrease when management informs employees that they do everything they can to prevent a merger, or even be further increased when management confirms these plans. In support of the idea that job insecurity fluctuates from week to week within the same person, Schreurs et al. (2015) showed that employees' in-role performance suffered in weeks in which they felt more insecure about their job, but this effect was not as strong in weeks in which employees received social support from their supervisor. To better understand the dynamic nature of job insecurity and its short-term consequences, the current study focuses on intra-individual fluctuations in job insecurity related to employee voice and silence.\nSelf-determination theory: According to self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 2000; Van den Broeck et al., 2008), psychological need fulfilment is an important precondition for employees to be motivated and experience optimal psychological well-being. In other words, the more employees' needs are fulfilled, the more likely they are to grow and flourish. Similarly, when the fulfilment of needs is thwarted, individuals become energy-depleted and passive and experience suboptimal well-being. Self-determination theory distinguishes three innate psychological needs: the need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and considers the fulfilment of these needs more important to explain well-being than the magnitude of these needs. The need for autonomy refers to the need for psychological freedom and a sense of volition in carrying out work (deCharms, 1968). Next, the need for competence is the need to feel effective at work (White, 1959), and last, the need for relatedness refers to the need to have meaningful relationships with, and to feel connected to, others at work (Baumeister and Leary, 1995). The extent to which these needs are fulfilled are subject to change, even on a daily basis (e.g. van Hooff and Geurts, 2014; Verstuyf et al., 2013). In the current study, we argue that these changes fluctuate with employees' feelings of job insecurity and are associated with fluctuations in the extent to which employees are motivated to voice or be silent.\nJob insecurity and need fulfilment: The possibility of losing one's job in the near future is a highly unattractive perspective, especially because \"in most contemporary societies, a job holds the key to social integration, social participation, and recognition\" (De Witte, 2005, p. 3). As such, job insecurity can be considered a job stressor that thwarts the fulfilment of employees' basic needs for a number of reasons. First, job insecurity implies unpredictability and uncontrollability of the future, meaning that one does not know what will happen in the near future, which may undermine one's sense of volition and psychological freedom and therefore, thwart the fulfilment of one's need for autonomy. Feelings of job insecurity may thwart the fulfilment of the need for competence, because the achievement of work goals becomes insecure. Next, research shows that job insecurity negatively affects employees' health and performance (for meta-analyses see Cheng and Chan, 2008; Jiang and Lavaysse, 2018; Sverke et al., 2019), which may further contribute to employees feeling less autonomous and competent at work. In addition, the feeling of your job being at risk is a subjective experience, meaning that while one employee may experience high job insecurity, his or her colleague(s) may have very different experiences. Thus, when someone experiences high job insecurity, this person may feel that his/her social contacts with colleagues, and consequently the fulfilment of his/her need for relatedness, are at risk too. Because job insecurity is a stressor (DeWitte et al., 2015; Mauno et al., 2014) that threatens employees' resources (De Cuyper et al., 2012; Jahoda, 1981), employees may become protective of their resources and invest less resources in their relationship with their colleagues when they experience high job insecurity. In support of this claim, Dekker and Schaufeli (1995) showed that as the experience of job insecurity continued, employees withdrew more and more from their job and their organization. Additionally, Breevaart and Tims (2019) showed that employees did not proactively look for social support from their colleagues on the days that they needed it when they felt that their job was at risk. Finally, job insecurity is a job stressor that increases job dissatisfaction and turnover intentions, and reduces health and performance (Cheng and Chan, 2008; Shoss, 2017; Sverke et al., 2002), and research has shown that job stressors, such as workload and emotional demands, thwart basic need fulfilment (e.g. Van den Broeck et al., 2008). Accordingly, we hypothesize that employees' need fulfilment is thwarted in the weeks that they feel more insecure about their job.\nNeed fulfilment and employee voice and silence: Voice refers to employees' informal communication of ideas, suggestions, concerns, information, and/or opinions to the person responsible for the specific issue (Detert and Burris, 2007; Van Dyne and LePine, 1998). By voicing, employees challenge the status quo (Van Dyne et al., 2003) and thereby try to elicit improvements and/or positive change. Contrary to voice, silence refers to withholding input that is potentially important (Morrison and Milliken, 2000; Pinder and Harlos, 2001). Compared to voice, research on silence in organizations is relatively new (Morrison and Milliken, 2000), and systematic empirical research on voice and silence is lacking (for a review see Morrison, 2014). Conceptually, one could argue that silence is similar to not voicing and voicing is similar to not remaining silent. Yet, employees who do not voice any ideas for improvement do not necessarily withhold their ideas (i.e. be silent). On the contrary, they may not have any suggestions for improvements, which means they do not voice, but they are not silent either. Another reason why research on employee voice and silence is not as integrated as they could be is that silence is difficult for others, such as supervisors or colleagues, to observe. When an employee does not engage in voice, (s)he may not have any ideas to voice (i.e. low voice) or may willingly withhold these ideas (i.e. silence).\nMethod: Participants and procedure\nResults: Descriptive statistics, correlations and variance components\nDiscussion: Our study focused on the dynamic part of job insecurity. That is, similar to the study by Schreurs et al. (2012), we showed that the same employee may worry more or less about losing his/her job from week to week. Schreurs et al. (2012) showed that in those weeks that employees felt more insecure about their job, their in-role performance suffered, but when employees received social support from their supervisor, this detrimental effect was reduced. Our goal was to better understand the dynamic nature of job insecurity and its short-term consequences, which is why we examined how weekly intra-individual fluctuations in job insecurity were related to employee voice and silence, as explained by the fulfilment of employees' basic needs. Specifically, we argued that weekly feelings of job insecurity as a job stressor would thwart employees' basic need fulfilment and employees would consequently engage in less voice and more silence in these weeks. Our results generally supported our hypothesized model.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the weekly effects of job insecurity on employee voice and silence. Specifically, the authors argue that because employment fulfils important needs, employees' needs are less fulfilled when they feel that their job is at risk (i.e. high job insecurity). Consequently, the authors argue that employees engage in less voice and more silence because when employees' needs are not fulfilled, they are less committed to the organization and/or protect their personal resources.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors tested their hypotheses in a five-week long diary study among 97 employees.\nFindings: The authors found that employees reported lower need fulfilment in those weeks and the week after job insecurity was higher, which, in turn, decreased employee voice and increased employee silence in those weeks and the week after.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study shows that feelings about one's job insecurity fluctuate from week to week and that the weekly negative effects associated with increased job insecurity can be explained from a needs fulfilment perspective. The study also highlights the importance of studying voice and silence simultaneously.\nPractical implications: Managers could indirectly increase employees' voice and decrease employees' silence by reducing feelings of job insecurity to increase employees' feelings of predictability of and control over their future.\nOriginality/value: The authors studied short-term effects of job insecurity on both employee voice and silence, and examined need fulfilment as an underlying mechanism to explain the effects of job insecurity.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Action readiness and mindset for IT offshoring
|
[
"Communication technologies",
"Outsourcing",
"Project management",
"Finance companies"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Offshoring is not a recent management fad, although a lot of organisations have started IT outsourcing projects in the last two decades (Swanson and Ramiller, 2004). Offshoring has already been present for about two centuries. The relocation of the textile industry from England to the USA was probably the first offshoring practice. This took place in 1821 (King, 2005). A lot of major offshore trends have taken place ever since, for example the relocation of the textile industry from the USA to China, or the production of cars and computer hardware to Asia.More and more organisations have experimented with offshoring with the intentions of, for instance, cost reduction, or concentrating only on value-added activities (Farrell, 2005, Davis et al., 2006). The financial industry is considered a promising area to utilise IT offshoring (Ang and Straub, 1998). It has been argued that IT outsourcing opens up new opportunities to make use of agile, cost-effective, professional IT operations (Ang and Straub, 1998). On the other hand, this industry has faced several challenges in realising the benefits of IT offshoring (Gartner, 2006), given that offshoring has distinct characteristics from nearshoring (Erber and Sayed-Ahmed, 2005). The subject matter of the present research is to study how leading banks and insurance organisations have experienced IT offshoring. More specifically, how well have companies been prepared for IT offshoring in terms of action readiness and mindset? To answer these questions, in 2004 and 2006, we examined the IT offshoring practices of 12 companies. In doing so, we identified possible changes, if any exist, that could happen in terms of mindset and action readiness for IT offshoring.The structure of this paper is as follows. Having presented briefly the motivation of this research in this section, we discuss relevant research and describe the scope of this research in the second section. The third section includes the theoretical model and research approach adopted. After that, we present the findings as well as the discussion about what we have induced from them. The last section concludes the paper with the theoretical and practical implications of the subject matter investigated.\n2. Research background: We shall provide our understanding of the terms related to IT offshoring for this research context. We begin with basic terms such as on- and offshore, and in- and outsourcing. We have the following:* onshore insource, referring to the classical way of doing business (i.e. operations which are performed by the company itself in its home country);* offshore insource, meaning that an organisation that sets up its own affiliate in another country, especially overseas;* onshore outsource, indicating allowing another entity to conduct the operations in the same country; and* offshore outsource, referring to operations being performed in another country by an external entity.This research is mainly concerned with offshore outsource (in short, \"offshoring\" in this paper).To examine IT offshoring practice, we consider action readiness and mindset as basic conceptual levels. The underpinnings of these levels can be found in cognitive psychology (e.g. Lindenberg, 1993). In the IS literature, the notion of mindset has been articulated with cognitive frames (Ciborra and Lanzara, 1991), and agency intention (Aydin et al., 2005). The context-free meaning of these levels is as follows: \"readiness\" means the quality, state or condition of being ready, whereas \"mindset\" refers to habits of mind formed by previous events, or earlier environment which affect a person's attitude (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989). The conceptualisation of these terms will be clearer to the reader in the rest of paper, but for one thing which is worth to mention about their distinction is that readiness is the organisations' state of being ready while mindset is the opinions and attitudes towards offshoring. Readiness refers to description of existing means, practice (for example, whether an organisation has a system development method) while mindset refers to opinions, believes and intentions (for example, whether employees in an organisation perceive any benefits of using a system development method).In the IS literature, offshoring has been studied along with its social, economical, managerial implications for the involved parties (DiRomualdo and Gurbaxani, 1998; Klepper, 1995, Lacity and Hirschheim, 1993). In this study, as we aim to understand the state-of-the-art practising of IT offshoring, we adopt a broader perspective on the subject matter. That is, we employ a number of constructs: from Willcocks and Cullen (2005) and Carmel and Agarwal (2002) to examine the IT activities and governance aspects; from Kotlarsky (2005), Walsham (2002) and Aron et al. (2005) to examine the cultural, globally distributed systems development, and risk management aspects; and finally from Wijnhoven (1999) to examine the knowledge sharing aspect in IT offshoring. In addition to the adopted constructs, we propose a number of constructs to study the method aspect of IT offshoring as well as for other aspects. For instance, regarding the method aspect, we propose architecture use and formal method use, and for the IT governance aspect, business support and contractual agreements are proposed. Basically, all the constructs employed are conceptualised together with a theoretical model as presented in the next section.\n3. Theoretical approach and model: 3.1 Theoretical model\n4. Results and discussion: 4.1 First phase findings\n5. Conclusions and discussion: This research examines the assessment of 12 leading Dutch financial institutes on their action readiness and mindset for IT offshoring. To determine out the degree of change in five essential aspects of IT offshoring practice at the conceptual levels (action readiness and mindset), we conducted assessments in 2004 and 2006. For triangulation purpose and to articulate the findings further, we furthermore examined three IT offshoring projects in detail.As the findings are concerned with IT offshoring in particular industries in The Netherlands, they are limited in nature. The model adopted needs to be used in other industries and offshoring countries as well. Future research on assessing IT offshoring with the same sample size will also be useful to update the results. Bearing these points in mind, we conclude with our interpretations, along with key findings.One of the important findings is that the overall readiness and mindset was about the same for the two-year timeline. This is an interesting result in the sense that the pace of improvement and overall learning in the organisations examined is small. This result seems to be new to the body of knowledge in the IT offshoring research area. In the literature, there is little mention of how long it takes for organisation to realise improvements concerning IT offshoring practice. So, the two-year timeline for realising changes may be extended.Other specific findings show that to a greater extent the organisations have achieved action readiness for method use and mindset for IT activities, and that the overall improvements regarding these aspects have been modest in two years. Additional in-depth analysis of three projects shows that managers found that agile methods (e.g. DSDM and RUP) were useful to adjust development approaches to project situations. This result is consistent with those studies confirming the value of the adoption of agile methods in globally distributed IS development projects.The biggest increase occurred with respect to the mindset for cultural differences, and the biggest decrease was seen with respect to readiness for method. Regarding the former, this seems to be a good sign that organisations are more and more aware about possible cultural differences and competing values that might occur during IT offshoring. This research does not go into detail about how cultural differences were dealt with, but does provides some measures applied in the organisations examined. Regarding the latter, this happened because the effectiveness of method as prescribed has been probed in actual offshoring projects. Although this is a well-known problem for method use in IT projects in general, IT offshorring necessitates methods that can cope with several unique characteristics of offshoring projects, such as dealing with competing values, enabling a globally distributed team, making use of model-driven architecture, and integrated testing throughout the project. In this respect, studying agile methods in an IT offshorring setting would be a promising research topic.Finally, for practitioners, based on the findings from the assessment interviews and case analysis, we maintain the importance of gaining experience and learning from mistakes. This is an often-cited risk factor in the literature (Lacity et al., 2009). The implications of experience are manifold, but cultural differences especially are often underestimated. Ngwenyama and Sullivan (2007) propose some risk management strategies to deal with experience-related issues. In addition to the measures suggested in the literature, we found that trust-building exercises (including organising social activities) are found to be effective to achieve a compatible mindset. Another implication of lacking experience is communication issues. These issues seem to come inherently with offshoring projects, with the case studies being no exception. The people in the first case study (mortgage middle and back office systems) did not have a lot of offshoring experience. A lot of communication problems were encountered, especially at the beginning. The problems were so severe that it was decided to keep one Dutch manager permanently with the offshore supplier who could serve as contact person. Things definitely went better after this transfer. The interest calculation system was implemented at a company that already had a lot of experience with offshoring. They transferred a quarter of the offshore people onshore, and these people took care of all the communication with the offshore side.In fact both companies did the same thing in order to overcome communication problems: they left the communication between onshore and offshore to people of the same culture. In the first case study the Dutch took care of all this communication. Indians fulfilled the same role in the second case study. This seems to be an effective project setup. All the communication that needs to be done between dispersed locations is very error-prone. This risk of error is mitigated by the fact that only people from the same company with the same cultural background take part in this communication. This set-up can be omitted when the company has a lot of experience with the offshore supplier or if the culture is similar, which can be assessed by using Hofstede's (2003) cultural dimensions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to examine the degree of changes in action readiness and mindset for the IT offshore outsourcing (offshoring) practice of a number of leading finance and insurance organisations. In particular, the article investigates the action readiness (the state, condition or quality of being ready) and mindset (habits, opinions or perceptions which affect a person's attitudes) of organisations for IT offshoring.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research method applied has explorative research characteristics and consisted of two phases. The first phase included conducting interviews with project managers of 12 organisations in home and offshore countries and the second phase was concerned with an in-depth analysis of projects in three organisations. By adopting a process research approach, the research takes into account the dynamics of IT offshoring projects in terms of five essential aspects, i.e. the way of working culture, method use, IT activities, IT governance, and knowledge sharing.\nFindings: - The findings indicate that to a greater extent organisations have realised readiness for method use and the mindset for IT activities, and that the overall improvements regarding these aspects have been modest in the last two years. On the other hand, the mindset for dealing with cultural difference has increased while readiness for flexible working, tracking of requirements change, efficient division of work, and systematic communication is still inadequate.\nResearch limitations/implications: - As the findings are concerned with a small sample and particular industries, they are limited in nature. More research is needed to update the findings in other industries with a larger sample. This would help in achieving stronger external validity.\nPractical implications: - The model used in this research can help organisations in identifying how well they are prepared for or have improved IT offshoring practice in terms of five essential aspects. Based on the degree of readiness and mindset at hand, they can make use of the findings related to particular aspects. In this respect, the findings may provide valuable insights for practitioners.\nOriginality/value: - Most IT offshoring studies employ a variance research strategy, by which cause-effect relationships among dependent, independent, and mediating factors essential to the subject matter are studied. As an alternative to this strategy, this research adopts a process research approach, which is concerned with the dynamics of IT offshoring practice, which takes into account the emergent and on-the-fly nature of IT projects. Such dynamics are examined in terms of two conceptual levels, i.e. action readiness (ability, condition of being readiness) and mindset (opinions, perceptions). These levels, which are often employed as a separate focus in existing studies, are found to be useful in closing the gap between action readiness and mindset for IT offshoring.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Age, gender and national factors in fashion consumption
|
[
"Fashion",
"Age groups",
"Consumer behaviour",
"United Kingdom",
"Brazil",
"China"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The fashion industry and the grey market\nConceptual framework: Three core variables: physical, identity, and lifestyle (PIL), have been selected and used to analyse consumer preferences in relation to age, gender and nationality. Table I outlines the indicators within each of these three variables.The model takes into account the physical variables that affect old age. This indicates the primary role of ergonomics and body shapes as an important factor in developing products for older consumers. The physical change and deterioration of the body shape has to be addressed to ensure that the garments have appropriate fit and features to improve the quality of the products. Physical variables do change with age.The model takes into account identity as an important factor when developing products for older consumers that have strong fashionability. Other models that consider identity variables normally have a clothing perspective that stress the functional attributes not fashion attributes. The identity variable has been used because of the need for fashion products to be stylish, as identity does not seem to change with age.The model takes into account the lifestyle aspirations of older consumers. It provides new insights into the complexities of the new older consumer that is addressing the body/mind relationship. The variables identified under this category will simplify consumer needs indicators. The lifestyle variable has been used because it relates to the social environment that affects older consumers, as lifestyle does seem have an impact with age.The PIL model is defined as a business conceptual tool that provides better-targeted fashion and clothing consumption preferences. The new older consumer does not lose their young minded attitudes, but their social values change towards using and wearing fashion products. They do not accept the attitudes of previous generations towards aging identities and want to remain fashionable. Extensive research has been undertaken that explores ergonomic considerations for developing clothing products for older consumers but do not address identity and lifestyle dimensions (Iltanen, 2003; 2005; Benktzon et al., 2003; Li, 2003).However the PIL model has been developed to provide a holistic set of dimensions that need to be considered when producing stylish products for older consumers. It attempts to provide insights into consumer preferences and helps the cross-functional team analyse their choices better. The impact of these variables has been mapped with age, gender and nationality in the following section.The content of the PIL model\nResearch methodology: The research study is a comparative analysis of younger and older people's preferences when choosing fashion products. The research aims to reveal real behavioural preferences for fashion and clothing consumption choices in an ageing society; and analyse the similarities and differences between British, Brazilian and Chinese consumer preferences in fashion consumption. This approach was selected to consider the differences between a mature market and emerging western and eastern markets. The investigation was based on a quantitative approach with a statistical analysis of three random surveys of consumers older than 15 years. The intention was to identify the relationships between fashion and clothing consumption choice indicators based on theories and consumer age and gender.Sample size\nData collection method: The surveys\nResults and discussion: Description of the samples\nPIL model by age and nationality: The results in Table III indicated that the physical variables are critically important for older consumers in the UK only. The reasons that Brazil and China consumer results did not show similar tendency to the UK could be explained probably by the lower age profile of their population. The UK sample appear to be preparing themselves to live longer which is not so apparent within the other countries in this research.Identity variables are more important for younger consumers in the UK. There is no evidence that identity is any difference by age in Brazilian and Chinese markets. The tradition of fashion innovation in UK society probably can explain this finding. Brazil is still pursuing national identity, and China is still placing higher value on traditional identities.UK and Brazil younger consumers are more aware of lifestyle variables than older consumers in these two countries. The reasons could be related to strong economic influences in these two western countries on exclusivity, fashion and quality attributes in products. The evidence did not show that China markets differentiate lifestyle by age. The appeal of consumption is recently a new issue in the Chinese society.\nPIL model by gender and nationality: The results in Table IV indicated that female consumers are more aware of the physical variables of product attributes than male consumers for UK and Brazil markets. There is equal importance attached to physical attributes by the Chinese consumers. This area needs to have further research undertaken to identify if it is a weak market related to gender, or if there is a large market opportunity for both female and male consumers in China.UK and Chinese females attach more importance to identity variables than male consumers. The results did not show that there was a difference in Brazilian consumers' awareness by gender for identity product attributes. The reasons for this result probably could be explained by the Latin culture, which is linked to sensuality, beauty, detachment and elegance.Male consumers in Brazilian and Chinese markets attach less importance to lifestyle variables than female consumers. The results did not show that there was a difference in UK consumers' awareness by gender for brand, fashion, and exclusivity, amongst others, that relate to lifestyle product attributes. The reasons for this result probably could be explained by the established equality of gender in UK society.\nConclusions and discussions: Based on the survey results and theoretical comparative literature review, companies need to be aware of the implications of age in fashion consumer choice. There is growing evidence to suggest that older people are more affluent than was typical a generation ago (Johnson and Falkingham, 1992; Hills, 1996). This provides opportunities and challenges for fashion business to focus on the grey market. A report by the DTI explores these issues, and statesAgeing is a global phenomenon, affecting developed nations and an increasing number of developing countries. Indeed the speed of ageing is considerably faster in several of our major trading partners - countries like Japan, Italy and Germany - than it is in the UK. Many of the effects of the Age Shift will occur surprisingly fast. Already, patterns of consumer demand and the labour market are changing rapidly as the post-war baby boom generation becomes middle aged and is followed by a much smaller younger generation. Other effects will only be fully felt after the 2020s when, for example, there will be very sharp growth in the number of pensioners in Europe (The Age Shift Report, DTI, 1999).All of these conditions provide important insights into new patterns of consumer demand for fashion companies to respond to. The trend for older consumers to have an increasing influence on the market place shows no signs of slowing down. Being able to identify and communicate product benefits, which appeal to mature consumers, offers new challenges to the industry. Older consumers are more discerning about product attributes and respond to marketing that reflects rather than compromises their key values. Limited research has been undertaken to compare factors that affect why older consumers consume, how they consume, and what they consume, in relation to their age, gender and nationality. This research goes some way to address some of these concerns and begins the process of identifying key factors that need to be considered by fashion retailers, designers, companies and marketers.The survey data came from three different continents, thereby providing rich perspectives into global consumption. Companies who own domestic market share and want to enter new global markets could use this data to improve their product design development decisions.Retailers\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The research aimed to reveal real behavioural preferences in fashion and clothing consumption, and analyses the similarities and differences between British, Brazilian and Chinese consumers. This approach was selected to consider the distinctions between a mature market, and emerging western and eastern markets.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The investigation was based around a research methodology using quantitative analysis with appropriate statistical techniques on three random surveys of consumers from the southeast of England (N=265), the northeast of Brazil (N=310) and mainland China (N=226) older than 15 years.\nFindings: - A new conceptual framework is proposed - the physical, identity and lifestyle (PIL) model, providing a tool for effective and more focused decision-making techniques for developing better fashion products. British, Brazilian and Chinese consumers have different requirements for fashion and clothing products based upon age and gender. The evidence suggests that the fashion industry needs to be more aware of consumer indicators when targeting mature consumers.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research was based on samples and not the entire population of target consumers, providing limitations. As an inferential statistical method was chosen, the results were susceptible to inaccuracy.\nOriginality/value: - The survey came from three different continents, thereby providing rich perspectives into global consumption. Companies who own domestic market share and want to enter new global markets could use this data to improve their product design development decisions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Structure-integration relationships in oil and gas supply chains
|
[
"Organizational theory",
"Supply chain management",
"Oil and gas performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The traditional post-industrial classification of organizational structures (OSs) as \"mechanistic\" or \"organic\" has evolved significantly in the last few decades. This can be attributed to emerging trends like globalization, outsourcing, unstable market dynamics, and socio-political uncertainties (Wilden et al., 2013). Today, there are several definitions of OS across different disciplines, but the general consensus is that OS determines a firm's internal/external relationships, authority, and communication (Huang et al., 2010; Spiliotopoulou et al., 2016). Although theorists have used different typologies to describe the dimensions of OS, they can be generally grouped into \"structural\" or \"structuring\" dimensions (Daft, 2012; Dalton et al., 1980). Structural dimensions are the physical characteristics of an organization, such as the size, span of control, and hierarchical arrangement of functions (flat/tall) (Koufteros et al., 2007). In contrast, structuring dimensions refer to the policies and organizational processes, which encourage or limit the behavior and roles of employees (degree of formalization and centralization of tasks) (Thompson, 2011). Studies have shown that OS directly affects the performance and competitiveness of organizations and supply chains (SCs) (Cosh et al., 2012; Foss et al., 2015); however, the relationship is not altogether straightforward, because it is contingent on the \"fit\" between OS, and the operational and business strategies adopted (Koufteros et al., 2007; Wilden et al., 2013).\n2. Theory and hypotheses: 2.1 SCI\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Survey design and sample\n4. Results and discussion: Table IV presents the standardized path coefficients and p-values for the direct relationships among the OS variables and operational performance. The results show that, as hypothesized in H1a, H2a, and H3a, centralization (-0.31), formalization (-0.197), and hierarchical relationship (-0.21) each had a significant negative impact on operational performance, in terms of the cost, quality, lead time, and flexibility of O&G SCs. This finding implies that the operational performance of O&G SCs is negatively affected where focal companies are highly mechanistic in terms of the relative level of participation in decision making (centralization), level of job or task codification (formalization), and the span of control for decision making (hierarchal relationships). Table V reports the mediated path coefficients through internal (H1b, H2b, H3b), supplier (H1c, H2c, H3c), and customer integration (H1d, H2d, H3d). Findings indicate a significant drop in the path coefficients (b) when the SCI mediators were introduced to direct relationships between centralization, formalization, and hierarchical relationship, and operational performance. The data were bootstrapped to 2,000 samples and the standardized indirect effects for all paths, which measure the strength of the mediation, were significant at 95 percent confidence interval (Hayes and Preacher, 2013). As hypothesized, the results indicated partial mediation, suggesting that high internal, supplier, and customer integration between O&G companies and their partners mediates the negative impact of high centralization, formalization, and hierarchical relationship on operational performance. The overall fit of the hypothesized structural model was adequate (kh2=3,398.686, df=2,306, kh2/df=1.474, CFI=0.941, NFI=0.837, RMSEA=0.051 and PCLOSE=0.277). These findings are further discussed below.\n5. Conclusion, implications, and future research: By including insights from the contingency theory, this study developed and validated a framework to explain the effect of SCI on OS and performance in O&G SCs. Results of the study indicated that as O&G companies develop SCI capabilities, the negative impact of highly mechanistic structure on operational performance is diminished. In line with previous studies, it was found that lower levels of centralization (Cosh et al., 2012; Foss et al., 2015), formalization (Daugherty et al., 2011; Ingvaldsen, 2015; Wilden et al., 2013), and hierarchical relationships (Huang et al., 2010; Koufteros et al., 2007) improve organizational performance. Contrary to some authors who have argued for more rigid structures (Lin and Germain, 2003), this study shows that internal, supplier, and customer integration mediates the negative relationship between OS and performance. This resonates with previous studies that have used strategies such as SCI as mediators to improve organizational performance (Droge et al., 2012; Koufteros et al., 2012). The study contributes directly to the organizational literature by clarifying the organic and mechanistic dichotomy and distinguishing between the \"structuring\" and \"structural\" dimensions of OS. It also demonstrates that structuring dimensions such as formalization and centralization had a more significant impact on operational performance. The study further adds to operations management literature by demonstrating the role of internal and external SCI on performance improvement, especially in uncertain and volatile operating environments, with implications for practitioners. Restructuring and reforming rigid OS could be expensive and difficult to implement in practice. However, it was demonstrated that, by investing in internal and external integration strategies, firms could mediate the negative impact of highly mechanistic OS on operational performance. As inter- and intra-firm integration and communication improve, mechanistic firms can gradually become more organic in their operations without the associated lead time and cost implications of restructuring the entire organization.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Although studies have demonstrated the importance of supply chain integration (SCI) strategies in improving firm performance, very little is understood about how the organizational structure (OS) of focal firms affects the successful implementation of SCI initiatives across supply chains (SCs). Taking into consideration the importance of the oil and gas (O&G) industry, as well as the impact of uncertainties on OS and strategy choices, it is important to understand how OS and SCI affect the operational performance of O&G SCs. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Taking a contingency approach and using a global sample of 181 O&G firms, this study examines the mediating role of internal, customer, and supplier integration on the relationship between three main dimensions of OS - the degree of centralization, formalization, and hierarchical relationships and operational performance, using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: Findings reveal that OS dimensions negatively impact operational performance. Further testing for the mediation found that by increasing SCI, O&G SCs can mitigate the negative effect of high centralization, formalization, and hierarchical relationship on operational performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: Classifying OS into \"structuring\" and \"structural,\" this research provides evidence on which of the two has a stronger negative impact on operational performance. This is significant since it may be difficult for O&G companies to restructure and reform their OS.\nOriginality/value: This study examines the impact of OS and SCI on improving the operational performance of the O&G SCs. Theoretical and practical contributions to the field of operations management and organizational studies are also discussed.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Do age, work experience and gender affect individuals' propensity to trust others? An exploratory study in the United Arab Emirates
|
[
"Gender",
"Work experience",
"United Arab Emirates",
"Age",
"Propensity to trust"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: For decades, psychologists, sociologists, political scientists and other social scientists have engaged in a lively debate over the relation between age and attitudes in various contexts (Sears, 1981; Alwin and Krosnick, 1991; Visser and Krosnick, 1998; Avery et al., 2007). More recently, the issue of age and aging workforce has attracted a great deal of concerns and academic attention (Paul, 2012; Maestas and Zissimopoulos, 2010; Hitka and Balazova, 2015). To cater for the aging population, many countries have had to increase the retirement age from 55 years to 60 or 70 years, and some countries are considering moving it to 70 years (MarketWatch, 2016; The Guardian, 2016). This has brought new dynamics to the workplace with employees staying for longer and growing older at work. As a result, human resource policies and regulations are being reconsidered and adjusted to cater for the so-called \"graying population\" at work. Amongst the challenges created by the aging workforce are aspects relating to employee engagement, motivation and trust at work (Connell et al., 2003; Holland et al., 2016; Kim and Kang, 2016). Despite all this, current research on the antecedents of trust has tended to undermine the impact of individual/demographic attributes such as age. Yet, recent studies called for the need to include and consider age as a major variable to better understand the dynamics of attitudes and trust formation. This call was also prompted by the growing realization that older people may differ markedly from younger individuals in their overall attitudes, behaviors and predispositions (see e.g. Bal et al., 2011; Li and Fung, 2012; Chang et al., 2016).\nLiterature and theoretical foundations: Trust and propensity to trust others\nData and methodology: The data reported here are based on a convenience sample targeting retail business owners/operators in the UAE. We focused on the retail sector as it plays a major role in the UAE economy, both in terms of employment and economic growth. It is a prime economic driver in the UAE and represents more than 58 percent of the working population (Fanack Chronicle of the Middle East & North Africa, 2016). We targeted individuals operating retail businesses in the UAE. Moreover, the UAE retail market is worth over US$ 29 billion and employs a large proportion of the active population from a broad range of background and nationalities (Euromonitor International, 2017). The sector also plays an important social role as it attracts a sizable number of foreign investors and expatriates in search for business opportunities in the country. Previous research has tended to undermine the attitudes and behaviors of individuals operating in this sector, be they owners or simply operators of a small retail outlet. Our target sample attempts to address that gap.\nMeasures: The instruments and scales used in this study are a combination of categorical and ordinal variables. The demographic variables considered in this study are categorical/ordinal and some are dummy/indicator variables, such as \"gender.\" Consistent with previous research, we treated the main dependent variable (i.e. propensity to trust) as a composite ordinal scale. The instrument was borrowed from previous research and, as in many previous studies (Connell et al., 2003; Colquitt et al., 2007; Ferguson and Peterson, 2015), was utilized in the regression analysis. The independent variables are essentially nominal scales with ordinal scale nature. Age, education and work experience were all considered as scale variables, bearing in mind the statistical limitations (McCullagh, 1980).\nAnalysis and results: The data were analyzed using SPSS. In order to test for the first hypothesis and explore the relationships between trust and the demographic variables included in this study, we ran multiple regression analysis. The results of this analysis are shown in Table II. These results lend strong support to H1 in that they clearly indicate that age has a significant impact on propensity to trust (b=0.39, p<0.001). In other words, older (more mature) are more predisposed to trust then younger individuals in the same group. Work experience also seems to affect propensity to trust (b=0.24, p<0.001). This lends strong support to the second hypothesis. In support of the third hypothesis, the results also indicate that gender also has a negative impact on propensity to trust (b=-0.28, p<0.001) - (Note: females scored 2 and males were given a score of 1). Thus, it seems that males have a greater tendency to trust, and in contrast, females are more cautious and less trusting. This finding supports findings from previous research (Sheehan, 1999; Spector and Gwene, 2004; Buchan et al., 2008). This is in many ways related to the fact that by-and-large women are more cautious and less risk-averse (Colquitt et al., 2007).\nConclusions and discussions: This study focused on individuals' propensity (readiness or predisposition) to trust others. In this perspective, we explored the relevance/impact of age, gender and work experience on individuals' propensity to trust others. We proposed and tested three hypotheses. All three hypotheses were verified and supported by the data. Most importantly, age was found to be the most significant determinant of individuals' propensity to trust. Work experience was also found to have a significant impact. Although gender also has a significant impact on trust, age remains the strongest predictor of trust for both males and females. This lends strong support to the third hypothesis.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of age, work experience and gender on individuals' propensity (inclination or readiness) to trust others.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors gathered literature arguments and developed a basic theoretical model explored through an empirical study. The study uses a sample of 324 retail business owners/operators in the United Arab Emirates. The authors developed and tested three main hypotheses.\nFindings: Age has a significant positive impact on the propensity to trust. Work experience has a similar effect, but to a lesser degree. Females are generally less predisposed to trust. However, the impact of age on trust was significant for both males and females.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study focuses on a small sample of individuals in a single country. A larger multi-context study would be beneficial in verifying the above findings. Also, the concept of trust used in this study is general and focuses mainly on general likelihood/aspirations to trust others. Future research could examine the relationship of age to different aspects of trust and in different circumstances.\nPractical implications: The findings of this study have several practical benefits. They draw the attention of human resource management practitioners and policy makers to the importance of age, work experience and gender in shaping trust relationships in both societal and business contexts.\nOriginality/value: The impact of age (and aging) work and society in general is a growing concern. Despite the number of studies examining trust and the process of trust formation, the relationships between age, gender and trust have been largely overlooked in previous research. This study attempts to address this gap and provides useful evidence likely to inspire further/future research on this issue.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Is sustainability knowledge half the battle? An examination of sustainability knowledge, attitudes, norms, and efficacy to understand sustainable behaviours
|
[
"Sustainability",
"Knowledge",
"Attitudes",
"Perceived behavioural control",
"Theory of planned behaviour",
"Knowledge deficit model"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A common assumption is that unsustainable behaviours are largely driven by a lack of knowledge of the underlying societal costs of such behaviour. This assumption implies that the main barrier to engaging in environmental behaviour is lack of knowledge. Therefore, the assumption goes, if this knowledge deficit is addressed through education, better informed individuals would know better than to engage in unsustainable behaviour and would \"fix\" their behaviour accordingly (Miller, 2001; Schultz, 2002). Although the assumption that knowledge guides behaviour has influenced much of thinking about curricula and education programmes, this assumption has been heavily critiqued, particularly among social psychologists that point to other cognitive factors that may be better predictors of behaviour. A more complete understanding of the relationship between knowledge and behaviour may better guide educational efforts focused on sustainability.\nMethods: Data for this analysis were collected in the Spring semester of 2014 as part of an annual Web survey of sustainability knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and related factors among Ohio State University undergraduate students (58,322 students). The sample included all undergraduate students in the College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (1,913), plus a randomly selected sample of 18,323 students in other programmes (total sample size: 20,236). The survey was distributed through the online software Qualtrics. A modified tailored design method was used with multiple contacts to achieve a satisfactory response rate (Dillman et al., 2009).\nResults: The 4,455 students who began the survey represent a response rate of 22.02 per cent. However, as this survey also tested multiple wordings of sustainable knowledge question items, only a subset of approximately 580 responses who received the original wording of the ASK scale developed by (Zwickle et al., 2014) was included in the following analyses. More female students (49.8 per cent) than male students (43.5 per cent) students took the survey (the remaining percentage did not wish to identify as male or female). Most of the students (85 per cent) were domestic students; 10 per cent identified as international students. The average age of respondents was 22 years. Approximately 23 per cent of the respondents identified as Republican, 27 per cent identified as Democrats, 35 per cent identified as being independent or no affiliation and the rest identified as a third party or did not wish to identify politically.\nDiscussion: Among the sample of students, behaviour and knowledge were significantly correlated, indicating that there is a relationship between knowledge and behaviour. However, when controlling for other variables, results suggest that engagement in sustainable behaviours was more strongly correlated with norms, attitudes and PBC. This indicates that although knowledge is important, a student's attitude towards a behaviour promoting sustainability, ability to engage in that behaviour and perception of what others think about that behaviour are more important.\nConclusion: Sustainability and the environment have increasingly become important parts of university curricula and programmes. This is in part because of the common misperception (encapsulated in the knowledge deficit model) that a lack of education is the main barrier to engaging in certain behaviours. However, the knowledge deficit model has been critiqued for not including findings from social psychological research in explaining behaviour. The TPB is one such theory that often explains a significant portion of variance in behaviour using attitudes, norms and PBC. We explored this relationship and found that knowledge, at least general knowledge about sustainability, does a poor job of predicting the extent to which students engage in behaviours related to sustainability. Rather, other social psychological components, particularly PBC, were a much stronger predictor of behaviour.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of sustainability knowledge to pro-environmental behaviour. A common misperception is that unsustainable behaviours are largely driven by a lack of knowledge of the underlying societal costs and the contributing factors leading to environmental degradation. Such a perception assumes if individuals \"only knew better\" they would engage in more sustainable behaviours. The \"knowledge deficit model\" has been critiqued for not including social psychological research about how knowledge is incorporated into decision-making and its subsequent effect on human behaviour. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model has been used extensively to examine intention to engage in a variety of behaviours, therefore this model is applied to examine the effect knowledge has in predicting behaviour.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To better understand these relationships, the authors examined the relationships between sustainability behaviours through an online survey of over 500 students at a large university in the USA.\nFindings: Results indicate that knowledge had a significant, albeit weak, bivariate correlation with behaviour (r = 0.113, p < 0.001). However, when controlling for TPB variables (attitudes, norms and perceived behavioural control), knowledge was not a significant predictor of behaviour.\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors conclude with several implications to guide university sustainability programmes.\nOriginality/value: This study places sustainable knowledge in the context of other social psychological factors which also influence behaviour. The results show that as the students are educated about sustainability, fostering behaviour change will require education not only about how actions affect sustainability but also about social norms, attitudes towards sustainable behaviours and the level of self-efficacy in doing those behaviours.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Food safety information and food demand
|
[
"Dairy products",
"Food safety",
"Diseases",
"Conditions and injuries",
"Marketing information"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Consumers in most industrialised countries have increasingly become concerned about health issues related to their food intake. This includes food safety issues such as the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) crises, salmonella infections, dioxin residues and growth hormones; as well as nutrition issues such as cholesterol and fat intake, and several \"safe\" varieties of food products, including, for instance, salmonella - or camphylobacter-free chicken or pasteurised eggs have emerged. In food safety crises, such \"safe products\" may provide a close substitute to the contaminated foods. An example is pasteurised eggs, which can replace raw shell eggs in desserts and other dishes. They were introduced in the 1960s for use in restaurants and canteens, but did not reach consumers through ordinary supermarkets before August 1998.During and following food crises, consumers are exposed to large amounts of news and information. The topic of this paper is the change in the consumers' behaviour in favour of \"safe\" products due to such information. How do they react? How long are their preferences influenced? Are all consumers influenced in the same way?The question of consumer response to information has been analysed in a number of studies using media indices to account for the influence of information. Most studies focus on the consumer response to food safety or health information and/or the effects of advertising. A few examples are Brown and Schrader (1990) and Schmidt and Kaiser (1998, 2003), who studied the influence of information about health impacts of cholesterol intake on the consumption of shell eggs. They found that information about cholesterol has a significantly negative impact on the consumption of shell eggs. Smith et al. (1988) investigated the response in milk demand to a milk contamination crisis in Hawaii, finding substantial influence of the negative news coverage. The effect of generic advertising has been investigated by Rickertsen et al. (1995) and Rickertsen (1998) for fresh vegetables: there was only weak evidence for impacts on demand in Norway. Similarly, Kinnucan et al. (2003) find a very limited impact on meat demand, of advertising (both generally and in relation to health information). Verbeke and Ward (2001) studied the combined effects of negative press and advertising on fresh meat demand, finding a negative effect of BSE-related news on the demand for beef, but a positive effect on the demand for pork.The present study investigates the impacts of negative press coverage of salmonella in eggs on the demand for \"safe\" eggs (i.e. pasteurised eggs). Hence, the focus is on a product that may be positively influenced by negative publicity about another product. Salmonella has been the dominant egg-related food safety issue during period studied. As the duration of the consumer demand response to information is extremely important in relation to both public and private strategies to introduce safe products, we distinguish between news, with a \"temporary\" nature versus news with a \"permanent\". If negative information with permanent impacts exists, one interpretation may be that negative news is necessary in order to alter consumption habits in favour of safe products. Furthermore, the utilization of this news may be attributed to specific consumer groups.\nMethodology and data: Theoretical framework\nResults: Test of separability structure\nDiscussion: This paper has examined the influence of negative press coverage of salmonella in shell eggs on the demand for pasteurised eggs. The analysis shows that there are significant differences in the way various types of information influence the demand for pasteurised eggs for various groups of consumers. The study distinguishes between news with temporary impacts and news with permanent impact on consumers' food demand behaviour. In the specific case, the death of two men caused by a salmonella infection from raw shell eggs is identified as permanent news, whereas remaining news related to salmonella in eggs have been categorized as temporary news.In general, those most responsive to the permanent news event are the aged, households located outside the capital, and consumers with medium to low education. Households not influenced by the permanent news event, however, all exhibit a positive trend in the consumption of pasteurised eggs, indicating some more indirect impacts of salmonella information in these households. This might be pursued in further research.Calculated temporary news elasticities show a lower impact of temporary news after the permanent news event than before - indicating that as the level of consumption of pasteurised eggs rises, consumers become less sensitive to temporary news. In general, news elasticities are not significant except among the youngest and the eldest, indicating that there are large differences in the response of various consumers groups.The findings in this study have several implications for design of information campaigns and advertising. Negative safety news about one product can provide a significant stimulation of the demand for others. This may be utilized in the timing of information campaigns in order to maximise their effectiveness. However, the marginal effectiveness of negative safety information does decline, and this should also be taken into consideration in the design of information strategies. Finally, the impact of safety news varies considerably among groups of consumers, so there may be efficiency gains in proper targeting of information in the relevant media.The classification of news into the two categories may be debated, but the performed tests provide a fairly strong indication of the event, which can be considered \"permanent\". It is also intuitively appealing that this event has a large impact, considering the extent of media coverage and the presumably heavier emotional impacts from this fatality event than from other news during the study period. It is also debatable whether this difference is due to emotional response, or that media coverage beyond some information threshold triggers different responses to that below this threshold. This issue has not been investigated in the present study, but deserves further study.The study has focused on the demand for raw eggs. It should be noted that the response to salmonella information might differ between foods that may be consumed in raw form (for example, raw eggs in desserts) and foods that are always heated during cooking (for example fresh meats). Moreover, it is notable that news about salmonella in other foods (e.g. poultry or pork) has not been included in the news index, as it is assumed not to influence the demand for eggs. However, some consumers may not be able to distinguish among these types of news - hence their \"subjective news index\" differs from the one constructed for this analysis.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to analyze how news about food-related health risks affects consumers' demands for safe food products.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - By identifying structural breaks in an econometrically estimated demand model, news with permanent impact on demand is distinguished from news with temporary impact. The Danish demand for pasteurized versus shell eggs is used as an illustrative case.\nFindings: - Negative safety news about one product variety can provide significant stimulation to the demand for safe varieties. Severe negative news about the safety of shell eggs induces a permanent increase in the demand for pasteurized eggs, while more moderate negative news influences demand temporarily and to a lesser extent. There is, however, considerable variation in the response to food safety news across socio-demographic groups of consumers.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study has focused on the demand for raw eggs. Responses to food safety news may differ across foods. Furthermore, the study abstracts from possible cross-effects of safety news concerning other foods.\nPractical implications: - The findings may be utilized for optimization of the timing and targeting of food safety information campaigns.\nOriginality/value: - The paper combines information, food safety and econometric methods to analyze the cross-impacts between negative food safety news and the demand for safe foods.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Does Belgrade (Serbia) need heat health warning system?
|
[
"Climate change",
"Natural hazard",
"Mortality",
"Poisson regression",
"Heat wave",
"Heat Health Warning System",
"Belgrade",
"Summer 2007",
"Daily mortality"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: According to predictions of global and regional climate models, the frequency, duration and intensity of heat waves may increase in the future in many regions of the world (Meehl and Tebaldi, 2004). Extreme events such as 1995 Chicago heat wave or 2003 European heat waves led to increased interest in the impact of weather conditions on human health (Semenza et al., 1996; Anderson and Bell, 2009; Medina-Ramon et al., 2006). In the last decades, Southeastern Europe and Balkan region are affected with extreme temperature events, but the absence of data is the main reason for no mitigation procedure on heat wave consequences (Robine et al., 2008).\nHHWS: The development of a HHWS is a process which has number of necessary steps. The first is identification of weather conditions which affect human health. Since there is no unique definition of the terms \"heat event\" or \"heat wave\" (Robinson, 2001; Souch and Grimmond, 2004), the HHWS has to use different methods to identify such rare and extreme situations. The second component of the HHWS consists of weather forecasts and implementing mechanisms for issuing warnings in case that particular weather situation occurs (WHO, 2009). Finally, a process of prevention and intervention of heat-related health effects is based on the identification of population subgroups susceptible to heat and the surveillance of these persons during the summer months.\nData and methods: In order to evaluate the impact of extreme high summer temperatures and heat waves on human health, we analyzed the relation between daily mortality classified by causes of death and weather conditions in Belgrade during June, July and August 2007. The territory of Balkan Peninsula and Serbia was hit by several heat waves during summer 2007, with the strongest one in July. The Figure 2 shows the summer daily maximum temperature (T\nResults: We applied Poisson regression model on mortality counts and temperature data. Basic statistical model output is shown in the Table II. The results suggest that model fits well in the case of cerebrovascular and respiratory mortality counts (the ratio deviance/Pearson kh2 and degrees of freedom is very close to 1), but there is in some degree over-dispersion in the case of cardiovascular deaths during summer 2007 (the ratio deviance/Pearson kh2 and degrees of freedom is about 1.5).\nDiscussion: Heat waves have consequences on human health, including implication on many societal and economical aspects. This is especially pronounced in highly dense urban environments, with little or none green surfaces and complex network of transport and public services. The fact that 49.7 percent of central urban core is built up and 9.6 percent are green surfaces, makes Belgrade additionaly endangered by heat waves. Moreover, most of the work places are concentrated in urban core, with very frequent daily commute system.\nConclusions: There is no special document for initiating the HHWS in Serbia. This study is an attempt to evaluate the impact of heat waves on human health in Belgrade during the summer 2007. The capital of Serbia has high population density, considerable share of built up area and many multi floor buildings. Additionally, high concentration of single households and nursing homes is characteristic for Belgrade, which are factors of heat-health vulnerability. Moreover, the frequency of heat waves has been increasing since 1980s in Belgrade (Drljaca et al., 2009).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether is Belgrade (Serbia) suitable candidate for introduction of Heat Health Warning System (HHWS). Belgrade has high population density, considerable share of built up area and lot of multi floor buildings that are factors of heat-health vulnerability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors analyzed the impact of weather conditions on human health in Belgrade during the summer 2007 that was extremely warm in Southeastern Europe and Serbia. Daily cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and respiratory mortality counts were used in Poisson regression model with air temperature as predictor variable. Also, three different heat wave indices (Warm Spell Duration Index, apparent temperature and index based on daily minimum temperature) were tested in order to estimate their ability to capture episodes with mortality higher than expected.\nFindings: The temperature has the highest influence on cerebrovascular and cardiovascular mortality, while slightly modifies respiratory mortality. According to regression equation, a 1degC increase in mean daily temperature is associated with a 4.6 percent (p<0.0001), 2.2 percent (p<0.0001) and 1.6 percent (insignificant for p<0.10) increase in cerebrovascular, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality, respectively.\nOriginality/value: Even thought the Law recognizes the heat wave as natural hazard, there is no concrete measures and action for prevention of excess mortality. It is shown that extreme temperature had numerous social consequences on city's residents in the summer 2007. Given the results the authors got, it is recommended that the HHWS should be implemented in health protection plans in Belgrade.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Does KFC sell rat? Analysis of tweets in the wake of a rumor outbreak
|
[
"Crisis informatics",
"User-generated content",
"Social media",
"Counter-rumor",
"Online rumors",
"Rumoring phenomena"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Online rumors refer to unverified messages circulating on the internet (DiFonzo, 2008). They often become viral given their ease of dissemination through one-click social plugins such as the retweet button of Twitter, or the share button of Facebook (Lee and Hong, 2016). When rumors become viral, they might induce panic and anxiety. Hence, they represent a growing concern for online users (Kostka et al., 2008).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Related works\n3. Methods: 3.1 Background of the case\n4. Results: 4.1 Message types and their content characteristics\n5. Discussion: Three findings can be gleaned from the results. First, outbreak of a rumor can spawn counter-rumors as well as uncertainty-expressing messages. This is consistent with previous studies (Oh et al., 2010). Furthermore, as an extension to such studies, this paper shows that counter-rumors and uncertainty-expressing messages can occasionally be more abundant than rumor messages when a false rumor is at stake. In this rumoring phenomenon, as much as 68 percent of the tweets (52 percent counter-rumor tweets+16 percent uncertainty-expressing tweets) either refuted the rumor or questioned the veracity of the rumor. In particular, the point of time when several mainstream media sources started to debunk the rumor, counter-rumor tweets were found to dominate the other messages in rumoring phenomenon. This is evident from their volume and exposure shown in Figures 1 and 2. This suggests that the online community was discerning enough not to be taken in by spurious information, but responded through debunking and casting doubt over the rumor.\n6. Conclusion: This research offers insights into the rumoring phenomenon by analyzing three types of messages - rumor messages, counter-rumor messages, uncertainty-expressing messages. It points out differences in the content characteristics across the three types of messages. It reveals that emotions and personal involvement are abundant in rumor messages whereas credence and references to URLs are abundant in counter-rumor messages. Additionally, social ties tend to be abundant in uncertainty-expressing messages. Interestingly, the release of counter-rumor messages is found to produce spikes in the social media activity. This represents an important implication as users themselves disseminated refuting messages about a rumor, suggesting a collective moderation to check against the spread of false information.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In the wake of a rumor outbreak, individuals exchange three types of messages: rumor messages, counter-rumor messages, and uncertainty-expressing messages. However, the properties of the three types of messages are relatively unknown particularly in the social media context. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to examine these three types of messages posted on social media in the wake of a rumor outbreak.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data included tweets posted after the outbreak of a rumor that wrongly accused the fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) for selling rats instead of chicken. Using a deductive approach, codes were derived via content analysis on the tweets. Volume and exposure of tweets were also examined.\nFindings: Counter-rumor tweets (52 percent) outnumbered rumors tweets (32 percent) and uncertainty-expressing tweets (16 percent). Emotions and personal involvement were abundant in rumor tweets. Expressions of credence and references to URLs were high in counter-rumor tweets. Social ties were found widely in uncertainty-expressing tweets. The high volume and exposure of counter-rumor tweets compared with those of either rumor tweets or uncertainty-expressing tweets highlight the potential of counter-rumors to mitigate rumors.\nOriginality/value: This research ventures into a relatively unexplored territory by concurrently examining rumor messages, counter-rumor messages and uncertainty-expressing messages in the wake of a rumor outbreak. It reveals that counter-rumor messages have the potential to mitigate rumors on social media.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
E-portfolio, a valuable job search tool for college students
|
[
"E‐portfolio",
"Job search",
"Higher education",
"Students",
"Taiwan",
"Software tools",
"Employment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The Electronic Portfolio or digital portfolio is rapidly becoming a popular topic in higher education across the globe. The e-portfolio, or web-based portfolio, is a collection of electronic evidence assembled and managed by a person (Wikipedia, n.d.). Drury (2006, p. 2) defined an e-portfolio as an electronic representation of a person's work- a purposeful digital collection that demonstrates one's effort, ability and progress toward a particular achievement or goal. These collections can be shown in various digital media types such as audio, video, text, and graphics.From an educational perspective, an e-portfolio is a kind of a personal online space for learning, where students can present digital resources relevant to their own studies and link to other students and teachers for collaboration and feedback (Hartnell-Young et al., 2007). It can be a flexible, evidence-based tool that engages students in a process of continuous reflection and collaborative analysis of learning. A simple model for the learning-oriented portfolio should contain three foundational components:1. reflection;2. documentation; and3. collaboration (Zubizarreta, 2009).From an employment perspective, an e-portfolio allows students to showcase their work to potential employers (Yancey, 2001). It can be a valuable tool for students that are searching for a job because it allows potential employers access to work that students have selected to demonstrate their accomplishments (Drury, 2006). Ward and Moser (2008) suggested that colleges and universities should encourage students to post their resumes, references, samples of written projects and presentations in their e-portfolios to showcase their abilities to potential employers.Also, different schools may implement the use of e-portfolios for a variety of purposes. Kalamazoo College integrated the use of the e-portfolio into their school's curriculum. The faculty of Alverno College accessed the e-portfolios of their students for assessment and advice purposes. The e-portfolio approach taken by Florida State University is one of career preparation and job search. (DeVries et al., 2006). Since a student's employment opportunity is of critical importance in Jinwen University of Science and Technology (JUST), the senior administrators here decided in late 2008 to establish an e-portfolio platform for students to use, referring it as an electronic resume or e-resume. The intention was to encourage students to build their own employment-oriented e-portfolios for their future employment and career needs.During the past two years, the author sometimes wondered about the usefulness and value of e-portfolios. Thus, in this study a number of employers were interviewed from various industries to find out the answer to the following questions: How do employers think about e-portfolios? Do employers really see e-portfolios as a suitable hiring tool? Which factors in students' e-portfolios attract potential employers? Can e-portfolios be successfully used by students in their search for a job?\nBackground information on JUST: JUST was originally established as Jin-Wen College in 1990 in Taipei, Taiwan. The institution was upgraded to a university level and renamed Jinwen University of Science and Technology in 2007. JUST is a medium-sized technological and vocational university with around 8500 students. The four academic colleges (Hospitality & Tourism Management, Business Management, Humanities and Arts, and Electrical Engineering & Computer Science) of the university cover 16 undergraduate departments and two graduate institutes. JUST has established an e-portfolio platform (http://eportfolio.just.edu.tw) in late 2008. To date, approximately 80 percent of students have created their own e-portfolio.\nMethod: A semi-structured interview survey was used in this study. Ten interviewees, all of them HR managers from a different company in Taiwan were interviewed face-to-face between December, 2010 and May, 2011. Each interview lasted between 30 minutes to an hour. Some interview questions were designed to lead interviewees to respond. These questions included:* Have you ever heard of e-portfolios?* How do you feel about a web-based resume such as an e-portfolio?* Do you believe that an e-portfolio is a useful reference for you in hiring an employee?* What kind of information would you prefer to find on the e-portfolio of a job applicant?All ten interviewees in this study were HR managers from different companies. As shown in Table I, in order to collect a broad range of multiple ideas, the interviewees came from a wide range of industries including tourism, product design, real estate, information and technology, insurance, recruitment service, and others.\nResults: Familiarity with e-portfolios\nConclusions: The results of this survey showed that the e-portfolio is perhaps still in its early stage of development. Six out of the ten interviewees had not even heard of an e-portfolio prior to their interview. Nevertheless, the employer interviews indicate a high and consistent level of interest, indicating a promising future of the e-portfolio as a job search tool. Although the e-portfolio has not yet become a popular tool for recruiting employees, this survey showed that even an early form of the e-portfolio created serious substantial interest from all interviewees. This strong level of acceptance suggests a high potential for success for any university or college that might plan to promote the e-portfolio to potential recruiters to improve student job placement. This finding should encourage universities and colleges to be more proactive in promoting the use of an e-portfolio platform to assist students in their job search.While most interviewees agreed that an e-portfolio should contain a rich compilation of factual credentials, the questions of how, what and why an e-portfolio is used for by potential employers that still varies across different industries and the stage of recruiting. Different pieces of information must be provided in the e-portfolio for the different positions in different industries. Therefore, students should collect as much reference materials as possible for their e-portfolios during their college years. Thus, when searching for a job, students can easily compile all suitable items of information in their e-portfolios depending on the type of job that they are applying for. Conversely, employers may use specific information from the e-portfolio to conduct a preliminary screening, while others may use it to make their final decision.In sum, the e-portfolio is still not very common but is seen to be promising by recruiters. A number of different aspects of the e-portfolio were explored in this survey. The diversity of e-portfolio applications in job search suggests its embryonic stage. Faculty members and career service staff in universities and colleges should consider promoting e-portfolios to employers. The effectiveness of an e-portfolio when searching for a job will evolve, grow and improve the more it gets adopted by jobseekers and employers alike.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to find answers to the following questions: How do employers think about e-portfolios? Do employers really see e-portfolios as a suitable hiring tool? Which factors in students' e-portfolios attract potential employers? Can e-portfolios be successfully used by students in their search for a job?\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A semi-structured interview survey was used in this study. All ten interviewees were HR managers from ten different companies. They were interviewed face-to-face between December 2010 and May 2011. In order to collect a broad range of multiple ideas, the interviewees came from a wide range of industries including tourism, product design, real estate, information and technology, insurance, recruitment service, and others.\nFindings: - The results of this survey showed that the e-portfolio is perhaps still in its early stage of development. Nevertheless, the employer interviews indicate a high and consistent level of interest by the employers, indicating a promising future of the e-portfolio as a job search tool. In addition, employers can use specific information to conduct to pre-screen candidates. On the other hand, they may include the e-portfolio as a factor in the final phase of the selection process to obtain a deeper and more complete level of information (e.g. learning reflections) that can clearly demonstrate a job applicant's characteristics and potential for career development.\nOriginality/value: - Faculty members and career service staff in universities and colleges should consider promoting e-portfolios to employers as a promising tool for selecting their next employee.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Ease of movement and sector affiliation as moderators of the organizational and career commitment: Turnover intentions link
|
[
"Organizational commitment",
"Career commitment",
"Perceived ease of movement",
"Turnover intention",
"Careers",
"Career development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Employees' intention to leave (ITL) their present place of work represents a widespread phenomenon with potentially costly implications for organizations, especially when knowledge workers are involved (Weisberg, 1990). ITL is associated with and sometimes even serves as an indicator of reduced well-being (Derycke et al., 2010). As these employees possess expertise in specific areas that may impact on organizational success (Uhl-Bien and Graen, 1998), companies strive to control or at least mitigate the phenomenon. In attempting to explain this process, researchers have frequently examined the role of personal or attitudinal variables as indicators or predictors of the decision to leave one's place of work (Felps et al., 2009). It may very well be that the work environment, and the employee's perceptions relating to it, should also be considered when trying to explain ITL. The present study, contends that career and organizational commitment (OC) are differentially associated with ITL and that two moderators, ease of movement (EOM) and sector affiliation (high-tech vs low-tech) are particularly relevant for explaining predictions afforded by career, rather than OC.\nTheoretical framework: Traditionally, OC was one of the main attitudinal measures in organizational research (Wilson et al., 2010). Cohen (2007) argues that the original formulations of commitment need to be changed and, over the years, was modified to include new conceptualizations of the construct. One approach focusses on the various targets of commitment. Thus, for some workers, the target of commitment may not necessarily be centered on the bricks and mortar of the office or factory but rather any workplace where one's skills and knowledge can be expressed. An individual who feels that his/her career goals must be satisfied may seek employment in an appropriate setting, not necessarily with the present employer. Thus, we theorize that the decision to leave voluntarily and join another organization requires an understanding of the employee's career, as well as, OC.Direnzo and Greenhaus (2011) argue that the new work environment of \"globalization, technological advancement, and market pressure have forced [a change in our understanding] the nature of human capital management\" (p. 569). Referring to the growing phenomenon of knowledge workers who have had many job changes and see themselves as mobile workers, they contend that turnover intentions and behavior, in today's environment, requires one to focus on personal preferences and career strategies (Direnzo and Greenhaus, 2011). Often used to describe the work environment, this construct can also be viewed as person centered (Fugate et al., 2004) that helps account for mobility or frequency of job change variance (Feldman and Ng, 2007). Moreover, several investigators argue that the construct refers to more than just physical mobility but also a form of psychological mobility (Briscoe and Hall, 2006). Although it is quite possible to realize one's career ambitions within the present work setting, it is suggested here that the construct lies along a continuum (see Cross et al., 2000) where one end on the continuum describes employees who perceive the present workplace as bounded and their career aspirations being actualized there; for other employees, at the other end, the organizational model is completely fluid and their careers may very take place outside the organization's boundary. For our purposes, these two poles represent different commitment targets and specific hypotheses concerning turnover must be generated for each commitment type.In Sullivan's (1999) taxonomy, professionals or knowledge workers fall into two groups: first, traditional who have had relatively few employers in their work careers and see their career as bounded within the present firm and second, boundaryless types who have had many job changes and see themselves as mobile workers looking constantly to advance their careers. According to Sullivan, the concept has rarely been applied in studies where turnover, actual, or intended, was used as the outcome variable. Lee and Maurer (1997) argue that it is necessary to look at career-related measures to understand why certain workers are more prone to leave their current firms. More specifically, a boundaryless career worker may be crafting his/her future to be more aligned with personal, rather than organizational, values (Mirvis and Hall, 1994), and this is even more so for knowledge workers who are characterized by high levels of mobility and are prone to focus on individual and self-management in their career development (Kuijpers and Scheerens, 2006). For the present study, we argue that certain types of commitment are associated with an individual who sees his/her future either within the present place of employment or, in contrast, sees a much wider range of opportunities outside the firm. We suggest that OC and career commitment (CC) are associated with ITL and, moreover, these attitudes are hypothesized as differentially interacting with EOM and sector affiliation in a turnover intention model.Employee turnover\nMethod: Participants\nResults: Table I describes the means, SD's, and intercorrelations among study variables for the total sample. The internal consistency values show that relatively high reliabilities were obtained. As for our basic argument that OC and CC are distinct constructs, the absence of a significant correlation between them supports this contention. However, the findings from the correlations between the two attitude variables and the outcome variable were mixed, with OC correlated (-0.66, p<0.01), and CC (0.08, ns) not correlated, with ITL. The former confirms H1a whereas the latter fails to confirm H1b. H2 which states that perceived EOM is positively correlated with ITL, is supported (0.56, p<0.01).The moderation hypotheses were tested in two ways: first, examining the attitude-ITL correlations separately for each level of the moderators: EOM (split into two groups: above the median, below the median) and sector (high-tech vs low-tech); and second, inspecting the relevant interaction terms in the last stage of the hierarchical regression analysis to determine whether the additional variance explained by moderators is significant.Tables II and III show the intercorrelations between the relevant study variables, analyzed by the two moderators. Comparing the pattern of correlations between the tables is highly revealing. As hypothesized, the OC-ITL correlation appears to be relatively stable regardless of whether all the participants are included in the analysis (Table I) or the correlations are examined separately by each sub-group (Tables II and III). In all cases, the correlations, though varying in strength, were significant. In contrast, the CC-ITL correlation which was not significant in Table I became significant when split by EOM and sector. The CC-ITL correlations for the high and low EOM groups (Table II) were 0.25 (p<0.01) and -0.49 (p<0.01), respectively. Thus, H3is supported. Similarly, as shown in Table III, among workers in the high-tech sector, CC was positively correlated with ITL (r=0.28, p<0.01) whereas among workers in the low-tech sector, CC was negatively correlated with ITL (r=-0.49, p<0.01). Therefore, H4 is supported. In the discussion section, we attempt to account for the change in direction between the two CC-ITL correlations.Model testing\nDiscussion: The contemporary rapid changing environment of the labor market presents both scholars and practitioners a challenge for better understanding various phenomena. The current research attempted to shed light on the relationship between commitment, EOM and ITL a job, a manifestation of well-being. Following Blau's (1989) framework, we differentiated between two measures of commitment: OC and CC. As the two commitment measures have different targets and investments associated with them, the differential findings concerning OC and CC were consistent with our theorizing. Similar to Giffords (2009) conclusion, OC's role as a significant direct predictor is more easily explained. Unlike OC, CC was not found to be directly correlated with ITL. Yet, the interactions of CC with EOM and sector were significantly related to ITL and in the expected direction. Particularly impressive was the incremental variance afforded by the significant interaction terms, DR2=0.064 or effect size, f2=0.17. This value is several times the median effect size reported by Aguinis et al. (2005) in their survey of studies that applied moderated multiple regressions with a categorical variable.One apparent anomaly in the data is the low ITL values for high CC and low EOM (Figure 1) or for high CC with low-tech workers (Figure 2). On the surface, there seems to be little reason for such a pattern. Nevertheless, an explanation that fits the distinction we have suggested between commitment types is also supported by an additional post hoc analysis. It appears that these employees view their present setting as the place for realizing their personal \"career\" goals. They do not see their careers as boundaryless but rather \"bounded\" and prefer to stay where they are. To test this claim, we examined the impact of the interaction terms on OC. If these workers view their future within the organization, their OC levels should be relatively high for these antecedent/moderator combinations. This is precisely what we observed. Using separate two-way ANOVAs, the first of which included CC (split at the mean) and EOM (split at the mean) and the second CC and sector, the findings confirmed our expectation. Namely, the OC means for workers with high CC and low EOM (M=5.73) or high CC among low-tech sector workers (M=5.96) were in fact the highest values for any combination in each of the ANOVAs.Interestingly, Sturges et al. (2002) in their study of the association between OC and various aspects of CC also reported somewhat ambiguous results. Although not a specific focus of the present study, it is indeed possible that other variables acting as moderators are required in order to understand the relationship between indicators of commitment.Contribution to theory development and practice\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The paper's aim is to examine how the relationships between career commitment, organizational commitment and intentions to leave, an indicator of worker well-being, were moderated by ease of movement and sector affiliation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The sample consisted of 340 knowledge workers (107 low-tech, 233 high-tech), that anonymously filled in a structured questionnaire, that included measures of organizational commitment, career commitment, perceived ease of movement, sector affiliation and intention to leave.\nFindings: - Analysis of the questionnaires showed that organizational commitment, unlike career commitment, is related to intentions to leave regardless of other personal or structural considerations. By contrast, ease of movement and sector affiliation moderated the relationship between career commitment and intentions to leave.\nPractical implications: - Understanding the differences between career commitment and organizational commitment, employers, especially in the high-tech sector, should advance employees' organizational commitment.\nOriginality/value: - The intention to leave one's present place of work is a widespread phenomenon, particularly among knowledge workers. Although organizational commitment as an antecedent variable appears in many turnover intention models, career commitment has been investigated much less frequently. The current study attempts to fill this gap.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Quantifying the degree of supply chain leagility and assessing its impact on firm performance
|
[
"Firm performance",
"Agile supply chain",
"Supply chain design",
"Lean supply chain",
"Leagile supply chain"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the current hyper-competitive business environment, business organisations seek to maximise their performance by optimising their value chain elements. Supply chain is the most significant aspect of the value chain and has garnered increasing attention from researchers, with particular focus on maximising firm performance (Tarafdar and Qrunfleh, 2017; Thai and Jie, 2018). In fact, the concept of competition has shifted from being inter-firm based to being supply chain based (Henkoff, 1994) or even network-based (Handfield and Nichols, 2002; Simatupang et al., 2002). Networks are expanding, due to various factors such as globalisation, thus challenging firms now having to deal with significantly higher levels of complexity in supply chain management. This leads to more complex strategic choices and requirements to develop competitive positioning based on appropriate supply chain strategies that consider important situational variables (Lo and Power, 2010).\n2. Literature review and hypothesis development: A well thought out supply chain design helps a business to marshal all its resources to improve the flow of products and services over the value stream to meet customers' diverse needs (Robert, 2004). Lean and agile supply chain paradigms originated in the manufacturing industries to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of business processes. These two popular concepts have been extensively discussed in the manufacturing literature (Richards, 1996; Yusuf and Adeleye, 2002; Hallgren and Olhager, 2009). Subsequently, these paradigms have been extended to the supply chain environment (Naylor et al., 1999; Cigolini et al., 2004; Ye and Lau, 2018). The term \"efficient supply chain\" was substituted by \"lean supply chain\" to highlight the features of leanness. Analogously, the term \"responsive\" was replaced by \"agile\" to stress the major objectives of a supply chain in responding to volatile and uncertain environments. However, some researchers have differentiated between the agile and responsive supply chain designs (e.g. Lee, 2002).\n3. Research methodology: The current study is a mixed research comprising both exploratory and explanatory sections. From the exploratory perspective, a new approach to supply chain leagility is investigated by studying deviation from the LI. From the explanatory viewpoint, the relationship of leagility and firm performance is examined.\n4. Analysis and results: 4.1 Non-response bias\n5. Discussion and implications: The interpretation of these findings relies on the concept of DFL. As explained earlier, DFL is the degree of balance of a supply chain. Balanced supply chains (DFL=0) have equal weightings of leanness and agility. In contrast, high DFL values are indicative of designs that are heavily focused on either leanness or agility. The outcome of the analysis indicates that the companies with lower DFLs (more balanced) do better than their competitors.\n6. Conclusions: Due to the hyper-competitive nature of today's business environment, companies are struggling to improve all practices involved in their value streams. Supply chains are one of the main aspects of value streams that have attracted much attention because they help companies improve their marketplace position. As part of the process of supply chain optimisation, an appropriate design should be implemented to ensure the desired value is achieved.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the supply chain leagility proposing all supply chains are leagile with different magnitudes of leanness and agility. A new index, \"Deviation from Leagility\" (DFL), is introduced, aiming to optimise supply chain design and investigate the relationship between supply chain leagility and firm performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The partial least squares (PLS) method was employed to analyse data collected from 299 Australian firms by administering a structured questionnaire.\nFindings: The results indicate that most companies adopt the leagile supply chain rather than the lean or pure agile design. Furthermore, better business performance is achievable when deviation from a balanced supply chain in which both aspects of leanness and agility are equally embedded is minimised.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study is limited to a number of constraints that measure leagility; further research is needed to incorporate different aspects of agility.\nPractical implications: The findings of this study could provide a guideline for supply chain executives to improve their company's performance by designing a more balanced leagile supply chain.\nOriginality/value: This study is unique in its in-depth empirical investigation of modelling of leagile supply chain using a new index, and also addressing: first, the current mismatch between the well-known mutually exclusive strategies (lean/agile); and second, what has later been found when the proposed models were quantitatively tested.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
An empirical investigation of consumer perceptions of online shopping in an emerging economy: Adoption theory perspective
|
[
"Online shopping",
"Emerging economy",
"Technology acceptance model",
"Adoption theory",
"Vietnam consumers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Globalization, technology and internet connectivity have advanced online shopping, which has become a global consumer trend in the last decades (Pappas et al., 2014). Companies are immersing in online retail as consumers across the globe in developed and developing markets go online to buy products (Gehrt et al., 2012). Kearney (2015) explained that the global sales of retail e-commerce have increased from $695bn in 2013 to $840bn in 2014. These global sales are projected to pass $1 trillion in 2017 and increase to nearly $1.5 and &4.1 trillion in 2018 and 2020, respectively. The continuous sales increment indicates that retail e-commerce has enormous global market potential.\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Adoption theory\n3. Research model and hypothesis development: The present study builds upon the theoretical background to develop a research model (see Figure 1). We use adoption theory and TAM as bases to hypothesize that consumer perception of web design may affect the perception of reliability, customer service and privacy and purchase intention. Moreover, consumer perception of reliability is argued to affect the perception of customer service and purchase intention. Thereafter, we propose that consumer perception of privacy will influence perceptions of customer service and purchase intention. Finally, consumer perception of customer service is hypothesized to affect purchase intention.\n4. Methodology: 4.1 Sample and data collection\n5. Empirical results: 5.1 Confirmatory factor analysis\n6. Discussion and conclusions: 6.1 Discussion\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Emerging markets are showing rapid growth and retaining high potential for the adoption of e-commerce and online shopping. Among the many high potential markets in Asia-Pacific, Vietnam has had a rapid economic development with an average GDP growth rate of 6.19 percent for the last two decades. To tap the growing online market of Vietnam, the purpose of this paper is to draw on adoption theory and the technology acceptance model to investigate the interrelationships among consumer perceptions of web design, reliability, privacy and customer service and their effects on purchase intention.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Survey data were collected from 221 consumers in Vietnam. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.\nFindings: Empirical findings show that consumer perception of web design is positively related to perceptions of reliability, privacy, customer service and purchase intention. Consumer perception of reliability is positively related to perception of customer service but not to purchase intention. Consumer perception of privacy is also positively related to perception of customer service but not to purchase intention. Finally, consumer perception of customer service is positively related to purchase intention.\nOriginality/value: This study provides empirical evidence to understand the consumer perceptions of online shopping in the specific context of Vietnam. Findings of this study will benefit future researchers who will study consumer behavior in the e-commerce B2C industry, particularly those who are interested in the expanding e-commerce market in Vietnam. Furthermore, this study provides empirical evidence to assist business managers of domestic and foreign firms to further understand Vietnamese consumers. Knowledge of consumer behavior from the specific culture of a developing country may assist business managers advance their decision-making quality in developing markets.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Determinants of health professionals' migration in Africa: a WHO based assessment
|
[
"Migration",
"Africa",
"Health",
"Wealth",
"Human capital"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The fate of global health and development in the twenty-first century significantly lies in the management of human resource crisis in the health sector (Joint Learning Initiative, 2004). A health-worker crisis is overwhelming the world and the need for medical professionals is arguably greatest in Africa. The continent is facing an acute human resource crisis in the health sector owing to emigration. Over the past two decades its population has increased substantially, with a significant rise in the disease burden due to HIV/AIDS, recurrent communicable diseases and a spurring incidence of non-communicable diseases (Kitua, 2007, p. 148; Anyanwu, 2007; Anyanwu and Erhijakpor, 2009; Asongu, 2014a). Unfortunately, this increased demand for health services has been met with a rather low supply of health workers. To put this worrisome fact into perspective, Africa has 25 percent of the global disease burden with a share in population of 13.76 percent but has only a 1.3 percent share in health workers (Packer et al., 2007, p. 18).\n2. Existing literature: 2.1. Health human resource (HHR) crisis in Africa\n3. Data and methodology: 3.1. Data\n4. Empirical analysis: 4.1. Summary of results\n5. Conclusion: Despite the acute concern of health-worker crisis in Africa owing to emigration, lack of relevant data has made the subject matter empirically void over the last decades. How do economic prosperity, health expenditure, savings, price-stability, demographic change, democracy, corruption control, press freedom, government effectiveness, human development, foreign aid, physical security, trade openness and financial liberalization play-out in the fight against health-worker crisis when existing emigration levels matter? To investigate these concerns we have examined the determinants of health-worker emigration throughout the conditional distributions of HHR emigration. Thus, this paper has assessed the theoretical postulations of the WHO report on determinants of health-worker emigration. Findings could be summed up in the following. First, but for the insignificance of estimates in the TQ of the nurse emigration distributions, economic prosperity reduces HHR emigration. It follows that economic prosperity could be a valuable tool in the brain-drain fight. Second, health expenditure is a relevant tool in combating health-worker emigration only when existing emigration levels are high. Where existing levels are low, increasing health budget will only fuel health-worker crisis. Third, savings and price-stability or absence of inflation is important tools in curbing physician (nurse) emigration when existing emigration levels are low (high). fourth, but for estimates of LQ in the physician emigration distribution, the democratization process in the African continent only fuels brain-drain. Fifth, corruption control and press freedom are strong tools against the phenomenon only when emigration levels are low. Sixth, government effectiveness is a viable option only for nurse emigration at the TQ of the distributions. Seventh, human development combats emigration when exiting levels are high. Eighth, foreign aid only accelerates the problem. Ninth, but for low (top) quantiles in physician (nurse) emigration for financial (trade) liberalization, globalization fuels health-worker crisis. Tenth, continuing education increases tertiary emigration which positively affects HHR migration prospects.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: How do economic prosperity, health expenditure, savings, price-stability, demographic change, democracy, corruption control, press freedom, government effectiveness, human development, foreign aid, physical security, trade openness and financial liberalization play-out in the fight against health-worker crisis when existing emigration levels matter? Despite the acute concern of health-worker crisis in Africa owing to emigration, lack of relevant data has made the subject matter empirically void over the last decades. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A quantile regression approach is used to assess the determinants of health-worker emigration throughout the conditional distributions of health-worker emigration. This provides an assessment of the determinants when existing emigrations levels matter.\nFindings: Findings provide a broad range of tools for the fight against health-worker brain-drain. As a policy implication, blanket emigration-control policies are unlikely to succeed equally across countries with different levels of emigration. Thus to be effective, immigration policies should be contingent on the prevailing levels of the crisis and tailored differently across countries with the best and worst records on fighting health-worker emigration.\nOriginality/value: This paper has examined the theoretical postulations of a World Health Organization report on determinants of health-worker migration.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Prior consumer satisfaction and alliance encounter satisfaction attributions
|
[
"Alliance",
"Consumers",
"Attribution",
"Satisfaction",
"Brands",
"Attitudes",
"Partnership"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Interfirm marketing collaborations such as marketing alliances play an important role in today's markets and thus have been identified as a key component of marketing strategy (Fang et al., 2008). Marketing alliances can help firms improve the performance of their current operations in numerous ways, such as developing new products, reaching new markets, and accessing technology (Li et al., 2010). Since most of the marketing alliance literature focuses on firm-to-firm issues (e.g. Gammoh and Voss, 2013; Hadjimarcou and Barnes, 1998; Li et al., 2010; Shamdasani and Sheth, 1995), our knowledge about the effects of alliances on consumers has been quite limited (Rindfleisch and Moorman, 2003), with recent research of consumers' perceptions associated with brand alliances mainly done under experimental conditions (e.g. Besharat, 2010; Geylani et al., 2008; Samuelsen and Olsen, 2012; Simonin and Ruth, 1998; Washburn et al., 2000). The elephant in the room is the need for studies examining how consumers respond to alliance encounters, especially in market rather than experimental conditions.A brand alliance (co-brand) - the context of this research - is a cooperative marketing strategy involving the pooling of partner brands in an attempt to achieve one or more goals linked to their strategic objectives (Rao and Ruekert, 1994; Simonin and Ruth, 1998). Such alliances engage consumers in experiencing two (or more) brands during a purchase (Simonin and Ruth, 1998) and thus provide an ideal context for examining the interplay between alliances and consumers. Brand alliances are a growing marketing strategy (Olsen and Lanseng, 2012; Washburn et al., 2000) and have become a familiar sight in retail settings, e.g. store brands paired with food vendors or service suppliers. Among one of the first few studies examining brand alliances, Simonin and Ruth (1998, p. 40) find that consumers' attitudes toward a brand alliance have spillover effects on their subsequent impressions of each partner brand. However, the authors candidly remark that their study is just a step in understanding consumer attitudes toward alliances and that \"as alliance relationships grow in number and complexity, this line of research focused on customer perceptions becomes even more critical for academics and practitioners alike\".An example of a brand alliance form is Nike Plus athletic shoes, featuring the logos of both Nike and Apple and an Apple technology built into the shoes (Besharat, 2010). Another form occurs when stand-alone retailers, such as Barnes & Noble Bookstores and Starbucks Coffee Company, pair their brands in shared retail space, creating an alliance leveraged by both partners. Most brand alliances can be viewed as having a host (the bookstore consumers enter, the shoes being worn) and a guest (the coffee shop within the bookstore, the technology built within the shoes). From this point forward, we use the terms host and guest to represent partner brands in our study. Further, we define host as the partner providing the dominant or primary consumer-affecting stimuli in the alliance while engaging guest stimuli as a component of the alliance encounter.Suppose consumers are highly satisfied (or, less-than-highly satisfied) with the products/services they purchase from an alliance and both partner firms are a part of the consumer experience. Under what conditions do consumers attribute their satisfaction to particular, both, or neither, partner firm? This is the focal research question of this study. An illustration reveals many of the issues that need to be addressed:John visits a bookstore with which he has high prior satisfaction. Once inside, John notices a coffee vendor and reflects on his high prior satisfaction with the vendor from his experiences with its offerings at its stand-alone venues. John picks up a couple of books, orders a coffee, and settles into a chair to read. As he begins turning pages, John takes a sip and is disappointed, feeling a discord from his positive past experiences with the coffee vendor. Later, John leaves the store and is not highly satisfied with the overall alliance experience. He wonders who to blame for the lack of high satisfaction with the alliance encounter.Within this illustration are issues of prior consumer satisfaction with each alliance partner, and the effects of such prior satisfaction on consumer attributions of their high satisfaction or less-than-high satisfaction with alliance encounters. In this instance, John could blame the bookstore, the coffee vendor, both, or neither partner for his less-than-highly satisfying experience at this alliance entity.In determining which partner to give credit to for good alliance experiences or to blame for poor experiences, prior satisfaction with each partner comes into play. Framing satisfaction from Jones and Sasser's (1995) assertion that high satisfaction is associated with different attitudes and behavior intent than mere satisfaction, we expect that high (versus less-than-high) prior satisfaction with each alliance partner has distinct effects on how consumers attribute their satisfaction with alliance encounters. We similarly dichotomize the outcomes of alliance encounters as high alliance encounter satisfaction (HAES) and less-than-high alliance encounter satisfaction ( < HAES). We build our hypotheses on two theories. The first is related to assimilation and we use Festinger's (1957) theory of cognitive dissonance (hereafter referred to as Festinger's theory) to argue that consumers seek consonance and therefore adjust outcome perceptions to align with prior attitudes. We also argue the case for contrast theory (Sherif and Hovland, 1961), using models focused on consumer tendencies to alter attitudes in the direction of a disconfirmation. Marketing research using these theories began nearly 40 years ago (Anderson, 1973; Oliver, 1977), with continuing interest today in many sectors including services (Chih et al., 2011) and tourism (Montero and Fernandex-Aviles, 2010), among others. Both cognitive dissonance (or assimilation) and contrast theories have relevance because each attends to the effect of prior attitudes on new information. The theories offer different predictions since \"contrast is the converse of assimilation\" (Anderson, 1973, p. 39).This research contributes to the alliance literature in four important ways. First, as one of the first large scale studies of consumer responses to actual alliance encounters, we address a gap in the alliance literature by improving understanding of the effects of consumers' prior satisfaction with alliance partners on whether they credit or blame host and/or guest partners following highly satisfying or less-than-highly satisfying alliance experiences. Second, including less-than-highly satisfying alliance encounters, we respond to Washburn et al.'s (2000) suggestion that consumer attitudes following negative brand alliance experiences need to be investigated. Further, we tease apart the issue of whether consumer attributions of HAES/ < HAES are shared between partners or are directed toward particular or neither partner. This is an important issue for brands, enabling them to improve their anticipation of the effects of alliance activities. Third, our research is one of the first to theoretically ground expectations for consumers' alliance encounter satisfaction attributions. By using two theories that offer differing hypotheses, we are able to test which provides greater explanatory power in each of eight alliance encounter outcome conditions. In doing so, we also extend the two theories from the traditional single-brand context to the alliance context. Fourth, by delineating between host and guest partners, we are able to identify which partner is more likely to gain, or is more at risk, from consumer attributions following alliance experiences. Finally, as a result of these contributions, we add insights to practice regarding partner selection and alliance management.The data for the study were collected through surveys completed by 1,510 consumers who purchased products/services at one of eighteen brand alliances. The alliances are each comprised of partner brands with which respondents have prior experience, and, as such, good familiarity prior to experiencing the alliance. The study shows that Festinger's theory and contrast theory have different explanatory power, under differing conditions, for anticipating how consumers' prior satisfaction with each alliance partner affects their HAES/ < HAES attributions. We also find that these effects vary in some unexpected ways depending on whether an alliance partner is a host firm or a guest firm.\n2. Research hypotheses: Our research pivots on two constructs: prior satisfaction with each alliance partner and the ensuing alliance encounter satisfaction. We begin by clarifying these constructs. In the mid-1970s marketing researchers earnestly examined satisfaction in terms of met expectations with performance outcomes above expectations viewed as satisfactory and those below expectations as unsatisfactory (Swan and Combs, 1976). Since then, satisfaction has received extensive interest, provoking a number of meta-analyses (e.g. Orsingher et al., 2010; Szymanski and Henard, 2001). For brand alliance partners, satisfaction is of major relevance, since satisfaction is \"an important cornerstone for customer-oriented business practices across a multitude of companies operating in diverse industries\" (Szymanski and Henard, 2001, p. 16). As \"the core of the marketing concept, ... the key objective of marketing strategy for more than 50 years\" (Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006, p. 79), the important role of satisfaction should come as no surprise, especially since satisfaction is generally associated with word-of-mouth, repurchase behaviors, and/or brand loyalty (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993).Jones and Sasser (1995) articulate that any consumer who is not completely satisfied is an at-risk customer for brand switching since their attitude toward the brand does not engender true loyalty. Extending their compelling argument, we expect that there is a difference in attitudes between highly satisfied consumers and consumers who are less-than-highly satisfied. We use this realization to distinguish between consumers with high prior satisfaction toward alliance partners and consumers with less-than-high prior satisfaction toward partners. This distinction allows us to present arguments related to prior satisfaction in meaningful ways reflective of the effects of strong prior consumer attitudes (i.e. high satisfaction) on inferences consumers make from the outcome of alliance encounters.Following Garbarino and Johnson (1999), we conceive overall alliance encounter satisfaction as a global evaluation or attitude resulting from a consumer experience with an alliance. Similar to Oliver's (1981, p. 27) assertion, alliance encounter satisfaction can be viewed as \"a summary psychological state\" associated with disconfirmations from expectations of services/products offered by the alliance. In our research, we expect that consumers' prior satisfaction with each alliance partner determines which alliance partner(s) consumers will direct credit for their HAES or blame for their < HAES. We next present our theoretical framework.2.1. Consumers' high alliance encounter satisfaction (HAES) attributions\n3. Methods: 3.1 Data collection\n4. Results: Table I reports descriptive statistics and correlations. Table II summarizes the alliance encounter outcome attribution findings for the two (HAES versus < HAES) by four (high prior satisfaction versus less-than-high prior satisfaction with host / guest) matrix. In each of the eight cells, we indicate the most common attribution in bold. Table II shows:* In the cells associated with H1, consumers with high prior satisfaction toward both host and guest are significantly more likely to attribute their HAES to both partners equally (Nequally=158) than to make other attributions. This finding supports H1 (based on Festinger's theory), which predicts that if consumers have high prior satisfaction with both host and guest, they will attribute their HAES to both partners.* Among the consumers who have high prior satisfaction with host but not with guest, most tend to attribute their HAES to host (Nhost=70). This supports H2aCogDis, which hypothesizes that consumers tend to credit the partner associated with high prior satisfaction for their HAES, but does not support the alternative hypothesis H2acontrast.* Among the consumers who have high prior satisfaction with guest but not with host, more tend to attribute their HAES to guest (Nguest=31), although the number of such consumers is not significantly different from the number of consumers attributing their HAES to both partners equally (Nguest=30) or to host (Nhost=21). These results do not support H2bCogDis or H2bContrast.* H3CogDis posits that consumers who do not have high prior satisfaction with either host or guest will attribute their HAES to neither partner while H3contrast posits that these consumers will attribute their HAES to both. Among these consumers, more tend to credit host for their HAES (Nhost=34). However, the number of these consumers are not significantly different from the number of consumers attributing their HAES to both partners equally (Nequally=22) or to guest (Nguest=21). Meanwhile, blaming neither was the least likely attribution (Nneither=3). Thus, neither H3CogDis nor H3contrast is supported.* Significantly more consumers with high prior satisfaction toward both host and guest tend to blame host (Nhost=40) or both partners equally (Nequally=35) for their < HAES than to blame guest (Nguest=20) or neither partner (Nneither=13). This result does not support H4CogDis as this hypothesis predicts that consumers who have high prior satisfaction with both partners will attribute their < HAES to neither partner. However, there is partial support for H4contrast which predicts that consumers previously highly satisfied with both partners will attribute their < HAES to both partners.* Among the consumers who have high prior satisfaction with host but not with guest, the number of consumers attributing their < HAES to host (Nhost=138) is significantly greater than the numbers of consumers making other attributions, supporting H5acontrast but not H5aCogDis.* Among consumers who have high prior satisfaction with guest but not with host, the number of consumers blaming guest (Nguest=70) is significantly higher than the number of consumers blaming both partners equally (Nequally=27) or blaming neither (Nneither=11). However, the consumer of consumers blaming guest is not significantly different from the number of consumers blaming host (Nhost=45) for their < HAES. Thus H5bcontrast is partially supported. Further, the number of consumers blaming host (Nhost=45) is not significantly greater than the number of consumers blaming both partners (Nequally=27). Therefore, H5bCogDis is not supported.* Finally, most consumers who do not have high prior satisfaction with either host or guest tend to blame host for their < HAES (Nhost=193). Since we expected in H6 (based on Festinger's theory) that host and guest would share the blame for < HAES, H6 is not supported.\n5. Discussion and implications: 5.1. Theoretical contributions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Built upon brand attitude literature, particularly the cognitive dissonance theory and contrast theory, the authors' conceptual framework aims to explain how prior consumer satisfaction with each alliance partner affects consumer attributions (i.e. credit or blame) directed toward each partner for both highly satisfying and less-than-highly satisfying alliance experiences.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper extends the cognitive dissonance theory and contrast theory to the brand alliance context. Survey responses from 1,510 consumers, each having had purchase experiences with one of 18 brand alliances, were used to test hypotheses.\nFindings: - The authors identify which of the two theories provides greater explanatory power under varying conditions. Further, they find an intriguing host effect. That is, consumers tend to hold host partners more responsible for both highly satisfying and less-than-highly satisfying alliance encounters.\nPractical implications: - The authors' findings help firms better understand how consumers respond to alliance encounters. Practical insights include distinct advice for host versus guest partners in partner selection and resource commitments to alliance platforms.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is among the first to investigate consumer reactions to actual alliance encounters, especially in market rather than experimental conditions. Further, whereas the literature has focused on positive consumer experiences with brand alliances, the authors' research includes both highly satisfying and less-than-highly satisfying alliance experiences and thus they uniquely report on the full range of alliance encounter outcomes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Achieving sustainability through the lean and resilient management of the supply chain
|
[
"Interpretive structural modelling (ISM)",
"Lean supply chain management",
"Aerospace manufacturing sector",
"Resilient supply chain management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Nowadays, companies are concerned not only with obtaining economic results sustained over time but with the environmental and social impacts of their day-to-day business operations. The integration of environmental and social aspects with economic considerations, known as the triple-bottom-line (TBL) has gained relevance for managerial decision making in general and for supply chain management (SCM) (Carter and Rogers, 2008) in particular.\nLiterature review: Sustainable SC and lean and resilience strategies\nMethodology: In order to model the joint effects of lean and resilient SCM practices in SC sustainability, we aim for a sector in which achieving leanness and resiliency in the SC is of relevance. In the aerospace sector, leanness is of great importance not only in production settings but also in the supply function (Bortolotti et al., 2016; Michaels, 1999). Additionally, supplier risk is high in this type of SC and in this sector, which makes it necessary to find ways of mitigating supplier risks throughout the SC (Sinha et al., 2004). Romaniw and Bras (2012) address common sustainability practices in the aerospace manufacturing industry, finding the need for additional sustainability studies in the sector. Moreover, the aerospace sector is committed to decreasing the environmental impact of all aspects of aerospace manufacturing and civil aviation travel.\nResults: Analyzing the aggregated ISM-based model\nConclusions: Theoretical implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In the present work, lean and resilient practices applied to supply chains are studied in order to evaluate their impact on the three dimensions of sustainability. Additionally, the mutual impact of lean and resilient supply chain practices is investigated. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The aerospace sector and its supply chain are chosen, since lean and resilient practices have been proven relevant in the sector. A methodology based on Interpretive Structural Modeling approach is applied in order to identify the existing relationships between lean and resilient supply chain practices and their impact on the three different dimensions of sustainability.\nFindings: The results reveal synergetic effects between lean and resilient practices. The former practices act as drivers of the latter practices. Hence, lean practices lead to direct and indirect effects in achieving supply chain sustainability.\nResearch limitations/implications: The relationship between lean and resilient practices has been studied for the aerospace sector. Different sectors may lead to different results as the practices considered important in each sector may differ as well as the way in which each practice is implemented.\nOriginality/value: This study highlights the relationship existing between lean and resilient supply chain practices and their impact on sustainability. Additionally, several managerial implications are drawn out to help managers make better decisions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Portrayals of career women in Hollywood films: implications for the glass ceiling's persistence
|
[
"Gender",
"Careers",
"Media",
"Women",
"Film",
"Stereotyping"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The continued persistence of the glass ceiling (Corsun and Costen, 2001; Bendl and Schmidt, 2010), despite increasingly progressive social norms and decades of legal and organizational interventions, suggests that additional explanations of this phenomenon might be needed. One under-acknowledged, yet potentially powerful, contributor to the glass ceiling is the media's portrayal of career women, when media imagery constitutes \"material evidence of cultural fantasies, discourses, and realities\" (Kaplan, 2004, p. 1,237). Indeed, strong evidence points to a wide-ranging media bias against women, one manifested in television and film (Myers, 2013; Bradley, 2013; Ellis, 2008), magazines (Massoni, 2004; Shuler, 2003), the news (Len-Rios et al., 2005), commercials (Davies et al., 2005; Yoder et al., 2008), among others. These portrayals have been linked to \"stereotype threat\" whereby targets of biased representations will under-perform in, or avoid all together, career paths associated with threats to social norms (Davies et al., 2005; Woodcock et al., 2012). While the study of cultural interpretations of gender through media has a long history in academic research (Kitch, 1997; Mulvey, 1975), little is known about the portrayal of career women in contemporary entertainment films. This is unfortunate because fictional representations provide a legitimate lens from which to study management (Ellis, 2008) and women in management (O'Sullivan and Sheridan, 1999; Mavin et al., 2010). Focusing on films, I argue that negative portrayals of professional women can weaken women's career aspirations and threaten the maintenance of a gender-diverse pipeline necessary to conquer the glass ceiling (Ragins et al., 1998; Helfat et al., 2006; McCarty Kilian et al., 2005).\nTheory and background: The lingering glass ceiling\nResearch methodology: Research design\nFindings: Professional depictions\nDiscussion and conclusion: Grounded on theories of social role, stereotype threat and socio-cultural media framing, the aim of this study was to unearth negative and stereotype-threatening depictions of career women's characteristics and contexts in contemporary Hollywood films, and to speculate on how such portrayals might deter women from careers pursuits, reinforcing the glass ceiling. The interpretation of films as \"social texts\" (Turner, 2006) provided a unique opportunity to investigate the cultural attitudes towards career women conveyed by a popular means of entertainment.\nConclusion: In closing, this study is a first step in the direction of deconstructing the relationship between media portrayals of career women and the glass ceiling. As we continue to search for ways to foster gender equality in the senior ranks of contemporary organizations, it is important to periodically take stock of our broad gender stereotypes, as reflected in our media, to be critically aware of how our media reframes these stereotypes, and to encourage more positive and less stereotypical depictions of career women.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore negative and stereotype-threatening depictions of career women in Hollywood films. The study draws on stereotype threat research to reflect on how such portrayals might undermine women's career aspirations and contribute to the glass ceiling's persistence, and proposes an agenda for future research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Bridging social role theories with conceptual models of films as social \"texts\", the author explored depictions of 165 career women presented by 137 films, focusing on negative and potentially stereotype-threatening personal and professional characteristics and contexts.\nFindings: Thematic analyses of film portrayals revealed negative and stereotype-threatening characteristics and contexts of career women, including their mean and conniving personalities, promiscuity, isolation, failures at intimacy and inability to balance work and family.\nResearch limitations/implications: Limitations include the subjective interpretations of a single author, a broad exploratory focus and no empirical evidence of connections between film portrayals and career attitudes. Researchers are encouraged to deepen analyses of film portrayals and examine linkages with stereotype threat and career behaviours sustaining the glass ceiling.\nPractical implications: Given the pervasive reach of the media and the potential for consumers to internalize its messages, the negative depictions documented here could bear an adverse effect on women's career aspirations, contributing to the glass ceiling's survival.\nOriginality/value: Questioning the role of the media, in particular the portrayals of career women in film, provides an additional angle to understand why the glass ceiling endures.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Socioeconomic inequalities of child malnutrition in Bangladesh
|
[
"Bangladesh",
"Health policy",
"Malnutrition",
"Developing countries",
"Well-being",
"Decomposition analysis",
"Concentration index"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Child malnutrition is one of the leading population health problems in many countries, with significant health and socioeconomic consequences. Malnutrition in the early stage of life has adverse impacts on the health and intellectual development of children, which in turn affects productivity and health status in adulthood (Victora et al., 2008). Malnourishment during the early days of childhood is among the major contributors towards the loss of healthy life in the poorest regions of the world (Ezzati et al., 2002). Child malnutrition remains a long-standing public health concern in many low-middle-income countries, mainly affecting children from the poorest families (Barros et al., 2010). Rice et al. (2000) identified undernourishment as one of the primary causes of child mortality and morbidity in developing countries. It has a long-term negative impact on the overall development of society (Van de Poel et al., 2007a). It thus creates a perpetual cycle of poverty and inequality.\n2. Materials and methods: Design and sampling\n3. Analysis of results: Descriptive statistics\n4. Discussion: Like many developing countries, poor nutritional status of young children is a major health problem in Bangladesh. The country has made remarkable progress in improving child survival rate, but nearly half of under-five children suffer from any form of malnutrition. Despite a steady economic growth, nutritional deprivation in Bangladesh is both paradoxical and complex (Chowdhury et al., 2013). In this context, the aim of this study is to investigate the socioeconomic correlates of child malnutrition as well to measure the contribution of these factors to the inequality of child malnutrition during 2007-2011 in Bangladesh. We use OLS models (adjusted for survey weights and clustering) to estimate the predictor of child malnutrition. The study further use the CC and the CI to estimate the degree of inequality in child malnutrition. We finally use the decomposition approach to explain socioeconomic inequality in child malnutrition.\n5. Conclusion: Previous studies on child malnutrition in Bangladesh primarily focussed on the association between socioeconomic characteristics and child malnutrition. This paper, in contrast, examines how socioeconomic status and demographic factors were associated with child malnourishment as well as how these determinants accounted for socioeconomic inequality in child malnutrition during 2007-2011. Our findings highlight that child's age, breast feeding, child's birth order, the number of under-five child in the household, household wealth and parental education were strongly correlated with child malnutrition in Bangladesh. This study also finds that the absolute level of child malnutrition slightly decreased between 2007 and 2011 and we consider this improvement very trivial over a span of four years. However, socioeconomic inequality of child malnutrition increased during this period. Children from the poorest households endured the burden of undernourishment more than those from the wealthiest households. Overall, socioeconomic inequality also increased among children from the rural area, although it remained stagnant among the urban children. We consider this development alarming from an equity perspective. Our analysis emphasises that parental education had a significant negative relation with the average level of malnutrition, but its role was primarily centred among children from the richer household. Dealing with socioeconomic inequality of childhood malnutrition, therefore, calls for a collective vision, and should be viewed and addressed in a broader context. Government policies preventing early school leaving of women from poorer households might help to mitigate child malnutrition in Bangladesh. An approach linking the ministry of health and education with other ministries may help reduce inequalities in social determinants of childhood malnutrition at a faster rate. Most importantly, there is a need for comprehensive government policies to reduce growing economic inequality and increase the relative income of the poor in Bangladesh.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how socioeconomic status and demographic factors were associated with child malnutrition as well as how these factors accounted for socioeconomic inequality of child malnutrition in Bangladesh during 2007-2011.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data of this study come from two cross-sectional rounds (2007 and 2011) of the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. This paper uses ordinary least square models to estimate the correlates of child malnutrition. The study further uses the concentration curve and the concentration index to estimate socioeconomic inequality of child malnutrition in Bangladesh. Finally, the decomposition method is used to explain socioeconomic inequality of child malnutrition in the study period.\nFindings: Regression analysis indicates that child's age, breast feeding, child's birth order, the number of under-five child in the household, household wealth and parental education were strongly correlated with child malnutrition in Bangladesh. This study finds that absolute level of child malnourishment slightly decreased between 2007 and 2011, but socioeconomic inequality increased during this period. Children from the poorest household endured the burden of malnourishment more than those from the wealthiest households. The level of inequality also increased among the rural children, although it remained stagnant among the urban children. Decomposition analysis highlights that parental education had a significant negative relation with the average level of malnutrition, but its role was primarily centred among children from wealthier households.\nPractical implications: An approach linking the ministry of health and education with other ministries may speed up the reduction of inequalities in social determinants of childhood undernourishment. Most importantly, there is a need for comprehensive government policies to reduce growing economic inequality and increase the relative income of the poor in Bangladesh.\nOriginality/value: This study is the first of its kind to apply the decomposition method to explain the socioeconomic inequality of child malnutrition in Bangladesh. This paper presents an enriched understanding of socioeconomic inequality of child malnutrition in Bangladesh during 2007-2011.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Analysis of competencies for effective virtual team leadership in building successful organisations
|
[
"Organizations",
"Virtual teams",
"Competencies",
"Leadership"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent years, activities in all types of organisation have generally become more and more global. Competition from both domestic and international sources has grown drastically, and there has been a continued shift from traditional service production to virtual service work environments (Hossein, 2012). Advances in information and communication technology (ICT) have enabled a quicker speed of change than in the past and has created jobs that are increasingly more complex and dynamic (Hunsaker and Hunsaker, 2008). Faced with this wide and dramatic change in business activities, organisational structures, communication, strategies, processes, and policies, the need for effective virtual team leadership has arisen.\nThe need for virtual team in building successful organisation: It is evident in today's world that organisations no longer operate as stand-alone entities, but create networks of customers, suppliers, and partners through virtual teaming for organisational growth success (Jarvempaa and Tanriverdi, 2003). Building a successful organisation in today's globalised economy cannot be successfully achieved without effective leadership in the virtual team projects. The growing popularity of the virtual teaming in achieving a growth and success of organisations has led a shift from production to service-related business (Kayworth and Leidner, 2001), and has changed the ways work is organised and managed. Such changes have mainly been facilitated by ICTs that improve knowledge management, which in turn helps to build successful organisations (Jarvempaa and Tanriverdi, 2003), in addition to the dissemination of information on the global level. In essence, virtual teams have created new working methods and flexibility for achieving successful organisations (Townsend et al., 1998).\nLeadership and styles of leadership: Weisban (2008) defined leadership as the influencing of behaviours and attitude of individuals, including the interaction within and between groups regarding goals and vision achievements. According to Donald (2004), leadership is the use of social influence and power to direct or change the character of others, and continues to state this power can be through energy flowing through a social network of influence in the organisation. Discussions on leadership styles have always come to the fore when effective leadership is discussed, particularly in a virtual team. Bass et al. (2003), first, introduced present distinctive leadership styles, which are transformational and transactional. In a similar vein, Berson and Avolio (2004) indicated that there are different or numerous leadership styles; however, transactional and transformational leadership styles are the most important and specific to the virtual team. For the purpose of this study, transactional and transformational leadership styles will be the focus of discussion with respect to the virtual team leadership.\nConcept of a virtual team: The need to address the competitive demands of globalisation through the adoption of electronic communication and information technology within the workplace has made many organisations embrace virtual team structures (Bal and Teo, 2000; Piccoli et al., 2004; Mogale, 2009). The concept of the virtual team evolved from teleworkers and virtual groups. Teleworkers are characterised by working partially, or completely, outside of their main company's workplace with the help of information and telecommunication services (Hossein, 2012). As the advancement of technology continues, and organisations need to run projects across the globe, the concept of teleworkers then evolved to virtual groups that are characterised by several teleworkers reporting to the same manager. Virtual groups then evolved to virtual teams characterised by virtual groups interacting with one another to accomplish common goals (Zigurs, 2003; Hanson, 2007; Mogale, 2009).\nVirtual team leadership competencies: There are several definitions of competencies. For instance, Hossein (2012) described competencies as the characteristics of a leader that leads to the demonstration of skills and abilities, which results in effective performance within an occupational area. Competencies are a combination of knowledge, skills, and abilities which are relevant to a particular job position, and which, when acquired, allows a person to perform a task or function to a high level of proficiency and effectiveness (Jordan, 2012). It should be noted that competencies may include personal and professional aspects. The personal aspects are the skills, attitudes, and values that underlie the work; while the professional ones address the way in which we apply the knowledge to work in an organisational setting (Van, 2004; Dole et al., 2005). Kramer (2005) claimed that traditional leadership has its competencies, but virtual team leadership competencies differ; thus, the needed leadership competencies tend to increase in virtual teams. It has been argued that virtual leaders lacking in specific leadership competencies usually are not effective leaders and do not achieve high-performing teams (Hunsaker and Hunsaker, 2008; Hossein, 2012). Furthermore, project leadership and its concepts have drawn much attention over the years and several bodies of literature have emerged. But, according to Mogale (2009), none have dealt much with the effective leadership competencies required for the virtual team. A selection of the specific virtual leadership competencies are discussed below.\nResearch methodology: The study adopted a case study approach to provide an empirical enquiry regarding the required competencies for effective leadership of a virtual team. Yin (2009) defined a case study as an empirical enquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between the phenomenon and the context are not clearly evident. Yin (2013) emphasised the use of case study methodologies because it can help find solutions to contextual problems. The validity of case study inquiry is accepted by the academic community, as a way of advancing and disseminating knowledge, particularly within professional and practical disciplines (Yin, 2013).\nData analysis and discussion: In assessing the two VTLs, i.e., VTL A and VTL B, by their members in the case study organisation, specific questions were asked about the characteristics and competencies that make a VTL effective for project success in an organisation.\nEffective communication: The overall responses from both virtual teams indicated the lack of satisfactory communication from both VTL A and VTL B. Despite this, it was felt that VTL A tried but did not fully explore the potentials for communicating effectively with team members. These must have affected the virtual projects they embarked on because they were not able to communicate satisfactorily and effectively with their team members. It appears from the findings that VTL A performed fairly well in the ability to communicate important changes, while VTL B was rated very poor. Thus, both VTL A and VTL B were rated poorly in terms of communication in its entirety. In addition, both VTL A and VTL B were considered to lack the ability to provide constant feedback to their team members, and this is recognised as one of the competencies required of a VTL to be effective.\nCultural \"intelligence\": The findings reveal that the VTL A lacked the ability to effectively handle multiple cultures in his team, while VTL B did have the ability to handle members of his/her team in terms of their diverse cultures. Thus, cultural intelligence is of immense importance in a virtual team. Brake (2005) shown that cultural diversity can provide a competitive environment for an organisation. Hence, VTLs need to take the time to be conscious of the deeply rooted assumptions of cultures in order to avoid misinterpretation and miscommunication.\nTrust and team cohesion: As evidenced in the responses of both set of virtual team members, trust was not present under the leadership of VTL B. However, ability to build trust is one of the essential virtual leadership competencies. While VTL A has trust-building ability, but lacks reliability in ICT expertise, this eroded team members' trust and confidence when it came to ICT-related issues in VTL A. One of the reasons why virtual team members under both leaders lacked trust and team cohesion was because there was no face-to-face meetings or video conferencing during the earlier stage of the team. This finding affirmed the assertion of several earlier researchers. For instance, Cursue et al. (2008) stated that face-to-face meetings are a good enabler of success in building trust in virtual teams and they are of the opinion that this enables trust building, team cohesion, and identity during the team formation stage. This is corroborated by Brake (2005) who stated the most advantageous period to build trust in a virtual team is during the early stages of its formation.\nTask clarity and clear directions: VTLs need to provide members with a clear task and direction along with specific individual goals. The responses reveal that VTL A has the ability to make tasks clear to members and has the ability to give effective directions to the members, while VTL B lacks the competency. The VTLs need to be more proactive for a good structure to be achieved in virtual teams. This is supported by existing literature that highlights the need for clearly defined goals and objectives communication by all virtual team members to be one of the critical success factors for the virtual team (Bal and Teo, 2000; Brake, 2005; Wright, 2005). This is affirmed by Arvidsson et al. (2007) who stated that VTLs can enable clarity of tasks for team members through assignment of tasks, specifying procedures, and clarifying expectations in order to reduce role ambiguity; thus ensuring timely and successful project deliverables.\nReliability: The issue of reliability in a virtual environment is essential and it is one of the competencies required of an effective virtual leader. The responses indicated that VTL A and VTL B were rated relatively poorly by their team members with respect to this regard.\nTransformational leadership: It is shown in the responses from virtual team B that VTL B is a transformational leader who exhibits characters like motivation and empathy. While VTL A possesses the characteristics of a transactional leader because his/her team members perceived him/her as a leader that issues sanctions from their responses (see Table I).\nConclusion: The growing use of virtual teams in the contemporary business world is becoming increasingly extensive. Leadership effectiveness in a virtual team is a necessity because virtual teams differ from traditional teams. It is, therefore, of immense importance that virtual leaders take cognisance of the specific leadership competences that are unique to a virtual environment and inculcate the competencies in achieving effective leadership. It is against this backdrop that this study has identified and analysed the competencies required for effective leadership in virtual teams from a case study of a single organisation and two virtual teams and their leaders. The study identified some competencies of an ideal VTL in terms of effective communication, including: constant feedback; trust and task clarity; clear directions and reliability; and personal characteristics amongst others. Understanding the competencies needed for virtual leadership effectiveness is vital to achieving organisational success. The study found that the two VTLs did not perform well because they lacked the required leadership competencies; this lead to poor performances experienced in their virtual teams. This resulted in the organisation failing to achieve its goal of spreading its operations beyond Sub-Saharan Africa. It is pertinent to note that organisations should look out for the required competences enumerated on this study and tend to appoint leaders with such competences. By doing so, they will establish high-performing virtual teams that will contribute to the attainment of organisational success. The study also identified that transformational leadership traits should be considered when selecting the VTLs because this leadership style is very helpful in achieving high-performing team and project success. Transformational leaders are self-reflective based, changing beliefs and values of team members for the general benefit of the team. It is important to note that no compromise should be made by any organisation when selecting their VTLs without considering the competencies as aforementioned and transformational leadership traits in order to achieve high performing and successful teams. This study will assist organisations in selecting their VTLs particularly in developing countries seeking to expand beyond the shores of their countries in terms of global business. The study will also be of benefit to VTLs who avail themselves with identified competencies they need to achieve high-performing virtual teams that contribute to organisational success. Finally, it is believed this study has contributed to the limited literature on effective leadership in virtual teams and will, therefore, help the academic community in carrying out further studies associated with this topic in the future.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Global competition and advances in technology have enhanced the growing trend of virtual teams in order to execute business strategies. Thus, understanding the competencies needed for virtual leadership effectiveness is essential and vital to organisational success. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse the required competencies for virtual team leadership and its effectiveness in an organisation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study adopted case study methodology to undertake an exploratory study of a manufacturing organisation. Using a questionnaire that was designed following a focussed literature review to identify the specific virtual leadership competencies, structured interviews were conducted face-to-face with 14 respondents from two major virtual team groups. The interviews were designed to elucidate the opinions and perceptions of virtual team members with respect to selected characteristics of their virtual team leaders (VTLs). The responses obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.\nFindings: The study identified the competencies required for effective leadership in virtual teams in order to achieve the organisational project success. The performance of the two VTLs in the organisation was then assessed in the light of these identified competencies. The study also identified transformational leaders as important to be considered when selecting VTLs because they are known to achieve high-performing team. However, the study found that considering the virtual leadership competencies, the two VTLs were found to have not, on the whole, performed well because they are lacking in some of the leadership competencies required for effective leadership in a virtual team and this has led to their organisation not achieving the required success in virtual teams.\nPractical implications: The study has implications for organisations' virtual team project leaders. The identification of specific leadership competencies for virtual team leadership will enable organisations to be more informed when looking for effective leaders in their virtual teams in order to achieve high-performing virtual teams, which will lead to organisational growth and success. The study is expected to enhance the success rate of any typical organisation using virtual teams.\nOriginality/value: The study would be highly beneficial to both the potential and current stakeholder organisations considering virtual teams to execute business strategies. This study has also added to the body of knowledge by further exploring the leadership competencies needed for virtual teams.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Management accounting performance measurement systems in Swedish banks
|
[
"Financial services",
"Performance measurement (quality)",
"Accounting systems",
"Sweden",
"Banks"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Accounting is so-called the universal language of business and management accounting systems (MAS) provide useful information for management to make decision and operate plan and control. But the rapid changes of technology with enormously expanding information processing capabilities and vigorous global competition, traditional MAS are not providing useful information to fulfill organizational objectives, decision-making, planning, and control (Johnson and Kaplan, 1987). The shortcomings of traditional MAS, in terms of invalidity, incompleteness, inaccuracy, inconsistency, misunderstandings, measures wrong variables, etc. have already been demonstrated by many contemporary accounting scholars including Kaplan (1991), Scapens (1997), Kaydos (1991). For example, Turney and Anderson (1989) mention that, \"the accounting function has largely failed to adapt to the new competitive environment\". Bhimani and Brimson (l989) and Kerremans et al. (1991) think that, new technology evidently leads to change in cost structures and has faced increasing levels of complexity, competitiveness and environmental and technological changes, in which the appropriateness of existing system and the relevance of new tools for doing thing better in service as well as in manufacturing organizations are questionable. The traditional idea of performance measurement (PM) system was a means of maintaining organizational control and financial goal for hierarchical manufacturing organizations (Nanni et al., 1992; Ballantine and Brignall, 1995). The traditional models of PM have been using to focus on maximizing the wealth of shareholder, such as earning per share (EPS), return-on-investment (ROI), etc. which are \"the result of management action and organizational performance, and not the cause of it\", Eccles and Pyburn (1992). A number of recent accounting studies concluded that traditional accounting and accounting-based PM are inappropriate given today's uncertain economic and complex competitive environment (Lee, 1992, Srikanth, 1992; Ballantine and Brignall, 1995; Govindarajan and Shank, 1992; Bromwich and Bhimani, 1989).The need of multidimensional performance, like non-financial and financial, internal and external, qualitative and quantitative and comparative and absolute, measures have been demonstrated by many contemporary researchers, like Kaplan (1991), Bromwich and Bhimani (1989), Fitzgerald et al. (1991). However, in terms of productivity measures non-financial PM also acknowledged as an efficient method in Armitage and Atkinson (1990) and Turney and Anderson (1989), studies. Furthermore, there are also many studies which demonstrate the importance of non-financial performance measures in manufacturing organizations and few of them even relatively discuss the PM in service sector, Johnson (1990), Fisher (1992), Sellenheim (1991), Coates et al. (1992), Ezzamel (1992), Grady (1991), Jeans and Morrow (1990), Keegan et al. (1989), Lillis (1992), Maisal (1992), McNair et al. (1990), Greene and Flentow (1990), amongst other. The structures of financial service industries are changing rapidly and the determinant of cost and revenue efficiency of evolving Financial Services Industry (FSI) are receiving higher importance. The efficiency leads to increase the awareness of improve profitability, better prices and service quality for customers and greater safety and soundness. That is, differences in managerial ability to control costs or maximize revenues appear to be greater than the cost effects of the choice of scale and scope of production (Berger et al., 1993). Therefore, modern MAS, as Shank and Govindarajan (1993) state, should reflect the critical success of the firms. Moreover, the substantial changes in the service sector have emerged new competitors and greater freedom in setting prices. Well-managed service firms with a good understanding of their product and management efficiency can become much more profitable in a competitive environment. The integration of EU opens for more intense competition on the European banking markets, which potentially result in substantial structural changes within the FSIs. In today's environment other EU competitors (such as Japanese and US institutions) are hard competition in a new European economic structure with its own set of regulations. Therefore, the competitions become keen, and managing costs and the management and measurement of performances are becoming key to long-term success of organization.\n2 The method, objectives and research questions: 2.1 Research objective and problem\n3 Empirical study: 3.1 Bank Alfa\n4 Discussions and analysis: An analysis of the findings are shown in Appendix 1.4.1 Alfa\n5 Conclusion: A summary of Swedish banks' PM practices is shown in Appendix 2.This empirical study finds that MAS are practiced in Swedish banks but the management's emphasis more on measuring financial performances than non-financial PM. It is observed that all the banks' management of Swedish banks acknowledges the high importance of non-financial performance, but most of the banks do not measure non-financial performance regularly. However, the MAS that used to measure non-financial performance they are traditional ones. The uses of the latest MAS like BSC are not found to be suitable in Swedish banks. All the Swedish banks management want to use a different methods/systems of PM that they are using, which indicate that there level of discontentment with non-financial PM. In fact, their success and the practices of MAS are different in different banks in terms of the use of overall PM. For example, the overall role of MAS in non-financial PM is very negligible in Alfa. The role of MAS in financial PM is also not significant, though there are some use of ABCM and benchmarking to compare financial performance of different sections and branches with one another. However, the use and importance of measuring financial performance is highly realized, but in practice the use of MAS to measure overall performance is not significance. It is realized that, MAS have not been used to play any significant role on measuring non-financial performance even though some of the non-financial aspects are importantly considered by management as important tools or survival in the competitive era.In the case of Bravo, however, MAS play a great role on measuring financial performance but there is no any significant effect of MAS on measuring non-financial performance. The usefulness of MAS is significant in Charli for financial PM. The frequently and regularly used method of measuring non-financial performance is customer survey, and there is a particular use of ABCM in the organization. The use of ABCM is not for non-financial PM as management thinks ABCM can be used in decreasing service cost, specially indirect service cost to make available cheaper service. There are number of MAS are used in financial PM, but in measuring non-financial performance the use of MAS are in infancy, although management is well contented with the method that used in Charli. There has considerable effort been paid to find the activity drivers for measuring social well-being, but in practice there are not succeeded in doing it. There has not any particular role of MAS been acknowledged by the CEO of Delta. Top management think of some use of income/expenditure ratio and ABCM and BSC may be useful in some areas of financial PM. They put high emphasis on increasing operational efficiency and measuring financial performance by using common sense instead of using conventional budgeting and accounting practices. Management does not acknowledge the need of measuring non-financial performance because they think, non-financial performance is derived in financial performance and their improvement depend on the improvement of financial performances.There are number of reasons can be mentioned that impact on the unsuccessful (and negative attitudes of management towards) the use of non-financial PM, but since they are not points of departure in this study, they are better not to be discussed here. An explanatory case study with particular theoretical framework could make possible to discuss some of factors that impinge on the non-financial PM in this particular industry. Moreover, a comparative study with manufacturing industry would make the research results more robust. However, an important matter that has been mentioned by some senior managers, during the field study, that impact on non-financial PM in studied organization, is economic condition. Adverse economic condition seemingly forcing management to emphasis more on financial PM which decreasing the importance of improving and measuring non-financial performance impact on non-financial PM. So, if the economic condition would be better, management may concentrate more on non-financial PM. However, economic condition also creates the need of Central bank to interfere ordinary banks, every now and then, that becomes an obstacle for ordinary banks to make long-term plan in which non-financial performance get attention (see more in Hussain and Hoque, 2002, study). A stable economic condition might not create need for central bank to interfere every now and then. However, it seems that competition forcing management to improve as well measure non-financial performance (see in Hussain 2003, study). So, a stable economic condition and competition would increase the need and importance of non-financial PM in this particular services industry and even in other services and manufacturing industries as well.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To study the nature of management accounting performance measures in the Financial Services Industry (FSI). The nature of Performance Measurement (PM), specially non-financial PM in FSI (service \"shop\") has not been explored before.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This exploratory multiple case study consists of survey, interviews with questionnaire, individuals' (senior management and executives) interviews, collecting primary and secondary sources of information as well as literature surveys.\nFindings: - The results of this study demonstrate that the actual practices of the recent trends of management accounting in non-financial PM are negligible in the studied financial institutions, and management of studied banks paying more attention to improve and measure financial performance than that to non-financial performance for different reasons that affect the function/operation of FSI.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The field study is being conducted without a conceptual/theoretical framework. An explanatory case study with particular theoretical framework/model could make possible to discuss the factors that affect non-financial PM in this particular industry. Moreover, a comparative study with manufacturing industry would make the research results more robust.\nPractical implications: - A stable economic condition and competition that would increase the need and importance of non-financial PM in FSI as well as in other services (and even in manufacturing industries).\nOriginality/value: - This paper explores the nature of management accounting PM particularly in FSI.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Education gap between second-generation migrants and natives and the role of intergenerational transmission of education: The French case
|
[
"France",
"Education",
"Intergenerational transmission",
"Second-generation immigrants vs natives"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This paper investigates, for France, the extent to which the differences in education levels between second-generation immigrants and natives come from differences in parental endowments in education or from differences in intergenerational transmissions of human capital. It shows that only differences in parental education levels are important in explaining the educational gaps between these origins.\n2. Institutional features and data: 2.1 France's education system and immigration history: a brief overview\n3. Empirical strategy: In the first set of regressions, we estimate econometrically some functions of individual accumulation of human capital for different origin groups (whole sample, natives, SGM of different origins). This provides estimates of the coefficient of intergenerational transmission of education. It will provide a first insight into the possibility of education transmission explaining the differences in education attainment among origins. However, as stressed above, there might be an alternative explanation for intergenerational transmission. It might be that the differences in parental endowment in education (i.e. migrants' human capital) explain the differences in education levels among different origins. From that perspective, to evaluate to what extent differences in human capital between natives and SGM are explained by differences in parental levels of education or by differences in parental transmission of human capital, the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method (Blinder, 1973; Oaxaca, 1973) is implemented on different SGM-natives pairs. This method is used frequently to work on labour economics to perform decompositions to explain wage differences among different population groups: men-women, ethnic groups, etc. (e.g. Wright and Ermisch, 1991; Monks and Robinson, 2000; Manning and Robinson, 2004; Kahanec and Zaiceva, 2009; Aeberhardt et al., 2010), and to identify instances of discrimination. We apply this method to explain the education gap between pairs of natives and SGM.\n4. Econometric results: In the first step, we present the estimates of the human capital accumulation functions for each origin (the different origins of the SGM and natives). In the second step, we proceed to the Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions of the mean outcome in education between each of the groups of migrants considered, and the natives group. We discuss the main results and the robustness checks.\n5. Conclusion: This paper analyses the differences in the determinants and patterns of accumulation of human capital among SGM from different origins, relative to natives of France. In particular, we examine the education gap between natives and SGM by implementing an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role played by parental education endowments vs intergenerational transmission of education in education differences between second-generation immigrants and natives for the French case.\nDesign/methodology/approach: First, estimates of human capital accumulation functions are performed by using a representative sample of the French population. Second, the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique is implemented to underline the specific roles of differences in parental education endowments and of differences in intergenerational transmission in education between origins.\nFindings: The econometric estimates of human capital accumulation function parameters underline that the determinants of education level (and their magnitude), differ substantially between natives and migrants. They also underline evidence of heterogeneity in the intergenerational transmission of education among the different origins of migrants in France. The Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition results show that parental education endowments account differences for a significant part of the education gaps among origins. No evidence is found that differences in parental transmissions of education explain these gaps.\nOriginality/value: The paper focusses on France, a country with a rich history of immigration in the twentieth century. The econometric analysis is based on a rich source of data for France that allows studying intergenerational mobility in education and also distinguishing natives from second-generation migrants based on their geographical origin.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
What difference does the context of activation make? Challenges and innovations in the Italian and Norwegian local welfare
|
[
"Implementation",
"Context",
"Governance",
"Activation policies",
"Comparative case studies",
"Logics of Welfare"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Transformations in social and labor activation policies in Europe have likely been paradigmatic, affecting the rhetoric and operations of welfare systems in the last two decades. The transition has brought ideas regarding the personalization and conditionality of welfare provisions, the marketization and contractualization of people-institution relationships, combinations of corporate, market or network models of governance, rescaling and the territorialization of social policy (Hemerijck, 2013; Kazepov, 2010; van Berkel et al., 2017; de Graaf and Sirovatka, 2012).\n2. Research design: Large-scale research usually struggles to analyze context-based policy processes (Brans and Pattyn, 2017; Kennet, 2006). Case studies make it easier finding practicable solutions for this purpose, although they raise controversies about modes and scope of inference (Evers and Wu, 2006; Oyen, 2006). Therefore, we have moved between the extremes of both context-free approaches and strictly contextually bounded visions (Mangen, 2006; Tight, 2017) by including case studies in a comparative process of investigation, as illustrated here:\n3. Italy: new logic, old hurdles?: 3.1 Background\n4. Norway: shifting logics, new hurdles?: 4.1 Background\n5. Patterns of activation: differences, similarities and variations: According to the findings, local actors' agency based on public or mixed authority have been legitimated and even enhanced in both of the countries, as well as being hindered or limited. However, there are important differences in the extent and manner in which this happens, partly due to the policy design, general application and funding, and partly due to the logics emerging in the context-based policy processes.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of trans-contextual processes of implementation and governance in the transformation of social and labor inclusion policies in Norway and Italy, including research and practical implications.\nDesign/methodology/approach: It combines qualitative case studies with a framework that makes them comparable, namely, the Logics of Welfare.\nFindings: Differences and similarities are related to regimes' path dependencies as well as interactions between bottom-up and top-down dynamics of implementation. Their shifting logics and patterns enhance or hinder the local actors' agency and enactment, and the systems' capability to reduce the risks of exclusion. Results and the ways in which they are achieved are different, although in both cases the inclusion in the labor market remains a contended issue.\nResearch limitations/implications: The comparison is based on two case studies. A further development of in-depth comparative analysis may improve our understanding of the role of contexts in the implementation of policy reforms.\nPractical implications: Reforms have limited capacity to achieve the expected outcomes, including due to a limited understanding of context-based factors. Practitioners and policy makers should take greater account of the latter and their active role in modifying them.\nSocial implications: This paper provides a deeper comprehension on how policy practices affect citizens' hard pathways toward inclusion.\nOriginality/value: Through a comparative context-based analysis, the paper shows important differences, similarities and shifting modes of operation in activation policy as well as the role of socio-organizational contexts and bottom-up mobilizations. It looks forward to the possible added value derived from a wider testing of such approaches.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Recommendations from a virtual community as a catalytic agent of travel decisions
|
[
"Virtual worlds",
"Travel",
"Recommendations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Virtual communities represent a new type of social formation on the internet. They expand the power of technology to connect individuals by providing unprecedented opportunities for social interactions and development of relationships among people with shared interests, irrespective of geography and time (Hagel and Armstrong, 1997; Lin, 2009). Virtual communities have traditionally acted as a virtual meeting place for people to share interests, build relationships, create fantasies, or conduct transactions.Tourism is an information-intensive industry, consumers can use the internet to access information easily, conveniently, and efficiently, and receive more flexible rates, save time, and reduce the cumbersome negotiations involved in processes such as booking tickets and accommodation. These features have contributed to the popularity of online travel portals. A Forrester Research study found that while the proportion of online travelers who use the internet to both research and buy travel fell by 9 percent between 2005 and 2007, online leisure-travel spending increased by 41 percent over the same period. In Taiwan, travel products constitute the largest proportion of the online customer market (Market Intelligence Center, 2007), and it is almost certain that the internet will continue to grow as a travel information source, with online bookings increasing as more people have high-speed access to the internet. Thus, the online travel community has been regarded as central to models of internet marketing and electronic commerce (e-commerce) in the travel industry (Wang et al., 2004).A customer's experience with an e-commerce environment extends beyond the interaction with the web site, including delivery of products, post-sales support, consumption of products and services. It is the total customer experience that influences the customers' perceptions of value and service quality, and which consequently affects customer loyalty (Petre et al., 2006). Virtual communities provide a potential environment for affecting sales by spreading electronic word of mouth (Bickart and Schindler, 2001; Dellarocas, 2003; Hennig-Thurau et al., 2004), and this represents a valuable source of information about trends, preferences, and new product ideas (Muniz and O'Guinn, 2001).In addition, virtual communities have a social nature, and it is possible to increase the interactivity with electronic storefronts to increase their attraction to recreational shoppers (Bhatnagar and Ghose, 2004; Wu and Tsang, 2008) and to serve as reference groups that can influence their members' shopping preferences (Lin et al., 2009). Senecal and Nantel (2004) suggest that recommendation sources can be used and promoted by three different types of web site: sellers, commercially linked third parties, and non-commercially linked third parties. The provision of more alternatives to choose from and more objective information should result in independent web sites being perceived as more useful by consumers.One example is a backpackers'-forum web site (www.backpackers.com.tw/forum/) centered on a travel forum in Taiwan; it is updated daily, and has two major themes: upcoming festivals and highlighted destinations. In addition, travelers can make online hostel bookings and air their views in popular travel forums. The web site allows travelers to obtain information from fellow travelers. Moreover, travelers receive tips from backpackers on how best to get from A to B as cheaply as possible and on out-of-the-way places to add to their itinerary.The flow theory was initially applied to living, working, leisure activities, sports, and reading material (Moneta and Csikszentmihalyi, 1996; Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). The concept of flow has been proposed by several researchers as important for understanding consumer behavior on the internet. For example, Hoffman and Novak (1996) conceptualize flow on the internet as a cognitive state experienced during navigation; this was later employed by scholars in the field of computer software learning and network browsing, leading to the discovery that networking can entice the user into a so-called \"flow state\" (Hoffman and Novak, 1996; Hsu and Lu, 2004). However, few empirical studies have been conducted on the flow experiences of online travel-community members.The research goal of this study was to determine how flow experience and perceived behavioral control (PBC) affect participation behavior in the backpackers' forum at www.backpackers.com.tw/forum/ In this study, we formulated the virtual communities' participation model from the perspective of flow experience and technology acceptance, and we collected virtual community participation samples from the Taiwanese backpackers' forum by mailing a questionnaire survey to those who agreed to participate. The model and hypotheses were tested by structural equation modeling. This report first describes the motivation for this study. Section 2 describes the theoretical background of this study, and is followed by a review of previous research in Section 3. The research design is then presented in Section 4, and finally, the research findings and conclusions are reported in Sections 5 and 6, respectively.\n2. Theoretical background and literature review: 2.1 Flow experience\n3. The research model: The research model of this study comes from a flow-experience perspective, whereby enjoyment has a direct and positive relationship with influence and immersion (Figure 1).3.1 Flow experience\n4. Research methodology: 4.1 Data collection and sample characteristics\n5. Results: 5.1 Tests of the measuring scales\n6. Conclusions and implications: The study revealed multilevel measures of factors that encourage participation behavior in the Taiwanese backpackers' forum. Analysis of the measurement model indicates that the proposed metrics exhibit relatively high validity and reliability. These measures can be used to evaluate the factors that influence participation behavior. The research model of this study provides a reliable instrument for operationalizing the key constructs in the analysis of participation behavior, and have some important implications for understanding the participation behavior of virtual communities.6.1 Managerial implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The research goal of this study was to determine how flow experience and perceived behavioral control (PBC) affect participation behavior in the backpackers' forum.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Subjects were self-selected by placing messages on over five recommendations members in the backpackers' forum. In total, 2,000 invitation messages were mailed to members of the Taiwanese backpackers' forum, of which 435 were returned completed (a return rate of 21.75 percent).\nFindings: - As our analysis, flow experience in a virtual community is positively associated with the behavioral intentions to use the virtual community. Perceived enjoyment in a virtual community is positively associated with the behavioral intentions to use the virtual community, and behavioral intentions to visit a virtual community are positively associated with the member's actual participation in a virtual community.\nResearch limitations/implications: - While this study has produced meaningful data for the development of multidimensional measures of factors that influence participation behavior in the Taiwanese backpackers' forum, the validity of an instrument cannot be firmly established on the basis of a single study. All of the data used for tests were collected only from a single backpackers' forum.\nPractical implications: - Our study shows that travel agencies must become technologically astute to keep up with its customers, should be viewing the internet as a vital distribution channel for marketing, and should be linked to other well-known reservation web sites.\nSocial implications: - The backpacker community served as a reference group that could significantly influence travelers' beliefs, attitudes, and choices.\nOriginality/value: - In the present study we found that a basic understanding of the essence of the backpacker community is a prerequisite for any organization operating a travel-oriented community if they are to be clear about their mission, purpose, and the right direction to take to achieve their goal. That goal will increase the commitment of the members to a virtual community by increasing their helping behavior and active participation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Hyperchoice and high prices: an unfair combination
|
[
"Prices",
"Consumer behaviour",
"Telephone equipment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: \"Hyperchoice\" is the term Mick et al. (2004, p. 207) use to indicate \"an ever-increasing amount of new products, brands and brand extensions, in the midst of an ever-increasing amount of other daily demands and an ever-decreasing amount of discretionary time.\" They point out that hyperchoice is \"initially attractive but ultimately unsatisfying\" (Mick et al., 2004, p. 207). Such an inverted \"U\" shaped response is counter to traditional economic theory.Economic theory holds that more choices are better. Consumers make choices by calculating the benefits of each available option and selecting the one in their best self-interest. From the consumer's viewpoint, more choices can therefore seem better because more choices increase the likelihood that each and every buyer can get exactly what he/she wants. More choices give the buyer greater control over his/her destiny, which is part of a basic human value of self-determination. As Schwartz (2000, p. 4) writes:The US was founded on a commitment to individual freedom and autonomy and freedom of choice as a core value.From the seller's viewpoint, more choices can also seem better. As Kahn (1998) has shown, providing variety is a strategy that can improve a company's competitive position by better meeting the customers' divergent needs and wants. To capitalize on the consumers' desire for choice, supermarkets in the US now stock some 30,000 items. The Mall of America outside Minneapolis has 428 stores. Auto makers like Ford offer over 20 different models, each with long lists of options. The availability of choices extends to all aspects of consumption.The response to increased choices is, however, not linear. At a certain point, the consumer is faced with what Hirsch (1976) has called \"a tyranny of small choices\" or what Schwartz (2004) has called \"the paradox of choice\". When a sufficient number of choices have been provided, the consumer reaches maximum satisfaction. After that point:The positiveness of the consumption experience goes down because of stress, frustration, disengagement from the process, or anticipated/experienced regret (Desmeules, 2002, p. 17).The stress and frustration of task complexity reduces the consumer's ability to make optimal decisions (Lehmann, 1998). The reason put forth many years ago by Simon (1974) and March (1978) was the bounded rationality of human decision making and people's limited ability to process information. The belief was that short term memory could handle only the \"magic number of seven chunks\" (Miller, 1956), with \"chunks\" being defined as meaningfully related information (Simon, 1974). Empirical evidence, however, showed that it was not until ten or more chunks that consumers actually exhibited signs of information overload (Malhotra, 1982).To cope with excessive choice, Heiner (1983) argued that consumers use heuristics and simplified strategies. Tversky and Shafir (1992) showed that one simplification strategy is simply to avoid making a choice or to settle for the status quo. If consumers are not successful at simplifying the task, then entropy sets in. Swait and Adamowicz (2001) demonstrated that as complexity increases, responses become more random. For example, Bawa et al. (1989) showed that customers confronted with many choices are more likely to respond to price promotions. The explanation is that, when given too many choices, consumers seek an easy way to justify the selection of one choice over another.Too many choices also mean that consumers have a greater chance of making the wrong choice, and they are therefore more likely to suffer cognitive dissonance afterwards. To protect themselves, consumers either refuse to purchase altogether or face the possibility of future dissatisfaction. This has been demonstrated empirically by Iyengar and Lepper (2000). In an experiment conducted in a gourmet food store, they showed that offering customers a choice of 30 jams as opposed to only six resulted in fewer customers making purchases. Furthermore, those who did purchase were less satisfied with the jam they had selected.In marketing, consumers were traditionally given a choice of products with corresponding prices, typically at three price points representing \"good, better, best\" (Kotler and Armstrong, 2001). Three options gave the buyer some choice without overburdening the seller's managerial and production capabilities. With the advent of the computer, however, sellers can now manage - at least theoretically - a much greater number of product line extensions each at a different price. Extensions are beneficial because they \"give marketers the opportunity to offer a broader range of price points in order to capture a wider audience\" (Quelch and Kenny, 1994, p. 154).However, even though many product line extensions at different price points are possible, there are still costs involved: the cost of management to supervise the different price plans, the cost of added inventory, the cost of training sales people in the various options, etc. As Quelch and Kenny (1994, p. 156) report:The unit costs for multi-item lines can be 25 to 45 percent higher than the theoretical cost of producing only the most popular item in the line.The number of price points is therefore a matter of concern for managers.The premise of this study is that too many price choices create a problem not only because they lead to sub-optimal consumer choice and increased management costs but also because they affect consumers' judgments of the fairness of the price. Ever since Kahneman et al. (1986) showed that consumers will exert themselves to punish a seller they judge to be unfair, considerable marketing research has focused on the determinants of judged (un)fairness (e.g. Campbell, 1999; Maxwell, 2002; Bolton et al., 2003; Xia et al., 2004; Homburg et al., 2005). What makes fairness judgments particularly important is that they lead not only to a short-term loss of sales (Kahneman et al., 1986) but also to a long-term loss of reputation (Campbell, 1999).The purpose of this study is to determine when the fairness of greater choice becomes the unfairness of hyperchoice. The theoretical basis for answering this question is provided by the Rutte and Messick (1995) integrated model of fairness.\nIntegrated model of fairness: The Rutte and Messick (1995) integrated model of fairness is a generalized model of how judgments of fairness are triggered and acted upon. Their contention is that an adverse outcome is needed to trigger a concern for fairness. When people experience what they conclude to be an adverse outcome, they have increased levels of negative affect. They are thereby motivated to investigate whether there is some justification for the adverse outcome.From an information processing viewpoint, it is surmised that an adverse outcome sensitizes the consumer to other cues, leading them to process information centrally. If he/she concludes that there is a justification for the adverse outcome, he/she will accept it. Thus, the recipient of the adverse outcome \"may experience disappointment, but not injustice\" (Rutte and Messick, 1995, p. 242). However, if there is no justification for the adverse outcome, the initial judgment of unfairness is intensified. And if other associated actions are also judged unfair, the emotional response of unfairness is further compounded. It is then that the person contemplates retaliatory measures.In an exchange, the price charged is a potentially adverse outcome that can trigger a concern for fairness. Huppertz et al. (1978) showed that a price greater than expected is rated unfair. The present study is expected to replicate what Huppertz et al. (1978) called \"a rather obvious hypothesis\".H1. A higher price will be judged more unfair than a lower price.\nStudy: The study to test these hypotheses was a survey-based experiment with a between-subject, 2x5 design having two levels of price ranges (higher/lower) and five levels of complexity: (1, 3, 7, 11 and 21 choices).Respondents\nDiscussion: This study extends the growing body of research on fairness by demonstrating that too many choices - when the price range is high - result in the consumer judging the price less fair and being less likely to make a purchase. In the study, when the price range was high, the hypothesized inverted U-shape response curve was evident. The price when there were three, 7 and 11 choices was more judged more fair than one choice, but was judged less fair when there were 21 choices. Respondents were least likely to purchase a plan from a company offering 21 options, and they judged a 21-option plan to be most unfair.The significant drop in fairness judgments did not occur until after 11 choices, even though increased confusion was evident with 11 choices. Thus, confusion increased before there was a reaction to task complexity. This finding supports the contention of Keller and Staelin (1993) that initially, when confronted with greater complexity, people exert themselves to deal with it. It appears to be only when choices become overwhelming that the likelihood of purchase and judged fairness are lowered.The results also indicate that only when triggered by a high price range did the number of choices become salient. When the price was low, the number of choices was evidently trivial. Respondents presented with a low price range in the study were as likely to purchase and to think the price fair when confronted with 21 choices as when confronted with only three choices. However, when the price range was high, the response to choice was the hypothesized inverted \"U\". The fact that the effect of task complexity is only significant at a higher price range provides support for the integrated fairness model. The reason provided by Rutte and Messick (1995) is that an adverse outcome such as a higher price is needed to trigger a concern for fairness.The results have important managerial implications. With the expanded capability of the computer, sellers, particularly those in services, can be tempted to expand the number of price options they offer. They can be encouraged by authors such as Kahn (1998) who says that greater variety will improve a company's competitive position by better meeting the customers' divergent needs and wants. They can be further stimulated by competition that is continuing to expand their product or service lines.The data, however, indicate that there is no increased benefit to increasing the number of choices as long as the price is low, and there is a declining benefit from increasing the number when the price is high. So just because the computer makes more options possible does not mean that sellers have to use that capability. Just because competitors have extended product lines does not mean that they are better in the eye of the consumer. The likelihood of purchase does not increase between 3 to 11 choices.The conclusion is that three choices are quite adequate and more than seven provides no added benefit. Consequently, since there is a cost involved with providing more choices, it seems most beneficial to offer at least three choices and no need to offer more than seven. In fact, when the price is high, more choices can be detrimental to sales and the seller's reputation for fairness.In support of sellers limiting their line to a modest number of options is the \"simple living\" or \"voluntary simplicity\" movement. This group of people is rebelling against the excesses of consumption. For example, on the website www.simpleliving.org, they comment on the problem of being \"out-of-control concerning our consumption.\"In addition to the consumer backlash against too many choices is the evidence of consumer regret. Schwartz (2004, p. 20) explains:A large array of options may diminish the attractiveness of what people actually choose, the reason being that thinking about the attractions of some of the unchosen options detracts from the pleasure derived from the chosen one.In sum, the evidence of this study supports evidence from both previous research and the popular press that, although some choice is good, too much is bad - bad for the consumer and bad for the seller.Limitation\nConclusion: Based on the Rutte and Messick (1995) integrated fairness model, the explanation for the results of this study is that a high price triggers a concern for the fairness of too many choices. Even if the price is high, the price is judged more fair when the consumer is given three or seven choices rather than just one choice. However, judged fairness of the price dips slightly with 11 choices and plunges with 21 choices. When the seller provides so many choices that it causes consumers cognitive distress, they are more likely to judge the price unfair and less likely to make a purchase.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of the paper is to investigate the effect of the number of choices on judged fairness and willingness to purchase.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A survey-based study was conducted with a between-subject, twoxfive design having two levels of price ranges (high/low) and five levels of complexity (1, 3, 7, 11, and 21 choices). A total of 519 surveys were completed with a minimum of 42 respondents per cell.\nFindings: - Greater choice initially has a positive effect on consumers' likelihood of purchase and their judgments of the fairness of the price. But too much choice has a negative effect, thereby creating an inverted \"U\" response curve. The effect of choice set size, however, is only triggered when combined with a high price. When the price is low, the number of choices has no effect on the judged fairness of the price and likelihood of purchase.\nPractical implications: - The practical implication is that, although consumers like to have choices, there is no increased benefit to increasing the number of choices as long as the price is low. And there is a declining benefit from increasing the number when the price is high. Since there is a managerial cost to providing choices, it appears prudent to only provide between three and seven.\nOriginality/value: - The value of the paper is in demonstrating that, although some choice is beneficial in overcoming the negative impact of a higher price, too many choices can be detrimental in causing confusion.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Achieving standards for unscheduled surgical care
|
[
"Quality of care",
"Consultant delivered care",
"Emergency surgery"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Emergency general surgery is inherently high risk. Many patients are elderly, have multiple co-morbidities and are unwell at the time of presentation with sepsis, bleeding or acute fluid and electrolyte imbalances. The option not to operate is often not available and time is limited to optimize the patients' condition. This high risk group of patients is estimated to account for approximately 12 per cent of surgical procedures but 80 per cent of all general surgical mortalities (Pearse et al., 2006). Evidence suggests that early recognition and treatment of these patients is essential to reduce morbidity (Royal College of Surgeons of England/Department of Health Working Group, n.d.), and availability of critical care support results in improved mortality rates (Jhanji et al., 2008).\nMethods: Sandwell General Hospital is a busy acute teaching hospital which provides a wide range of acute, general and specialist services and serves a population of approximately 500,000. Full compliments of radiology services including diagnostic computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and interventional therapy are available on site. There is a 16-bed critical care unit. There is a designated emergency theatre which does not compete with any other specialty and is staffed 24 hours a day seven days a week. Operating between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. is on a life or limb saving basis (NCEPOD category 1 cases). The general surgery emergency service is consultant led with consultants freed from elective duties during on call periods. Consultant surgeons, anaesthetists and radiologists are not resident on call during out- of-hour periods.\nResults: A total of 100 patient events were included in the audit. This comprised 91 patients, nine of whom had multiple events which were also included. Many patients fulfilled several of the inclusion criteria (Table I).\nDiscussion: The findings of this audit help to demonstrate where inefficiencies may lie in our current emergency surgical care pathway with access to CT scanning and prompt consultant review potential bottlenecks in the management of critically ill patients. In some cases although the patient was critically ill the CT scan was considered unlikely to change management and therefore these delays were considered acceptable. Some critically ill patients reviewed promptly by senior specialist registrars and discussed with a consultant had a clear management plan agreed on and documented and therefore direct consultant review was not deemed necessary within the recommended timeframe of 30 minutes. Although there was a statistical difference in the average time to consultant review between out of hours periods and normal working hours this should be interpreted with caution as patients admitted during out of hours periods had a shorter wait until the post take ward round and therefore may have been reviewed more promptly. However any delays prior to radiological imaging or consultant review did not appear to translate into delays in taking these patients to theatre as all patients with sepsis or bleeding were compliant with the recommended operative times by urgency grading. High risk patients appeared to be identified appropriately prior to surgery as was reflected by a strong consultant presence in theatre for these patients. For 37 per cent of patients undergoing surgery and deemed very high risk with a mortality risk of greater than 10 per cent, level 2 or 3 care was not made available, this is likely in part to reflect difficulties in accessing critical care beds due to limited resources and high demand over the time period studied.\nConclusion: Although there is a lack of evidence to support the specific timeframes outlines in the guidelines for the management of general surgical admissions, there is convincing evidence that prompt management and early consultant input leads to better outcomes for critically ill patients or high risk patients undergoing surgery. Quality of care as measured by morbidity and mortality is challenging when examining emergency surgery as outcomes are so multifactorial, therefore comparing the standard of service provided as assessed by adherence to these guidelines can act as a benchmark. Consistent compliance with all standards may require reallocation of resources and redesign of emergency services provision in order to improve patient flows and quality of care.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The Royal College of Surgeons published Standards for Unscheduled Surgical Care in response to variable clinical outcomes for emergency surgery. The purpose of this study is to assess for feasibility of a district hospital providing care in accordance to the recommendations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 100 consecutive patient unscheduled episodes of care were prospectively included. Information regarding demographics, timeliness of investigations, operations, consultant input and clinical outcomes was collated. All patients were risk-adjusted for mortality. The data were compared to the guidelines.\nFindings: A total of 91 patients were included; 80 patients underwent surgery. There were 18 deaths (22.5 per cent), eight (10 per cent) post-operative within 30 days. There was no statistical difference between deaths and day of admission or surgery. There were 39 critically-ill patients, none were reviewed by a consultant within the recommended 30 minutes. Of the critically-ill patients, 23 underwent CT scanning, none within the recommended 30 minutes. All patients were operated within the recommended timeframe by urgency grading. For those predicted mortality rate >5 per cent, a consultant was present in theatre for 97 per cent of cases. All patients had a consultant review within 24 hours of admission.\nOriginality/value: To the authors' knowledge this is the first evaluation of the practical difficulties in achieving consultant delivered care in surgery in a district general hospital. These results are interesting to clinicians and service planners involved in developing emergency services. Adhering to these guidelines would require significant re-allocation of resources in most hospitals and may require centralisation of services.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Conceptualizing Interactive Network Branding in business markets: developing roles and positions of firms in business networks
|
[
"Interaction",
"Business networks",
"Corporate branding",
"Interactive Network Branding",
"Role and position"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A significant amount of marketing research has been conducted in the field of corporate branding in recent years. Branding research has focused firmly on consumer markets and defined corporate branding as the practice of communicating brands to end customers through the name, symbol, sign or logo of a company (Aaker, 1996; Webster and Keller, 2004). However, some practitioners and researchers have also realized the importance of branding in business-to-business (B2B) markets by focusing on communicating brands to business customers and other business actors (Balmer and Gray, 2003; Mudambi, 2002; Seyedghorban et al., 2016). This perspective has provoked the following thinking: \"corporate brands represent one of the most fascinating phenomena of the business environment in the twenty-first century\" (Balmer and Gray, 2003, p. 972).\n2. Literature review: Following the development of the two streams of literature mentioned above, a variety of perspectives related to the concept of INB are examined. Thus, the literature review focuses on the presented gaps found in the corporate branding and business network literature.\n3. Conceptual development of Interactive Network Branding: In this section, we elaborate on how the IMP network approach and corporate branding perspectives can be closer aligned by presenting key strategic constructs of the INB concept. Although the INB presents both strategically planned and organically emerging branding activities (Koporcic and Halinen, 2018), we focus here on its strategic orientation. Thus, according to the perspective taken here, INB presents strategic actions of companies that are aiming to achieve desired network positions and roles by creating a strong corporate identity and reputation in the mind-sets of key actors in business settings (Koporcic, 2017; Koporcic and Halinen, 2018). To understand the complexity of the INB, we start by examining the IMP concepts of role and position, denoting both strategic and dynamic characteristics of actors embedded in business networks (Abrahamsen et al., 2012; Anderson et al., 1998; Johanson and Mattsson, 1992; Purchase et al., 2015; Turnbull et al., 1996).\n4. Conclusions and discussion: 4.1 Conceptual and methodological implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to present the concept of Interactive Network Branding (INB) in business markets. The INB conceptualization offers an understanding of corporate branding processes as an inherent part of business networking. More specifically, the paper focuses on the importance of INB for firms that are developing their roles and positions in business networks.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The conceptual paper reviews the extant literature on corporate branding in conjunction with business network research. This perspective adds to the current knowledge of business marketing by proposing a theoretical framework of INB.\nFindings: The conceptualization of INB offers a specific network lens on corporate branding by presenting three INB dimensions. The first dimension deals with corporate identity; the second dimension deals with corporate reputation; the third, mutual INB dimension, presents an \"interactive space\" where branding and networking collide. These three dimensions are enacted by individuals acting on behalf of their companies, as key implementers of INB processes. Through the INB, strategic roles and positions of firms embedded in their business networks are formed.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper contributes to current literature on business network research that has left a corporate brand perspective almost unnoticed. The INB concept also offers an extension to current literature on corporate branding, which has to date neglected business relationships and networking issues. Being strongly conceptual, the paper notes that empirical research is needed for observing the role of INB in real-life business encounters.\nPractical implications: This study provides novel ideas and implications for firm representatives responsible for branding and relationship development in business networks. It denotes the critical role of individuals and their interactions with other individuals, which influences the development of specific network roles and positions for connected business entities.\nOriginality/value: The used multidisciplinary approach provides a conceptual platform to study branding processes in business networks. By offering a network perspective to corporate branding, new and relevant implications for both theory and practice are fore fronted.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Understanding customer satisfaction in the UK quick service restaurant industry: The influence of the tangible attributes of perceived service quality
|
[
"Service quality",
"UK",
"Restaurants",
"Customer satisfaction",
"Fast food"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The global fast food restaurant industry has experienced strong growth in recent years in response to changes in consumer tastes and challenging global economic conditions. According to IBISWorld (2015), in the period since the global financial crisis and the worldwide decrease in individuals' income, there has been a decline in spending on luxuries such as eating out which has increased consumer preferences for lower priced and more convenient food options. Globally, the fast food market has shown modest growth since 2011 reaching a total value of $2, 849,950.5 in 2015 (Marketline, 2016). In terms of global segmentation of the foodservice industry, full service restaurants represent 40 per cent of the market value, quick service restaurants (QSRs) and fast food are the second largest segment of the market with 22 per cent of market value, while pubs, clubs and bars have 11 per cent of the market value and 9 per cent relates to the accommodation sector (Marketline, 2016).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Service quality\n3. Method: 3.1 Data collection, research instrument\n4. Results: 4.1 Description of research sample\n5. Discussion, conclusion and implications of research: The aim of the first hypothesis was to establish a possible causal relationship between tangibles and customer satisfaction in the context of the UK fast food industry. Its essential elements earned the highest coefficient value of 0.894. Tangibles play a key role in driving customer satisfaction. Heung et al. (2000) and Khan et al. (2013) also proved that \"tangibles\" has a positive impact on customer satisfaction in restaurants in Hong Kong, and Pakistan's fast food industry. Similarly, Qin et al. (2010) maintained that the tangibles of a fast food restaurant directly impact a customers' experience and on its service.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the five dimensions of service quality on customer satisfaction in the UK fast food market and to indicate which factors among the five dimensions have a main role in driving overall customer satisfaction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Primary data in the form of 147 questionnaire responses were been collected from a variety of quick service fast food restaurants in the UK. Likert seven-point rating scales were used to structure the questionnaire. Data were collected from the customers at two KFC restaurants, two McDonald's restaurants, and one Burger King Restaurant.\nFindings: The results of the analysis indicate that tangibles, responsiveness and assurance play the most important role in driving customer satisfaction in the UK fast food industry, followed by reliability and empathy. Results of correlation and regression analysis show that physical attributes (tangible) of service quality are key to customer satisfaction. In a nutshell, the tangibles variable is the most important factor driving customer satisfaction in the context of the UK fast food market.\nOriginality/value: This research incorporates unique and original insights in relation to the British fast food restaurants market and the results constitute novel findings pertaining to the importance of physical facilities and attributes. This account of the relative importance of service quality dimensions in fast food restaurants in the UK adds value to the field. The findings of this research have contributed to a better understanding of the main factors that influence service quality and customer satisfaction and have implications from a managerial point of view in the highly competitive UK fast food and wider foodservice industry.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Benchmarking for entrepreneurial survival: Pursuing a cohesive and imperfectly imitable culture
|
[
"Benchmarking",
"Entrepreneurialism",
"Organizations",
"Business development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Entrepreneurs are individuals who start their own businesses (Bhide, 2000, p. 25). The individual perceives an opportunity and creates an organization to pursue it (Bygrave, 1994, p. 2). Between 1992 and 1996, firms with less than 20 people accounted for nearly three quarters of net new jobs created in the USA (Birch et al., 1997). In the past 25 years two-thirds of net new jobs in the private sector have originated among small businesses (Bhide, 2000, p. 13). In contrast, since 1980 large organizations, like the Fortune 500 firms have lost five million jobs (National Commission on Entrepreneurship, www.ncoe.org/toolkit/fastfacts.html). While growth in jobs in the United States can be mainly attributed to the entrepreneurial sector the question is how sustainable are the jobs that are created. According to Boden (2000) who completed research with the US Small Business Administration, for all small businesses started in 1992, only 47 percent continued to exist by 1996. The US Department of Commerce has concluded that for every ten small businesses started only two will remain after five years (Klein, 2002). More attention needs to be given by researchers and theorists to identify ways to help entrepreneurs. The objective of this paper is to consider how benchmarking could assist the entrepreneur during the formative years of their business venture. While there is a wealth of research completed on benchmarking (Jarrar and Zairi, 2001; Rodwell et al., 2000; Kaplan and Norton, 1996a, b; Tucker et al., 1987), the focus of this work has been directed at established firms. There is a lack of research applying benchmarking to recently started businesses.This paper will start by looking at the nature of an entrepreneurial organization. Secondly, benchmarking will be defined. The difference between benchmarking metrics versus processes will be discussed. Next, four processes, critical to organizational survival, will be identified and factors linked to benchmarking implementation discussed. Finally, managerial implications will be presented and conclusions provided.\nNature of the entrepreneurial organization: When a new entrepreneurial venture is started it is often with minimal organizational structure based on flexible ideas and situated in a turbulent market. The structure is built as the business grows and the idea evolves. Given the organizational and environmental uncertainty, decisions tend to be made according to the \"organized anarchy\" (Cohen et al., 1972) model in which there are no clear preferences, processes are not well understood by its members and participation in decision-making is fluid.Minimal organizational hierarchy\nBenchmarking: A benchmark is a yardstick against which to compare and measure one's performance. Benchmarking in the strategic sense is a process where one draws lessons about how best performances are achieved (Jarrar and Zairi, 2001). Best practice involves the internal processes of best-in-class organizations, and these processes are the benchmarks which others seek to emulate (Rodwell et al., 2000). Benchmarking is comprised of two distinct perspectives - benchmarking of metrics, and benchmarking of practices (Camp, 1989).Metrics are the conventional quantifiable yardsticks. If, for example, the best performance is five days to cross the ocean, then we measure our time against this standard and see how we fare. Notice that no attempt is made to actually delve into how the other party achieved the feat in five days. However, for an entrepreneur the how is as important as the end result, the metric. According to Bygrave (1994, p. 141), metrics have a definite drawback for entrepreneurs. \"Before you can simplify your numbers and know them cold, you must first produce literally thousands of numbers. It's an arduous job, even with an electronic spreadsheet. Then to add insult to injury, most of the numbers created in such extensive spreadsheets are wrong\". The errors arise for two reasons. The financial projections that form the foundation of the numbers are crude and generally misleading. And, secondly, most entrepreneurs do not have skills to produce the spreadsheets and if they do, they often make errors in the spreadsheets. Kaplan and Norton (1996a) argue in their book on balance scorecard, a benchmarking technique, financial (metric) and non-financial (process) measures must be part of the information system for employees at all levels of the organization.Both metrics and practices are important kinds of benchmarks to employ. Unfortunately, too often the focus solely has been on metrics, while the processes involved in arriving at the outcomes largely have been ignored. In this paper, our emphasis is on the benchmarking of practices. With this in mind, we need to identify the key processes that are conducive to entrepreneurial survival. In the following section we summarize several processes which research has shown to be \"exemplary\", and provide some discussion about how they can be benchmarked.\nExemplary processes worthy of benchmarking: \"[Y]ou want two things from measures: forewarning (so you'll see the warning signs of a problem before it becomes too serious to handle) and actionability\". The better access people have to measure, the better they can control their own actions and therefore their future (Gunther McGrath and MacMillain, 2000, p. 342). In order to create actionability the process, which eventually produces the metrics, should be examined. Before considering how to make measures operational, one needs to establish which measures are most significant for an entrepreneur to develop and track. The following four processes, well documented in management and marketing literature, are proposed by the authors as processes that should be central in an entrepreneur's benchmarking. These processes will be discussed as core management components that evolve into powerful management tools through an internalization process.Cooperation\nDiscussion: Various tools exist to help entrepreneurs benchmark the processes we have identified. Each tool comes with its accoutrement of strengths and shortcomings. We highlight two instruments that seem promising, and strongly encourage the reader to further investigate their applicability to the respective organization.The Investors in People (IIP) standards, promulgated in the UK and endorsed by the UK government, are based on assessments against a series of 12 indicators, reflecting the four main principles of commitment, planning, action, and evaluation. With its primary focus on people, IIP is uniquely suited to help the practitioner realize the full potential of the organization's workforce. A complete set of the IIP standards are available for download at www.investorsinpeople.co.uk/resources/thestandard.pdf (accessed 18 November 2002). Critics of IIP note that managers have become skeptical of the standard, in that organizations are simply \"going through the motions\" of getting certified. To the extent that we are mindful of process implications in employing the IIP instrument, it can be very useful to help us benchmark our practices towards building that imperfectly imitable culture.A second well-established system from which we can borrow ideas is the much discussed balanced scorecard (BSC) system. Kaplan and Norton (1996b, p. 75), the original proponents of the BSC model, note that \"the scorecard lets managers introduce four new management processes (translating the vision, communicating and linking, business planning, and feedback and learning) that contribute to linking long-term strategic objectives with short-term actions\". Like the IIP, much of the attention on BSC has focused on quantifiable measures. But the BSC is equally useful to gauge processes. Criticism of BSC by practitioners (Ho and McKay, 2002) has focused on the concern of subjectivity and the delay between measuring and feedback.In this paper, we propose that it is important for entrepreneurs to benchmark key processes that contribute to the firm's viability. Although it is far easier to benchmark on the basis of outcomes (metrics), we believe it is more appropriate, especially at the embryonic stages of a firm's development, to benchmark the practices that the firm engages in. The business processes the firm undertakes as it negotiates the uncertain waters of entrepreneurship are often overlooked. The excessive attention paid to metrics may be detrimental to the firm, since they obfuscate quantification for importance.We offer four particular processes - cooperation, sharing founder's vision, time management and developing organizational competency - which we consider to be central building blocks of an entrepreneurial organization. The entrepreneur starts with a business idea and applies the core management activities in order to launch the business. Benchmarking these activities through metrics, or the relative success of the organization through metrics, at this initial stage of the organization can be relatively meaningless since the organization is rapidly evolving. Metrics might reflect what was going on the organization last month, but have limited relevance today as the organization may be going though a rapidly metamorphosis. The evolution of these activities into meaningful performance metrics is not a steady or predictable development. A much more fruitful exercise is to assess the processes to determine whether the firm is employing the appropriate practices that lead to competitive advantages, and consequently entrepreneurial survival and success.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To propose a conceptual framework that facilitates the benchmarking of strategic processes necessary for entrepreneurial survival and success.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Drawing on extant literature on entrepreneurial survival, this paper considers the chaotic and emergent nature of the entrepreneurial organization and how benchmarking can contribute to a newly established firm's chances for survival and prosperity. The paper incorporates the concept of a sustainable competitive advantage in the discussion, and offers organizational culture as being the imperfectly imitable element which will contribute to the entrepreneurial firm's success.\nFindings: - Four key processes are identified that contribute to entrepreneurial viability - cooperation, sharing founder's vision, time management, and developing organizational competencies - and suggestions are offered for developing appropriate benchmarks for these processes. The paper also highlights two instruments that may be useful in this endeavor.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper draws attention to the usefulness of benchmarking processes and not just metrics in fostering entrepreneurial survival. Key processes are identified, and suggestions are provided for researchers to begin work on developing the necessary benchmarks.\nPractical implications: - The paper not only offers a theoretical discussion of the usefulness of benchmarking processes as opposed to focusing only on outcomes, but also helps the practitioner to implement such benchmarking activities by highlighting practical instruments for this purpose.\nOriginality/value: - This paper brings to bear literature from several streams of research. It takes benchmarking from its metric-oriented focus to a more process-focused approach, and applies it in the context of entrepreneurial survival.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Findings from a post-occupancy evaluation in the UK primary schools sector
|
[
"Primary schools",
"User studies",
"Quality control",
"United Kingdom",
"School buildings",
"Best practice"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Post occupancy evaluation is a general term for a broad range of activities and processes of systematically evaluating the performance of buildings after they have been built and occupied for some time (Preiser, 2002; Preiser et al., 1988). As early as 1960s the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA, 1965) produced its \"Plan of work for design team\" and introduced a Stage M - Feedback, where the architect returned to the building to review the success of what had been done. From then on building performance investigations have been carried out, but unfortunately, despite more than forty years of development, these works are mainly supported within academic institutions and tend to be specific to research purposes rather than being routinely applied to mainstream building design practice (Leaman, 2005; Bordass and Leaman, 2005).When it comes to school buildings, much work has been done with respect to the potential contribution from the built environment to the users, such as the link between built environments and pupils' academic outcomes, or between the built environment and the improvement of teaching staff work effectiveness etc.Walden (2008) discusses how school buildings can work together with users' own creative responses and result in educational environments that are \"alive\". The give-and-take relationship between architecture and its users (students, teachers, parents, and the community at large) is emphasized from the point of view of architectural psychology and emerging considerations such as information technology. Based on 23 innovative schools in eleven countries, a tool for the assessment of school buildings has been developed in order to structure the large number of possible influences and subjective indicators such as learning performance, expressions of well-being and social behaviour.Schneider (2002) did a thorough review of which attributes of facilities affect academic outcomes the most and in what manner and degree. There is significant research-based evidence that the physical aspects of school environments can either enhance or impede learning and teaching. These factors include aspects such as: spatial configurations, indoor air quality, ventilation, thermal comfort, light and noise.Sanoff (2001, 2002) also explored physical settings that can affect both teachers' and students' behaviour and attitudes, stressing that buildings and spaces convey messages reflecting the inner life, activities and social values of users. Characteristics like shape, colour or arrangement help students and teachers make vividly identified mental images of the environment. They read these messages, make judgments and act accordingly. Thus, Sanoff emphasized that specific environments can be evaluated according to the different interpretations of the messages conveyed. He was involved in a series of POE surveys of new and existing schools in US in order to demonstrate that POE can be applied effectively both to renovation and expansion projects and to new construction, because POE is a process for gathering information about how a building works in use.In the UK, education capital investment has been increased dramatically since 1997. Thousands schools have been built and/or improved, but little work has been done to obtain feedback from the completed projects and their performance-in-use and to feed this forward into the procurement process.In December 2003, a POE was carried out at Craigour Park Primary School in Edinburgh (Scottish Executive, 2004). The exercise consulted stakeholders including pupils, staff and other school users, as well as Council officials and technical staff involved in the design, construction and maintenance of the building. The Scottish Executive commissioned this demonstration POE to find out from stakeholders how well school buildings met their needs, and to provide local authorities with an example of a POE process in practice. In June 2005, a similar POE was carried out at Braes High School in Falkirk (Scottish Executive, 2005). Both evaluation processes involved touring walkthrough interviews in and around the building.The simplicity and accessibility of the process is carried through to the format of the report. For participants, their comments are not interpreted, but simply recorded under each relevant recommendation, along with those from other participant groups. This leads to a transparency, and a sense of objectivity and fairness in assimilating what is essentially a set of subjective opinions. Also, the recommendations are presented and illustrated in a way which allows them to be shared and understood by a wider audience than the participants themselves (Watson and Thomson, 2005).Against this background, this paper reports on the learning of a research team that has worked with the Manchester City Council (MCC) on a research project to develop a feedback system that will obtain information on the performance of their completed school projects. This was the first project of this type in the Manchester area. It mainly focused on the occupants' (staff and pupils) perceptions and experiences of their school building in use, in terms of its: thermal, lighting, acoustic, flexibility and functional performance. In this way it was anticipated that it would be possible to provide generic and specific feedback on success factors for the design, operation and use of buildings, together with areas of difficulty that require further investigation. A secondary aim was to investigate the potential of using post-occupancy evaluation to create a useful toolkit of good practice guidance and to provide a routine quality assurance measure for the building industry.\n2. Methodology: School identification\n3. Results and analysis from the POE: A total of 46 sets of valid records were obtained from the questionnaires, which accounted for about 40 per cent of total teaching staff who worked in the selected schools. This information is synthesised with the other elements of the POE process as described above and a summary of the results and analysis are set out and discussed below. This draws from across all five schools to inform discussion around the two aspects of the quality of building's performance studied, namely how to achieve: a comfortable built environment and well-functioning learning spaces.Comfortable built environment\n4. Discussion and practical implications: POE process\n5. Conclusion and future studies: This paper has addressed the investigation of the actual performance of school learning spaces in use. It has also discussed the potential to use post-occupancy evaluation as a useful toolkit to inform good practice guidance. The study has led to the following conclusions:* Compared with previous POE surveys for schools, a clear distinction has emerged when it comes to the attitudes of headteachers. In this case, although the local authority was supportive of this POE project, there are not enough driving forces for headteachers to routinely support POEs in their schools. This finding has emerged mainly because the previous studies only focused on one school at a time as demonstrations, showcasing an approach that could enable local education authorities to learn from completed school projects. In this situation the headteacher, staff and students are easily organized and incorporated during the whole survey process. However, looking across several POEs the pivotal role of a positive headteacher clearly emerges.* The suggestion here is, since the nature of POE is strongly related to the building performance-in-use, it can play an important part in supporting cases for capital and maintenance funding. In this way, the driving forces to do the POE would be strengthened and they could be routinely carried out.* The local authorities and headteachers believe that POEs provide opportunities for them to understand the current performance of school spaces and that this can help to bring routine feedback into the briefing, design, construction, completion, operation, use and alteration of buildings. This shows a high consistency with the purpose and benefits of POE for school buildings, no matter in which country and/or area.* From this multi-POE work, another striking finding is that it seems to be in the nature of individual users to simply cope with their given environment, rather than to actively managing it. It is believed that this is a common phenomenon especially in newly completed school buildings, but it is not emphasised in other POE results and there are no relevant recommendations from them.* Based on the above finding, it is proposed that occupants' attitudes and behaviour need to be prompted toward the more active adaptation of the spaces they use. An education programme by the design team should be implemented to ensure that the potential of spaces, design strategies, services are fully realized by the actual users.In this study, when it comes to the success of a school design and high efficiency in its usage, there is a noticeable positive effect when the school staff have been sufficiently engaged in the design process. Although this finding is not reflected in the overall perceptions, it becomes significant when considering some of the more detailed questions, such as glazing choice, flexibility and layout. This reinforces the notion that a cycle of user consultation, including POEs, should become more routine in new primary schools or educational buildings. By providing a stream of information for benchmarking and continuous improvement the findings would be invaluable in support of an on-going endeavour to make school buildings better for their staff, pupils and the environment.The practical question of how to make sure POE results routinely inform practice, in order to enhance general design requirements and procedures for primary schools, will be pursued in future research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of an evidence base for what constitutes an optimal learning space, including a useful toolkit of good practice examples for use by local authority clients.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research method centred on a structured case study of each school, informed by: site observation, questionnaire distribution, headteacher's interview and workshop discussions. A total of five primary schools were involved.\nFindings: - It was found that there is a gap between design expectations and the performance achieved, primarily because the occupants are usually simply coping with the given environment rather than actively managing it. Also, from the headteacher's perspective there are not enough driving forces to carry out post-occupancy evaluations that would reveal this gap.\nPractical implications: - Different attitudes and behaviours are needed, and, for this, education programmes for users should be implemented on occupation to ensure that the potential of the design strategies is fully realized. On the other hand, the nature of POE is strongly related to building performance-in-use. Therefore, stronger and more regular POEs can play an important role in improving the practical use of existing buildings and the design of new buildings or improvements.\nOriginality/value: - The significant contribution of this research is that it makes a valuable contribution to the body of knowledge of POE results and processes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Barriers and facilitators of HACCP adoption in the Armenian dairy industry
|
[
"Public health",
"Food safety",
"Qualitative methods",
"HACCP",
"Dairy industry",
"Diffusion of innovations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Safe and nutritious food is necessary for health, growth, development, and function over the life course (Chan, 2014). A preventive approach to food safety management has received growing attention around the world (WHO, 2014). Rapidly expanding urbanization, population growth, extensive international trade, and public health protection are key global drivers that lead countries to strengthen their national food safety management systems (Tritscher et al., 2013; Unnevehr, 2015). Other important factors that contribute to the adoption of new food safety regulations are the emergence of new pathogens, an ageing population, and changes in consumption patterns (Newell et al., 2010; Tauxe et al., 2010).\n2. Materials and methods: A multi-site, cross-sectional qualitative research design was employed to provide in-depth understanding of factors influencing the adoption of HACCP-based system (Boeije, 2009; Curry et al., 2009; Sofaer, 1999). Eligible participants included qualified and/or experienced owners of DPC, production managers, quality and safety assurance supervisors, policy makers, enforcement officers, and consultants who provided rich narratives of their HACCP FSMS adoption related experiences. Recruitment of participants was conducted through purposeful and snowball sampling techniques (Marshall, 1996). Participant sampling was continued until thematic saturation was reached (Guest et al., 2006; Sandelowski, 1995). The study received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board at the American University of Armenia (Protocol No. AUA-2015-004).\n3. Results: 3.1 Sample profile\n4. Discussion: The purpose of this study was to provide an in-depth insight into perceptions of barriers and drivers to organizational adoption of HACCP-based system in the dairy processing establishments of Armenia. Analysis of the data demonstrated that there was general consensus among adopters about the beneficial influence of HACCP-based system on the enhancement of food safety assurance and the performance of their organizations in general. The participants with more favorable perceptions of HACCP-based system reported more positive attitudes toward adopting or continuing to utilize it. Despite the organizational change presented certain challenges for potential adopters, most descriptions of HACCP-based system among them had a positive undertone.\n5. Conclusion: This study provides a comprehensive analysis of perceived determinants of ongoing organization-wide adoption of HACCP FSMS system in Armenia. The results indicate that successful adoption of HACCP-based system requires major changes in Armenian organizations. Smaller scale organizations have to overcome more constraints in this process than medium- and large-scale organizations that have greater institutional resources to deal with the barriers to HACCP FSMS implementation. Most frequently reported drivers of adoption included enhanced traceability, increased export opportunities, improved organizational image, and broader accountability. Factors that contributed to the slow adoption of HACCP procedures included high investment costs, resistance of employees to change, inadequate physical and technological infrastructures in adopter organizations, excessive documentation required to provide verification of compliance, and lack of demonstrable benefits. Organizational characteristics such as larger sizes, early years of establishment, greater decentralization, formalization, complexity, and slack resources seemed to facilitate the implementation process. Despite the numerous barriers to HACCP FSMS adoption, its promotion in food processing organizations to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the national food industry remains imperative for Armenia.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a study that investigated the barriers and facilitators associated with the adoption of a hazard analysis critical control point based food safety management system (HACCP FSMS) in dairy processing companies of Armenia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional qualitative research design was employed to examine managerial experience and perceptions of barriers and drivers to organizational adoption of HACCP FSMS procedures. The data were collected in 20 food processing facilities in the dairy industry through individual in-depth interviews with their representatives and in governmental and non-governmental organizations through focus group discussions with 23 policy makers and food safety consultants. Diffusion of innovations theory provided a framework for systematic exploration of the phenomenon under study.\nFindings: Most frequently reported drivers of adoption included enhanced traceability, increased export opportunities, improved organizational image, and broader accountability. Major impeding factors, such as high investment costs, value incompatibility, excessive documentation, inadequate physical and technological infrastructures, and low observability led to less favorable attitudes toward the organizational change needed for HACCP FSMS adoption. The results indicate that larger organizations with well-developed infrastructures and skilled workforce have an advantage over smaller organizations in the process of adoption.\nOriginality/value: This study provides a comprehensive theory-based analysis of perceived determinants of organization-wide adoption of HACCP-based system in Armenia. The results of the study support and extend the findings of earlier research and provide new insights into HACCP FSMS adoption across different contexts.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Building on the past: advancing theory in services through meta-analysis
|
[
"Services management",
"Meta-analysis",
"Conceptual advancement",
"Empirical generalization",
"Theory building"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The service field has accumulated a relevant body of knowledge in the past forty years, and various sub-streams of service research have evolved over time (Kunz and Hogreve, 2011). Assessing what has been done in which domain is a pre-requisite to test existing theories, and guide research towards important questions that can effectively advance theory in services. A systematic way to evaluate existing theories and to foster theory building is meta-analysis. Meta-analysis is the statistical analysis of a large collection of analysis results from individual studies for the purpose of integrating the findings (Glass, 1976). Up to now, meta-analysis has been applied rather marginally to service issues: among the approximately 400 meta-analysis conducted in management in the last thirty years, about only 5 per cent concern service-related phenomena. Notwithstanding, meta-analysis plays a crucial role in advancing theory in the service field, as the theoretical base of service research is very broad and multidisciplinary. Service research has created its own body of theories (e.g. the C/D paradigm), has drawn from other management areas, such as human resources management, and has captured insights from disciplines such as psychology or sociology. On the one hand, this diversity is a benefit because it provides the opportunity to gain a comprehensive understanding of service phenomena. On the other hand, it poses challenges to the clarity and the parsimony of the theoretical perspective used to understand the service issues. We contend that, by integrating research findings across multiple studies, meta-analysis in service research is a powerful tool to achieve conceptual clarity and integrate various disciplinary perspectives into a coherent theoretical framework that provides a rigorous explanation of service phenomena. In this paper we focus mainly on the theory building function of meta-analysis. We start with a brief discussion of the benefits of meta-analysis for research, followed by an overview of its core steps, and show, through an example, how meta-analysis can be used for theoretical advancement.\nBenefits of meta-analysis: Conducting meta-analysis in the service field can be beneficial for several reasons. First, meta-analysis provide a comprehensive and updated picture of the population of studies on a theoretical construct. Second, meta-analysis quantitatively assess the relationships between a theoretical construct, its antecedents and/or its consequences, correcting for the distorting effects of sampling errors, measurement errors, and other artifacts that can produce the illusion of conflicting findings (Hunter and Schmidt, 2004). Thus, meta-analysis provides an unbiased estimate of the \"true\" effect size for each relationship under investigation. Third, meta-analysis allow investigating the role of potential moderators in explaining the variability of the relationships between variables. Fourth, by integrating the findings across studies, the relationships revealed by meta-analysis can be used in path analysis and structural equation modeling to test whether the structure of the data is consistent with the theory behind the data. In this sense, path analysis within meta-analysis can be a powerful tool for reducing the number of theories that could possibly be consistent with the data, sometimes to only one theory (Hunter and Schmidt, 2004).\nThe core steps of meta-analysis: An important first step of every meta-analysis is the definition of the theoretical relationship of interest. The researcher needs to decide what theoretical construct is in focus of the analysis, what antecedents and/or consequences are related to the focal construct, and how this set of variables fits into a theoretical framework. For example, when the aim of the researcher is to study the antecedents and consequences of satisfaction, customer satisfaction is the focal construct, the relations between the set of variables are the theoretical relationships, and the confirmation/disconfirmation paradigm builds the theoretical basis (see e.g. Szymanski and Henard, 2001).\nMeta-analysis and theory development: a practical example: We have claimed that meta-analysis can be particularly useful in theory development. To illustrate this, we take the paper of Van Vaerenbergh et al. (2014) as an example. The paper synthesizes the sparse and conflicting results of the effects of customer causal attributions following a service failure. The focal construct of this paper - causal attribution - relies on a psychological theory about how people make causal explanations (Weiner, 1985). The paper integrates the findings of 53 independent studies on the consequences of two underlying dimensions of causal attribution of service failures (i.e. customers' controllability and stability attributions) on customer outcomes. Figure 1 reports the results of the meta-analytic structural model. There, the filled lines represent the direct consequences of causal attributions, the dashed lines represent the indirect consequences, and the dash-dotted line a path added on the basis of the modification indices suggest by the structural model.\nConclusion: In this paper we have attempted to outline the numerous benefits that a thorough reflection on meta-analytic findings can provide to service theory development. At a general level, we believe that meta-analysis helps identifying the gaps in current theories, thereby offering the opportunity to conduct innovative and relevant research. Therefore, meta-analytic findings enrich theory and respond to calls in the literature asking for the development of service theory (Tronvoll et al., 2011).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to offer a reflection on the role that meta-analysis can play in theory building for service phenomena.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper illustrates the benefits of conducting meta-analysis, presents its basic steps, and then uses an example to illustrate how meta-analytic findings can be used to enrich and develop theory.\nFindings: Meta-analytic findings allow identifying gaps in current theories, thereby offering the opportunity to develop new research. Theoretical advancement through meta-analysis can imply theory borrowing, mutual theoretical development with other disciplines, intradisciplinary and multidisciplinary theorizing.\nPractical implications: Experienced researchers might use this essay to better understand how meta-analysis can be used to generate new relevant research. Young researchers and PhD students may benefit from a greater use of meta-analysis to gain a thorough knowledge of their research topic and about the areas that require further exploration.\nOriginality/value: Rather than thinking of meta-analysis mainly as the conclusion of a well-researched domain and a good summary of cites, this essay underlines to the service scholar community how meta-analysis can boost theoretical advancement in services.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Technological proximity and the intensity of collaboration along the innovation funnel: direct and joint effects on innovative performance
|
[
"Innovative performance",
"Average marginal effects",
"Collaborative innovation practices",
"Intensity of collaboration",
"Technological proximity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Collaboration across organizational boundaries for R&D&I purposes has become commonplace in the past decades (Powell and Grodal, 2005); it is a fact that has been widely acknowledged in management literature. In fact, scholars have recognized for a long time now that companies typically innovate in collaboration and interdependence with various agents (other businesses, customers, suppliers, governments, universities, etc.), thus pointing out the systemic nature of innovation processes (Dyer and Singh, 1998; Nooteboom, 1999). Accordingly, literature has extensively emphasized the importance of R&D inter-organizational collaborations to succeed in the implementation of innovation strategies (Arora and Gambardella, 1994; Veugelers and Cassiman, 1999), and it can be stated that there is a general agreement on considering that collaborative innovation practices have a positive effect on innovative performance (Un et al., 2010).\n2. Theoretical framework and hypothesis development: 2.1 Technological proximity and innovative performance\n3. Methodology: The conducted research aims to estimate the direct and joint effects of technological proximity and of collaboration intensity along the innovation process on innovative performance, in terms of efficiency and generation of innovation outputs.\n4. Results and discussion: Table V shows descriptive statistics and the pairwise correlation coefficients (including significance level) of the variables in the model.\n5. Conclusions: The work has focused on understanding how technological proximity and the intensity of collaboration along the innovation funnel influence the outcomes of collaborative innovation process, in terms of efficiency and generation of technological innovations. In particular, it aimed to determine the nature of the relationship between the aforementioned variables and innovative performance regarding the following aspects:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to advance the understanding regarding the profiting of collaborative innovation practices, focusing particularly on how the intensity of collaboration along the innovation process and the relatedness between the partners' technological bases affect the outcomes of such process in terms of efficiency and generation of technological innovations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on the results from causal models and the estimation of average marginal effects, this research analyses the direct and joint effect of technological proximity and intensity of collaboration in the early and late phases of the process.\nFindings: The findings suggest that there is a positive unconditional relationship between the aforementioned aspects and innovative performance and that the joint effects diverge depending on the stage of the process, i.e. while in the early phase collaborating intensely with close partners seems to be advisable, this circumstance proves to be problematic in the late phase of the innovation process.\nOriginality/value: The analysis developed provides clarity regarding relevant aspects of collaborative innovation practices, particularly, the search for and selection of optimal partners. In general terms, the evidence found here suggests seeking for collaborating intensely along the whole process with partners whose technological bases present a tight matchup with that of the focal firm. Results also call for awareness of the potential drawbacks derived from intense collaborations with close partners in the late phases of the process, thus hinting toward the convenience of developing protection mechanisms. In addition, this work provides interesting insights that challenge the notion of \"proximity paradox\" and set out further questions that might be worth considering for future research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The influences of interdependence, opportunism and technology uncertainty on interfirm coopetition
|
[
"Buyer–supplier relationships",
"Relationship marketing",
"Interdependence",
"Coopetition",
"Opportunism",
"Technology uncertainty"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Defined as a paradoxical relationship between two or more actors simultaneously involved in cooperative and competitive interactions (Nalebuff and Brandenburger, 1996), coopetition has attracted attention from business and marketing researchers in the past two decades. Due to various mixtures of competition and cooperation, coopetition can exist with different intensities. For example, Park et al. (2014) categorize coopetition into four types based on the intensity levels of cooperation and competition: balanced-strong coopetition (strong cooperation and strong competition), cooperation-dominant coopetition (strong cooperation and weak competition), competition-dominant coopetition (weak cooperation and strong competition) and weak coopetition (weak cooperation and weak competition). Moderate to high levels of balanced-strong coopetition can bring advantages of both cooperation and competition, thus producing a form of \"cooperative advantage\" (Park et al., 2014), leading to a win-win situation. This is consistent with the argument of the \"syncretic rent-seeking\" camp advocating that coopetition helps firms develop new knowledge, maintain strategic flexibility and expand their markets (Dagnino, 2009; Gnyawali and Park, 2011; Ritala, 2012). However, the literature also shows that the outcome of coopetition can be negative, which leads to a lose-lose situation (Park and Ungson, 2001). For example, the \"tension\" camp argues that coopetition may be dysfunctional because cooperation and competition are inherently conflicting, and uneven individual gains are unavoidable in coopetitive relationships (Das and Teng, 2000). As such, coopetition is a challenging realm that firms need to manage to harness its full benefits and avoid its shortfalls (Bengtsson et al., 2016).\nLiterature review: Coopetition\nTheoretical development and hypotheses: Driver of interfirm coopetition: the interdependence\nMethodology: Data collection and the sample\nDiscussion and conclusion: Implications for research\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the antecedents and the conditions of coopetition at the inter-organizational level.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is based on survey research methodology and analyzes the data from 138 companies regarding the antecedents and the conditions of their coopetition.\nFindings: The results indicate that the interdependence between partners (i.e. the antecedent) positively affects interfirm coopetition, and that this relationship is contingent on the joint occurrence of opportunism (a behavioral condition) and technology uncertainty (a contextual condition). Specifically, highly interdependent firms are more likely to be involved in a coopetitive relationship when both opportunism and technology uncertainty are high. Interestingly, the authors' data also show that opportunism or technology uncertainty alone may not be adequate in moderating the interdependence-coopetition relationship.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study contributes to the current literature in two meaningful ways. First, it empirically examines interdependence as a potential antecedent of interfirm coopetition. Second, it improves our understanding of the behavioral and contextual conditions that facilitate the formation of coopetitive relationships by examining the moderating roles of opportunisms and technology uncertainty in the relationship between interdependence and interfirm coopetition. The limitations of this study lie in its confined method of cross-sectional survey from the focal firm's perspective. Future research may advance beyond this study through experimental and/or longitudinal research designs.\nPractical implications: This study provides managers with two important practical insights in coopetition management. First, the findings suggest a two-step approach to help a firm assess and manage the level of coopetition in its relationship with a business partner. In addition, the findings provide a counterintuitive suggestion to managers that the joint conditions of high opportunism and high technology uncertainty indeed prime the relationship for the rise of coopetition, provided that managerial efforts are made to somewhat increase the level of interdependence in the relationship.\nOriginality/value: Despite the growing number of studies on coopetition, research still lacks knowledge about the antecedents and the conditions of inter-organizational coopetition, and this study aims to fill this gap.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Perceptions of fair trade labelling and certification: three case studies
|
[
"United States of America",
"Fashion",
"Labelling",
"Fair trade",
"Ethical apparel",
"Certification"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Fair trade is a system of commodity production that aims to prevent labour abuses in global factories by representing the interests of the producer[1]. The most widely accepted definition of fair trade is that devised by FINE, an association of four fair trade networks that includes Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) (formerly International Fair Trade Association), Networks of European Worldshops, and European Fair Trade Association. According to FINE:Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers - especially in the South. Fair Trade organizations (backed by consumers) are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade[2].The practices of companies that source merchandize through fair trade channels need to be communicated to consumers in order for the system to be effective. Consumers must show their preference for fair trade items by purchasing them instead of items sourced through free trade channels. Agricultural industries have a system by which fair trade agricultural products can be certified through a third-party organization and labelled with a standard fair trade logo. Until very recently, the US apparel industry lacked any certification and even now there are very few brands that have been certified by TransFair USA and a logo is not yet commonly known among consumers. This study explores how apparel companies sourcing through fair trade networks attempt to guarantee that their products are fairly made and how they communicate this to their customers in the absence of a system of certification and labelling. It also explores how the TransFair USA certification programme is being perceived by fair trade apparel companies.Fair trade was established to combat the negative impacts of free trade policies in global production. Free trade policies had encouraged companies to become transnational and to source the manufacture of products to factories in countries around the world with the lowest labour costs. This increase is noted by Sargent and Matthews (2008): \"In 1975 one million people in 15 countries worked in EPZs [Export Processing Zones]. By 2002, these numbers had increased to 43 million people in 166 countries\" (p. 541). In the apparel industry, the manufacture of products is routinely sourced to EPZs, which are located throughout the Global South where wages and other forms of regulation on production are lower than in the Global North. These areas were established by international trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Central American Free Trade Agreement. The agreements allow for little or no taxation when importing products from low-wage production areas to the Global North, therefore the cost is frequently lower than domestic production (Abernathy et al., 2006). Due to outsourcing production to EPZs, companies have less oversight and control over working conditions for the labourers making their merchandize than they would if they were producing domestically. According to the National Labour Committee[3] these practices can lead to abuses of workers' human rights.Labour abuses are especially common in the apparel industry, since much of the work of apparel production cannot be mechanized and must be done manually. Consumer concerns over sweatshops that violate workers' rights (i.e. lack of fair wages and safe working conditions) have resulted in an international social movement demanding ethical production in the apparel industry (Shaw et al., 2006). The industry's response has been the implementation of voluntary codes of conduct, factory monitoring, and greater transparency in operations. These actions are considered to be part of a company's corporate social responsibility (CSR). This concept has been defined as \"voluntary actions designed to accomplish social and environmental benefits beyond legal requirements\" (Bezencon and Blili, 2009, p. 98). It can also be argued that these actions are taken to avoid the creation of international legal regulations. It is now standard practice for apparel corporations to have CSR policies and human resource departments to implement them throughout the company.Concerned consumers and advocates contend that voluntary measures are insufficient and that mandatory procedures need to be set in place to promote transparency and ensure fair production practices in the apparel industry (Shaw et al., 2006). Fair trade, which has already been successful in the food industry, is a system of third-party monitoring that could be used to verify the fairness of garment production and sales (Shaw et al., 2006). Fair trade is also a voluntary system that aims to ensure that workers' rights are not violated in the cultivation/manufacture of consumer goods. The fair trade movement has thus far been the most successful within the food industry. It is the certification process by a reliable, independent third party with an identifiable certifying label within the food industry that has distinguished the fair trade movement from CSR.A body of excellent scholarship examines consumers' intentions and behaviours in buying ethically sourced apparel (Dickson, 2001; Iwanow et al., 2005; Littrell et al., 2005; Shaw et al., 2006) and the development, implementation, and efficacy of CSR and other initiatives by companies operating under free trade. Littrell and Dickson conducted several studies in the 1990s that investigated Alternative Trade Organizations (ATOs) and the work that these organizations do as intermediaries between fair trade producers and consumers in developed countries (Dickson and Littrell, 1997; Littrell and Dickson, 1997, 1999). This study was conducted to augment the existing research by examining the fair trade practices of apparel businesses under the current structure of member organizations, the perceived impact of the lack of a uniform label, and the perceived impact of the availability of fair trade garment certification for the first time in the USA by TransFair USA. Thus, the purpose of the study presented in this paper was to explore the practices of three business owners from the same metropolitan area in the USA to establish standards for their fair trade apparel companies and how they communicated their fair trade practices to consumers. We asked: how did these business owners create and implement fair trade practices without the existence of industry-wide standards? What ways have they found to effectively communicate their efforts to consumers without the existence of industry-wide certification standards and logos? How do business owners feel about the new TransFair USAs certification programme? Do they feel that a standardized logo for fair trade apparel would help them to communicate their commitment to fair trade principles to consumers and give consumers confidence?\n2. Literature review: Fair trade business\n3. Methods: There are eight businesses that sell apparel in the area where this study was conducted that self-identify as either wholesale or retail fair trade businesses. We utilized the web site of a local fair trade business association to identify potential participants.One fair trade store carries apparel and toys for children, four carry fair trade apparel and/or accessories primarily for adults, and three are wholesalers of fair trade apparel products that also sell retail in the metropolitan area where the study was conducted. All eight of these businesses were contacted and invited to participate in this study. Five businesses responded and three chose to be interviewed by Jones. One of the participating businesses is a clothing retailer, while the other two are primarily wholesalers.The distinction between the fair trade retailer and the fair trade wholesalers is important. The wholesalers are directly involved with producers and therefore have a higher degree of control over the implementation of fair trade standards in production than does the fair trade retailer. The interviewees were the founders/owners of their businesses and had an in-depth understanding of the practices and communications of fair trade apparel businesses in the metropolitan area. Interviews were recorded with the participants' permission.Data collection\n4. Results and discussion: The cases\n5. Conclusion: This study examined the practices of three fair trade apparel businesses in a metropolitan area of the USA and their methods of communicating these practices to consumers. There were many similarities between the three participating businesses in terms of their conception of fair trade and fair trade practices. There was even more consistency between the two wholesale businesses (Participants B and C) in terms of their perception of fair trade as a hierarchy and their concern over TransFair USA's development of a fair trade certification for apparel.There were two key findings relating to the fair trade practices of the participating companies evident in this study. First, for the wholesalers in this study, there is a perceived hierarchy of fair trade standards that inform their business practices. Providing fair wages and safe working conditions is prioritized over transparency in the supply chain and environmental sustainability.Second, all three businesses describe the importance of establishing and maintaining close working relationships with producers and suppliers. This is done for practical purposes and allows the businesses to ensure that they uphold the fair trade practices to which they are committed.Communicating these commitments to fair trade practices is done primarily through the businesses' web sites and point-of-purchase signage. The lack of a logo for clothing labels has meant that businesses need to find alternative and creative ways to market their fair trade practices to consumers. Both Participants B and C have chosen to become members of one or more evaluating organizations as a way to let consumers know they utilize fair trade practices.Participants B and C are also both concerned about the potential implications that the certification currently being piloted by TransFair USA may have for their own businesses and the future of fair trade apparel in general. Participant B is concerned about the availability of raw materials that meet TransFair USA's proposed standards and Participant C is concerned with the proposed wage scale.Implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The fair trade system was established as an alternative to the free trade system. In the case of fair trade apparel, certification standards are nascent and there is no consistent logo or labelling to aid consumers in their quest to purchase fairly-made garments. The purpose of this paper is to examine the practices and marketing strategies of three fair trade apparel businesses based in a metropolitan city in the USA, where there are no clear standards to follow. The interviews taken for these case studies were conducted before the launching of a certification program for fair trade apparel by TransFair USA.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This research comprised three case study fair trade apparel companies - two wholesale and one retail. The case studies are based on in-depth interviews, the examination of documents provided by business owners, and publicly available information on each of the companies.\nFindings: - These three case studies revealed differences in fair trade practices. The wholesalers communicated that they perceived a hierarchy of importance in fair trade practices, placing an emphasis on labour standards and workers' rights and considering environmental standards to be secondary. The lack of a standardized logo for labels on fair trade apparel has meant that the businesses have had to find creative ways to communicate their fair trade practices to consumers. None of the participants felt that this lack of standardization negatively impacted their businesses.\nPractical implications: - There is need for a standardized label to make fair trade apparel easily identifiable for consumers and for the further development of standards for fair trade apparel and the marketing of fair trade apparel.\nOriginality/value: - Standards for fair trade apparel are currently being developed and the paper provides valuable information about the process by which fair trade standards are formed and marketed in practice.\n",
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Training gets to the heart of Greencore Grocery: Welcoming and open culture replaces one of skepticism and suspicion
|
[
"Training",
"Organizational change",
"Food industry",
"Awards"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Training helped to transform the business culture at a UK food manufacturer where blame and direct dictatorial management were the norm, the workforce was disengaged, there was no accountability, tasks were not completed on time, people issues were ignored and a fire-fighting and reactive approach to work dominated.\nThe quest to increase confidence, positivity and excitement: The company needed a new approach to training and development; its people needed help. It needed to bring confidence, positivity and excitement to the site, from the shop floor to the board room, as well as improve the way teams managed performance. It needed a new creative approach that was original and would make a difference to the bottom line as well as to the workforce and differentiate it from the competition.Greencore Grocery engaged training and development company Courageous Success to help it to develop middle-management and supervisory teams. It sought to increase their confidence, self-belief and people-management skills.\"Courageous Success was introduced to me by our managing director, who had used the company in a previous organization,\" explained HR controller Mike O'Neill. \"Its approach to meeting our needs was somewhat different from what I had first envisaged but we loved its concepts, which provided a new and radical solution to our priorities.\"We needed to give our front-line middle-management team the confidence to manage employees in a positive and productive way, which would change culture and improve the bottom line.\"Too many years had passed with managers handling employee issues badly because of a lack of confidence in how to tackle people issues - mend the machine, do the job - fine! Engage with employees - difficult!\"Courageous Success offered a different path to raising energy levels, instilling positivity and openness and improving self-belief and team dynamics across all our middle-management areas, which was critical if we were to change the culture and performance of the site.\"\nObjectives for engaging the workforce: The following objectives were set with Courageous Success for engaging the workforce throughout the production plant:* making employees happier and more confident;* improving their ability to communicate;* creating energetic and enthusiastic leaders; and* making them comfortable with managing poor performance.The program also had to:* support a cultural shift by running alongside a restructuring program;* lift the performance of the operations function at the site;* build relationships and improve ways of working;* introduce and support a culture of positivity and non-directive communication styles of management to deliver improved performance; and* introduce tools and processes to the business that could support and embed the learning program into the future.Some 46 operational and team leaders from the factory and cross-functions originally took part in the program. They attended group and one-to-one coaching and development with the aim of:* feeling comfortable with difficult people and situations;* having confidence in their own abilities;* bringing out the best in themselves; and* having tools and techniques to bring out the best in others.This approach was complimented by a similar program at board level, which has been cascaded down through the senior-management ranks. This was essential to ensure \"buy in\".\nLearning that positivity is a choice: Two sets of factory supervisors - morning and afternoon - and their interfaces attended a series of workshop days where they learned people skills. They were taught that positivity is a choice. They learned that people can control their beliefs and perceptions and that, by harnessing the best of these, people can re-energize themselves and others. They learned that the gap within themselves was felt by everyone and that the mask that they were wearing and the sarcasm that they used to deflect off themselves only eroded their own self-esteem.The groups practised positive communication. They role-played how to turn their morning production \"failure meetings\" into positive gatherings where they could choose to help and support each other.The groups grew in confidence as they learned more about who they really are as people and how being themselves had a huge impact on their interactions with others and provided the simplest and most natural method of boosting their abilities and motivating themselves and their teams.Each individual evaluated his or her own belief systems and learned how to harness the best of these This stage of the program also aimed to bring the teams together to openly support each other and inject positivity into the people and culture of the operations function.The groups enjoyed it so much that they worked extra hours to cover each other's shifts, so that everyone could attend the program.\"The reaction from our employees who have attended the modules has been startling,\" said Mike O'Neill. \"From an initial position of distrust, apprehension and an 'I don't want to be here' attitude, we had people emerging with newly found levels of energy and passion for the challenge ahead.\"Confidence that was not previously shown was overflowing and a new team dynamic emerged. 'The best course I have ever been on' was often the cry.\"Geoff Weeks, shift operations manager, commented: \"When I first heard about the course I was slightly skeptical about some of its claims. It talked about awakening people's potential and releasing their energy.\"Despite my reservations, the positive transformation at an individual level - but more remarkably how people gelled as a cohesive team - was immediate and long-lasting. The positivity continues and the individuals and teams consistently deliver.\"\"The program took all the anger and frustration out of the factory as we learned how to deal with employees in a positive way,\" said Val Smith, area leader. \"I never thought that, at my age, I could learn any more. Little did I realize...They make you believe in yourself and your ability to deal with people and to do your job. It is the best course I have been on.\"\nWelcoming and open culture: The results have been outstanding:* budgeted profit was achieved and is now exceeded year on year;* productivity is up 16 percent;* waste is down 36 percent;* cost per unit is down 8 percent;* employees take ownership of their areas and responsibility for their teams; and* the culture on the site is welcoming and open.Greencore has identified the emphasis on both skill training and individual coaching techniques as \"best in class\". The company, along with Courageous Success, was a finalist for Training Program of the Year in last November's Food Manufacturing Excellence awards.\"The change and improvement in people's performance and attitude have been a major factor in improving the bottom line,\" enthused Mike O'Neill. \"The skills of the Courageous Success team compliment the subject matter very well and our people actually requested that we run a refresher course. This we did.\"The Courageous Success program continues and is complimented by the use of a range of skill-based training programs, including several provided through our new e-learning platform.\"Phil Taylor concluded: \"The vision, creative approach and originality of our training journey in the face of challenge has not only paid off financially for our business; our people have truly used this radical period of transformation to shape their lives for the better. It is an outstanding achievement.\"Well over 100 employees, involved in all areas of management, have now taken part in the program; the latest group earlier this year. The company continues to believe that it helps to bring out the best in all its managers and people. Even customer-account managers undertake the program as it helps them to be positive and confident in front of customers.The program has now evolved and Greencore Grocery is able to deliver various elements of it to different employee groups as the need arises, such as a one-day session on how to resolve conflict and deal with difficult people for front-line roles where the occupant is in daily contact with employees.Business results continue to improve year on year and the company believes that the Courageous Success training program has helped it to drive forward this success.\nComment: This is a review of \"Training transforms manufacturing at Greencore Grocery\", by Elizabeth Villani, director, Courageous Success. The article describes the many serious problems that had to be solved at Greencore Grocery. From an initial position of distrust and apprehension, and an \"I don't want to be here\" attitude, people emerged from the training with newly found levels of energy and passion for the challenge ahead. The training helped Greencore Grocery people to be: happy and more confident; better communicators; energetic and enthusiastic leaders; and comfortable with managing poor performance. As a result of the training, budgeted profit was achieved and is now exceeded year on year; productivity is up 16 percent; waste is down 36 percent; cost per unit is down 8 percent; employees take ownership of their areas and responsibility for their teams; the culture on the site is welcoming and open; and Greencore has identified the emphasis on both skills training and individual coaching techniques as \"best in class\". More information about Courageous Success is available on the internet, at www.courageoussuccess.co.uk\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to describe a training program, devised and delivered by training and development company Courageous Success, which has transformed manufacturing at Greencore Grocery.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper explains the reasons for the program, the form it took and the results it has achieved.\nFindings: - The paper details how the training had to help Greencore Grocery people to be: happy and more confident; better communicators; energetic and enthusiastic leaders; and comfortable with managing poor performance. The program also had to: support a cultural shift by running alongside a restructuring program; lift the performance of the operations function at the site; build relationships and improve ways of working; introduce and support a culture of positivity and non-directive communication styles of management to deliver better performance; and introduce tools and processes to the business that could be integrated and maintained to support and embed the program learning and journey into the future.\nPractical implications: - The paper reveals that, as a result of the training, budgeted profit was achieved and is now exceeded year on year; productivity is up 16 percent; waste is down 36 percent; cost per unit is down 8 percent; employees take ownership of their areas and responsibility for their teams; the culture on the site is welcoming and open; the emphasis on both skills training and individual-coaching techniques has been identified as \"best in class\" by Greencore and the company, along with Courageous Success, was a finalist for Training Program of the Year in last November's Food Manufacturing Excellence awards.\nSocial implications: - The paper advances the view that employees learned techniques that improved their lives.\nOriginality/value: - The paper reveals how well conceived training can transform people's attitudes and boost business success.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Job embeddedness and employee enactment of innovation-related work behaviours
|
[
"Innovation",
"Extra-role behaviours",
"Job embeddedness",
"Innovation work behaviours"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Innovation is a strategic priority for many countries and organisations (Slater et al., 2014). In South Africa, its priority is evident in the Department of Science and Technology's (DST) (2007) innovation plan titled \"Innovation towards a knowledge-based economy: ten year plan for South Africa (2008-2018)\". In this plan, innovation is considered to be one of four interdependent pillars on which a knowledge-based economy rests. The country's transformation to a knowledge-based economy is deemed essential if the government's developmental mandate is to be achieved and the society's deep and pressing socio-economic challenges (e.g. unemployment, poverty, exclusion of a large fraction of the population from the formal economy) are to be met (DST, 2007).\nTheoretical background: IWBs\nModerator of the JE-IWB relationship: Organisation size\nMethods: Respondents and procedures\nAnalytic approach: We checked initial data (549 cases) for missing values. The threshold for listwise and pairwise deletion is flexible. The general threshold in treating missing data implies variables or cases that have missing responses of more than 10 per cent may be problematic. We set a more conservative threshold to treat missing data at 5 per cent, whereby cases that had more than 5 per cent missing values were deleted. Other missing cases were treated using the EM algorithm as recommended by Dempster et al. (1977). The results found data were missing at random. The final number of cases used in the analyses was 533. Assumptions of linearity, heteroscedascity and multicollineary that are necessary to conduct multiple regression analysis were tested (Hair, 2010). Data were normal and homoscedasticity were not found in the data. Common method bias (CMB) was assessed using Harman's (1960) one-factor test. All six variables were entered into an exploratory factor analysis using unrotated principal component factor analysis to determine whether the majority of variance could be explained by a single factor. The result indicated that one factor did not account for the majority of the variance (26.38 per cent). A further test to detect CMB was performed using the common latent factor confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) marker technique (Williams et al., 2010). We used the \"job prospects\" variable as a marker variable. \"Job prospects\" is one of the variables in our main study that showed no or low correlations with other variables tested in the regression model. The common latent factor CFA model produced the common variance of 7 per cent. However, the result showed a significant drop in the common variance (6.08 per cent) when the marker variable \"job prospects\" was added into the common latent CFA model (Dkh2 =225, Ddf=144, p<0.000). Thus CMB was not apparent.\nResults: Table I reports means, standard deviations, scale reliability estimates (Cronbach's a) and correlations. Innovative behaviour was significantly correlated with all other variables in this study, except off-the-job embeddedness and organisational size. Organisational size was negatively and significantly correlated with job satisfaction (r=-0.094, p<0.05) and affective commitment (r=-0.103, p<0.05). Off-the-job embeddedness was positively and significantly correlated with on-the-job embeddedness (r=0.150, p<0.01), job satisfaction (r=0.111, p<0.05) and commitment (r=0.154, p<0.01). Additionally, significant positive associations were found between on-the-job embeddedness and job satisfaction (r=0.712, p<0.01), and on-the-job embeddedness and affective commitment (r=0.686, p<0.01). The correlation between innovative behaviour and off-the-job embeddedness was not significant. The sample mean for industry tenure was 9.15 years (SD =6.83).\nDiscussion: As noted, prior research has shown that on-the-job embeddedness is positively related to both in-role job performance and extra-role citizenship behaviours (e.g. Lee et al., 2004; Lev and Koslowsky, 2012). Researchers have also begun to examine implications of on-the-job embeddedness for employee enactment of extra-role, IWBs (Ng and Feldman, 2010a). This is a potentially meaningful research direction, because research is most needed in contexts where innovation efforts are part of employees' extra-role job performance, rather than in contexts of innovation-oriented jobs (de Jong and den Hartog, 2010). Furthermore, as de Jong and den Hartog (2010, p. 34) have observed \"understanding innovative work behaviour is important for the field of individual innovation\". Research which examines relationships between JE and IWBs may contribute to such an understanding.\nConclusion: A link between JE and IWB has rarely been shown empirically. We theorised and demonstrated empirically that employees who are embedded in their organisation are motivated to enact IWBs, presumably because they have positive feelings about the employment relationship (Ng and Feldman, 2010b). The current study also extends our knowledge by the finding that on-the-job embeddedness is more positively related to IWBs in small organisations than in medium-sized and large organisations. This finding accords with the view that small organisations have a \"behavioural\" innovation advantage over larger organisations. More broadly, we make a contribution to the small body of non-turnover-related research which has examined the effects of JE on extra-role behaviours. Clearly, more empirical studies are needed to further enhance our understanding of the effects of embeddedness on IWBs. We hope our study will stimulate such work.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In a highly competitive globalised environment, the innovation behaviour of employees plays a key role in the economic viability and competitive advantage of organisations. In this context, developing the understanding of innovation work behaviour is important for the field of individual innovation and this is the focus of the study. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected using a survey from 549 employees in organisations operating in four major business centres in South Africa.\nFindings: On-the-job embeddedness was positively and significantly related to innovation behaviours by employees in organisations operating in diverse industries. Consistent with the view that small organisations have a \"behavioural\" innovation advantage over larger organisations, the size of the organisation moderated the positive relationship between on-the-job embeddedness and innovation behaviours. On-the-job embeddedness was more positively related to innovation behaviours in small organisations than in larger organisations.\nPractical implications: Employees who are highly embedded in their jobs (but not necessarily their communities) are more likely to enact innovation behaviours than employees who are not similarly embedded. Human resource management professionals and line managers can potentially foster employee innovation behaviours through adopting strategies aimed at positively influencing the fit, links and sacrifice dimensions of on-the-job embeddedness.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to theoretical and empirical expansion of job embeddedness (JE) by examining: how work and non-work forces that attach employees to their organisations influence their propensity to enact innovation behaviours; and how organisation size moderates the relationship between JE and innovation behaviours. The results will help managers who wish to foster innovation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Heroic and humane entrepreneurs: identity work in entrepreneurship education
|
[
"Gender",
"Entrepreneurship training",
"Identity construction",
"Postgraduates"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In knowledge-based economies, universities are increasingly expected to contribute to academic entrepreneurship. Simultaneously, the number of PhDs awarded annually has grown in many countries, including Finland, and consequently universities can no longer absorb the growing number of PhDs into an academic career. Therefore, graduates must seek alternate career options, such as entrepreneurship, and it is important for entrepreneurship education to play its part (Henry et al., 2005). It is assumed that providing students with the skills necessary to launch new ventures contributes positively to their perceived self-efficacy (Wilson et al., 2007) which in turn positively affects their entrepreneurial intentions and ultimately their behaviour (Kolvereid, 1996; Krueger et al., 2000).\nEntrepreneurial identity in the context of education: Traditionally, entrepreneurship training has emphasised idea development and start up planning. Entrepreneurship education is seen to provide nascent entrepreneurs with the skills and knowledge they need for entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial behaviour, which in turn increases their self-efficacy linked with entrepreneurship (Wilson et al., 2007) and ultimately positively affects their entrepreneurial intentions and behaviour (Kolvereid, 1996; Krueger et al., 2000). From the individual perspective, entrepreneurship training is focused on developing the skills of potential entrepreneurs and on improving their knowledge of entrepreneurship related issues (Henry et al., 2005). Entrepreneurship education is promoted with the idea that increasing the cohort of students with the relevant venturing knowledge and skills will lead to a similar growth in the number or quality of nascent entrepreneurs (Matlay, 2005, 2006).\nMethodology: The Academy of Finland funded an entrepreneurship programme \"Entrepreneurship - an interesting opportunity?\" that was targeted at research schools in the fields of chemistry, physics, information technology and bioinformatics, life sciences and pharmacology. The programme was aimed at increasing knowledge about entrepreneurship, providing relevant business skills and supporting the possibility to start in business as an entrepreneur. A total of 34 doctoral or post-doctoral students completed the programme.\nReflecting on their entrepreneurial identity: Based on our study we were able to identity two different identity constructions - here named heroic and humane entrepreneurs - which are examined further in the following sections.\nDiscussion: This paper investigated how entrepreneurial identities are constructed in the context of a training programme organised for doctoral students in life sciences. We analysed learning diaries and other materials produced by seven participants (four women and three men). The social constructivist analysis led to two entrepreneurial identity constructions: heroic and humane entrepreneurs. It became evident that the men in our study found it easy to accept and experiment with the heroic entrepreneur identity imbued with qualities such as risk taking, courage and masculinity. This does not mean that they anticipated becoming entrepreneurs in the foreseeable future, but it is presented as a natural and realistic option without contesting the heroic entrepreneurial identity. Adopting and accepting this identity was not the challenge, rather it was a lack of the knowledge and skills needed to realise it. Hence, starting up a company could be facilitated by acquiring more information, knowledge and experience and by learning the language of business. Accordingly, it was merely a pragmatic challenge and did not require the construction of a new type of identity. These participants would benefit from entrepreneurship education programmes that enable the development of skills necessary for venture creation.\nImplications: Theoretically our contribution is linked to entrepreneurial identity (Steyart, 1995; Fournier and Lightfoot, 1997; Wahlin, 1999; Lindgren, 2000; Down and Reveley, 2004; Hytti, 2005) in the context of an entrepreneurship training programme. Entrepreneurship programmes can be used as arenas for exploring and constructing the entrepreneurial identity (Hagg, 2011a, b). The gender-neutral assumption within the training programme contributed to strengthening and maintaining the masculine connotations of entrepreneurship, which were contested by some of the participants. The weak fit of those masculine connotations led to the construction of an alternative entrepreneurial identity, that of the humane entrepreneur. The educational environment can serve as a place for reflecting upon and trying to identify an entrepreneurial identity that is authentic and accessible (Hagg, 2011a, b). The contexts of the study were the masculine and male-dominated academic arenas of life sciences and new venture creation in the high-tech industries. It would be interesting to research this in other contexts near to life sciences, such as participants exploring start up health care ventures which is clearly a female-dominated business sector.\nConclusions: By studying the identity work of postgraduate students participating in an entrepreneurship training programme at a graduate school for life sciences the study revealed two distinct entrepreneurial identities constructed by the participants: the heroic and the humane. Our study demonstrates how the heroic entrepreneur is the most common narrative reserve the participants draw from: they need to either embrace or differentiate from this heroic entrepreneurial identity. Second, we demonstrate how entrepreneurial identity construction processes in the context of entrepreneurship training are gendered. Life sciences, as a male-dominated field laden with masculine connotations, limit women's access to it. Therefore, women needed to construct an alternative, more acceptable entrepreneurial identity for themselves during the programme.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the identity work of postgraduate students participating in an entrepreneurship training programme for life sciences. The paper aims to analyse what kind of entrepreneurial identities are constructed and in what ways in the context of the programme.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper relies on learning diaries and other written materials harvested from seven participants. Drawing on a social constructivist analysis, the materials were analysed by drawing attention to the kind of identities created, the contradictions that surfaced and how those were resolved in the written materials.\nFindings: Two distinct entrepreneurial identities were constructed by the participants: the heroic and the humane. The first is the stereotypical role prototype that the participants experiment with. For the male participants this seems acceptable and normal. If they were in possession of more information, knowledge and skills they could identify with this heroic entrepreneurial identity. However, the female participants constructed an alternative identity; the humane entrepreneur running a low-tech firm with modest business goals or acting as an intrapreneur in an existing organisation.\nResearch limitations/implications: Future research should consider entrepreneurship programmes as arenas for (gendered) identity work.\nPractical implications: Entrepreneurship training should not only provide the participants with business knowledge and skills but facilitate their entrepreneurial identity work.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes to understanding entrepreneurship education as a context for entrepreneurial identity construction and extends the understanding of the expected outcomes of entrepreneurship education programmes. The study demonstrates how entrepreneurial identity construction processes in the context of entrepreneurship training are gendered.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Gender and network effects on occupation: a case study of China
|
[
"China",
"Gender inequality",
"Social networks",
"Income inequality"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Income gaps between social groups are widening in urban China (Meng and Zhang, 2001; Treiman, 2012; Wang, 2005; Wu, 2003). A panel study shows that advantaged groups have consistently earned more since the economic reform (Zhou, 2000). Even the average education level has risen, schooling is failing to work as a leveled group. For example, despite having the same education level and working in urban areas, university graduates who come from rural areas are more likely to earn less than university graduates who come from urban areas (Han, 2011).\nLiterature review: Ample studies have demonstrated the positive effects of social capital on job-seeking outcomes (Bian et al., 2005; Erickson, 2001). This result can be applied in capitalist societies, such as the USA (Lin et al., 2013), socialist societies, such as the German Democratic Republic (Volker and Flap, 1999), also known as East Germany, or societies that are undergoing reform, such as China (Chen, 2013). Below are some examples.\nResearch questions: Based on the aforementioned studies, we draw three conclusions. First, having the right type of ties brings about benefits for job seekers during the job-seeking process. Second, women face difficulties in regard to obtaining support from network members during the job-seeking process. Third, institutional structure shapes the effects of social networks on occupational attainment. This paper then asks:\nThe context of China: The household registration system has been in effect since 1958 in China. In 1958, all residents of China were assigned a household registration. Normally, peasants would have an agricultural form of registration (rural hukou) and non-peasants would have a non-agricultural form of registration (urban hukou). Children inherit household registration status from their mothers. This distinction decides people's right to state-provided welfare. Only urban hukou holders enjoy state-provided welfare, such as housing, medical care and pensions (Chan, 2009).\nData and method: Data\nResult: Regression results are presented in Table VI. Models 1-5 in the left panel show the regression results for women, while Models 1-5 in the right panel show the regression results for men. We begin the analysis with household registration as an independent variable, to explore its impact on income. As presented in Table VI, household registration is significant in the regression for income. Those with an urban household registration will have 50 and 34 percent higher incomes than those without an urban household registration in the female and male groups, respectively. Model 2 adds the variable of social capital. Social capital is a significant factor, but the influences of social capital are very weak in both groups. Model 3 includes one more variable: cross-institutional social ties. The association between cross-institutional social ties and income in the regression results for women is not significant, but is significant in the regression results for men. Therefore, men with cross-institutional social ties have incomes 17 percent higher than men who do not have cross-institutional social ties.\nDiscussion and conclusion: The above results show that social capital fails to exert significant influences on income. In the figure not presented in this paper, we cannot find a significant relationship between social capital and income, even when education level is controlled. This may be caused by market structure. When the market is dominated by state-owned enterprises, social network is particularly important in affecting one's job attainment. For example, Walder (1991) depicts how the patron-client relationship influences people's job seeking and job promotion. However, the number of state-owned enterprises has decreased in recent decades, and more and more private companies are being established. Most of these private companies are foreign companies or joint companies, and many provide professional services, such as accountancy, auditing, hotel management, and so forth. Academic credentials are highly valued in these companies (Huang, 2008). Consequently, there is little room for the use of contacts in a labor market that relies heavily on academic credentials (Chua, 2011).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to ask whether or not social networks can compensate for the disadvantages of being part of an unprivileged group in the job attainment process in urban China, using the 2008 China General Social Survey.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The author compares the network effects on monthly income of local urban residents and rural migrants.\nFindings: First, the results show that social capital exerts no significant effect on monthly income for local residents and rural migrants. Second, having network members who work in state-owned and non-state-owned enterprises helps female rural migrants to obtain higher monthly incomes, compared to those whose network members work only in either state-owned enterprises or non-state-owned enterprises. The same is not true of male rural migrants or local residents.\nOriginality/value: It can be concluded that a more diversified network may compensate for female rural migrants' disadvantages, caused by being part of an unprivileged group, in their occupational attainment process.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Driving cultural change through behavioral differentiation at Westinghouse
|
[
"Organizational culture",
"Behaviour",
"Change management",
"Customer relations",
"Communication",
"Information exchange",
"Strategic alignment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In 2003, Westinghouse Electric Company, the world's pioneering nuclear power company, was in a very strong position in its markets. In the USA, nearly 60 percent of the then 103 operating nuclear power plants were based on Westinghouse technology (globally, the figure was nearly 50 percent). Most of the company's customer base considered Westinghouse's technology to be not only excellent but also essential.\nIssues in competitiveness and customer satisfaction: To help them understand the customer survey results, Westinghouse embarked on an ambitious benchmarking study entitled \"Ease of Doing Business.\" This study included an employee engagement survey designed to determine the level of workforce engagement and alignment with business objectives and two surveys administered by Lore International Institute that were part of a behavioral differentiation audit: Lore's Behavioral Differentiation Survey, which helped identify behavioral strengths, weaknesses, and barriers to behaving in positively differentiating ways, and the Denison Cultural Survey, which helped identify the cultural and organizational factors that affected Westinghouse's performance.To gain additional insights and provide supporting information, the benchmarking team also did structured interviews with scores of Westinghouse project managers, engineers, and others with customer-facing roles, as well as selected customers from around the world, and they reviewed post-project data from 2000 through 2002. The study uncovered some specific issues around the timeliness of engineering support, delay charges for field services, pricing, and fuel product reliability, along with the following themes in customer dissatisfaction that Westinghouse attributed to its culture:* the company did not consistently bring the benefit of its industry experience to each job in ways that benefited customers;* employees did not always exhibit a strong enough interest in their customers' success;* they were not always sensitive to the impact on their customers of actions or omissions that they took which were internally focused;* they did not appear to be continually driven to improve their costs, products, or services;* they did not seem proactive on emergent issues; and* there was, at times, too much focus on profit at the expense of customer focus.These cultural issues manifested themselves in seven specific areas where customers were less satisfied than the company expected:1. Customer interface - Customers did not always know whom to talk to at Westinghouse. Moreover, when the work involved multiple business units or subsidiaries or subcontractors, the company's teams did not seem well aligned.2. Invoicing - Customers felt that Westinghouse's invoices were routinely late, wrong, or unclear and therefore not actionable.3. Proposals - Customers said Westinghouse had a reputation for long lead-time on proposals, for often not being clear on scope and deliverables, and for having complicated and legalistic proposals.4. Lead times - In one service area, customers felt that quote lead times, delivery lead times, and the time to resolve technical issues were too long.5. Technically proactive - Customers felt that the company was inconsistently proactive on technical issues.6. Project management - Similarly, Westinghouse was not viewed as being proactive in responding to or resolving emerging issues (e.g. not continually suggesting improvements to customers and not always becoming involved on emergent issues even though some issues may have been problematic for years).7. Intellectual property - Some customers felt that the company was excessively conservative about intellectual property, sometimes using decades-old information to justify sole-source bids.To address these problems, the company sought a comprehensive, culture-changing solution rather than quick fixes. They initiated Six Sigma programs to address a number of the work process and reliability issues that surfaced during the benchmarking study, but they also embarked on one of the most comprehensive behavioral differentiation programs ever undertaken in the corporate world.\nWhy focus on behavior?: In our book Winning Behavior: What the Smartest, Most Successful Companies Do Differently, David G. Pugh and I described how industry leaders like Ritz-Carlton, Harley-Davidson, EMC, Men's Wearhouse, and Southwest Airlines use behavior toward customers (and employees) as a means of differentiating themselves from their industry rivals (Bacon and Pugh, 2003). Behavior is especially useful as a differentiation strategy when a company's marketplace is becoming increasingly commoditized, which was the case with Westinghouse. They recognized that the \"ease of doing business\" with them was a function of their behavior toward customers and that if their behavior was negative in customers' eyes, they would lose business if those customers had viable alternatives.Conversely, if they could learn to behave in more positively differentiating ways, they would gain business in situations where other competitive factors were relatively equal. In short, Westinghouse leaders recognized that their behavior toward customers was having either an attractive effect (positive differentiation) or a repulsive effect (negative differentiation) and that they had it within their power to reverse the impact of behavior on competitiveness if they focused on their customer-facing behaviors as a corporation and made it an element of their business strategy. They articulated their understanding of the impact of behavior by citing these principles:* Our behavior - everything that we do individually and collectively - has consequences in terms of how our customers experience doing business with us.* How we do things is as important as what we do.* What we actually do is more important than what we say.* Focusing on behavior makes the whole Westinghouse family part of the solution to increasing customer satisfaction.Moreover, they saw a strong correlation between behavioral differentiation and their concomitant drive to improve quality of execution through Six Sigma and lean manufacturing programs. Both require a common culture and, in fact, can be seen as two sides of the same coin. They are both focused on customer-defined value creation. Six Sigma and lean manufacturing are aimed at process improvements that meet or exceed customer expectations, whereas behavioral differentiation is aimed at process improvements in customer engagements that also meet or exceed expectations. A common approach to both is crucial to achieving greater customer centrism.\nThe behavioral changes needed: One of the most insightful findings from the benchmarking study was a comparison of behavioral ratings by employees and ratings by customers. For example, the highest-rated behaviors from Westinghouse employees were as follows:1. aligning goals, plans, and priorities*;2. spending more time listening and asking than telling*;3. systematically building relationships with individuals;4. communicating in the customer's style; and5. being intolerant of errors*.These were the areas in which Westinghouse employees perceived that they were behaving in the most positively differentiating ways. However, customers had dissenting feedback on the three items with asterisks, so there were significant opposing views on three of the five behaviors where employees felt they behaved best. The five areas where employees rated their behaviors lowest were these:1. creating cost transparency;2. aligning structure and systems;3. sharing valuable knowledge;4. customizing marketing and sales literature; and5. being generous with face time.Perhaps not surprisingly, the first item, cost transparency, was one of the behaviors that customers said they valued most from suppliers. They also valued suppliers who exceeded their expectations, communicated proactively and effectively, helped them compete, were intolerant of errors, and owned and proactively solved problems. When customers were asked to rate Westinghouse's behaviors, these were the five lowest-rated areas:1. exceeding customer expectations;2. spending more time listening and asking than telling;3. being intolerant of errors;4. preventing mistakes and misunderstandings; and5. working with suppliers who provide exceptional service.It's important to note that customers also had considerable positive feedback. They felt that the company's product development was very collaborative. They also felt that the company was making tremendous progress in identifying and addressing problems, that they were open about sharing difficulties and growing pains, that they were far more open and listened better than they had in the recent past, and that they were far more customer focused than previously.Nonetheless, the company felt that the bottom line from the benchmarking was clear: they were difficult to do business with, they needed to do a better job of preventing problems and anticipating customer needs, they were too tolerant of errors, they needed to share information across business units to create a common knowledge base, and they needed \"to get it right the first time\" by listening more and calibrating customer expectations.\nImplementing behavioral change: Westinghouse recognized that some behavioral changes would apply throughout the organization and would reflect general cultural change while others would apply only to certain business units and perhaps certain customer relationships. Furthermore, they felt that the business units needed to identify the behaviors that, for them, would have the greatest impact in the short term, consistent with their business plans and customers. So while some behavioral change would be driven throughout the organization, the business units would be largely responsible for identifying and implementing local changes.For changes that would occur throughout the organization, Westinghouse created a Behavior Change Team that was responsible for:* defining overall behavioral change implementation objectives, time frames, and metrics;* interacting with all business units to support organization-wide behavioral change;* developing a common behavioral change methodology and toolkit; and* implementing a behavioral change communication plan.They were aware that large-scale organizational change is challenging at best, so they paid particular attention to the typical reasons why change initiatives fail and what they needed to do to ensure successful implementation, notably ensuring top management sponsorship, involving employees, ensuring high-quality communication throughout the process, having clear performance measures, and providing sufficient training.The business units were expected to establish a business case for behavioral change, identify the highest-value customer targets, identify solution team leaders and members, sponsor and support those teams, and monitor change progress. Most of all, they expected the solution teams to recognize the importance of Westinghouse employees as keys to success. Behavioral change is only partly systemic - derived from procedures and processes the organization puts in place. Individual employees who, at every \"touch point\" with customers, behave in ways that create a more positive experience for customers largely drive behavioral change. So it was essential that this behavioral change program become a personal commitment on each employee's part.\nThe six behavioral improvement areas: To provide focus for behavioral change implementation, Westinghouse identified six key areas requiring behavioral improvement, the top three of which were considered the highest priorities:1. customer relationship management;2. effective communication;3. execution-related behaviors;4. information sharing with customers;5. customer success; and6. organizational alignment.The challenges in implementing behavioral change programs are:* identifying the specific, new customer-facing behaviors that will actually make a difference; and* ensuring that employees at the appropriate customer touch points consistently behave in these new ways.Effective implementation requires a combination of new employee behaviors and management support of these new behaviors (in the face of conflicting priorities) to ensure that the changed behaviors occur consistently enough to make a difference in how customers perceive working with the organization.It's not easy to change behavior, particularly behavior that is culturally embedded and behavior that is being \"forced\" by other organizational priorities, such as the need to achieve high margins, the need to protect intellectual property, and the need to be efficient in applying resources to serve customers and resolve problems. As we all know, these internal priorities often conflict with the priorities inherent in customer centrism. If you are going to be more customer-centric, you must appreciate the trade-offs you have to make, and employees need to understand that you are serious about making those trade-offs, even at the cost of some margin, some risk, and some efficiency.Westinghouse understood these challenges and committed to implementing behavioral change in the following ways for each of the six focus areas identified above.Customer relationship management\nThe results so far: Although this effort is several years in the making, it is still too early to determine how successful the cultural change effort has been. Indeed, the company is still determining how to measure success most effectively. However, the anecdotal feedback from customers is powerful and encouraging where they have been able to implement the changes. Bob Pearce, who led the behavioral change team from the start, said that where they haven't been able to implement behavioral changes, customers are saying, \"It's the same old Westinghouse.\" However, where they have implemented the changes, customers are saying, \"I'm seeing a difference in the way you treat me. In the past, you've said, 'We have this to sell. Do you want it, yes or no?' It's now moving more in the direction of, 'Can you tell me more about what you need, and let's see if we have some value to offer'.\"Pearce adds that they recently were awarded a contract not because they had the lowest price or the best terms and conditions but simply because the customer knew them and liked them and felt that they were going to deliver in a way that made sense to the customer. It was a relationship-driven decision, which would have been rare in the old Westinghouse. In another recent case, Pearce said, \"We were awarded an alliance with a customer that will be worth over $100 million based on relationship factors, and this was in direct competition with our principal adversary.\"\"The approach we took on that selling effort was not to do traditional push selling but rather to go in and say, 'We know we need to change. We know you're looking for change as well. Let's work together on what that change looks like and see if we can come up with a way of doing business going forward that will meet your needs.' Based on that approach, at the end of a recent four-hour meeting with the customer, the customer stood up and applauded us. That's unheard of. Nobody could ever remember being applauded.\"Pearce said that he recently facilitated an alliance kick-off meeting between Westinghouse senior management and the customer's senior management, and during that meeting they talked about the behaviors of both parties in the past. They looked at the list of behaviors identified in the behavioral audit and jointly selected the four behaviors that would make the alliance work. This process helped give the customer a sense of ownership of the outcome and made them feel that Westinghouse was being proactive on their behalf. The key lesson learned is that it often pays to make the behaviors of both parties explicit and to set joint expectations about how the company and the customer will work together. This, in itself, is a behavioral differentiator because it is so rarely done.Progress comes slowly, especially in large organizations, and Westinghouse operates in over 30 locations around the world and has more than 9,000 people. Change begins with awareness and has to be driven not only from above but also at the account team level, where people interact with customers daily. At Westinghouse, the account teams are beginning to play a more substantive role. They are the front-line leaders in how the company behaves toward customers and hence how the organization changes.The ultimate goal is to change the way the company thinks and behaves, and that's not easy. However, to remain the same is not an option. In today's hypercompetitive, global marketplace, smart companies are recognizing that how they treat customers is as important as the quality and functionality of their products and services. Competing on product difference alone will not suffice because it's too easy for hungry competitors to copy what you make and how you provide it. Unless you want to compete on price alone, and be driven down to the point of very low margins, you need to seek a competitive advantage in one of the final frontiers of competition: behavior.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - This article describes the successful application of behavioral differentiation in transforming the culture of a large engineering-oriented company as it strived to become more customer-centric.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Customer satisfaction surveys and interviews indicated that the company was difficult to work with and not customer-focused. Subsequent benchmarking included an employee engagement survey, Lore's Behavioral Differentiation Survey, and the Denison Cultural Survey.\nFindings: - The results, which showed significant disagreement between internal and customer perceptions of the issues, indicated that the company had six behavioral improvement areas to focus on: customer relationship management, communication, execution-related behaviors, information sharing, customer success, and organizational alignment.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The cultural change initiative is ongoing, and further research is needed to identify the strength, effectiveness, and durability of the behavioral changes.\nPractical implications: - However, early anecdotal evidence shows that the company is transforming not only its behavior toward customers but customer perceptions of the company and, more importantly, the company is winning new business as a result of its behavioral changes.\nOriginality/value: - This article illustrates one of the first attempts by a large company to transform its culture by focusing on behavioral differentiation. In businesses that are becoming increasingly commoditized, behavior is usually the final frontier in competitive strategy. The article will be of interest to any firms seeking large-scale transformation of how employees behave toward customers.\n",
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Do disclosure and transparency affect bank's financial performance?
|
[
"Corporate governance",
"Financial performance",
"Principal component analysis",
"Financial institutions"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The wave of corporate scandals that swept across the business world over the past decade in both Europe and the USA (e.g. Societe General, Lehman Brothers, etc.) has raised questions as to what type of board structure and composition can best monitor and control the activities of an organisation's management. The management of many well-known companies was found to be engaged in dubious, questionable and even fraudulent accounting practices, which their boards were not able to detect in time. Fraud, mismanagement and poor monitoring of agents' activities resulted in a lack of transparency and accountability, making highly influential companies vulnerable to litigation and corporate failure. This situation has led to the creation of a set of regulatory codes and corporate governance reports, whose aim was to ensure effective governance and improve the overall performance of major firms. Wilson (2006) noted that poor corporate governance can lead to the loss of market confidence in the ability of banks to properly manage their assets and liabilities, which could in turn trigger liquidity crises. The strength of the corporate governance mechanisms of financial institutions determines the robustness of the financial system and its vulnerability to uncertainty and risks. A study by Drobetz et al. (2003) showed that good corporate governance can lead to higher valuations; profitability and sales growth; and lower capital expenditure. The basic building blocks of corporate governance structures include directors, accountability and audits, directors' remuneration, shareholder oversight and AGMs. Cadbury (1992), Greenbury (1995) and Hampel (1998) identified the need for greater transparency and accountability in areas such as board structure and operation, directors' contracts and board monitoring. In addition, they all stressed the importance of the role of non-executive directors. Previous research by Acero and Alcalde (2012) and Farag and Mallin (2019) showed that the structure and composition of boards is usually determined by the characteristics of the company, its environment and its information needs. In general, board structures are usually the function of the costs and benefits of monitoring. This paper follows the example of Njekang and Afuge (2017) in Cameroon, who analysed the impact of corporate governance on the financial performance of credit unions. The interaction between good corporate governance practices and corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure, as a transparency mechanism, neither has been analysed extensively nor has the effect of this specific mechanism on financial performance (Jain and Jamali, 2016). Baumann and Nier (2004) greater disclosure reduces overall risk and boosts risk-adjusted returns. Galbreath (2006), meanwhile, reported that full and open disclosure via triple bottom line reporting enhances both transparency and accountability. These are all highly important topics in the current banking environment post the global financial crisis.\nReview of the literature: Governance in the banking industry changed dramatically in the 1990s because of significant changes in ownership that came about as a result of mergers and acquisitions (Arouri, 2011). A good system of corporate governance will facilitate the resolution of corporate conflicts between minority and controlling shareholders, between executives and shareholders and between shareholders and other stakeholders. Therefore, the key objective of efficient corporate governance is to protect the interests of shareholders and various other stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, employees and society at large, and to ensure full transparency and integrity in communication, while making available complete, accurate and clear disclosure to all the parties concerned (Shukla, 2008). The financial crisis of 2008-2009, which originated in the USA and affected most of developed economies, was at least partly the result of poor or loose corporate governance. The chief cause of the subprime mortgage crisis, which subsequently led to the global financial meltdown, was excessive risk taking. Excessive risk-taking hinges on the agency problem. Agency theory posits that a large board can be less efficient than a small board due to a rise in agency conflicts because of inefficient communication and cooperation costs (Jensen, 1993). However, Pfeffer (1972) noted that board size is positively linked to the performance of large firms. This is because large firms have a greater need for board members with diverse experience and expertise. Pathan and Faff (2013) studied the impact of board size on the performance of US BHCs for the period 1997-2011. The study indicated a negative relationship between board size and performance as estimated by Tobin's Q, return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and pre-tax operating income. In contrast, an analysis of 35 BHCs by Adams and Mehran (2012) for the period 1965-1999 concluded that board size is positively related to bank performance as estimated by Tobin's Q and ROA ratios. Similar results (indicative of a positive association between board size and performance) were also noted by Merendino and Melville (2019). A diversified board requires both executive and non-executive directors. Busta (2007) analysed the impact of non-executive directors on the decision-making process of a sample of European banks. The results indicated that there is a positive association between the presence on the board of non-executive directors and firm performance in terms of return on invested capital and market-to-book values. Moreover, Tanna et al. (2011) examined the impact of board independence on the performance, as estimated using various efficiency measures, of 17 UK banking institutions for the period 2001-2006, and found a positive and significant relationship between board independence and bank efficiency. However, according to the \"stewardship\" theory (Donaldson, 1990), there is no conflict between the interests of shareholders and managers. A wider study by Tandelilin et al. (2007) examined the correlation between corporate governance and risk management on the one hand and bank performance on the other, using a sample of 51 Indonesian banks for the period 1999-2004. The study revealed that bank ownership affects the relationship both between corporate governance and bank performance and corporate governance and risk management. Risk management refers to the process by which an organisation identifies and analyses threats, examines alternatives and accepts or mitigates those threats even before they begin to impede the activities of the organisation. Similarly, Culp (2008) argued that risk management is one of the key characteristics of successful companies, and that it enables firms to address risks through specific pre-planned activities. Kittipat and Nopadol (2014) analysed the relationship between risk management systems, performance measurement systems and the financial performance of Thai listed companies. The researchers collected data from individuals who were directly responsible for these systems, and the total number of respondents was 101. The results of the study suggested that risk management systems and performance measurement systems have a weak positive correlation with the financial performance of an organisation as measured by ROA, ROE and earnings per share.\nResearch methodology/approach: This study adopted a cross-sectional survey-based research design. This design is both exploratory and causal because it examines the relationships between variables and the effects of corporate governance indicators on financial performance. Principally, primary sources of data were used, acquired using well-structured questionnaires, which as the main research instrument were administered to the respondents. The respondents included board members, committee members, staff members and certain enlightened members of the financial institutions. All of the respondents had a financial background. Though not a time series study, some secondary data were also collected, mainly from the annual reports of the financial institutions, regarding their indicators of performance. The study population comprised 20 financial institutions in the City of London registered with the Ministry of Finance, which were selected using purposive sampling techniques. A total of ten respondents from each, involved in management (board and staff) or as members, were sampled, thus raising the total sample size to 200. All of the respondents were purposively selected to ensure that they had similar backgrounds and had experience in and knowledge of corporate governance, so that a basic common view could be garnered. We chose only banks in the UK (operating under the same legal framework) to limit the issue of heterogeneity. Therefore, the cross-sectional effects were not significant. Being a cross-sectional study, our data relate to 2018. Black et al. (2006) suggested one-year studies in governance research, as governance does not change radically over time (sticky governance). As the chosen financial institutions were of different size, we controlled for size before doing any meaningful analysis. We measured bank size using the natural logarithm of total assets.\nFindings: Our data were fairly distributed in terms of gender and position within the company. However, most (52 per cent) of the respondents were aged between 41 and 50. The reason for ensuring fairly distributed data is to avoid any skewness. As shown in Appendix 2, 56 per cent of the respondents had more than 10 years' experience in the banking industry. Examining the relationship that existed between the different indicators of corporate governance in this study was fundamental to explaining the impact of one on another. It is worth reiterating here that four indicators of corporate governance and three indicators of financial performance were used for this study. The retained questions were those that explained the different components of both corporate governance and financial performance. The results are presented in line with the principal component analysis (PCA) rankings of the components of corporate governance and financial performance, as shown in Table I. One of the diagnostic tests conducted on the variables was to assess the presence of multicollinearity. multicollinearity is where the correlation is above 0.75. The value of regular staff performance evaluations and their relationship with firm performance is well-documented in the literature (Kilduff et al., 2000; Higgs, 2005). Our results show a strong positive relationship between regular staff performance evaluation (RSPE) and regular defined cash ceiling (RDCC) (0.6110), implying that regular staff evaluations and the presence of credible guarantors in their files can greatly reduce the risk of poor cash management and unauthorised cheque withdrawals, thus improving overall cash management. Equally, if bank staff are trained and evaluated regularly (RSPE), inter-branch reconciliation is likely to be optimised (inter-bank reconciliation [RBI]), thus minimising possible fraud and errors. This explains the strong positive relationship between RSPE and RBI. The explanation is the same for all the values presented for the different relationships in Table I. This strong positive relationship is an indication that risk management is a fundamental indicator of corporate governance and affects financial performance. Table II presents the relationships that exist between the variables of the three different components cited above. It is worth noting that, in line with PCA component rankings, the strength of the relationship decreases as we move from one component to the other. The strength of the relationship, for instance, drops as we move from risk management to transparency and disclosure. The relationship between timely up-to-date report (TMUR) and asset acquisition procedures (TAAP) is a strong and positive one (0.5008), implying that regular reporting is required (TMUR) so that the members can closely monitor the relevant procedure and the quality of the assets acquired (TAAP). There is also a strong positive relationship (0.5109) between regular presentations of financial reports (TMUR) and the ability of the auditors to interpret those reports (audit monthly report [AMR]). According to the results, reporting (TMUR) is worthless if there is no regular monitoring by the auditors whereby the reports can be compared with actual results from the field. This explains the strong positive relationship (0.5041) between (TMUR) and (auditing, internal and external by-laws [AIEB]). Moreover, the presentation of monthly reports and regular monitoring by the auditors (AMR and AIEB) are strongly correlated to the evaluation of the value and quality of assets acquired (TAAP). This implies that, without regular monitoring and reporting, poor quality assets could be acquired at exorbitant prices with the aim of satisfying self-interests. Above all, regular monitoring (AMR) without regular reporting is worthless. This is confirmed by the strong positive relationship that links monitoring with reporting. Table III shows that there is a positive relationship between the separation of functions (Board committee and staff functions [BCSF]) and board mastery of reports and staff evaluation (Board mastery of reports [BMR] and Board evaluation of management staff [BEMS]). Staff evaluation can easily be captured from the report of activities carried out by the staff. This is consistent with the positive relationship that exists between BMR and BEMS.\nConclusion: Financial performance is one the indicators of the extent to which a firm is meeting the expectations of its shareholders. While satisfying the expectations of shareholders is important, there are also a number of other competing expectations from different stakeholders, satisfying which requires a delicate balancing act by the directors. Given that shareholders may not be directly involved in the day-to-day management of their firm, boards of directors act as stewardships. The results of this study indicate that variations in boards can significantly affect the quality of banks' loan portfolios, and thus their financial performance. As stewards, boards of directors are required to be transparent in their dealings. The results of this research indicate that transparency and disclosure can have a positive and significant effect on the financial performance of financial institutions. In the case of the London-based banks that were the subject of this study, it was found that as the level of disclosure and transparency in managerial affairs increased, their financial performance in terms of the quality of loan portfolios, liquidity and profitability also increased. One of the ways in which directors can be kept in check is through robust auditing, as external auditors effectively act as watchdogs for shareholders. The results of this study indicate that the level of auditing within financial institutions and the degree of compliance with banking regulations can boost the financial performance of such institutions.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of transparency and disclosure on the financial performance of financial institutions. The emphasis is on assessing transparency and disclosure; auditing and compliance; risk management as indicators of corporate governance; and understanding how these parameters affect bank profitability, liquidity and the quality of loan portfolios.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A sample of 20 financial institutions was selected, with ten respondents from each, yielding a total sample size of 200. Principal component analysis (PCA), with inbuilt ability to check for composite reliability, was used to obtain composite indices for the corporate governance indicators as well as the indicators of financial performance, based on a set of questions framed for each institution.\nFindings: The analysis demonstrates that greater disclosure and transparency, improved auditing and compliance and better risk management positively affect the financial performance of financial institutions. In terms of significance, the results show that as the level of disclosure and transparency in managerial affairs increases, the performance of financial institutions - as measured in terms of the quality of loan portfolios, liquidity and profitability - increases by 0.3046, with the effect being statistically significant at the 1 per cent level. Furthermore, as the level of auditing and the degree of compliance with banking regulations increases, the financial performance of banks improves by 0.3309.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper did not consider time series because corporate governance does not change periodically.\nPractical implications: This paper demonstrates the importance of disclosure and transparency in managerial affairs because the performance of financial institutions, as measured in terms of loan portfolios, liquidity and profitability, increases by 0.4 when transparency and disclosure improve, with this effect being statistically significant at the 1 per cent level.\nOriginality/value: The use of primary data in assessing the impact of corporate governance on financial performance, instead of secondary data, is the primary novelty of this study. Moreover, PCA is used to assess the weight of the various parameters.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Indonesian media politics, on reform era from 1998 to 2010
|
[
"Politics",
"Media Politics",
"Reform Era"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The development of the press in Indonesia works as one of the complex development of the newspaper that is influenced by the political system Indonesia. The development of Indonesian press system is divided into several periods; such as Orde Lama/the Old Order (1957-1965) and Orde Baru/the New Order (1965-1998).\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Welfare theory\n3. Research methods: This study is a qualitative descriptive which was drafted using the method of qualitative investigation using descriptive approach and library research, which gives an overview of the situation to obtain data based on observations on the site of investigation (Moleong; 2005). Denzin and Lincoln (in Moleong, 2005) stated that a qualitative inquiry intends to understand the phenomenon that is experienced by the investigations subject by which involves a variety of methods such as interviews, observation and the use of documents. According to Kriyantono (2006: 86), a qualitative research is subjective and does not intend to generalize, thus a qualitative investigation becomes more varied and flexible. That is, qualitative research has a freer systematics without compromising the purpose of the investigation.\n4. Result and discussion: 4.1 Mass media ownership in reform era in Indonesia of 1998 to 2010\n5. Conclusions and recommendations: Based on Downs's theory, political theory media takes the ideology of rational choice that is free from the subject. The political theory media developed Zaller is an extension of a study by Anthony Downs, An Economic Theory of Democracy. In 1957, Downs received the findings about the political process of the party competing for the support of rational voters. The findings in Downs' study can actually explain the most important different forms in democratic politics generally. But Downs theory does not almost mention journalists and do not give roles on reporters independent in politics. In a study done by Zaller, it formulated a theoretical role of journalists in a democratic system. Specifically, Zaller argued that a political expert in expanding the space and influence to communicate with voters, at least in some masses through the professionalism of journalists who have an interest to give a voice and a role to readers (Zaller, 1999).\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the dynamics of the Indonesian press since the reform era in 1998 to 2010 indirectly will see the relationship between the political systems of government with a media system in Indonesia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is a qualitative descriptive which was drafted using the method of qualitative investigation using descriptive approach and library research, which gives an overview of the situation to obtain data based on observations on the site of investigation.\nFindings: Based on Downs's theory, political theory media takes the ideology of rational choice that is free from the subject. The political theory media developed Zaller is an extension of a study byAnthony Downs, An Economic Theory of Democracy. In 1957, Downs received the findings about the political process of the party competing for the support of rational voters. The findings in Downs' study can actually explain the most important different forms in democratic politics generally. But Downs theory does not almost mention journalists and do not give roles on reporters independent in politics.\nOriginality/value: Dynamics of the Indonesian press since the reform era in 1998 to 2010 indirectly will see the relationship between the political systems of government with a media system in Indonesia. Many media companies set up businesses on newspapers or media even existing media companies to get stronger by establishing giant company or large media group. The originality for this paper shows the comprehensively political economy of media, media politics and research location which is conducted in Indonesia.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Co-designing food waste services in the catering sector
|
[
"Recycling",
"Food waste",
"Action research",
"Discourse analysis",
"Qualitative survey"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: 1.1 The landscape of food waste in the UK\n2. Literature review: The literature on surplus food and food waste in the catering industry was reviewed according to three perspectives:\n3. Materials and methods: 3.1 Methodology: action research\n4. Results: In total, 79 out of a population of 95 approached businesses responded to the survey (83 per cent response rate). Table II outlines the demographic characteristics of survey respondents. The participating businesses were located in the following areas: city centre (39.2 per cent), Gloucester Road (40.5 per cent) and Easton (20.3 per cent). The smaller sample size in Easton reflects the size of the area. They characterised themselves as the following: restaurants (29.1 per cent), pubs (12.7 per cent), cafes (30.4 per cent), fast food takeaways (22.8 per cent) and bakeries (5 per cent).\n5. Discussion: 5.1 The unexpected and unprompted\n6. Conclusions: This paper presented results of the exploratory action research project investigating commercial food waste collection services in Bristol. The aim of action research is finding out which policies and interventions would work in a particular context. By bringing together researchers and practitioners, the study can draw evidence for co-designed policies supported by the democratic voices and academic theory.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present results from the action research project, where sustainability professionals, local businesses and academic researchers collaborated on exploring barriers for food waste recycling in SMEs food outlets in order to inform local policy and business practices in Bristol, UK.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The researchers conducted face-to-face, qualitative surveys of 79 catering businesses in three diverse areas of the city. The action research methodology was applied, where a range of co-researchers contributed towards study design and review.\nFindings: The research reveals the main barriers to recycling and how such perceptions differ depending on whether the respondents do or do not recycle, with \"convenience\" and \"cost\" being the main issue according to the already recycling participants. On the other hand, participants who do not recycle state that their main reason is \"not enough waste\" and \"lack of space\".\nPractical implications: Participants recommended a range of measures, which could improve the current food waste services in Bristol. For example, they suggest that business engagement should address the barriers voiced by the participants applying the framings used by them, rather than assuming restaurants and cafes are not aware of the issue. By inviting a variety of non-academic stakeholders into the process of research design and analysis, the project addressed the imbalances in knowledge production and policy design.\nOriginality/value: Despite the local and qualitative focus of this paper, the results and research methodology could act as a useful guide for conducting food waste action research in the policy context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Widening the focus of CSR: Why training and development is crucial
|
[
"Corporate social responsibility",
"Training and development",
"Organizational strategy",
"Human resource development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nA much broader concept: The notion of what constitutes corporate social responsibility (CSR) has changed much since first emerging in the 1960s. Initial demand for companies to develop socially acceptable financial systems has expanded into the all-encompassing CSR construct that prevails today.\nA thorough approach to CSR: Many observers assert that effective CSR relies on it being properly embedded into the \"strategies, processes, and cultures\" of the firm. Without sufficient integration, likelihood is that understanding of CSR efforts will be limited. Lack of awareness among individuals and departments makes implementing policies a more demanding task.\nThe critical role of HRD: In this regard, several scholars believe that Human Resource Development (HRD) has a central part to play. This is especially the case within the organization, where lack of awareness serves to impede comprehension. Firms that utilize the capabilities of HRD professionals to circulate CSR information become better placed to:\nKey areas for training and development: Alert managers will recognize that trends evolve where CSR programs are concerned. While norms and benchmarks must be established, any such developments should be considered as part of T&D that is tailored to meet specific requirements of the organization.\nComment: The review is based on: \"Advancing organizational corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda: Implications for training and development\" by Miller and Akdere (2019), published in European Journal of Training and Development. Businesses are faced with increasing demands as the scope of corporate social responsibility (CSR) evolves and becomes wider. Critical human resource development (HRD) input and suitably focused training and development can enable an organization to face these challenges and satisfy diverse stakeholder needs.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The widening scope of corporate social responsibility (CSR) means that business organizations face a widening array of demands. But input from human resource development (HRD) combined with appropriate training and development programs can help companies to successfully meet these challenges and satisfy the requirements of their diverse stakeholder groups.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: The widening scope of corporate social responsibility (CSR) means that business organizations face a widening array of demands. But input from human resource development (HRD) combined with appropriate training and development programs can help companies to successfully meet these challenges and satisfy the requirements of their diverse stakeholder groups.\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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] |
Developing a knowledge-based safety culture instrument for construction industry: Reliability and validity assessment in Indian context
|
[
"Knowledge management",
"Construction",
"Questionnaire survey",
"Construction safety"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Safety in the workplace of construction projects is essential and requires more attention toward minimizing accident rates. Most developed countries perform better than most developing countries in terms of occupational safety metrics (Lin et al., 2008). Accidents and fatalities continue to haunt safety, health and well-being of construction personnel (Gurcanli and Mungen, 2013; Hassanzadeh-Rangi et al., 2014; Khosravi et al., 2014), especially in developing countries. In this regard, many policies and strategies are being implemented for improving safety performance in construction industries worldwide. However, problems concerning awareness of safety risks, procedures and practices still exist in the industry, which indicates a shortfall in safety-related knowledge diffusion in construction industry. These problems are intensified by the nature of work, the people engaged in work and the organization's management system. Implementation of knowledge management for accumulating, storing, sharing and transferring knowledge related to safety is identified as an approach that could lead to continual improvement in worker safety and development of broader workplace safety culture in construction industry (Podgorski, 2010; Jarvis et al., 2014; Gopang et al., 2017).\n2. Literature review: The review of literature aims to define the concept of safety culture and knowledge management in construction industry. Further, the importance of knowledge management in safety culture studies is addressed. At last, factors affecting knowledge-based safety culture are highlighted.\n3. Research method: In order to assess safety culture, both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used by many researchers. Some studies on safety culture concerning the use of qualitative methods include: interviews and focus group discussions (Cox and Cheyne, 2000), ethnographic studies (Gherardi and Nicolini, 2002; Aboagye-Nimo et al., 2015; Oswald, 2017), discourse analysis (Sherratt et al., 2013) and case studies (Umar and Egbu, 2018). Quantitative methods numerically measure or score safety culture through surveys (Mohamed, 2002) and experiments (Vecchio-Sadus and Griffiths, 2004). In safety culture research, questionnaire has been the predominant measurement instrument (Guldenmund, 2000; Gadd and Collins, 2002). Although, the usefulness of surveys to expose the core of safety culture is questionable (Antonsen, 2009; Guldenmund, 2010), they are helpful in exposing the attitudes that are shared throughout the whole of the organization (Guldenmund, 2007). However, questionnaire surveys have been widely used to study safety culture because of ease to perform at the least cost expense (Dedobbeleer and Beland, 1991; Mearns et al., 2003; McDonald et al., 2009; Zohar, 2010; Chen and Jin, 2012). In construction sites, assessing safety culture with the use of questionnaire can provide reliable prediction of level of overall safety culture that seeks improvement in identifying cultural dimensions within the context of organization process and structure (Fang and Wu, 2013). The best way to begin an examination of assessing knowledge-based safety culture is to embrace procedures established in previous studies, with an attempt to adapt it in the Indian context. Earlier studies showed the importance and benefits of knowledge management in improving the safety performance of construction industry. Hence, the present study aims at investigating the process of developing a safety culture questionnaire in the Indian context and methods to assess knowledge-based safety culture which has never been addressed earlier. For this study, the questionnaire survey gathers opinion on important factors in consideration to develop overall safety culture and these data are collected from construction professionals from several parts of the nation. The following sections present the detailed methodology adopted regarding questionnaire survey development and administration, demographics of survey respondents, reliability and validity of the measurement scale, data analysis and discussion of results.\n4. Results of analysis: Data collected from the respondents were analyzed using SPSS v.21. The detailed results are discussed in this section.\n5. Discussion: In this paper, the focus has been to identify and develop a knowledge-based safety culture measurement tool and apply it to an industrial setting, i.e., Indian construction industry, and report evidence of reliability and validity of the scale. Further, factors have been characterized by indicating the strength and weakness of the aspects they intend to represent.\n6. Implications: Up until now, there has been no study that focuses on the influence of knowledge as a key dimension to improve safety culture in construction industry. In this study, a questionnaire is developed for investigation in the Indian context. Moreover, the instrument can be used to identify differences between organizations and also within the organizations for determining as to which of the dimensions have significant influence in comparison to other dimensions. The importance of knowledge management as a dimension enables professionals and discipline experts to share collective data from lessons learned and best practices and to collaborate on real-time issues across time zones. Knowledge gained through safety task assessment and implementation is recorded and applied to future projects to increase the organization's safety management capability and maturity. In other words, companies can apply knowledge management and feedback mechanism to close the loop of the safety management process by disseminating knowledge gained from each project to improve safety knowledge and performance on future projects (Zou, 2010). Development of knowledge-based safety culture survey instrument relevant to construction professionals provides a means to identify critical factors among different stakeholders and ultimately provide a benchmarking mechanism to compare the level of safety culture in construction projects.\n7. Limitations and future scope of study: There are certain limitations of the present study. First, the study adopts a cross-sectional approach to collect and analyze the survey data. Second, most of the data collected from the survey is from large-size companies. Therefore, their views may not be the same as that of medium- and small-size companies. Also, the study considers responses from small-size companies with employees less than 200, which also includes micro companies (less than ten employees). However, the study does not differentiate the above two classifications and treats them as small-size companies. These small-size companies do not generally contribute to shaping safety culture with effective knowledge exchange. This is because, these companies have a very different culture, and a very different approach is required to manage and improve occupational safety, and therefore do not contribute toward organization learning process. At last, the scope is limited to registered members of the indexed construction companies. Despite these limitations, the study has revealed certain important implications concerning both theoretical and practical significance.\n8. Conclusions: Safety culture study is essential and necessary as it is a part of organizational culture and focuses on improving safety aspects of the organization. Moreover, existing safety culture models only address three dimensions (person, behavior and organization), ignoring knowledge dimension. Studies on integrating knowledge management practices in safety culture aspects have never been conducted before. Hence, this study focuses on identifying key factors that influence knowledge-based safety culture pertaining to construction industry. A questionnaire-based survey instrument was employed as an assessment method to understand the level of knowledge-based safety culture in construction industry. The developed questionnaire can be used as a measurement tool in construction industry.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Harnessing the power of knowledge management is important for minimizing accidents occurring at construction projects. Yet, knowledge management is a neglected dimension when developing safety culture in the construction industry. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop a knowledge-based safety culture questionnaire and examine its validity and reliability in the Indian context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey was formulated after identifying 69 influencing factors from a thorough literature review. In total, 210 valid responses were obtained from key stakeholders operating in Indian construction industry. Reliability and validity of the measurement scale were examined by factor analysis and inter-item correlation test. Comparison of knowledge-based safety culture scores across several demographic profiles of the respondents was utilized for testing discriminant validity.\nFindings: Results suggest that the new instrument appears to be a reliable, valid and sensitive instrument that will contribute in examining the effect of key factors that influence the importance of the knowledge dimension toward developing safety culture in the construction industry.\nOriginality/value: The measurement tool developed in this study focuses on considering the importance of knowledge management in enhancing safety culture of the construction industry. This instrument can be utilized to compare the level of safety culture among key stakeholders of construction projects. This paper can contribute to the promotion of safety theory in Indian construction industry and provide practical implications for construction enterprises when they engage in improving safety conditions in their organizations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Assessing the outcomes of Generation-Y customers' loyalty
|
[
"Customer loyalty",
"Behaviour",
"Austria"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: For several years now the banking sector has been undergoing changes triggered by regulatory, structural, and technological factors (Angur et al., 1999). Financial institutions are constantly experiencing pressure to increase their profitability as a result of low growth and more intense competition (Thwaites and Vere, 1995) in their target markets. This cut-throat competition has weakened customer relationships. In addition to offensive strategies for acquiring new customers, defensive strategies meant to strengthen customer loyalty and provide cross-selling opportunities have become important (Miles, 1994). Developing and maintaining customer loyalty is important particularly in the service sector because loyalty results in increased profits through repeat patronage, less price sensitivity, and positive word-of-mouth. This makes it an important determinant of market share and profitability (Meidan, 1996; Jones and Sasser, 1995). In order to achieve customer loyalty, banks must be aware of those factors that lead to customer satisfaction and ultimately, to customer loyalty (Pont and McQuilken, 2005). Previous studies, however, indicate that loyalty may vary among different customer segments (e.g., Molina et al., 2007). Consequently, the need to identify segments that are prone to be more loyal has become a critical issue for banks (Harrison, 1994; Speed and Smith, 1992).Sometimes, it is possible to \"grow\" a segment. This occurs when the initial targeted segment is deemed to be not profitable or marginally profitable but changes into a profitable one over time.One customer segment receiving greater attention in the financial sector is the youth market - particularly Generation Y. This is due to the fact that these young people have substantial discretionary buying power relative to their incomes. Given the intensive competition that they face for older customers, many banks are seeking to acquire young people as customers early on and, above all, to retain them over time. Generation Y is a particularly attractive segment as it is the largest demographic group in many developed countries and is also a highly lucrative segment (Josefowicz, 2003; Solomon, 2007). Moreover, reaching young people at an early age often forms the basis for a relationship upon which other services may be cross-sold over time as a deeper and a more profitable relationship is engendered. (Thwaites and Vere, 1995).Nevertheless, the youth market is not homogenous (Lewis and Bingham, 1991; Bartlett, 2004). Consequently, it is important to examine the characteristic features of the individual sub-groups and use this information to develop strategies addressed to the various segments. With this in mind, this study analyzes the differences among customer groups from Generation Y divided by age and occupation as well as the determinants of their satisfaction with their banking relationships. Additionally, this empirical study investigates whether these customer groups differ significantly in terms of customer loyalty, share of wallet, and behavioral intentions.\nTheoretical background: Seeking competitive advantage through product differentiation in the banking industry is increasingly difficult today. This is due to the fact that product and service offerings offered by one bank are very quickly copied by competing banks (Devlin, 1995; Samli and Frohlich, 1992; Duncan and Elliott, 2002, 2004). This forces banks to find new ways and opportunities of identifying and developing customer relationships and enhancing loyalty (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2002). As a result, interest in the determinants of customer loyalty, such as quality of service and customer satisfaction, is quite high (e.g. Yavas and Shemwell, 1996; Worcester, 1997).Customer satisfaction\nResearch methodology: Sampling frame, instrument development, and data collection\nSurvey findings: The results showed that the 10 to 14 age group was the most satisfied with their bank. There was a clear tendency that indicated the older the respondents, the less satisfied they were; although the level of satisfaction was still relatively high. In comparison, customer loyalty yielded higher values than customer satisfaction and was, thus, less developed. In addition, customer loyalty dropped as the respondents got older - at a faster rate than the decline in customer satisfaction. Behavioral intention (i.e. intention to recommend and to purchase other products or not to switch banks) changed in the course of time, but not as dramatically as customer loyalty (see Table II).Opening an account\nConclusion and managerial implications: Satisfaction and loyalty are critical issues for any service industry (Pont and McQuilken, 2005). This study examined satisfaction, loyalty, share of wallet, and the behavioral intentions of young customers of retail banks. One of the special features of the present study is that bank customers in the 10 to 14 age group were also included in the sample. This age group is of particular interest to banks, even though it is likely to be unprofitable or marginally profitable at the onset, because of the potential to develop them early on into loyal customers that can eventually translate into substantial profits down the road. The results indicate that there are differences among the different subgroups in the determinants of customer satisfaction. Moreover, this study found that while satisfaction has a relationship with loyalty for all groups, the intensity of the loyalty varied by group. The outcome of testing the linkage between customer loyalty and behavioral intentions by group varied with some groups displaying a significant relationship and others, not at all.In terms of the managerial implications of this study, the study found that young bank customers in general felt more satisfied when they received personal attention. This result runs counter to the prevailing idea that young people prefer alternative (i.e. electronic) ways of banking over traditional modes. This represents an opportunity for banks to inform these young clients of their different products and services as they move from one life cycle stage to the next.Whereas the locational convenience factor was found in several studies to be an antecedent of customer satisfaction (Thwaites and Vere, 1995), this relationship was not supported by the current study. A possible explanation for this is that ATM networks that allow one to withdraw anywhere even though it is not one's bank, has negated locational convenience as a determinant of customer satisfaction.In three of the four models analyzed, satisfaction with products and services had a significant relationship with customer satisfaction. This study also found that if customer satisfaction is high, young bank customers are more likely to be loyal to their bank; furthermore, they are more likely to recommend their bank and to make use of further bank products and services (cross-buying). They are also less likely to switch banks. An examination of the share of wallet, which is considered to be an indicator of customer loyalty, yielded different results when related to behavioral intentions. Whereas customer loyalty had a highly significant association with behavioral intentions in all models, share of wallet only had an impact on behavioral intentions in two models. One plausible reason for this result is that the younger groups had less service needs and resources than those in the older groups. Consequently, their share of wallet is relatively smaller.Limitations and suggestions for further research\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine what factors influence the satisfaction, loyalty, and behavioral intentions of the members of Generation Y with regard to their banking needs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using a multiple-item survey instrument, 242 Austrian respondents were queried on what factors affect their satisfaction, loyalty, and behavioral intentions. Factor analysis and regression analysis are employed in the study.\nFindings: - The study finds differences among the three age groups contained in Generation Y in terms of their sources of information, financial services used, likelihood of switching, and number of banks utilized. In addition, determinants of satisfaction, loyalty, and behavioral intention are primarily affected by satisfaction with employees and services rendered. The results indicate that as young people reach certain milestones, their needs become more multifaceted. Consequently, the determinants of satisfaction also change.\nOriginality/value: - This paper treats Generation Y as a heterogeneous group rather than homogeneous as many studies usually treat this age cohort. Moreover, given that many banks are trying to \"grow\" markets, this study looks at how the determinant factors change from one stage to another. Financial institutions will benefit from the insight derived from this paper in crafting their marketing strategies. It indicates what seems to be important to each age group in increasing their satisfaction level.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The impact of altruistic attribution and brand equity in food label campaigns
|
[
"Attribution theory",
"Altruism",
"Brand equity",
"Signalling theory",
"Food labels"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Various food labels have been developed in recent years to meet the growing consumer demand for food quality and safety (Aprile et al., 2012; Zepeda et al., 2013). Labels or signals communicate attributes that cannot be observed in the consumption experience (Rao et al., 1999; Washburn et al., 2004). A 2010 inventory by the European Commission found at least 424 different food labels in commercial use, in the European market alone, to certify particular characteristics of a product or a production mode (European Commission, 2010). These labels, with and without certification (Zepeda et al., 2013), mainly address organic farming (Cesar Machado et al., 2015), origin of product (Brodie and Benson-Rea, 2016), traceability (Bradu et al., 2014), environmental management (Pancer et al., 2017), nutrition (Nocella et al., 2014), Fair Trade (Cater et al., 2017), animal welfare (Van Loo et al., 2014) and food safety factors such as non-use of antibiotics (Ortega et al., 2014) or pesticides (Bauer et al., 2013).\n2. Literature review and hypotheses: Figure 1 presents the conceptual framework of the study.\n3. Methodology: To verify the study hypotheses, a 2 x 2 between-group factorial experimental design was used: 2 levels of brand equity (high/low) x 2 levels of altruistic attribution (high/low). This research allowed control over three main aspects:\n4. Results: 4.1 Structural model analysis\n5. Implications for theory and practice: The primary aim of this study is to analyse the impact of two determinants of purchase intention in food label campaigns: altruistic attribution and brand equity. An experiment was conducted with 602 respondents, in which the levels of altruistic attribution and brand equity were manipulated. Three main findings emerge from the study.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of two determinants of purchase intention in food label campaigns: altruistic attribution and brand equity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A 2 x 2 between-group factorial experimental design was used, with 2 levels of altruistic attribution (high/low) and 2 levels of brand equity (high/low). The product used for the study was pork chops. A survey was conducted on 602 respondents representing the population of Quebec, Canada.\nFindings: Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate the fit of the data with the proposed mod el. The results demonstrate that altruistic attribution and brand equity have an indirect impact on purchase intention via perceptions of taste and food safety. Altruistic attribution, but not brand equity, also has a direct impact on purchase intention.\nResearch limitations/implications: The experiment in this study was conducted via an online consumer panel to increase internal validity. As a result, one of the limitations of the study concerns its external validity.\nPractical implications: This research provides strategic guidelines for businesses or organisations that wish to develop food label campaigns. They must simultaneously consider both altruistic attribution and pre-existing brand equity.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating the impact of altruistic attribution and brand equity on purchase intention in the context of food label campaigns. The study mobilises attribution theory and the multidimensional consumer-based brand equity scale.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Integrating blended teaching and learning to enhance graduate attributes
|
[
"Learning",
"Graduates",
"Computer based learning",
"Teaching",
"Business environment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The postgraduate business education market both nationally and internationally is defined by informed and focused students; the dynamics of this segment of the education market is shaped by an ever increasing number of providers from both the private and public institutions offering various business degrees and courses. Course content and design of courses are contextualized in a dynamic global business environment. Globalization has transformed contemporary business practice. Business education needs to come to terms with a developing global environment that has impacted on business demographics and culture, which demands a change in managerial skills to lead sustainable enterprises. These changes have challenged educators to reassess course learning goals, outcomes and graduate attributes.In the past decade course design tended to embrace an \"in depth\" knowledge methodology which examined specific subjects or functional disciplines or business models, arguably equipped students for a life-long career. The advent of the twenty-first century heralded a new approach to course design and learning outcomes emphasizing the acquisition of broader generic management skills. Arguably these attributes equipped graduates with the necessary skills for movement between different business sectors and industries. Feedback from recent focus groups, and surveys conducted with senior business leaders, practitioners and alumni suggest that, there has been another shift. Essential skills for future high order leadership are listed as, problem solving skills. Managing flexible environments, utilizing technology effectively with the capacity for innovation in new market and technological contexts and are attributes highly valued.To enhance the extent to which learning and teaching can transcend subject disciplinary approaches to develop an integrative analysis of complex business problems, utilizing technological support to achieve a total business perspective and to enhance staff understanding of these skills and how best to facilitate them in learning and teaching, also requires to achieve more consistency and integration in the use of case studies, business projects, simulations and other computer applications in each disciplinary field to build on existing student experiences and capabilities to achieve more robust graduate attributes.\nTraditional vs integrative blended teaching and learning: Traditional methods of teaching and learning all have their strengths and limitations. Various authors recognize that traditional teaching methods - lecture, textbook and case study - on their own are not able to contribute towards the development of important high order management skills. For example:Lecture/Textbook\nPedagogical applications: learning theory applied in simulations: Experiential learning\nMediating technology that acts as a teaching framework: According to Arias-Aranda (2007), from a teaching perspective, business simulations act as a \"mediating\" technology that acts a teaching framework in the form of \"game rules\": in this way learning is achieved in two phases. First, participants have to decide which decisions fit better with their final goal, that is, to win the competition and become the virtual firm with the highest accumulated profit; second they have to consider how the decisions of the other participants are going to affect their own decisions; and reinforces learning through the feedback obtained when the decisions are processed and the results are made available to the participants. This process allows participants to modify and improve their decisions according to previous experience and it is demonstrated in Figure 4.From a learning perspective, simulations provides opportunities for the development of high order thinking skills as per Bloom's taxonomy. Educational outcomes have adopted Boom's taxonomy of learning objectives to follow the thinking process and develop high order level thinking skills and by identifying the cognitive domain and the stages within them it distinguish more clearly a particular learning outcome being pursued as well as the degree to which the outcome has been accomplished. Students are not simply passive receivers of information or memorizing information but are actively involved in the creation of the process, and as a simulation react to the user's input and requires more than one than one interaction, they assist learners to develop critical thinking skills that might otherwise be difficult to acquire using traditional methods' (De Freitas and Jarvis, 2007), by experiencing real business complex situations simulations confront students with changes to the business and its environment over time-scales that match the firm's circumstances; and provide an opportunity to play out the theory in the context of developing business scenarios (Cadotte, 1995). Providing an environment that is experimental, experiential and rigorous that promotes creativity among the participants who develop a shared view of their learning (Gilgeous and D'Cruz, 1996). Practicing business skills in this environment, offers the potential to develop high order managerial skills as students and their teams have the opportunity to work either as top managers or entrepreneurs, increase their business acumen and knowledge, understand to survey the market, identify and evaluate market opportunities, design and execute a business plan, monitor their own performance, and that of the competition and adjust their strategy and tactics as necessary (Cadotte, 1995; Romme, 2002; Anderson and Lawton, 2004).Further, students develop cross functional decision making skills as business simulations in strategy particularly, aim at consolidating knowledge about the different aspects of running a company, they encourage the development of cross functional skills, as participants apply core business skills to problem analysis and decision making and learn to use information effectively Annetta et al. (2007). They become involved in analyzing the revenue-cost profit economics of a business by helping to understand how the functional pieces of a business fit together. It gives opportunities for the students to experience and practice assessing business risk, analyze industry and competition conditions, making decisions from a company wide perspective, thinking strategically about a company's market position and the kinds of actions it will take to improve it, developing strategies and revising them in light of changing conditions (Anitsal and Cadotte, 2007; Arias-Aranda, 2007; Cameron, 2003).\nBridging the gap: Computer based business simulations are not meant to replace lectures but to support them, Gilgeous and D'Cruz (1996), states that information from lectures can be used in games to deepen a person's understanding of them as, \"numerous concepts can be dealt with in one game, so that instead of just learning about one thing; the whole subject can be explored; this is far more interesting and promotes a larger scope of learning,\" and propose that business simulation games, as case studies, \"can also represent a snapshot of a hypothetical company controlled by the designer, the model that is designed can be used to generate any outcome from any possible solution proposed. In this way, participants can learn about the quality of their decisions directly and see how decisions can result on constraints on future decisions\". The advantages of a model that allows different approaches, as in gaming, is that the game can be repeated or restarted with new ideas., whereas a case study can only really be used once.The literature states that computer assisted simulation learning if implemented properly can be very advantageous. For example, computer facilitated activities to support learning lies not so much in the technology as in what teachers do with the available technologies (Onchwari et al., 2009), and can potentially change the role of the instructor from the main source of information and power to a partner/facilitator of learning.But while implementing these technologies to enhance the tutorial aspects of an educational experience of which computer assisted learning is a part, ample opportunity must be afforded the student to interact with fellow students and explore learning in greater depth under the guidance of tutors and lecturers. Addressing these issues of \"going beyond\" and \"interacting\" is important if the potential of computer assisted learning for teaching and learning in higher education is to be fully realized above and beyond the mere enhancements in the quantity and quality of presentation of information (Rainbow and Sadler-Smith, 2003). Institution should clearly articulate its learning objectives and then place a high priority on including curriculum redesign in the planning process for new learning spaces. Faculty who are genuinely engaged in pedagogy, along with others who are concerned with the teaching and learning aspects of the space, should play a central, not peripheral, role in planning groups (Lippincott, 2009).Anderson and Lawton (2004), noted that it is important to make a distinction between the goal of the goal of the simulation and the teaching learning goal, as there is plenty of evidence to suggest that, since performance should not be used as a proxy for learning, there is no relationship between game performance and learning, as in some cases students can be successful in the game while a learning test does not reveal an increase in knowledge (Summers, 2004), and because the student does not have to be successful in the simulation to learn.There is a proliferating number of business simulations on the educational market, competing in terms of the levels and skills involved in the simulation. Some simulations are aimed at enhancing business decision-making skills in a macro-economic global market environment. Other simulations are more based on interpersonal skill development in sectoral or micro-economic business contexts (Figure 5).There are now business simulations available across the disciplines of the curriculum, and others aimed at inter-disciplinary analysis. Selecting the right business simulation entails a consideration of the scope and complexity of the simulation, and whether the skills to be developed are functional or involve general management decision-making. The increasing array of business simulations offers some choice, and increasingly simulations offer a degree of customization (Table II). Further development of the responsiveness and relevance of business simulations will contribute to their wider use in delivering the business curriculum.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of computer based business simulations in higher education as innovative tools of teaching and learning to enhance students' practical understanding of real business problems. Whether the integration of business simulation technologies will enable significant innovation in teaching and learning and will significantly enhance the quality and efficiency of traditional management teaching and learning methods is to be examined.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Previous research has established that simulations can be an effective integrative learning mechanism for the student participant seeking to understand management concepts, techniques and practices. A number of prominent training institutions have adopted simulations in order to increase business acumen, financial literacy and build competency.\nFindings: - The research carried out seems to confirm that simulations can be powerful, engaging, dynamic and effective teaching and learning tools. The immersive worlds of simulations can be designed to replicate actual economic, market and business events where students experiment in real time with alignment and commitment surrounding complex corporate strategies, business models and initiatives.\nOriginality/value: - To achieve the required convergence of the business curriculum, the paper suggests that a broad-based integrative approach needs to be adopted to overcome the silo effect of supply driven disciplinary models, which have traditionally prevailed in business education.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Expatriate-local interactions: an investigation in China
|
[
"Host country nationals",
"Expatriates",
"Role information",
"Social support",
"Social interaction",
"China"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the last two decades, China has become a major global player and now boasts the world's third largest economy, serves as the second largest global exporter behind Germany (Chan, 2010) and holds membership in the World Trade Organization (Fok et al., 2005). One outcome of this economic growth has been the influx of multinational corporations (MNCs) from around the world setting up shop in China. As a corollary, these organizations need large numbers of expatriates from their home countries to help establish and manage their new operations. However, the literature is replete with stories of expatriate failure (e.g. Stroh et al., 2005), and organizations continue to struggle to find the right formula for expatriate success.In this connection, Mezias and Scandura (2005) and Toh and DeNisi (2007) have argued that host country nationals (HCNs) can play a critical role in the successful adjustment of expatriates by providing the expatriate with social support, the lack of which can often hinder the expatriates' adjustment in the host country (Varma et al., 2006).HCNs and expatriate success\nHypotheses development: Chinese culture and expatriates\nMethod: Data for this study were collected through contacts in the Beijing office of four multinational corporations. The contacts were ex-students of the first author and worked in the human resource departments of these organizations. The survey instruments (described in the following) were provided to the contacts, who distributed them among managerial employees in their offices. The cover page of the questionnaire explained the purpose of the study, and in addition to urging the participants to complete the surveys, clarified that all data were anonymous and that all responses would be aggregated for purposes of analyses. The participants were also provided a stamped envelope addressed to a contact of the first author (another ex-student), to allow them to mail the completed surveys.A total of 222 completed surveys were received. Of the participants 48 percent were male and 52 percent were female. The participants' average age was 31.7 years, and they had an average of nine years of full-time work experience. Of the participants 51 percent (n=113) held Bachelor's degrees, 47 percent (n=104) held Master's degrees, and 2 percent (n=5) held Doctoral degrees. In total, 22 percent listed themselves as working in senior management, 48 percent reported middle management, and 30 percent listed themselves as junior management.This study was designed as a between-subjects study, manipulating two factors, country of origin of expatriate (the US or India) and gender. As such, participants received one of four versions of the survey questionnaire. In condition 1, the expatriate was a male from the US; in condition 2, the expatriate was a male from India; in condition 3, the expatriate was a female from the US; in condition 4, the expatriate was a female from India. The other biographical information about the expatriate (e.g. education and experience) was kept constant in all four conditions.The survey questionnaire provided participants with basic information about a foreigner (i.e. expatriate) as a potential co-worker. Participants were asked to keep the potential expatriate co-worker in mind as they responded to the questions on measures of perceived values similarity, dogmatism, ethnocentrism, and the likelihood that they would provide role information and social support to the expatriate. In addition, we included questions on demographics as well as control variables. These included questions about: age, gender, education, and management level, as well as questions about how long they had worked in multinational corporations, how long they had worked closely with expatriates, and how often they socialized with expatriates, outside of work.To ensure that the terms used in the English version of the questionnaire had equivalent terms in Chinese, we used the \"independent back-translation\" method suggested by Brislin (1980). As such, the survey was first translated into Chinese, and then back to English, by two different individuals who were both proficient in the two languages and were not associated with this study. Barring three words on the dogmatism scale (which were subsequently modified), and a few prepositions, the two English versions of the survey were almost identical.It should be noted that all our data were collected from our participants at the same point and through a single instrument. As such, this study potentially suffers from common method bias. In order to address this issue, we drew on the recommendations of Podsakoff et al. (2003) to try and minimize such bias. First, we made every effort to ensure that the participants were convinced of the anonymity of their responses by clearly detailing this in bold on the cover sheet of the questionnaire. Next, the questionnaires were distributed to the individual participants through our contacts in the organizations, and they were allowed to mail these back to an independent individual not connected with the study. The self-addressed envelopes provided to the potential participants had the recipient's address listed in the space where the sender's address is typically written, thus eliminating the need for the participants to put down their names/addresses. In addition, we also noted very clearly that all data would be combined for analytical purposes and that individual responses would never be analyzed or discussed. Finally, our analyses were conducted keeping in view the potential of common method bias.Measures\nResults: In Table I, we report the means, standard deviations, and correlations of the study variables. Value similarity is positively correlated with dogmatism (r=0.15, p < 0.05). Ethnocentrism is correlated with role information (r=0.32, p < 0.01), and role information is correlated with social support (r=0.45, p < 0.01).The relationships between the variables in the model are tested using regression analysis as well as structural equation modeling (SEM). As a first step, all control variables were regressed on dogmatism. None of the correlations between the seven control variables (age, gender, education, MNC work experience, working with expatriates, length of work experience with expatriates, and socialization with expatriates) and dogmatism was statistically significant; control variables were, thus, eliminated from further analyses.H1, H2, H3 and H4 were tested through regression analysis (please see Table II). As shown in Table II, perceived values similarity was positively related to dogmatism (b=0.21, p < 0.05). Similarly, dogmatism was positively related to ethnocentrism (b=0.23, p < 0.05). Ethnocentrism, in turn, was positively related to role information (b=0.41, p < 0.05), and social support (b=0.41, p < 0.05). H1, H2, H3 and H4 were supported.In order to estimate the structural model and relationships between the variables as hypothesized, we applied AMOS 4.0 SEM procedure (Arbuckle and Wothke, 1999). The maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) algorithm is used to determine the fit indices. We report Goodness-of-Fit Index (GFI) and the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) as the absolute fit measure (Byrne, 2001). We also report the Incremental Fit Index (IFI), the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), and the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), indices that indicate a comparison between the hypothesized model and the model with maximum constraints. Finally, we accepted the normed chi-square value as an acceptable measure of fit. According to Hair et al. (1998), the recommended fit values for GFI, IFI, TLI and CFI are > 0.90. Likewise, while an RMSEA of 0.0 indicates perfect fit, values that are < 0.07 are considered good fits. The range of the normed chi-square is generally accepted as 1.00 < normed chi-square < 3.00 (Hair et al., 1998). Finally, we report the Adjusted Goodness-of-Fit (AGFI) as well as the Parsimony-adjusted Goodness-of-Fit (PGFI) measures.Table III shows the fit measures of the proposed model. For the model as depicted in Figure 1, the normed kh2 value is 1.23. The GFI is 0.91, which is above the recommended value. IFI is equal to 0.98, the TLI value is 0.96, and the CFI value is 0.97. These are also above the recommended values for the respective indices. With the threshold value of RMSEA being 0.07, the value of RMSEA for the proposed model is 0.03. Finally, the AGFI and the PGFI values are equal to 0.95 and 0.67, respectively.H5a, H5b, H6a and H6b were tested using ANOVA. We conducted a between-subjects analysis based on the manipulation of two variables, expatriate's country of origin and expatriate's gender, with respect to role information and social support provided by HCNs to the expatriates. This analysis revealed no statistically significant difference between subjects as far as their likelihood of providing role information based on the expatriate's country of origin or gender (F(3,220)=2.31, n.s.). There was, however, a statistically significant difference between subjects with respect to the willingness to provide social support (F(3,220)=5.30, p < 0.01).Based on the previous findings, we tested for differences in likelihood of providing social support grouping based on expatriate's country of origin and gender. The cell means for this analysis are reported in Table IV. We found that Chinese HCNs were more likely to provide social support (t=-3.42, p < 0.01) to Indian male expatriates (M=5.44) as compared to male expatriates from the USA (M=4.90). Further, Chinese HCNs were more likely to provide social support (t=-2.31, p < 0.02) to Indian female expatriates (M=5.28) than male expatriates from the US (M=4.90). Also, HCNs from China are more likely to provide social support (t=3.13, p < 0.05) to male expatriates from India (M=5.44), than female expatriates from the U.S. (M=4.98). Finally, Chinese HCNs are more likely to offer social support (t=-1.93, p < 0.05) to Indian female expatriates (M=5.28) as compared to US female expatriates (M=4.98). In other words, as far as offering social support was concerned, Chinese expatriates were more likely to offer such support to expatriates from India, irrespective of gender.\nDiscussion: In this study we focused on examining the relationship between HCN in-group/out-group categorization of expatriates and their willingness to provide role information and social support to expatriates. Our findings confirm that HCN perceptions of values similarity (with expatriates), dogmatism, and ethnocentrism are related to their willingness to provide role information and social support to expatriates.The primary contribution of this study is that we add to the emerging literature on HCN reactions to expatriates, thus helping both scholars and practitioners gain a better understanding of the constructs that may guide HCN behavior towards expatriates. Specifically, we believe that examining the factors that may be related to Chinese HCNs' decision to offer support to US and Indian expatriates provides valuable insight to multinational organizations, human resources practitioners, and researchers, given China's emerging role on the world economic scene and the increasing number of expatriates being assigned to work in China. As the US is one of the largest investors in China, and India is a growing business powerhouse, with increasing investments in and trade with China, we believe our choice of the USA and India as the countries of origin of the potential expatriate co-worker is timely.Given China's unique cultural history, we believe that using it as a host country in our investigation allows us to investigate critical variables, such as values similarity, dogmatism, and ethnocentrism, in the context of expatriate issues. For example, in the context of HCN-expatriate interactions, differences in dogma can play a critical role since HCNs may perceive that many expatriates hold dissimilar values as compared to themselves. Furthermore, dogmatic individuals are likely to seek out those who are similar to them, not just in terms of values or belief systems, but also age, race, and gender (Chattopadhyay, 2003).Practical implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This study aims to build on recent research, by investigating and examining how likely it is that Chinese locals (i.e. host country nationals (HCNs)) would offer support to expatriates from India and the USA.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data were gathered from 222 participants in Chinese organizations, asking them to respond to questions about their willingness to offer support to expatriates.\nFindings: - As predicted, perceived values similarity was significantly related to higher dogmatism, which had a significant positive relationship with ethnocentrism. Further, ethnocentrism had a significant negative relationship with willingness to offer support.\nResearch limitations/implications: - All data were collected from the participants at one point in time, so the study's results are subject to common method bias. Also, it only included India and the USA, as the two countries of origin of the expatriates.\nPractical implications: - Given HCNs do not automatically offer support to all expatriates, organizations might consider sending expatriates who are culturally similar to HCNs, as they are more likely to receive support, which will help their adjustment and thus organizational effectiveness.\nOriginality/value: - This study adds to the small, but growing, number of empirical investigations of HCN willingness to support expatriates.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Formative evaluation in health education: An exploratory study of the usefulness of the cognitive response method
|
[
"Health education",
"Cognition",
"Nutrition"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Developing health education materials\nMethodology: Health education material developed\nResults: The time and effort required by the researcher and participants for all three variations of collecting CRs was similar (approximately 45 minutes per person for the 20 slide presentation). However, there was a difference in time and effort required by the researcher in preparing the data for entry into the spreadsheet. It took the researcher twice as long (30 minutes per participant) to handle the CRs from Variation 2 as the other variations because the audiotaped CRs from Variation 2 were first were transcribed and then entered into the spreadsheetAlthough Variation 2 presented a greater time burden to the researcher, it was a more fluid technique for participants than that used in Variation 1. In specific, after taping their CRs for a slide, participants in Variation 2 moved on to the next slide. At times for Variation 1, the CRs needed to be repeated by the participant or were quickly summarized by the researcher so as to match the speed of the participants' CRs with the researchers' abilities to write out the CRs.Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and follow-up procedures revealed that the total number of CRs generated by the three variations differed significantly (see Table I). Variation 3 generated significantly fewer CRs than the other two variations. On average, participants in Variation 3 gave only 1.35 comments per slide (20 slides x 5 participants) whereas those in Variations 1 and 2 gave approximately 1.7 comments per slide. In addition, comments from those who wrote out their CRs in Variation 3 tended to be shorter and less specific. For example, a typical comment given by a Variation 3 participant was \"very clear and interesting\". A CR given for the same slide by a Variation 1 participant was \"can start off with what the law was, then go into detail and then give commentary for bullets, but it [the bullet] should come up as you say it.\" Similarly, a Variation 2 participant offered this CR for the same slide \"writing should come up as you [the narrator] discuss each point otherwise you [the learner] are spending the entire time reading and not listening to what the narrator is saying.\"Table I also reveals that all variations evoked similar amounts of agreement and favourable CRs and all three variations rarely generated CRs that were categorized as disagreement arguments or prior adoption. However, differences did exist in the frequency with which other types of CRs were produced. In specific, Variations 1 and 2 tended to generate significantly more CRs that were categorized as unfavourable, inquiry, and suggestion for improvement than did Variation 3.CRs generated by Variation 3 participants were less useful in refining the presentation because they provided limited guidance on what needed to be clarified or how to make improvements. In contrast, the CRs generated by Variations 1 and 2 were judged to be more useful in identifying the improvements needed to optimize the value of the presentation.\nDiscussion and conclusions: In this study, the usefulness of a simplified form of CRA for conducting a formative evaluation of a health education material was explored. Overall, the researchers judged that the simplified CRA version employed did provide valuable data for revising the educational material studied. In addition, as noted by others (van Someren et al., 1994), participants in this study were comfortable with this method, quickly grasped the concept of generating CRs about the health education material, and required little prompting to continue thinking aloud.It is important to note limitations that may affect the generalisability of the findings. First, the sample was relatively small (15 individuals assigned to three variations). However, others have reported that a relatively small sample size is sufficient for studies like the one reported here (van Someren et al., 1994; Nielsen, 2000). Second, the sample was limited to female clerical workers employed at a single university in the north-eastern USA. While it is possible that these individuals have characteristics that are particularly well-matched to CR generation, CRA has been conducted successfully with many population groups with widely varied cultural, educational, and socioeconomic backgrounds (e.g., Sutherland et al., 2001; Kamins et al., 1990; Carter and Lee, 1989; Slater et al., 1992; Kazis (forthcoming)). Third, the use of CRA as a formative evaluation tool was explored with only a single health education material. However, numerous marketing studies have revealed the usefulness of this method in determining consumer response to proposed advertising campaigns (Smith and Swinyard, 1988; Kamins et al., 1990; Wright, 1973).Despite the study's limitations, the results suggest that all three simplified variations of CRA examined in this study generated CRs that have the potential to improve the quality and usefulness of health education materials in an efficient and cost-effective manner. However, it appears that having participants tape record CRs is the variation most likely to generate valuable, specific CRs in a time-efficient and fluid manner for participants. The widespread availability of low-cost tape recorders and audiotapes contributes to the cost effectiveness of this method. To minimize the researcher time-burden noted with this variation, researchers could directly enter and categorize the CRs into a spreadsheet while listening to the audiotape (stopping and starting the tape as necessary) thereby eliminating the time-consuming step of data transcription (van Someren et al., 1994). This process could be further facilitated by a simplified categorization system like that used in this study or one that focuses only on a specific type of information. For example, if a researcher only wanted to know which terms clients do not understand or which features they find distracting, he or she could listen to the tape and transcribe only the CRs of interest (van Someren et al., 1994). In circumstances where audio recording CRs is not feasible (e.g., in a classroom setting), the researcher may need to have participants write out their thoughts. In cases like these, the researcher could increase the number of CRs by instructing participants to continue writing for a specified time interval and minimize his or her time burden by using a simplified categorization method and having participants categorize their own thoughts when they finish generating CRs (Payne, 1994). Having participants do their own categorizations also helps avoid interpretation errors from sarcasm, poor handwriting, and the like (Stephenson et al., 2001). Self-categorization is a reasonable solution given that numerous studies have shown high levels of interrater reliability in the categorization of CRs (Payne, 1994).The findings of this exploratory study suggest that a simplified version CRA can be an easy-to-use, convenient, and low-cost formative evaluation tool that can help health educators improve and optimize the quality of health education messages and materials. In the future, a full scale experimental study should be conducted to examine the comparability of CRs generated by a simplified variation versus those generated by other more complex CRA methods and the usefulness of each in improving the effectiveness of health education materials. In the meantime, however, a simplified version of CRA appears to be a valuable, efficient, and low-cost tool for formative evaluation of health education materials developed for small, unfunded projects.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study was to explore the usefulness of a simplified version of cognitive response analysis (CRA) as a formative evaluation tool for health education materials developed for small, unfunded projects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A group of women (n=15), aged between 25 and 50 years, provided cognitive responses (CRs) that communicated their ongoing thoughts after viewing each slide in a narrated, online slide presentation that focused on nutrient content claims. Participants were assigned in a systematic random fashion to one of three CRA variations. In all three variations, participants simultaneously saw a slide and heard its narration and then provided their CRs while still viewing the slide. In Variation 1, a researcher wrote participants' CRs on a log sheet (n=5). Variation 2 participants' audiotaped their CRs which were later transcribed by a researcher (n=5). Variation 3 participants wrote their CRs on a log sheet. To assess the quality and usefulness of the CRs generated by each variation, the researchers categorized each CR into content-related categories.\nFindings: - The time and effort required by the researcher and participants for all three variations of collecting CRs was similar. However, transcribing the audiotaped CRs presented a greater time burden to the researcher. Analysis of variance revealed that Variation 3 generated significantly fewer CRs than the other two variations. In addition, CRs from those in Variation 3 tended to be shorter and less specific and were less useful in refining the presentation because they provided limited guidance on needed improvements. In contrast, the CRs generated by Variations 1 and 2 were judged to be more useful in identifying improvements that could optimize the value of the presentation.\nOriginality/value: - The results suggest that a simplified version of CRA is a valuable, efficient, and low-cost tool for formative evaluation of health education materials.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The role of organisational justice, burnout and commitment in the understanding of absenteeism in the Canadian healthcare sector
|
[
"Organizational justice",
"Burnout",
"Commitment",
"Absenteeism",
"Canada",
"Health care",
"Employees behaviour",
"Stress",
"Human resource management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent years, several reforms to the health and social services system in Canada and around the world have considerably altered the organisation of services and the work environment. To reduce their payroll, healthcare establishments have streamlined their workforce considerably, which consequently eliminated a large proportion of their qualified personnel (Shamian et al., 2002; Adams et al., 2000). This situation, coupled with the growing complexity of treatments and massive re-engineering of work processes, has imposed a work overload on all personnel, in particular caregivers (Adams et al., 2000). This intensification of work, in a context of heightened control, has generated a rise in absenteeism and dissatisfaction, and consequently, intention to quit (Ito et al., 2001). In Canada, the report of Shamian et al. (2003) shows that healthcare workers are experiencing higher rates of absenteeism and injury than all other types of workers. In fact, every week, over 13,000 nurses (7.4 per cent of all nurses) are absent from work due to injury, illness, professional burnout or disability; over 16 million hours in nursing care are lost per year because of injury or illness. Were the absenteeism rate of nurses to be reduced to that of other workers, we would have the equivalent of 3,500 additional full-time nurses available to offer patient care.To date, health and social services managers have opted for short-term solutions and a reactive approach, which entails solving problems when they arise, without trying to understand their causes (Dubois and Dussault, 2002). Research on absenteeism has identified a set of factors that can explain absences from work, including professional burnout, the nature and requirements of the job, weak commitment to work, the unionisation rate, and the feeling of inequity (De Boer et al., 2002; Chenevert et al., 2007; Statistics Canada, 2004).More particularly, research has shown that people who believe they have been treated unfairly at work experience considerable distress that can result in withdrawal behaviours, such as absenteeism (e.g. De Boer et al., 2002; Elovainio et al., 2002; Taris et al., 2002). Drawing on the equity theory (Adams, 1965) and the cognitive appraisal model of stress (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984), Greenberg (2004) suggests that injustice can lead to stress, but that not all injustice automatically function as stressors. In the most commonly accepted sense, \"stressors\" refer to external forces that place physical or psychological demands on the individual (Selye, 1976; McGrath, 1982). According to Greenberg's theoretical perspective on the connection between injustice and stress, distributive injustice is a form of organisational justice that functions as a stressor. In other words, distributive injustice is considered as a demand that impinges on the person, and elicits coping efforts. Some studies have provided evidence that imbalance between investments and outcomes can engender considerable distress and lead to burnout (e.g. Moliner et al., 2005, 2008; Taris et al., 2001; Schaufeli et al., 1996). Consequently, there is support for the contention that distributive injustice can act as a stressor or demand. Furthermore, Greenberg describes an activation process whereby the three forms of organisational justice (Colquitt, 2001) are activated in a specific order, that is, distributive injustice, procedural justice, and then interactional justice. This activation process, by which an event (i.e. distributive injustice) is cognitively appraised as a stressor, is called the \"justice salience hierarchy\".The aim of the present study is to shed light on the role of the various forms of organisational justice in the stress process, which leads to absenteeism among healthcare workers. Our intention is to look beyond previous studies (Moliner et al., 2005, 2008; De Boer et al., 2002; Elovainio et al., 2002; Taris et al., 2002) in a number of ways. First, we propose a conceptual framework that integrates Greenberg's theoretical perspective on the connection between justice, stress and absenteeism. In this regard, we examine the intermediary role played by burnout and organisational commitment in the stress process originating from the various forms of organisational justice, and leading to absenteeism. Secondly, while many studies have examined the determinants of absenteeism without distinguishing short-term from long-term absences, we seek to understand the specific process and factors that lead to shorter and longer episodes of absence. For practitioners in the healthcare sector, the possibility of identifying variables related to commitment and professional burnout, which act on short- and long-term absenteeism, would be useful. In fact, the results of this study will suggest potential solutions to the challenges facing healthcare and social service institutions around the world. In addition, the study has a number of methodological strengths worth noting. The use of objective outcomes (e.g. records-based absenteeism data) recommended by Moliner et al. (2008) strengthens the inferences that can be drawn from the model by eliminating concerns about mono-method bias. Further, we control for previous absenteeism, usually considered to be the best predictor of future absenteeism (Martocchio and Harrison, 1993), which adds credence to the model and the results.\nTheoretical framework and hypotheses: Links between forms of organisational justice\nMethodology: Participants\nResults: Measurement model\nDiscussion: Consistent with Greenberg's (2004) theoretical perspective, we found that procedural and interactional justice are indirectly related to exhaustion through distributive injustice. When the perception of procedural justice is not positive, employees will most likely turn to those who can best shed a light on the procedures, such as their immediate supervisor. The supervisor's response will be important because it will influence the employees' perception of injustice concerning a specific outcome.Theoretical implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to integrate Greenberg's perspective on the connection between injustice and stress in order to clarify the role of organisational justice, burnout and organisational commitment in the understanding of absenteeism.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study was carried out among 457 workers of a large healthcare establishment in the Canadian public healthcare sector. The model was tested using structural equation methods.\nFindings: - The results reveal that procedural and interactional justices have an indirect effect on exhaustion through distributive injustice. Moreover, it was found that distributive injustice is indirectly linked to short-term absences through exhaustion. By contrast, the relationship between distributive injustice and long-term absence can be explained by two mediating variables, namely, exhaustion and psychosomatic complaints.\nResearch limitations/implications: - In spite of the non-longitudinal nature of this study, the results suggest that the stress model and the medical model best explain the relationship between organisational injustice and absenteeism, while the withdrawal model via organisational commitment is not associated in this study with absenteeism.\nPractical implications: - Healthcare managers should consider the possibility of better involving employees in the decision-making process in order to increase their perception of procedural and interactional justice, and indirectly reduce exhaustion and absenteeism through a greater perception of distributive justice.\nSocial implications: - For the healthcare sector, the need to reduce absenteeism is particularly urgent because of budget restrictions and the shortage of labour around the world.\nOriginality/value: - This is one of the first studies to provide a complete model that analyses the stress process in terms of how organisational justice affects short- and long-term absences, in a bid to understand the specific process and factors that lead to shorter and longer episodes of absence.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Head motion coefficient-based algorithm for distracted driving detection
|
[
"Correlation analysis",
"Public transport",
"Social good",
"Road safety",
"Distracted driving",
"Head motion"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Nowadays, people are relying heavily on the public transport system as well as self-driving. According to the World Health Organization, nearly 1.3m people were killed and 50m people were injured in road traffic collision (World Health Organization, 2013), which cause heavy burden to the health system. It is estimated that 3 percent of the respective GDP of the world (more than 3,000bn USD) is lost due to traffic crashes (World Health Organization, 2009). Furthermore, accidents also double the car insurance cost. Poor physical conditions like drowsiness, stress, distraction, drink, drug, sudden illness, mental defect and overrepresentation of drivers are typical reasons of serious traffic accidents (Chen and Donmez, 2016; Papantoniou et al., 2017). Generally, the existing works devote major efforts on distracted detection, stress detection and drowsiness detection in which distracted detection is the focus of this paper. Readers who are interested in driver stress detection and drowsiness detection are suggested to refer to (Affanni et al., 2018; Chen et al., 2017) and (Awais et al., 2017; Chui et al., 2016; McDonald et al., 2018), respectively.\n2. Related works: Macroscopically, driving style is influenced by two factors named environmental factors and human factors (Martinez et al., 2018). Examples of former are traffic, weather, other drivers and road condition. The latter includes age, gender, driving experience, fatigue, stress and distraction. In the following, driver distraction is the main focus.\n3. System overview: This section summarizes the architecture of the driver distraction detection. Detail explanation of the involved algorithm will be given in later context. The operation flow of the system is illustrated in Figure 1 for the concept of deployment (technical detail of the algorithm will be discussion in Section 4). In the abnormal case, the system warns the driver with flash light and buzz sound. When the system finds the driver in critical status for more than 5 s (adjustable), it will initialize the auto-navigator of the vehicle if such a system is available. Otherwise, the system guides the driver to stop the vehicle at a safety location. At the same time, it reports the \"emergence\" status to the control center of the public transport company so that the company can send another driver to the \"incident\" location immediately in order to minimize the impact on the passenger and operation schedule.\n4. Methodology: In order to determine whether the driver is being distracted while driving, motion detection-based algorithm is developed. A flow chart of the mechanism of detection is shown in Figure 2. The main purpose of this algorithm is to compare the pixel-to-pixel correlation between frames. For every sampling interval Df, a snapshot will be taken from the camera and is further processed as a gray scale image matrix I. If indicates the gray scale image matrix captured at frame f. With two image matrices, the correlation of these two matrices using two-dimensional correlation function is computed as follows:(1)\n5. Performance evaluation: 5.1 Data set\n6. Conclusion: In this paper, driver distraction detection via head motion detection has been proposed to enhance public transport safety by reducing the number of accidents (which causes injuries and casualties). The system aimed at detecting the distraction of the public transport driver. A low latency head motion detector has been developed for online driver awareness monitoring. The accuracy of head motion analyzer is given as 98.6 percent by analyzing nine typical scenarios that generate distracted events. With such satisfactory result, it is believed to be an appropriate direction to have a light computation power algorithm for driver distraction detection. As aforementioned, nine typical scenarios may not cover all potential cases, and future research will be devoted on more scenarios under the consideration of background light intensity and resolution of the video.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Concentration is the key to safer driving. Ideally, drivers should focus mainly on front views and side mirrors. Typical distractions are eating, drinking, cell phone use, using and searching things in car as well as looking at something outside the car. In this paper, distracted driving detection algorithm is targeting on nine scenarios nodding, head shaking, moving the head 45deg to upper left and back to position, moving the head 45deg to lower left and back to position, moving the head 45deg to upper right and back to position, moving the head 45deg to lower right and back to position, moving the head upward and back to position, head dropping down and blinking as fundamental elements for distracted events. The purpose of this paper is preliminary study these scenarios for the ideal distraction detection, the exact type of distraction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The system consists of distraction detection module that processes video stream and compute motion coefficient to reinforce identification of distraction conditions of drivers. Motion coefficient of the video frames is computed which follows by the spike detection via statistical filtering.\nFindings: The accuracy of head motion analyzer is given as 98.6 percent. With such satisfactory result, it is concluded that the distraction detection using light computation power algorithm is an appropriate direction and further work could be devoted on more scenarios as well as background light intensity and resolution of video frames.\nOriginality/value: The system aimed at detecting the distraction of the public transport driver. By providing instant response and timely warning, it can lower the road traffic accidents and casualties due to poor physical conditions. A low latency and lightweight head motion detector has been developed for online driver awareness monitoring.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Information support technologies of integrated production planning and control for OEM driven networked manufacturing: Framework, technologies and case
|
[
"Networked manufacturing",
"Information technology",
"Production planning and control",
"Integration",
"Case",
"Supply chain",
"Theoretical model",
"Coordination mechanism",
"OEM",
"Operations management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Volatile economic environment, global market and customized demand are constantly challenging manufacturing firms (Choy et al., 2004). Fierce market competition and wide application of information technology (IT) are deconstructing traditional value chain, i.e. vertical integrated organizations are giving way to more flexible networked forms of coordination (Puschmann and Alt, 2004), which lead to the emergence of collaborative business (Niehaves and Plattfaut, 2011). Networked manufacturing, or distributed manufacturing, is one kind of new collaborative business patterns in the era of IT. There are several reasons of forming networked manufacturing. The first reason is competition pressure. Under today's changing market environment and global competition pressure, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies have increasingly focussed on their core competencies and outsourced part or all of their manufacturing operations to third-party manufacturers (e.g. contract manufacturer (CM)) and formed global business networks (Noori and Lee, 2000; Kuhn, 2006; Sousa and Voss, 2007; Xu et al., 2008), which can strengthen their competition capability. The second reason is resource utilization. Resource shortage in one region or country also makes some firms to search resource in other regions or countries. For example, firms in western countries now usually lack labor resource, but own advantage in capital and technology resources. On the contrary, firms in Asian counties and regions usually own comparative advantage in labor resource but lack capital and technology resources. So, these two types of firms can form networked manufacturing to fully utilize their own resources. The third reason is learning. There is a learning opportunity for firms when they form alliance with other firms. Because different firms have different management experience and culture, through networked manufacturing system, partners can learn from each other on the management experience. This is a fast way to improve a firm's management ability (Li et al., 2010).Although networked manufacturing has advantage in increasing competitive ability for partners, different problems exist in networked manufacturing system. Since different firms have different business goals and strategies, if there are not coordination mechanisms or support technologies, conflict and contradiction will often occur among partners, which consequently low the entire system efficiency, especially in production operations management. Because networked manufacturing activities go across different functions and firms, the production planning and control (PPC) work is more difficult than traditional manufacturing mode. In order to synchronize the operations of different partners in the networked manufacturing system, IT has become a main support tool for operations of networked organizations and inter-enterprise integration (Kirchmer, 2004). Particularly, internet technology has provided organizations with vast opportunities to operate beyond their traditional physical boundaries (Gunter et al., 2006; Harrigan et al., 2008). Usually, most enterprises apply enterprise resource planning (ERP) to support their own business operations. However, different firms have different ERP systems, and these systems can not share information each other (Davenport and Brooks, 2004; Moller, 2005). Thus, in order to support the synchronous operations of the networked manufacturing, an integrated PPC system which can share information across partners is needed.There are two groups of literature relative to this paper. The first group is about general problems of OEM, and the second group is about PPC for networked manufacturing.There are some authors have focussed on general problems of OEM, especially on the operations and strategy of OEM. Noori and Lee (2000) explore how OEM and suppliers can form a fractal manufacturing partnership (FMP) and improve flexibility and responsiveness. They analyze the structure characteristics of FMP as well as the benefit, risk and challenge facing FMP. Lyons et al. (2006) discuss the relationship between proximate supply and OEM build-to-order capability in the environment of vehicle production industry. Sousa and Voss (2007) use case study to examine the operations of OEM and its different subcontractors. Kros et al. (2006) analyze the impact of adoption of just-in-time production systems by different OEMs on the inventory profiles of their suppliers. The research finds that OEM suppliers in different industries have shown mixed results in the impact of JIT implementation on inventory performance. Li et al. (2010) study the learning trajectory in offshore OEM cooperation. They empirically examine the links between learning intent, capability enhancement, etc from perspective of local suppliers in offshore OEM cooperation in China. Recently, Komoto et al. (2011) analyze the long-term relationships between OEMs and stakeholders in their supply chains from perspective of life cycle using simulation.As regards the second group literature on PPC in networked manufacturing context, there are also two streams. One stream literature focuses on information structure and technology enablers, while another stream focuses on mathematical modeling. For the first stream, Montreuil et al. (2000) study the strategic framework for designing and operating agile manufacturing, enabling to collaboratively plan, control and managing day-to-day contingencies in a dynamic environment. Akkermans and Horst (2002) discuss the managerial aspects of IT infrastructure standardization in networked manufacturing firms. Mezgar et al. (2000) introduce the system modules of cooperative production planning for the small-and medium-sized enterprise network and its economic benefit. Soares et al. (2000) describe the requirements analysis and system specification of an order promise module to be used as part of a broader decision support system for production and operations planning of a virtual enterprise. Lu and Yih (2001) propose a framework of agent-based collaborative production control for multiple-line collaborative manufacturing environment. Frayret et al. (2004) also study mechanism for coordination and control in distributed and agent-based manufacturing. Wang et al. (2004) propose a new reference model of networked manufacturing using hierarchical multi-view modeling principle of computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM). Hao et al. (2005) propose an internet-enabled framework based on web service and agents for cooperative manufacturing management. Caridi et al. (2006) study the linking autonomous agents to collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (CPFR) to improve supply-chain management. Leitao (2009) survey the literature in manufacturing control systems using distributed artificial intelligence techniques (i.e. multi-agent system and holonic manufacturing system principle) and discuss reasons of weak adoption by industry and challenge for future. Huang et al. (2009) design five protocols associated with order management in collaborative manufacturing, and the protocols are also implemented in a distributed computing environment. Mourtzis (2011) discusses the collaboration among manufacturing companies regarding planning and control, proposes a software framework based on internet and XML technology. Kristianto et al. (2011) also study the advanced planning and scheduling with collaboration processes in agile supply and demand networks. Germain et al. (2011) introduce the holonic manufacturing executive system (HMES) for networked production of European project MABE. Egri et al. (2011) discuss the collaboration and cooperation in supply networks and planning mechanism.The second stream of literature relating to PPC in networked manufacturing focusses on mathematical modeling. Gnoni et al. (2003) deal with lot sizing and scheduling problem of a multiple-site manufacturing system with capacity constraints and multi-product and multi-period demand. Similarly, Leung et al. (2003) study the multi-site aggregate production planning with multi-objective using goal programming approach. Jolayemi and Oloruniwo (2004) develop a deterministic model for planning production and transportation quantities in multi-plant and multi-warehouse environment with extensible capacities. Ling et al. (2006) study the distributed production planning with supplier selection using analytical target cascading (ATC) method. Dudek and Stadtler (2005) study a negotiation-based production planning between supply-chain partners. Bollaksil and Fransoo (2009) study a OEM manufacturing firm that outsources some of its production activities to a CM using mathematical modeling method, they compare three order release strategies. Lin et al. (2009) study an interactive meta-goal programming-based decision method to support collaborative manufacturing. Chung et al. (2010) apply genetic algorithm (GA) to study the multi-factory production planning problem. Jung (2011) studies a fuzzy AHP-GP approach for integrated production planning considering manufacturing partners.Although there have been some researches on the problem of distributed PPC for networked manufacturing system, little attention is paid to the integration of PPC, especially about the production control strategies of OEM-driven networked manufacturing. In this paper, we study the integration strategies of PPC and their application in OEM-driven networked manufacturing. Theory development and case study is combined together. The main contributions of the paper lie in two aspects. First, a new multi-layer coordination integration framework of PPC for networked manufacturing is proposed. Second, new technologies, such as radio frequency identification (RFID)-based order tracking system and multi-echelon coordination production control mechanism are presented. To our best knowledge, there is not literature systematically investigating the integrated PPC system for OEM-driven networked manufacturing system.The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 introduces the research agenda and methodology. Section 3 first discusses the OEM-driven manufacturing and its operation modes, and then discusses information support technologies for networked manufacturing systems. In Section 4, an integration framework of PPC for OEM-driven networked manufacturing is proposed, and relative technologies are discussed. In Section 5, a case is used to illustrate how to use IT technologies to support PPC in networked manufacturing. Finally, the conclusions and further research directions are summarized in Section 6.\n2. Research agenda and methodology: The goal of this paper is to investigate the information support technologies of PPC for OEM-driven networked manufacturing from two aspects. First, we theoretically propose a technology solution of PPC for OEM-driven networked manufacturing. Second, we use case study to discuss the application of information technologies supporting PPC for OEM-driven networked manufacturing in practice. Under this goal, the agenda of this paper includes the following questions:(1) What characteristics do the OEM-driven networked manufacturing systems have with respect to information technologies application?(2) Are there any special requirements of PPC for OEM-driven networked manufacturing systems?(3) What is the integral framework of PPC for OEM-driven networked manufacturing systems?(4) What technologies and operational mechanism of PPC are needed in the integrated PPC for OEM-driven networked manufacturing systems?Research methodology is determined by the characteristics of the studied issue. In order to answer above questions, several phases of the research are needed. First, as basis of theory, a conceptual and qualitative analysis based on thorough literature review is conducted, meanwhile, as theory application background, an enterprise examination and information collection is also carried out. Second, based on literature review and enterprise examination, we propose a new integration framework of PPC for OEM-driven networked manufacturing, this framework will fully consider the operational characteristics and technologies requirements of OEM-driven networked manufacturing. Third, under the integration framework, detail technologies and managerial ideas are then derived out and discussed. Forth, in order to verify the practicality and reasonableness of the proposed technologies and managerial ideas, we use the collected information from the examined enterprise to illustrate the application of information technologies in networked manufacturing, and present the experience implications of the company. Figure 1 shows the research scheme and technique path.\n3. OEM networked manufacturing modes and support technologies: In this section, we discuss the OEM-driven networked manufacturing and its operations modes, and then the relative information support technologies.3.1 OEM-driven networked manufacturing modes\n4. Integrated PPC for OEM networked manufacturing: In this section, we propose a new integration framework of PPC for OEM networked manufacturing system, and discuss the characteristics of the framework, relative technologies and its innovative managerial ideas.4.1 Integration framework of PPC\n5. Case study: In the above sections, we have theoretically and technically discussed the relative information and operational methodologies of PPC for implementing networked manufacturing system. In order to illustrate the practice in networked manufacturing, here we take one international company as the case background to show how information technologies can support the implementation of networked manufacturing and enhance the competition ability of a company.5.1 Methodology of case study\n6. Conclusions: In nowadays information era, productivity improvement is strongly dependent on the utilization of IT. It is impossible to effectively operate the networked manufacturing systems without IT supporting, especially the global manufacturing supply-chain systems. This paper discusses the integrated PPC technologies applied in OEM-driven networked manufacturing system. Basic principle and technologies of integrated PPC are first discussed and then one application case in an international OEM manufacturing company is demonstrated.Our study contributes to a better understanding of IT support the operation of OEM-driven networked manufacturing. First, an integration framework of integrated PPC system is proposed. The framework extends the traditional MRP, adds more functions for connecting internal and external units of the manufacturing firm, such as demand information coordination platform, production coordination center, order tracking system, etc. Second, a multi-layer coordination idea is built in the framework, i.e. demand information coordination layer, production planning coordination layer and production control coordination layer. Through this multi-layer coordination integration idea, PPC are closely integrated together. Third, new production control strategies are proposed, such RFID-based order tracking and information sharing system, multi-echelon coordination control mechanism. These new thoughts of production control largely enhance the synchronization of inter-organizational operations of OEM supply chain. Fourth, experience implications learned from a case study have been formed into several propositions, which will be helpful for theory development and practice.The light that this study sheds on the implications of IT support the operation of OEM-driven networked manufacturing fosters the notion that it is valuable to develop and apply integrated PPC system. Both theory and case study show that firms should pay more attention to information sharing and communication with partners and utilize advanced information technologies to synchronize the operations of partners.The future research can follow different directions. First, a questionnaire collection method can be used to examine more other OEM companies and test the propositions summarized from the case study in Section 5. Second, the framework model proposed in this paper can be refined to be more detail and concrete, and more application methods of these technologies can be extended. Third, discussion on the application strategies of other new technologies, such as cloud computation and Web2.0 technologies in OEM supply chain will be a challenge direction.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to study the information support technologies of integrated production planning control for OEM (original equipment manufacturer) driven networked manufacturing systems, and offer implications to firms for implementing networked manufacturing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - OEM driven networked manufacturing and its operations modes and support technologies are first discussed. Then, integration framework of production planning and control is proposed and relative technologies are discussed. Finally, a case of the application of information support technologies in networked manufacturing is illustrated.\nFindings: - Both theory analysis and case experience show that information integration and sharing are critical for effective operations of OEM driven networked manufacturing and an integrated production planning and control system can benefit firms for successfully operating a networked manufacturing system.\nPractical implications: - It is valuable to develop and apply integrated production planning and control systems in OEM driven networked manufacturing, Firms should pay more attention to information sharing and communication with partners and utilize advanced information technologies to synchronize the operations of partners.\nOriginality/value: - Integration framework of production planning and control proposed in this paper has originality and the technology strategies are also practical. Managerial ideas, technology framework and application strategies of integrated production planning and control are helpful for firms to implement OEM driven networked manufacturing.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Lobbying on the integrated reporting framework: An analysis of comment letters to the 2011 discussion paper of the IIRC
|
[
"Lobbying",
"Integrated reporting",
"IIRC",
"Comment letters"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In September 2011, the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) issued the discussion paper \"Towards Integrated Reporting - Communicating Value in the 21st Century\" which \"offers initial proposals for the development of an International Integrated Reporting Framework\" (International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), 2011, p. 1). Anyone with an interest in the development of integrated reporting could publicly respond to a set of questions raised by the IIRC and, in doing so, provide input to the early development of an international integrated reporting framework. As of December 2011, 214 respondents had seized this opportunity by writing comment letters. The respondents include standard-setters, companies, professional bodies, accounting firms, coalitions, stock-exchanges, not-for-profit organizations and academics.\n2. Theoretical and empirical background: 2.1. Lobbying in the standard-setting process\n3. Hypotheses development: 3.1. The role of firm size\n4. Research design: 4.1. Empirical data and methods\n5. Empirical results: 5.1. The role of firm size\n6. Conclusion: In our paper, we set out to explore lobbying behavior in the form of comment letters in the initial phase of the IIRC's standard-setting process. While extant lobbying studies have focussed on financial reporting standards, we provide insights into the reactions of different actors to the IIRC's discussion paper on integrated reporting. By means of a quantitative analysis, we examine three main issues: the characteristics of lobbying parties and the determinants of their lobbying activity, the voting behavior of lobbying parties, and the argumentative strategies used to persuade the IIRC.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine formal participation in the early phase of the International Integrated Reporting Council's (IIRC's) standard-setting. The objective of the paper is to shed light on the characteristics of lobbying parties and the determinants of their lobbying behavior toward the IIRC. Additionally, the most important points of contestation regarding the IIRC's initial proposal for integrated reporting are identified and discussed.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors analyze comment letters issued toward the IIRC's 2011 discussion paper on the basis of a content analysis. The analysis is guided mainly by Sutton's (1984) rational-choice model of lobbying and by findings from extant financial accounting lobbying research. The analysis of the data is both quantitative and qualitative.\nFindings: The paper improves the understanding of the political nature of standard-setting in the context of integrated reporting. Among other things, the authors find that comment letters toward the IIRC's discussion paper are mainly written by large multinational firms (as opposed to small- and medium-sized ones) and by preparers (as opposed to users). The authors also observe active lobbying by sustainability service firms and professional bodies which tend to take a critical position vis-a-vis the discussion paper's emphasis on investor needs and shareholder value creation. Moreover, the qualitative analysis reveals that respondents voice different concerns regarding, for instance, the scope of audience of integrated reporting, issues of materiality and the relationship between integrated reporting and other existing reporting frameworks.\nResearch limitations/implications: The analysis is limited to a consideration of the 2011 discussion paper of the IIRC. The IIRC's more recent and forthcoming proposals will likely provide a basis to extend the paper's findings and allow investigation of the role of lobbying for the further development of the framework.\nOriginality/value: The paper is, to the best of the knowledge, the first one to explore lobbying behavior by means of comment letters in the context of integrated reporting.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The significance and performance of US commercial property in a post-GFC context
|
[
"REITs",
"Performance",
"Diversification",
"Direct property",
"Post-GFC",
"US commercial property"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: With its GDP currently standing at $18.5 trillion and representing approximately one-third of the global GDP (IMF, 2016), the USA is the world's largest economy. Being listed in the top-20 least corrupt countries (18th) (TI, 2016), the USA is also recognised as one of the countries with the most competitive and business-friendly environment, ranking it in third place globally; only exceeded by Switzerland (first place) and Singapore (second place) (WEF, 2016). The stature of the US economy is further reinforced by several of its capital cities dominating the top 10 ranking of leading global financial centres, namely New York (No. 2), San Francisco (No. 6), Boston (No. 7), Chicago (No. 8) and Washington DC (No. 10) (ZYG, 2016). The US economy is expected to register GDP growth of 1.6 per cent (real) for the whole of 2016, with the services sector (79.5 per cent) being a significant component of the US economy (CIA, 2016). The USA is also the home to some of the largest global institutional property investors, including pension funds (e.g. CalPERS, CalSTRS) (PERE, 2016).\nLiterature review: There has been extensive literature covering diverse investment aspects of the US commercial property and literature surveys by Sirmans and Sirmans (1987), Norman et al. (1995), Corgel et al. (1995), Benjamin et al. (2001) and Zietz et al. (2003) have succinctly reviewed these papers over the last 40 years. A number of recent studies have explored the dynamics of the performance for US commercial property, with REITs found to possess higher average returns compared to their private counterparts (Pagliari et al., 2005; Riddiough et al., 2005; Ling and Naranjo, 2015). Several major recent study on the interoperability of the US commercial property assets are Hoesli et al. (2008), Morawski et al. (2008), Oikarinen et al. (2011), Boudry et al. (2012) and Yunus et al. (2012). Taken together, they conclude that the substitutability of direct property and REITs is evident in the long-term investment horizon, while the short-term investment horizon in REITs is more akin to investing in stocks.\nMethodology: Data sources\nUS commercial property performance analysis: 1994-2016: This first section analyses the performance of US commercial property over the longer timeframe of 1994-2016.\nUS commercial property post-GFC performance analysis: Risk-adjusted returns\nConclusion: US commercial property is an important market available to both local and international property investors seeking high quality US commercial property exposure. Both the US direct property and US-REITs emerged from the GFC as stronger and more robust US property investment opportunities. This paper has highlighted the post-GFC recovery and the subsequent improvement in US commercial property performance over the eight-year period since the GFC, with both US direct property and US-REITs reaching their pre-GFC performance level by 2012. To compliment this performance, this paper also assessed US commercial property transactions activity, particularly emphasising the significant slowdown in commercial property investing during the GFC, as well as the increased transactions landscape in the aftermath of the GFC.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: US commercial property is an important investment opportunity for institutional investors. The purpose of this paper is to assess the significance, risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits of US commercial property (both direct property and REITs) in a mixed-asset portfolio over 1994-2016. The 2009-2016 post-GFC recovery of US commercial property is specifically highlighted.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using quarterly total returns, the risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits of US commercial property over 1994-2016 are assessed. Efficient frontier and asset allocation diagrams are used to assess the role of US commercial property in a mixed-asset portfolio. Sub-period analysis over 2009-2016 is used to assess the post-GFC recovery of US commercial property.\nFindings: US commercial property delivered mixed results over 1994-2016; direct property gave the best risk-adjusted performance, while US-REITs performance was hampered by high volatility. Since the GFC, both forms of US commercial property have delivered stronger risk-adjusted returns with improved diversification benefits, especially in the context of an inter-property investment strategy. However, US-REITs did not improve their diversification benefits with the stock market over this period. This sees US commercial property as an important component in the US mixed-asset portfolio in the post-GFC environment, with a much stronger role exhibited by US direct property in the post-GFC mixed-asset portfolio.\nPractical implications: US commercial property emerged from the GFC as a stronger and more robust property investment opportunity, with both the direct property and US-REITs fully recovered to their pre-GFC performance level in 2012. The results highlight the major role of US commercial property in a US mixed-asset portfolio in the post-GFC context. The superior risk-adjusted performance of US commercial property sees both direct and listed US commercial property contributing significantly to the mixed-asset portfolio throughout the entire risk-return spectrum, particularly direct property. Given the increased capital flows into the US property market since the GFC, this is particularly important as many investors, both local and international, use direct and listed property investment opportunities as conduits for their significant US commercial property exposure.\nOriginality/value: This paper is the first published empirical research analysis that specifically assessed the post-GFC performance and role of US commercial property in a mixed-asset portfolio. This research enables empirically validated, more informed and practical property investment decision making by institutional investors regarding the strategic role of US commercial property in a mixed-asset portfolio in a post-GFC context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Global vs local brands: how home country bias and price differences impact brand evaluations
|
[
"Consumer behaviour",
"Global marketing",
"Thailand",
"Ethnocentrism",
"Country of origin"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Markets are rapidly integrating across borders, and for many product categories, consumers are able to choose between global and local alternatives. Due to their widespread recognition and distribution, many aspects favor global brands. From a utilitarian perspective, these include perceptions of higher quality as well as possible lower prices resulting from standardization and economies of scale; whereas from a hedonic perspective, the aspirational benefits and prestige of global brands may accord higher esteem and status to the purchaser (Ozsomer, 2012). Other aspects favor local brands, despite - rather, because of - globalization. Chief among these are the consumer benefits deriving from a strong association to the local environment, including perceptions of cultural sensitivity, authenticity, and responsiveness to local requirements, as well as the pride that comes from consuming brands that champion and support the cultural heritage and national economy, respectively (Dimofte et al., 2008; Schuiling and Kapferer, 2004; Ozsomer, 2012).\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses: 2.1 Global vs local brands\n3. Methodology: A quasi-experiment and a comprehensive preliminary study were conducted. The preliminary study incorporated a 2 (brand ownership) x 2 (brand globalness) between-subjects factorial design, which allowed us to manipulate brands into the four combinations of brand globalness and ownership discussed earlier (i.e. L-G, L-NG, F-G, F-NG). The goals of the preliminary study were fourfold. First, it aimed to categorize brands into two constructs - globalness and ownership. Second, it demonstrated that a brand can contain both globalness and ownership at the same time. This supported our proposition that global and local are in fact different constructs. Third, it aimed to verify that the globalness of the brand creates value, as captured by perceived quality and intention to buy. Fourth and last, we tested whether brand ownership impacted the attitude and intention of consumers by itself, as well as in interaction with perceived brand globalness (i.e. H1). H2 and H3 were examined in our main study, which employed a 2 (within-subjects: brand ownership) x 7 (between-subjects: price difference levels between L-G and F-G brands) factorial design.\n4. Discussion: In this paper, we assessed the stability of consumers' perceptions of brand globalness - distinguishing geographic and ownership connotations - on brand attitudes and purchasing intentions, across two goods and two services categories. We demonstrated that when brands are perceived as global, consumers express more favorable quality assessments and purchase intentions, whereas perceptions of brand non-globalness associates negatively with the same, corroborating past research. Regardless of brand ownership, consumers prefer global over non-global brands. However, as suggested by Steenkamp et al. (2003), we showed that brands can be simultaneously global and local. Our re-conceptualization revealed the effects of distribution globalness is distinct from ownership globalness. This implies that any brand (foreign or local) could stand to garner positive attitudes and purchase intentions so long as it has a global image (Ozsomer, 2012; Schuiling and Kapferer, 2004). When comparing between locally owned vs foreign-owned of global brands, consumers may prefer one brand over another depending on other supporting cues such as local icon value, country of origin, and home country bias. Steenkamp et al. (2003) reported that brand prestige and purchase likelihood are enhanced when a local brand is perceived as having local icon value. However, they did not observe a positive relationship between local icon value and perceived brand quality, which we did for Thai Airways. This brand likely assumes high-local icon value, which is then further enhanced by the brand's global scope, as evidenced by the significant interaction effect. Contrary to what Ozsomer (2012) hypothesizes (non-significant relationship between local iconness and perceived brand quality of local brands in all categories except foodstuffs), we show the effect of local iconness in high-price/high-involvement categories of airlines. Most airline companies strongly emphasize geographic source (e.g. American, Air Canada, British Airways). Starbucks coffee and Lee jeans, considered as F-G, are the most preferable over other combinations of brand globalness-brand ownership because Thai consumers prefer western icon value from these products in order to get authentic taste of grounded coffee and original fashion of western jeans, which is then also further enhanced by the brand's global scope.\n5. Managerial implications: Companies are scrambling to develop truly international brands. Instead of a market development strategy (i.e. existing brands introduced to new markets), one way to allow the international company to quickly enter a new market is to acquire a local brand (e.g. the Chinese brand Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's PC division). Marketers will often endeavor to camouflage foreign ownership, so as to retain the benefits of brand resonance among locals (e.g. the Belgian brewing conglomerate AB InBev's ownership of Corona, Budweiser, and Alexander Keith's brands of Mexico, USA, and Canada, respectively[4]). Schuiling and Kapferer (2004) recommend \"[...] that international marketers encourage the development of international brand portfolios that combine a balanced number of both strong local and international brands\" (p. 108).\n6. Limitations and future research: The student sample employed limits generalizations to the broader population. The contrived contexts may overstate the importance of brand ownership/globalness and price factors, while omitting extraneous factors that possibly influence consumer decision making (competitors' sales promotion, product substitutes, etc.). On the other hand, since younger and more educated people are less committed to exacting ways of life and more flexible toward different perspectives and objects, including brands (de Mooij, 2004), our findings constitute a conservative test of theory. The experimental design limited brand/category choices, restricting generalizability to other purchasing contexts, including big ticket items (i.e. greater financial, performance, and possibly social risks), B2B and ecommerce environments. Only brand pairs were considered, whereas in the marketplace brands have numerous competitors. In that regard, it is relevant to note that the strong effects that we find for the airline category in our preliminary study might be explained by a negative attitude toward iconic brands from Singapore, rather than a positive attitude toward iconic domestic brands. Future research should consider incorporating country-specific feelings and cognitions as possible contributing factors to consumers' responses to local vs foreign brands.\n7. Conclusion: Our results show that consumers' reactions to globalization may be more diverse than previously assumed (van Ittersum and Wong, 2010). Marketers should avoid assuming that the motives underlying global brand purchases are universal. Potential cross-national segments, much like the domestic segments examined in this paper, are almost certainly product-category specific. The re-conceptualization of the global-local dichotomy along the distinct facets of brand globalness and ownership provides practical strategic insights for international and local marketing managers seeking to precisely position their brand as global and/or as part of the local culture, and aids in identifying the appropriate bases for targeting consumers for each type of brand. As such, this research yields a greater understanding of the trade-offs made and relative importance placed upon pricing cues when consumers evaluate brands, and sheds new light on when and how CET affects brand choice.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to re-conceptualize the distinction between global and local brands, providing a more comprehensive framework, which considers both geographical distribution and ownership. It examines main and interactive effects of consumers' perceptions of these factors, and studies how ethnocentrism (CET) and price affect brand evaluations, considering a range of price difference thresholds.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A preliminary study (n=243) examined main and interaction effects of brand globalness and ownership on consumers' brand quality attitudes and purchase intentions in four different product categories. The main study (n=558) further explored brand ownership effects by examining the interaction of CET and price differences.\nFindings: The preliminary study confirmed the distinctiveness of brand globalness and ownership. Consumers evaluated global (vs non-global) brands more positively, regardless of brand ownership (local vs foreign). The main study found that effects of price and CET varied considerably across product categories.\nResearch limitations/implications: Limitations include the use of student samples from a single country (Thailand), and of scenarios instead of real life purchase decisions.\nPractical implications: The findings suggest that perceived brand globalness positively impacts brand evaluations. Companies may cultivate a global brand image by emphasizing global cues. Local origin allows (global) brands to command a price premium, although this varies across product categories. An emphasis on globalness seems valuable, especially for local brands.\nOriginality/value: This research offers a refined conceptualization of brand globalness, a key construct in international marketing. Additional value is provided by studying price effects, which have received limited attention in international marketing, and substantial data collection (total N>800) in an understudied yet important economy (Thailand).\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Design and implementation of a pilot obesity prevention program in a low-resource school: Lessons learned and research recommendations
|
[
"Obesity",
"Nutrition",
"Exercise",
"African Americans",
"Schools"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Obesity prevention programs have become a national and international health priority as rates of child obesity have been increasing in nearly all developed countries (Lobstein et al., 2004). Worldwide, one in ten school-age children (about 155 million) is overweight. In the USA, over 17 per cent of children and adolescents are overweight and another 15 per cent are at risk for overweight (Ogden et al., 2006). The rapid increase in the number of overweight youth over the past two decades may be due to an amalgamation of factors, including decreased physical activity, poor dietary habits, school food environment, school food policies, and increased television viewing (Kubik et al., 2003).Efforts to curtail and reverse the trend in rising child obesity have been the subject of discussion among multiple public health agencies including the International Obesity Task Force (Lobstein et al., 2004). School-based health promotion is considered an ideal setting for such programs as they provide convenient access to large numbers of children (Davies et al., 2005). Schools' primary focus on education is consistent with providing youth instruction on maintaining lifelong healthy habits. In addition, there is evidence of a significant link between the educational goals of schools and student health (Nutbeam and Kickbusch, 2000; St Leger and Nutbeam, 2000).Factors related to successful obesity prevention programs include providing students with needed knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral skills to establish and maintain a healthy diet and engage in regular physical activity (Story, 1999). Ideally, such programs would include positive role models, adequate financial and human resources, and adequate space and equipment (Barnett et al., 2006); however, all schools are not created equal. Often schools with a high percentage of racial/ethnic minority or immigrant populations and families of lower socioeconomic status have limited resources (Schleicher et al., 2003; US Department of Education, 2001, 2003).The purpose of this paper is to describe the design, implementation, lessons learned and research recommendations from implementing a school-based obesity prevention pilot program for 7th and 8th grade students attending a low-resource school in the southern USA. It is hoped that this exploratory effort and the insights gained will be useful for advancing children's health locally, nationally, and internationally.\nMethod: Setting\nResults: Program participants\nDiscussion: Our findings are consistent with several other studies. Franks and colleagues (Franks et al., 2007) report that identifying staff and involving stakeholders during all phases of program development are key features in the success of previous school-based health promotion programs. This pilot program exemplified positive role models (e.g. school staff and research staff demonstrated appropriate behaviors; personal trainers served as a guest speakers), research staff provided resources (e.g. certified fitness professionals available for assistance; school staff were financially compensated for activities outside of their normal school duties; donated equipment), and sufficient space allowed us to divide a very large class into manageable size groups.During the fall semester, students were separated into health education and physical education sessions by grade level (i.e. 7th graders attended health education on Tuesday and 8th graders participated in physical education on Tuesday; 7th graders participated in physical education and 8th graders attended health education on Thursdays). However, the physical education teachers and assistants observed that some students were not actively participating or misbehaving (e.g. not paying attention, being disruptive to the class). To help remedy this problem, students were separated by gender in the spring semester (i.e. girls attended health education and boys participated in physical education on Tuesday; girls participated in physical education and boys attended health education on Thursdays). Separating classes by gender seemed to alleviate some of the behavioral issues, plus it made sense since some of the health education lessons were gender specific (e.g. the importance of adequate calcium intake for girls and body image discussion). In addition, results from the Health Behavior Survey indicate differences in their sedentary behaviors by gender, such that girls reported that they spent more time watching TV while boys reported that they spent more time playing video games. Future programs may benefit from incorporating this information (e.g. using video games that require physical activity for the boys and offering appealing physical activity alternatives to replace some TV time for the girls).Another area worth exploring may be reducing the number of students per class to facilitate better class management and allow for more diverse physical activities. Studies of the impact of class size on quality of educational instruction find that larger classes (e.g. > 25 students), even when divided into smaller groupings of seven to ten students, were associated with decreased quality and quantity of teaching and poorer student concentration and contribution (Blatchford et al., 2001). Reduced class sizes, however ideal, may not be plausible in lower resource school systems such as the one where this demonstration project took place. The average class size for PE was more than twice the class size for all other courses taught in the school. At the time of the demonstration project, only two teachers were certified to instruct the PE course and only one gymnasium/PE facility was available for the entire student body. As such, only one PE class could operate at time. With mandatory daily PE requirements of 30 minutes imposed by the state board of education, the pilot school was forced to increase class sizes to ensure that all students were provided with daily PE. The selection of what could be considered \"minimal\" or lower quality physical activities such as circuit training, was necessary to increase the likelihood that all children were exposed to several bouts of MVPA in a manner that was physically feasible and safe given the class size and physical constraints of the facility.Actively engaging stakeholders and gaining staff support is central to building successful school-based programs. Future programs may wish to teach health education lessons in a classroom instead of the cafeteria to help with classroom management (i.e. classroom setting may be more conducive to learning with fewer distractions and may reduce disruptive behaviors). This option was not available for our program given that the cafeteria and gymnasium were the only two spaces in the school to accommodate such a large number of students at once.Health education instruction from a primary teacher may also provide greater continuity in the health education component. Repeated absences of the health educator from the classroom due to competing administrative responsibilities may have been distracting for students and limited their attention. Substitute teachers or other school staff who were not assigned to a classroom during that class period were present for program classes when the health educator was absent; however, none of the replacement staff had specific training in health education and had not been trained by the researchers on the program curricula. Training classroom teachers to deliver health education lessons in each classroom would require that these teachers have some basic knowledge of health education and have the available time to add this lesson to existing curricular responsibilities. School staff, including the principal, strongly supported the program and viewed health and physical education as a priority.Another obstacle with respect to this pilot program was the actual amount of class time available to deliver the program. Although class time was scheduled for 50-minutes, the actual time for teaching lessons and participating in activities was limited due to classroom management (e.g. taking attendance, students arriving late). The school principal, social work interns, and other volunteers were available to assist with managing students; however, challenges persisted. Future programs may benefit from engaging additional personnel as needed (or smaller groups of students, if delivered in a classroom). Low-resource schools may benefit from hiring volunteers and partnering with local colleges/universities with student interns from academic departments such as education, health promotion, psychology, social work, etc.All school staff directly involved in the demonstration program expressed interest in the future implementation of the program and were open to additional training and collaborative opportunities. These staff, however, indicated administrative and financial barriers may limit the uptake of the program without the assistance of university researchers and volunteers. Such barriers as extremely large class sizes, limited financial resources to purchase PE equipment, and pressure from school system administrators to focus instruction on improved student performance on standardized tests (i.e. recent US policies such as No Child Left Behind which links federal education resources to student test performance) may reduce enthusiasm for future program implementation.Limitations\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to describe the design, implementation, and lessons learned from an obesity prevention pilot program delivered in a low resource school in the USA.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A planned program evaluation was conducted to: document explicitly the process of designing and implementing the program; and assess the feasibility and acceptability of the program to inform future planning. Evaluation data were gathered using document review (i.e. minutes from meetings with research staff and school personnel), key informant interviews, and focus groups. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. Quantitative data were summarized using descriptive statistics.\nFindings: - A total of 113 African-American students (47 per cent female) participated in the program. Over half were overweight or obese and mean nutrition and physical activity behaviors were below recommended guidelines. A participatory process involving school administrators, teachers, parents, and students resulted in the design of a program salient to the target population and responsive to the school's limited financial and human resources. The program was positively viewed by student and school staff alike. Challenges for implementing the program included: maintaining classroom management with very large class sizes and limited school staff, and difficulty in actively engaging parents in program implementation.\nResearch limitations/implications: - As a pilot program at a single school during one school year, the results may have limited generalizability. However, the paper supports the feasibility and acceptability of obesity prevention interventions in schools with limited resources.\nPractical implications: - School-based programs can support nutrition education and increased physical activity opportunities, which may promote lifelong health behaviors. Future programs can increase the likelihood of behavior change and program sustainability by limiting class sizes, increasing parent involvement, integrating intrapersonal level changes with institutional factors, and developing community partnerships.\nOriginality/value: - The research described provides insights into effective strategies and lessons learned for developing school-based obesity-prevention programs in schools with limited resources.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
FEMA's fall and redemption--applied narrative analysis
|
[
"Hurricane Katrina",
"Narrative analysis",
"Hurricane Sandy",
"Administrative ethnography",
"Policy and disaster management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Following the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, an overwhelming sense of outrage grew within the America public (Chertoff quoted in Sommers et al., 2006). In the world's most powerful democracy, people drowned in their homes, desperately waiting for rescues that never arrived, bodies decomposed in the streets and public order appeared to fall apart (Tierney et al., 2006; Sommers et al., 2006). President Bush, his Administration and in particular the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were held accountable for this egregious failure (Durham, 2008; House of Representatives, 2006).\nLiterature review: Policy networks\nMethodology: This case study was developed through a mixed method ethnographic study (Rhodes, 2014). The methodological design incorporated a two-month period of embedded field work in the United States Congress, specifically in the office of Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) (Rhodes, 2011; Riessman, 2008; Yin, 2009). A total of 15 interviews were conducted using a semi-structured, qualitative approach. Respondents included Congressmen, congressional staffers, congressional researchers and current and former FEMA staff. These interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, after which an iterative process of thematic analysis was undertaken. In addition, research was conducted through attending numerous functions and speaking to all manner of DC residents regarding their thoughts on Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. These observations and interactions were recorded as field notes and used to supplement interviews.\nFEMA's fall and redemption: A story in five parts in which FEMA faces and overcomes an existential crisis.\nAnalysing the narrative of FEMA's fall and redemption: Where Katrina differed from the many previous disasters in the USA, and around the world, was the unprecedented scale of disorder, destruction and human suffering it caused in a country perceived as the world's richest, strongest and most capable (House of Representatives, 2006). This perception was no doubt shaped by the media's intense coverage of the incident; the media often appeared better informed than government agencies and their reporting heavily influenced government decision making (Tierney et al., 2006).\nDiscussion: The narrative of FEMA's failure and redemption, showcased in its management of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, provides a fascinating insight into American political and cultural mythology. The powerful belief in American exceptionalism, in its position as a world superpower, made the events of Katrina an unacceptable failure. Occurring under the leadership of a deeply unpopular president, the narrative expanded to one of institutional and presidential failure. This narrative is neatly bookended by FEMA's successful management of Sandy, the visible and proactive leadership provided by Obama and the comparatively low human cost of that event. Leaving the story there provides a tidy counter-point and effectively ties off the plot in an easily packaged form, allowing FEMA and government elites to enjoy a successful resolution to the narrative (Carroll, 2007).\nConclusion: This paper has showcased how the techniques of ethnography and narrative analysis can be applied to the field of public administration and understanding policy networks. Through a process of field research, interviews and observation, I have sought to recover and retell the narrative of FEMA's fall and redemption as seen through the eyes of government elites in Washington, DC. Exploring the lens of elites involved in the Washington, DC, disaster management policy network can provide a useful insight into the politics of how policy agendas are shaped. There are many lenses through which such complex events can be seen, and different learnings can be extracted from each perspective. The paper points to the very human instinct to bring order to complexity via a readily understood narrative framing. For the researcher and practitioner alike, this narrative serves as a useful reminder that critical policy learnings often lie in complexity; and that easily obscured, messy and contradictory counter-narratives can hold enduring value for the policy analyst.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to recover the narratives constructed by the disaster management policy network in Washington, DC, about the management of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Recovering and analysing these narratives provides an opportunity to understand the stories constructed about these events and consider the implications of this framing for post-event learning and adaptation of government policy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research was conducted through an extended ethnographic study in Washington, DC, that incorporated field observation, qualitative interviews and desktop research.\nFindings: The meta-narratives recovered through this research point to a collective tendency to fit the experiences of Hurricane Katrina and Sandy into a neatly constructed redemption arc. This narrative framing poses significant risk to policy learning and highlights the importance of exploring counter-narratives as part of the policy analysis process.\nResearch limitations/implications: The narratives in this paper reflect the stories and beliefs of the participants interviewed. As such, it is inherently subjective and should not be generalised. Nonetheless, it is illustrative of how narrative framing can obscure important learnings from disasters.\nOriginality/value: The paper represents a valuable addition to the field of disaster management policy analysis. It extends the tools of narrative analysis and administrative ethnography into the disaster management policy domain and demonstrates how these techniques can be used to analyse complex historical events.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The impact of e-portfolio development on the employability of adults aged 45 and over
|
[
"Case studies",
"Job evaluation",
"Employment",
"Older workers",
"Social psychology",
"E‐learning"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The South West Opportunities for Older People (SWOOP) EQUAL Development Partnership tested the effectiveness of an electronic portfolio (e-portfolio) in supporting the job search and personal development of older people. Representing part of a wider programme that tested innovative approaches to enhancing the employment prospects of older people, e-portfolio has introduced a technology-based approach to helping adults record, store and reflect upon their skills and personal achievements and market these assets to others. This paper describes how the technology was introduced to this non-traditional e-portfolio audience, what its effects were and what aspects of the programme were considered most beneficial by participants. It concludes with recommendations for the design and delivery of e-portfolio programmes for this audience in future.\nBackground: Across the European Union, changing demographics have prompted member states to revisit their policies on the employment of older people. Within the United Kingdom, successive government papers have stressed the importance of extending working lives in meeting the challenges of an ageing society (Department for Work and Pensions, HM Treasury and Inland Revenue, 2002; HM Government, 2005). However, the employment rate of men and women declines as they enter their 50s and only just over one-in-ten are working beyond state pension age. Older people are more likely to leave full time employment than younger people (Lissenburgh and Smeaton, 2003) and, once unemployed, older people are less likely to find work. The barriers older people face in finding work are well documented but include ill-health, lack of formal qualifications and lack of confidence, in particular in their ability to find work (National Audit Office, 2004).In response to this challenge, an innovation programme was established in the South West of England, with funding from the South West Regional Development Agency and the European Social Fund EQUAL programme to research new approaches to enhancing the employability of older people (that is those aged 45 and over). As part of this work, and in recognition of the increasing profile for personalised learning in UK and European policy[1], the project funded an evaluative case study of the use of an e-portfolio for employment purposes with an older (non-standard) audience.An e-portfolio product was embedded within a mentor-supported programme (SWOOP Forward) consisting of three, three-hour group sessions. A group interview was carried out at the end of each session to gather feedback on the programme and to explore clients' progress. Three SWOOP Forward programmes were delivered in the South West of England between March and July 2007.\nConceptual framework: The evaluation of SWOOP Forward was informed by the conceptual model or \"theory of action\", illustrated in Figure 1. The model is an adaptation of the evaluation model proposed by Steve Ehrmann (1998).Ehrmann uses the model to identify five sets of questions that need to be answered in order to isolate the effects of the technology from that of the activities it supports. These are:1. Questions about the technology per se (e.g. Did users have access to it? How good was the training? Were some users more skilled at using it than others?)2. Questions about the practice or behaviour per se (e.g. What activities did the technology support?)3. Questions about the outcome per se (e.g. What changes are there in terms of the employability of users?)4. Questions about the technology's use for the practice (e.g. Was e-Portfolio any good for producing CVs?)5. Questions about the practice's fostering of the outcomes (e.g. Did the quizzes give users a better sense of their achievements?).The programme's theory of action is also informed by theories of adult learning and andragogy in particular (Brown, 2000) that seek to explain how programme activities (e.g. reflection on prior experience) transform an individual's understanding of one's own abilities, and in turn generates programme outcomes. As SWOOP was an employment-orientated programme, these intended outcomes were conceptualised in terms of enhanced employability as defined by Hillage and Pollard (1998). Thus, the impact of the programme was explored within the following framework of employability:* an individuals' assets in terms of the knowledge, skills and attitudes they possess;* the way they use and deploy those assets (e.g. career management skills, job search skills and their strategic approach[2] to job search);* the way they present them to employers (e.g. presentation of CVs, qualifications, references, interview technique and work experience); and* the context within which they seek work including an individual's personal circumstances (e.g. caring responsibilities or disability) and/or external factors such as the pattern and level of job openings, labour market regulation, benefits rules and employer recruitment and selection behaviour.\nSWOOP Forward: The SWOOP Forward programme was launched in March 2007 and was specifically marketed at people aged 45 who were looking to make changes to their working lives. The programme aimed to help people reflect on their skills, abilities and experiences, plan their next step, develop a CV and present themselves in a more positive way for job interviews and in application forms. The programme consisted of three, three-hour group sessions, held over a period of three to four weeks. Groups were small - five to seven people - and led by a professionally trained mentor. The programme ran three times (once in Exeter and twice in Truro), attracting 17 participants in total. The term \"e-portfolio\" was not mentioned in marketing literature but would-be participants were informed that the sessions would use an interactive computer program and, as it was a pilot programme, they would be asked to provide feedback about their experience.The programme used the \"vanilla\" version of a commercial system called VitaelityTM, developed by Arc Software Consultancy. The system was selected following a formal tender process whereby several software houses were invited to tender for a fully specified e-portfolio product. In terms of Barrett's (2001) typology of e-portfolio use, the product was used for formative (i.e. to support reflection and learning) and \"marketing\" purposes. It did this by supporting three activities: introspection, action and reflection, self-assessment, and the creation of a record of achievement. The latter was compiled through the use of workbooks and other interactive tools resulting in a flexible personalised repository based around a digital progress file whereby achievement and qualification records, presentation documents (such as a CV) and personal profiles could be stored[3].The first session in the programme introduced the software and how it could be used to support self and career development. Clients were shown how to log in and navigate the system and given time to complete on-line exercises and quizzes that were designed to help them identify their interests, key skills, personal qualities, achievements, work-life balance preferences and learning and working styles. The second session invited clients to reflect upon what the quizzes had revealed about themselves and use the software to build a body of evidence supporting the statements made. They were also given time to input details of their education and employment history. The final session used the work of the previous session to individually prepare a CV or supporting statement. Clients were encouraged to bring details of a real job specification to help them match their skills to the requirements of a role. In each session \"hands on\" computer time was complemented by mentor-presentations on topics such as the application of e-portfolio in other contexts, the value of reflection and job search skills. Upon client request, a follow-up (fourth) session was held in Truro.\nProgramme participants: Seventeen people attended SWOOP Forward workshops, following advertisements in the local press. The programme was run three times: once in Exeter, Devon and twice in Truro, Cornwall. The Exeter and first Truro group was attended by five clients, whilst seven people attended the second Truro group. Five of the second Truro group also attended a fourth \"follow-up\" session. This was also open to the first Truro group but no-one from this group attended.In terms of eligibility, the project was specially aimed at people aged 45 and over, although two people who were slightly below this threshold were accepted onto the programme. The average (mean) age of participants was 54, with the youngest being 41 years and the oldest 64. Participants were required to have had some experience of using a computer, although this requirement was relaxed for one client. Participants' demographic and socio-economic profile was as follows:* most participants (14) were women;* almost all described themselves as \"white\" (with one describing their ethnic group as \"mixed\");* two had a long-term disability, health problem or disability;* seven were working, either as an employee or were self-employed, six were unemployed and three were economically inactive;* time since last worked ranged from just under six months to almost seven years;* most (nine) were qualified to at leave NVQ level 3 (or equivalent). This included four who held a post-graduate qualification; and* most (ten) participants were looking to change or get a job, four indicated that they were looking to explore their options and one was looking to start a course.\nEvaluation methodology: Purpose, scope and focus\nImpact of SWOOP Forward: SWOOP Forward clients reflected on their progress at the end of each session. Their responses have been grouped into the following broad outcomes:Greater understanding of personal skills and attributes\nWhat worked?: As SWOOP Forward was an experimental project, it was important to identify exactly what it was about the programme that had helped clients. The discussion identified four broad features that had contributed to the programme's success: the e-portfolio software, the process of reflection and evidence building and mentor and group support. SWOOP Forward clients were satisfied with what they could do with the e-portfolio software and liked the idea of storing their information in one place. One client in the second Truro commended the functionality of the software:... it has everything on there. It is the package. So it's got personal statements. It has got the skills. It has got the CV. It has got the tutorial guides which have got quite a lot of information on. So it's the whole thing about job hunting and evaluating and reassessing yourself.Another client in the same group liked the fact that is was about, \"not just your working life, but you as a person\". A number of clients were pragmatic about the limitations of the software, with one reflecting that, \"computer programmes, they are never always exactly right\". There was some interest in a 'presentation' portfolio that clients could show potential employers.The quizzes and diagnostic tools used to identify skills and support the process of reflection and evidence building were universally popular with clients. As one Exeter client observed, \"at the beginning it sort of says well no talk about yourself, you know. So it's a motivational thing to do\". The discipline of evidence building was seen to be a major benefit of the system and some clients had already articulated what they had learned about themselves at job interviews. A participant in the second Truro group acknowledged, \"it was good on the e-portfolio having that category so you have to state your skills and then you have to state your evidence. That was good, making you have to do that.\" She added it, \"helps you focus your mind and it makes you look at it slightly more intense than normal\".All three groups agreed that the mentor was crucial in introducing the software and supports its use. For example, one Exeter client feared users would, \"flit about from section to section without actually starting and getting anything done\" if it was not introduced in a systematic and supported way and another admitted that she would have, \"given up very, very quickly\" without any support. A client in the second Truro group reasoned, \"You are promoting this to older people with change. You have to introduce that personally. I don't think a screen would do that\". Clients were overwhelmingly supportive of the programme being delivered as a small group. One client from the first Truro group reflected the feeling expressed in all three groups, \"It's nice to bounce ideas off people and it helps me to think of things in a different way and it also sort of sparks off new ideas for me as well.\" Another client, this time from the second Truro group, claimed she, \"got lots out of hearing what other people have said\".\nConclusion: The evaluation has shown that the SWOOP Forward programme enhanced individual's employability. Using the conceptualisation of employability outlined earlier in this report, it is clear that the programme supported clients in identifying their own \"assets\". The quizzes and diagnostic tools reminded clients of their knowledge, skills and attitudes, although, as these were not assessment tools, the evidence generated was not objective.Notwithstanding this, the identification of, and reflection upon, personal competencies, skills and achievements was an empowering process for many, boosting their self-confidence not only in terms of what they had to offer employers but also in their ability to find and secure work. The mentor facilitation and group environment were instrumental to this process. As empowerment is one of the leading principles of EQUAL, SWOOP Forward has provided an excellent example of how technology can facilitate this process.The programme also helped clients to improve the way they used and deployed their assets in managing their career and searching for jobs. In particular, it gave them an opportunity to reflect on their experiences and achievements and use this information to make decisions about what they wanted to do next. The support of the mentor was particularly important in this respect. Clients also left the programme feeling more confident about how they presented themselves to employers both in terms of the presentation of their CVs and their interview technique. Whilst the e-portfolio programme provided portability and a useful framework for the self-reflection and evidence-building and presentation, it is unlikely that users would have completed the process without the support of a mentor. Clients appreciated the assistance of the mentor in using the software but also in supporting and encouraging them in their reflection and job search.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of an evaluative case study that used an electronic portfolio to enhance the employability of older adults. The evaluation sought to identify programme effects and highlight the factors that were instrumental in generating them.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Qualitative inquiry methods were employed to gather the views of the mentor and programme participants.\nFindings: - The findings suggest that the electronic portfolio programme gave participants a better understanding of their skills and attributes and increased their self-confidence, in particular in marketing themselves to employers. Four features of programme design were identified as instrumental: the electronic portfolio software; the process of reflection and evidence building; and mentor and group support.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research is based on participants' subjective assessment of both their skills and the programme's effects and as such does not provide evidence of actual change in their performance (e.g. at interview).\nPractical implications: - The findings suggest that the e-portfolio software alone would not have been sufficient in generating improved outcomes for participants. Programmes intending to introduce a technology-based approach to the provision of adult information, advice and guidance should acknowledge the importance of mentor-facilitation and the mutual support provided in a group environment.\nOriginality/value: - The originality of the study lies in the use of an e-portfolio with a non-traditional (older) audience.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Productivity growth and job reallocation in the Vietnamese manufacturing sector
|
[
"Vietnam",
"Manufacturing industry",
"Job reallocation",
"Private- and state-owned firms",
"Small and medium firms and large firms"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The reallocation of resources between production units plays a crucial role in explaining productivity and potential growth. One of the most studied aspects is whether the growth in aggregate productivity is mainly due to the contribution of firms' own TFP improvement, the resource reallocation among firms or the firm's entry and exit (firm turnover). There are useful theoretical frameworks that explain the different paths of growth and failure of individual firms in the market, e.g., Jovanovich (1982). Firm's turnover is considered as an important source of productivity growth due to the entry of new firms and the exit of less productive firms (Aw et al., 2001), and the reallocation of resources and market share from less to more productive firms (Melitz, 2003). There are two main approaches among empirical studies related to firm turnover and productivity. First, studies provide empirical evidence on the relationship between firm's turnover patterns and productivity differentials. Second, studies decompose the contribution of firm's turnover to aggregate productivity growth. Changes in industry productivity growth are decomposed into elements corresponding to: productivity improvement of continuing firms; a reallocation of market share from less productive to more productive firms; and the contributions of the exit of less productive firms and simultaneous entry of firms.\n2. Methodology: 2.1 The methods of estimating TFP\n3. Empirical research results: 3.1 Data and basic patterns of gross job flows\n4. Conclusion: The purpose of this paper is to consider whether the industrialization process in Vietnam's manufacturing industry after Doimoi is one of creative destruction. In order to check the robustness of the decomposition results, we applied Olley-Pakes dynamic decomposition for the aggregate TFP, estimated from WRDG, OP, LP and ACF. The results show that the composition of the aggregate TFPs is correlated very high (over 80 percent) except net entry components. Estimated results show that: first, the growth of aggregate productivity using the WRDG method is found 2.323 percent. Second, the Olley-Pakes dynamic decomposition shows that the contribution of private and the contribution of small and medium firms and large firms to the TFP growth are positive and account for 133, 58.56 and 41.44 percent, respectively. Third, job reallocation among the firms shows that the within-firm productivity and net entry components are the main reason for TFP growth rather than reallocation. Fourth, thus, the process of creative destruction take place in Vietnam's manufacturing sector is not due to the reallocation of employment between existing firms and the covariance component, but the entry of more productive firms replacing inefficient firms and improve productivity within the firms. This suggests that encouraging firms' entry is important to improve aggregate productivity. There are some policy implications suggested from the research results: the establishment of a policy that fits into the competitive market, by removing the barriers to entry and exit of firms, is necessary to help improve aggregate productivity. Besides, the government should also encourage and support firms improving productivity, especially for small and medium firms to improve aggregate productivity.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to measure TFP growth and job reallocation in the Vietnamese manufacturing industry after the Doimoi period.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study uses firm-level panel data from Vietnam's annual enterprise survey data for 2000-2016 period in the Vietnamese manufacturing industry using Olley-Pakes static and dynamic productivity decomposition methods.\nFindings: The aggregate productivity estimated from the WRDG method increased 2.323 percent, of which over 40 percent is due to the reallocation toward more productive firms. Olley-Pakes dynamic decomposition according to ownership, scale and industry shows that the contribution of private and state-owned firms and the contribution of small and medium firms and large firms to the TFP growth are 133, -33 percent, 58.56 and 41.44 percent, respectively. The within-firm productivity and net entry components are the main reasons for TFP growth rather than reallocation. The results show that the composition of the aggregate TFPs, estimated from WRDG, OP, LP and ACF, is correlated very high (over 80 percent) except for net entry components.\nResearch limitations/implications: The major limitation of this study is that the authors compute an aggregate productivity index using actual employment-based shares (still misallocation in labor), rather than optimal employment-based shares (no misallocation in labor).\nOriginality/value: Job reallocation between industries is attracting attention in developing countries, especially transition economies. However, knowledge about job reallocation among industries is limited. This paper assesses the level of job reallocation among private and state-owned firms, small and medium firms and large firms in Vietnam.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Determinants of individuals' entrepreneurial intentions: a gender-comparative study
|
[
"Gender",
"Developing countries",
"Entrepreneurial intentions",
"Gender schema theory"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Entrepreneurship refers to \"owning and managing a business on one's own account and risk\" (Sternberg and Wennekers, 2005, p. 193) and deals with the process of opportunity identification, designing, launching, and running a new business (e.g. Chell, 2013). It is regarded as a compelling force for economic development (Romer, 1994; Schumpeter, 1934), new job creation, and sustainable employment (Shane and Venkataraman, 2000). First step in entrepreneurship process is the development of entrepreneurial intentions (EIs) (Krueger and Carsrud, 1993) which reflects the willingness of an individual to start a new business (Thompson, 2009) and it is defined as \"intention to start a business\" (de Janasz et al., 2007, p. 383). Exploring the determinants of EIs is vital to understand the entrepreneurial behaviors (Shane and Venkataraman, 2000). Therefore, scholars have sought to understand the determinants of individuals' EIs. Research shows personality (de Janasz et al., 2007), prior experience (Bird, 1988), entrepreneurial education (Fayolle and Gailly, 2015; Karimi et al., 2016) risk-taking propensity, self-efficacy (Hao et al., 2005), environment support (Luthje and Franke, 2003), perceived desirability, and feasibility (Guerrero et al., 2008) are significant antecedents of individuals' EIs. Most of the scholars have applied the theory of planned behavior (TPB) (Engle et al., 2010; Kolvereid, 1996; Van Gelderen et al., 2008) in the development of individuals' EIs, by demonstrating the roles of subjective norms, attitude toward entrepreneurship, and perceived behavioral control. However, the findings of the existing studies are inconclusive as they have produced inconsistent results. For instance, few studies have shown the positive effect of social norms on EIs (e.g. Tkachev and Kolvereid, 1999; Autio et al., 2001; Carey et al., 2010; Diaz-Garcia and Jimenez-Moreno, 2010; Yordanova and Tarrazon, 2010), whereas other studies have shown negative or no relationship between social norms and EIs (Reitan, 1997; Krueger et al., 2000; Autio et al., 2001). Similarly, the studies examining the impact of self-efficacy on EIs have also produced inconsistent results (Wang et al., 2016; Pihie and Bagheri, 2013; Mortan et al., 2014). Therefore, it is also important to explore the mechanisms and boundary conditions of these relationships for the better understanding of the phenomenon.\nTheoretical framework and hypothesis development: Attitude toward entrepreneurship as a mediator\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nData analysis: CFA\nDiscussion: Academic contribution\nConclusion: Our paper demonstrates the EIs of males and females are triggered by different stimuli, particularly in the context of developing countries. It shows entrepreneurial self-efficacy and social norms positively influence individuals' entrepreneurial attitude, which in turn determine EIs. However, these effects are moderated by gender in such a way that the effect of self-efficacy is greater on the entrepreneurial attitude of males than on females. Conversely, females are more induced by social norms to develop positive attitude toward entrepreneurship. These findings suggest that the endorsement and support of society is necessary for the promotion of EIs of females in developing countries. For this reason, \"enlightenment of the masses\" with regard to female entrepreneurship is necessary to achieve positive effects, in that societal admiration of female entrepreneurs increases female EIs. At the same time, males should be provided with sufficient training and expertise to develop the self-efficacy required to run their own businesses.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the differentiated effects of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and social norms on individuals' entrepreneurial intentions (EIs), through the mediation of attitude toward entrepreneurship, by integrating the framework of gender schema theory with the theory of planned behavior. The authors posit that different factors stimulate the EIs of males and females, through attitude toward entrepreneurship, in developing countries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data are collected from graduating students of South Asia's largest university. Structural equation modeling is used for model testing.\nFindings: The results show that perceived entrepreneurial self-efficacy has a greater effect on the attitude of males toward entrepreneurship than on the attitude of females, but perceived social norms have a greater effect on female attitude toward entrepreneurship. Attitude toward entrepreneurship has a positive impact on EIs.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study of its nature which demonstrates that the EIs of males and females are induced by different factors. Where the social norms are the major factors in determining the EIs of the females, self-efficacy plays a vital role in predicting the EIs of their male counterparts. This study also attempts to clarify the relationship between self-efficacy, social norms, and EIs by positing entrepreneurial attitude as mediator. Moreover, it brings a fresh perspective through its setting in South Asia. By testing a model in the cultural setting of a developing country, this study differentiates the research from that conducted in the developed world.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Non-performing loans and financial development: new evidence
|
[
"Foreign banks",
"Credit risk",
"Financial intermediation",
"Financial development",
"Non-performing loans",
"Asset quality",
"G28",
"G32",
"F34",
"O16",
"E44",
"G01",
"G21"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This study examines the influence of financial development on non-performing loans (NPLs).\n2. Related literature and conceptual framework: 2.1 Related literature\n3. Data and methodology: 3.1 Data\n4. Empirical results: 4.1 Cross-country results\n5. Conclusion: The purpose of the study is to investigate the influence of financial development on NPLs. In the cross-country analysis, we find that two financial development proxies: foreign bank presence and financial intermediation are positively associated with NPLs, which imply that NPLs increases with greater financial development that takes the form of greater foreign bank presence and greater financial intermediation. This could be due to weak supervision of the lending standards of all banks and non-bank financial institutions actively involved in the financial intermediation process. Weak supervision encourages financial institutions to engage in lax lending standards, which subsequently gives rise to NPLs particularly when unexpected events sets in that affect borrowers' ability to repay bank loans. Among the determinants of NPLs, bank efficiency, loan loss coverage ratio, competition and banking system stability are inversely associated with NPLs, while NPLs are positively associated with banking crises and bank concentration. For the regional analyses, the graphical analysis shows that NPLs are negatively related to financial development while the empirical analysis does not show any significant relationship, although NPLs are observed to be significantly associated with regulatory capital ratios and bank liquidity, implying that banking sectors with greater regulatory capital and liquidity experience fewer NPLs. Finally, national bank regulators/supervisor should not only take into account the role that financial development structures play in influencing aggregate NPLs but also ensure that thorough supervision of the lending practices of banks is in place as well as the active monitoring of the financial intermediation process in the country.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the influence of financial development on non-performing loans (NPL).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The model used in this study follows the NPL model of Louzis et al. (2012), Ozili (2015) and Beck et al. (2015).\nFindings: The findings indicate that financial development, measured as foreign bank presence and financial intermediation, are positively associated with NPLs. Also, bank efficiency, loan loss coverage ratio, competition and banking system stability are inversely associated with NPLs, while NPLs are positively associated with banking crises and bank concentration. In the regional analysis, NPLs are negatively associated with regulatory capital and bank liquidity, implying that banking sectors with greater regulatory capital and liquidity experience fewer NPLs.\nPractical implications: National bank regulators/supervisor should not only consider the role that financial development structures play in influencing aggregate NPLs but also ensure that thorough supervision of the lending practices of banks is in place as well as the active monitoring of the financial intermediation process in the country.\nOriginality/value: The study is the first to use a global sample to examine the direct relationship between NPL and financial development.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Motivations and challenges of women entrepreneurs: Experiences of small businesses in Jaipur city of Rajasthan
|
[
"Women",
"Institutional theory",
"Motivations",
"Entrepreneurship",
"Challenges of women entrepreneurs"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The need to improve the status of women and the promotion of women's roles in economic development are no longer seen merely as issues of gender equality or social justice. Since women constitute a nation's significant human resource, they must be utilized as instruments for growth and development of the economy. Women entrepreneurship appears to be an encouraging way for tapping the hitherto underutilized potentials of the women force. Women entrepreneurship not only empowers women economically but also has positive social repercussions.\n2. Theoretical framework and review of literature: During the past few decades, scholars have attempted to analyze female entrepreneurship from various perspectives including female entrepreneur's motivations and challenges. The existing literature discusses female entrepreneurial motivations mostly in terms of the pull/push classification[2]. \"Push\" factors are essential elements that force people into entrepreneurship, such as the need for greater income or dissatisfaction with the existing job or working conditions. \"Pull\" factors are elements that induce people to become entrepreneurs, such as the desire for autonomy and independence; the wish, rather than the need, for a greater income; the desire for personal satisfaction and achievement; or simply because they see an opportunity in the form of a gap in the market.\n3. Research context: Rajasthan: To explore female entrepreneurs' experiences, it is important to assess the position of women in the context of research area (Bui et al., 2018). Context involves acknowledging the different actors included in the entrepreneurship process, and also when, where and under what institutional conditions the entrepreneurship process emerges (Welter and Kerstin, 2011). Context is not the background to entrepreneurship, but a foreground actor in the entrepreneurial process, indicating that people and context can only be analyzed when considered together (Spedale and Watson, 2014).\n4. Methodology: Qualitative methods have been gaining importance in the small business and entrepreneurship research (Perren and Ram, 2004). Moreover, research in the area of female entrepreneurship is increasingly leading to a better understanding of how women \"do business\" through studying women in their own right, rather than through constant comparisons of their business activities with those of men (Winn, 2004; McGowan et al., 2012).\n5. Sample characteristics: A total of 13 women participated in the research, all of whom lived and operated their business in Jaipur city. The summary of entrepreneurs' personal background and business context is as follows. The participants ranged in age from 24 to 52 at the time of interview. Eight of the participants were married - three with one, two with two and two with three children. It was evident that more than half of the participants had some degree of family responsibility or caring role.\n6. Findings: The analysis of the interviews revealed four important motivational factors behind the entrepreneurial activities of women. Table AI summarizes the main motivations cited by the interviewees. It may be inferred from the table that the subjects of the study were motivated to start their own venture mainly by a range of pull factors. To do something creative and innovative was considered the most important motivation by 8 out of the 13 women.\n7. Discussion: The present study sought to explore the motivations and challenges of women entrepreneurs running small businesses in the Jaipur city of Rajasthan. A number of studies on female entrepreneurship indicate that female entrepreneurs start their business with push factors and/or strong economic motivations such as generating extra income (Clain, 2000; Georgellis and Wall, 2005; Brush, 1999). However, the findings of the present study - as illustrated by women entrepreneurs' insightful narratives - show that push factors and economic motivations are not the primary reason for women entrepreneurs in Rajasthan. The patterns identified in the interviews indicate that intrinsic factors such as urge for creation, autonomy, identity, love for challenges and social contribution are the key motivational factors for women entrepreneurs in the state.\n8. Conclusion and policy implications: The present study examines the motivational factors and challenges of women entrepreneurs running small businesses in the Jaipur city of Rajasthan. Using a qualitative, in-depth interview-based methodology, the work provides insights into the entrepreneurial journeys of 13 women in Rajasthan as they established and managed their ventures. The responses of the entrepreneurs operating in diverse fields of textiles, leather manufacturing, restaurants, education, security services, etc., indicate that the urge for creativity and innovation, to earn self-identity, to be independent and to serve the society were the main motivations for them to start their venture. The responses clearly indicate that the female entrepreneurs in Rajasthan are motivated by pull factors rather than push factors while taking up entrepreneurial activities.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the motivations and key challenges women entrepreneurs experience in running small businesses in the Jaipur city of Rajasthan.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A purposive sample of 13 women entrepreneurs from a cross-section of enterprises is selected. A qualitative methodology based upon semi-structured, in-depth, exploratory interviews with female entrepreneurs is used which enables the respondents to give voice to their individual experiences.\nFindings: The study reveals that pull factors including the urge for creativity, innovation, self-identity and independence, and to serve the society are the main motivations for female entrepreneurs to start their venture. From the institutional theory perspective, the challenges of female entrepreneurs originate mainly from informal institutions. A significant challenge is that their ability as a professional entrepreneur is not recognized and acknowledged by the society. Furthermore, the cultural norms reflected in the gender-specific role distribution result in the problem of work-life balance. The challenges emerging from the formal institutions do not appear to be pervasive and gender specific.\nOriginality/value: The unique contribution of the study is to provide evidences on the motivations and challenges of women entrepreneurs in Rajasthan based on qualitative data derived from in-depth interviews. Furthermore, the study is the first attempt to view the motivations and challenges of female entrepreneurs from an institutional perspective for India in general and Rajasthan in particular.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Preferred risk allocation in target cost contracts in construction
|
[
"Target cost contracts",
"Guaranteed maximum price contracts",
"Procurement",
"Risk allocation",
"Construction industry",
"China",
"Contract costs"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The problems associated with the traditional procurement approach have manifested in the form of cost overrun and adversarial working relationship between employer and contractor, especially in case of competitive fixed-price lump-sum contracts (Lahdenpera, 2010). It is suggested by Lahdenpera (2010) that gain-share and pain-share affecting the success of the entire project make the employer and contractor consider each other's views better and collaborate more efficiently. Ingirige and Sexton (2007) held similar notion that the objective of a target cost contract (TCC) is to motivate contracting parties to lower the cost incurred without affecting the quality or delivery to maximise the contractor's profitability and client's savings.Infrastructure developments (e.g. roads, railways, metros, bridges, utility services, etc) play a vital role in influencing the economic viability and social welfare of every country. The complexity and dynamics of the decision making in infrastructure development and management has steadily increased over recent years. Target cost contracts have been widely applied to deliver and manage critical modern infrastructure systems and buildings, with the purpose of enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of their service delivery.There has been an increasing trend of application of TCC and GMP (being a variant of TCC) contracts in the private sector and quasi-government sector in Hong Kong over recent years, especially in the sector of public infrastructure works and facilities services (Chan et al., 2007a). Moreover, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has introduced the New Engineering Contract Version 3 (NEC3) Option C (target cost with activity schedule) on a trial basis to an open nullah improvement works project in Sai Kung launched by the Drainage Services Department in August of 2009 (Cheung, 2008). TCC has been practised in the infrastructure sector projects of Hong Kong such as the Tseung Kwan O Railway Extension, Tung Chung Cable Car Project and Tsim Sha Tsui Metro Station Modification Works (Chan et al., 2007a; Chan et al., 2010a). The same procurement strategy was applied to the civil engineering works contracts of the South Island Railway Line in Hong Kong commenced in late 2010 (Mass Transit Railway Corporation, 2011). Interestingly, all these projects procured with TCC are civil engineering infrastructure works projects.Other research studies reported that GMP was applied in public school projects as well as municipal water and wastewater facilities in the United States (e.g. Rojas and Kell, 2008; Bogus et al., 2010). TCC was also adopted in mega-sized infrastructure works in the United Kingdom such as the New Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport and some venues for the Olympic Games 2012 in London. Up to June of 2010, there have been 317 schemes of health services sector premises completed by the Department of Health of the United Kingdom as well under this procurement framework applying the New Engineering Contract Version 2 (NEC2) Option C (target cost with activity schedule) according to ProCure 21 Guide (2010).However, not every TCC/GMP project is equally successful in terms of time, cost and quality performances due to the fact that the employers traditionally apply exculpatory clauses to minimise their own obligations in the contracts. This onerous allocation of risks may not be of interest to the construction industry in the long run. The short-term benefits of shifting as many risks as possible to contractors in the contracts may create an atmosphere of hostility that generates a considerable number of contractual disputes and, even worse, a reluctance to tender for works in future (Zaghloul and Hartman, 2003).Despite the emerging trend of application of TCC/GMP schemes, there has been very scarce amount of published literature touching on the risk allocation of TCC/GMP projects in Hong Kong. As Wong (2006) stated, TCC was usually applied to projects with high risks. Thus, this paper aims to identify the key risk factors associated with TCC/GMP construction projects and then determine the party best capable to take such risks in the Hong Kong context. Such study is expected to benefit both academic researchers and industrial practitioners in exploring the preferred risk allocation of TCC/GMP projects, and in providing a strong base for further research such as an international comparison of different risk allocation schemes accompanied by this kind of contractual arrangement in infrastructure development projects traditionally inherent with high risks.\nLiterature review: Definitions of TCC and GMP\nResearch methodology: The research study reported herein was modified based on El-Sayegh (2008), which focused on risk assessment and risk allocation in the construction industry of the United Arab Emirates. In El-Sayegh (2008)'s study, the survey respondents were asked about the proper allocation of 42 identified risks. A similar approach was adopted in the present study and the target survey respondents were invited to determine the party (whether client or contractor) who is best capable to manage a particular risk associated with TCC/GMP contracts or equally shared between them, according to their lessons learned from previous TCC/GMP experience. A general principle is that each risk should be allocated to the party who is best capable to manage it at the least possible cost (Cooper et al., 2005). In other words, an optimal risk allocation is not to pass all risks to either party, but to seek a solution minimising both the total management costs of the client and contractor organisations (Ke et al., 2010).The empirical survey\nResults and discussions: A total of 300 self-administered blank survey forms were dispatched to target individual construction professionals and project stakeholders associated with the construction industry of Hong Kong, including those working for developers, consultant firms, main contractors, trade subcontractors, quasi-government organizations and relevant government works departments between March and April of 2009 by means of postal mail and electronic mail. They were welcome to add any other new unmentioned risk factors on the survey form based on their personal discretion and actual experience, but no additional risk was finally suggested by them. The completed survey forms were collected through postal mails, electronic mails, fax and personal networking. One hundred and forty-one valid and duly completed forms were returned in June of 2009, generating a response rate of 47 per cent. Among these 141 responses, 47 respondents declared that they had \"No hands-on experience in procuring TCC/GMP construction projects\" and they were advised not to complete the survey forms and returned the forms for record. The remaining 94 respondents either have acquired direct hands-on experience in TCC/GMP projects or they declared themselves having basic understanding about those TCC/GMP forms of procurement via conferences, seminars, workshops, journals and sharing from their counterparts even though without the direct exposure to TCC/GMP contracts before (Chan et al. (2010c), so only the data and opinions obtained from these 94 responses were used for further data analysis.Such screening enabled the researchers to make sure that the respondents have gained fundamental understanding of TCC/GMP procurement approach in order to assure the value and creditability of survey results. Given the fact that there have been only 17 construction projects procured with TCC/GMP in Hong Kong so far up to 2007 (Chan et al., 2007b), the majority of related key project team members in adopting TCC/GMP had been included in the sample of this survey, their opinions and feedback could substantially represent the TCC/GMP project pool in Hong Kong over the past decade of 1999-2009. The chosen sample was thus considered to be representative, sufficient and reliable.Since the research study aims to seek the party best capable to manage each of the identified risks under TCC/GMP contracts according to the hands-on experience and perceptions of each individual, which should be independent of the roles involved in the projects (i.e. whether clients, contractors or consultants), their opinions should be lumped together for a holistic analysis. Therefore, the views of 94 respondents are presented on a collective basis in the paper, taking a similar approach by Ke et al. (2010) used in their work on risk allocation of PPP projects in Mainland China. Table III provides a summary of the personal profiles of survey respondents. More than 70 per cent of the respondents have gained a wealth of working experience of more than ten years. The respondents worked in different kinds of organisations, representing the views of clients, consultants and contractors.The survey respondents were requested to choose the \"party best capable to manage the risk\" corresponding to each of the listed risk factors, with the measurement scale shown in Table IV.Risk sharing in TCC may be referred to the establishment of sharing ratio between the employer and the contractor from some earlier research studies (Scherer, 1964; Cummins, 1977). However, a multitude of previous studies in the field of construction management referred \"risk allocation\" as the perception of respondents on the expected/ideal allocation of individual risks. For example, Andi (2006) conducted a questionnaire survey to collect the opinions of industrial practitioners on expected and actual risk allocations in the Indonesian construction projects. Li et al. (2005) reported on the findings of a survey on perception on risk allocation of 46 risk factors in PPP/PFI projects in the United Kingdom. The \"preferred\" risk allocation was determined by the level of majority opinions. El-Sayegh (2008) also adopted this approach in his study about risk allocation in construction projects of the United Arab Emirates.The preferred risk allocation in this article refers to the \"perceived party best capable to manage the risk\" which is for the party which has more than 50 per cent ownership of such risk, applying the same principle in previous studies on risk allocation in construction by Li et al. (2005) and El-Sayegh (2008). With the principle that the party best capable to manage the risk should bear such risk, the interpretations of findings are illustrated in Table V.Agreement of respondents within experienced group and non-experienced group\nConclusions: An in-depth understanding of the significant risks is an imperative in project delivery with TCC/GMP contractual arrangements. Inadequate consideration of risk allocation may result in failure in achieving the stated project objectives upon completion. Literature review indicated that previous research studies on the risk management of TCC/GMP scheme are rather limited. This paper has attempted to fill up the knowledge gap of risk management in TCC/GMP construction projects. This study adopted an empirical questionnaire survey to examine the preferred risk allocation of TCC/GMP projects, concluding that the risks under client's control such as risks on tender documentation and project design are suggested to be borne by client and construction risks are perceived to be taken by contractor. Such findings are in line with previous similar research studies on risk allocation in construction projects in general and are consistent with the management standard and fault standard of risk allocation as advocated in the Grove (2000)'s report in particular.The survey findings could serve as a useful reference for desirable risk allocation for future TCC/GMP contracts in construction. Given the fact that TCC/GMP schemes are extensively applied in infrastructure projects worldwide including Hong Kong (Walker et al., 2002; Rojas and Kell, 2008; Chan et al., 2008; Bogus et al., 2010; Chan et al., 2010a), the findings of this study should be relevant and essential to both construction academics and industrial practitioners in the field of infrastructure development and management. The research study has engendered some research evidence to capture the lessons learned from previous TCC/GMP construction projects for generating best practice guidelines for equitable (preferred) risk allocation in future target cost-based projects especially in those infrastructure developments often associated with high risks, both locally and overseas.Further qualitative investigations such as face-to-face interviews and in-depth case studies of various TCC/GMP projects may be undertaken in future to verify the suitability of preferred risk allocation in reality and to substantiate the propositions derived from the current study, together with the possible reasons behind these allocation preferences. Moreover, the same research methodology and questionnaire survey may be launched in some western countries like the United Kingdom, United States and Australia to glean opinions of relevant project stakeholders for international comparisons between the East and the West in respect of their similarities and differences. Limitations of the research study lie in the conclusions drawn being indicative rather than conclusive, as merely 94 completed survey questionnaires were received and analysed owing to a limited number of TCC/GMP construction projects in Hong Kong. Notwithstanding, the survey findings would be valuable for future studies in this area.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to identify the party most preferred to take the risks associated with the target cost contracts and guaranteed maximum price contracts (TCC/GMP) in the Hong Kong context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - An empirical questionnaire survey was conducted with the relevant industrial practitioners to solicit their preferences of risk allocation in TCC/GMP construction projects in Hong Kong.\nFindings: - The survey findings indicated that risks on tender documentation and project design are better borne by clients, while construction related risks are perceived to be taken by contractors. The research findings are consistent with other similar studies on risk allocation in construction projects in general.\nPractical implications: - This paper has developed a preferred risk allocation scheme for the delivery of future TCC/GMP projects, taking Hong Kong as an example. It can serve as a useful guide for decision makers to determine an optimal risk allocation at the planning stage of a TCC/GMP scheme.\nOriginality/value: - The paper can benefit both academic researchers and industrial practitioners in generating an equitable risk sharing mechanism for TCC/GMP projects. It provides sufficient empirical evidence, added to the growing body of knowledge and lays a solid foundation for further research such as an international comparison of various risk allocation schemes associated with this kind of contractual arrangement.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Nurturing creativity: The development and application of creative thinking enhances business success
|
[
"Top management team (TMT)",
"Diversity",
"Upper echelon theory",
"Idea connectors",
"Networking",
"Productivity",
"Elaboration process",
"Involvement",
"Diversity management",
"Ideas generation",
"Productivity rate",
"Employees involvement"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Creativity is the fuel that keeps the fires of innovation burning; in the modern industrial forge of technological development, business success is dependent upon the creation and realization of new concepts. So how can organizations nurture the type of creative thinking that will help them stay one step ahead of the competition?\nThe role of TMTs: Strategic decision-making has traditionally been the responsibility of top management teams (TMTs). On the positive side, TMTs are typically made up of people with a wealth of commercial experience and a demonstrable track record of achievement. On the negative side TMTs are often highly homogenous groups composed predominantly of older white males educated at a small number of prestigious universities or business schools. Homogenous groups can find it difficult to spark creativity because individual members are just too similar. Creative innovation requires a degree of conflict characterized by disagreement around key decisions. This acts as a forge in which ideas can be tested and refined. The fire will destroy some materials subjected to the process, however the proposals that emerge refined are likely to be pure gold. Talke et al. (2011) confirm this in their findings that diversity within TMTs increases a firm's strategic innovation orientation.\nStrategic innovation orientations: There are two key types of strategic innovation orientation. Market orientation describes a strategy based on knowing what the customer wants. In the most creative firms this is developed into a proactive market orientation which forecasts what consumers would want if it was available and therefore focuses development on future, rather than current needs. Apple is often cited as a key example of this approach. Consumers were not aware of the fact that they wanted ipods, iphones or ipads, but once available, these were all highly covetable and commercially successful bits of technology.The second type of strategic innovation orientation is technology orientation. Companies adopting this approach make substantial investments in research and analysis to develop the most technologically sophisticated products. Technological expertise and leadership play key roles in this orientation. However, these two approaches are not exclusive and firms adopting a proactive market orientation are often able to do so because they have confidence that their technologically superior products will create a strong demand.\nValuing diversity: While upper echelon theory supports the concept that decisions guiding strategic development are made by powerful players such as the members of TMTs, the typical lack of diversity in such groups can have a negative impact on innovation strategies. Yang and Konrad (2011) point out that women and members of ethnic minority groups are substantially under represented in corporate decision-making. Women and people from minority ethnic groups can make important contributions to an organization's success due to their different beliefs, values and opinions. The introduction of new ideas facilitates the development of a fresh approach to problem-solving and strategic development. From a social justice perspective, it could be argued that these groups should be given a voice in order to provide greater equity of opportunity. However, there are also strong economic justifications for increasing the diversity of decision-makers within commercial organizations. Companies that utilize the variety of talents and viewpoints associated with a diverse workforce demonstrate increased profitability. It is not enough just to employ women and members of minority ethnic groups. While research cited by Yang and Konrad (2011) indicates that contact alone can reduce intergroup prejudice, people must be empowered to enable their diverse views to be heard and incorporated into the decision-making structures of the companies for which they work.\nEmpowerment and elaboration: One way this can be done is to involve employees at all levels in the elaboration process whereby novel ideas are proposed, scrutinized and conceptualized. This process aids in the empowerment of less powerful members of an organization when they realize that their contributions can make a difference to policy-level decisions. An example of how a lack of involvement in elaboration can hurt corporations comes from Whelan et al. (2011) who describe how one technology company lost an important contract because of the low quality of their voice-recognition software. One of the company engineers had previously recommended improvements based on information he gleaned from a paper published on a professional website. However, due to the engineer's relative lack of power in the organization his recommendation was not acted upon, ultimately resulting in the loss of significant business.\nScouts and connectors: The implementation of some simple strategies can enhance employees' ability to contribute to the innovation process. In the above scenario, an employee came up with a good idea, but was not able to disseminate it to someone who had the vision to act on his insight. Identifying the role of \"innovation connector\" within the company might have enabled this engineer's voice to be heard and appropriate action taken. An innovation connector is someone who has very good internal connections within an organization. He or she has an excellent understanding of how the company operates and knows who is involved in different research or projects. The innovation connector can put the people with ideas in touch with the people who may be able to develop an idea into a product or a new manufacturing process. Innovative ideas can be dreamed up by anyone within an organization, or they might be the result of deliberate \"idea scouting\" where all or part of an employee's job description is about finding innovative concepts that could be used within their own company. Idea scouts working together with idea connectors can become a powerful force for innovation.\nConclusion: Social closure theory suggests that change does not come easily to organizations. Powerful players in the corporate world feel most comfortable working with people who are very like themselves. This is well known within popular culture and is epitomized by phrases such as \"a closed shop\", or \"the old boys' network\". However, the \"old boys\", the older white males who have typically been the power brokers in a large percentage of global industries, can no longer keep a \"closed shop\" if they wish to remain in the game. Meeting the demands of the modern world requires innovation and innovation thrives on diversity. Organizations can nurture creativity by involving all employees in the elaboration process. Companies that work in this way, thus valuing diversity of experience and opinion, will be the ones that thrive in today's difficult economic climate.\nComment: All three articles cited were well written and informative. The article by Yang and Konrad (2011) was the most comprehensive, at 22 pages in length. This paper described an empirical research study into workplace diversity and employee involvement. The paper by Talke et al. (2011) also reported on research findings from an investigation into how TMT characteristics inform an organization's innovation strategy. The paper by Whelan et al. (2011) was not a research report although the authors state that the insights are based on five years of research and consultancy. This paper provided guidance for R&D departments about how they could optimize innovation.\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: - Creativity is the fuel that keeps the fires of innovation burning and in the modern industrial forge of technological development business success is dependent upon the creation and realization of new concepts. So how can organizations nurture the type of creative thinking that will help them stay one step ahead of the competition?\nPractical implications: - The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: - The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Fostering corporate entrepreneurship through internal marketing: Implications for change in the public sector
|
[
"Public sector organizations",
"Innovation",
"Entrepreneurialism",
"Internal marketing",
"Empowerment",
"Greece"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Poised with the need to improve effectiveness, to foster efficiency and to raise responsiveness to citizens' needs, public organizations have to date, experienced numerous reforms (Pollit and Bouckaert, 2000). Specific structural or process based changes are often tagged as directives such as \"New Public Management\" (NPM) (Gruening, 2001) or \"Reinventing Government Movement\" (Osborne and Gaebler, 1992). Despite pervasiveness, public sector reforms lack proper evaluation protocols and procedures (Noordhoek and Saner, 2005, p. 42; Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2001, p. 29). In addition, orientation and ultimate effectiveness is often criticized (Noordhoek and Saner, 2005).Corporate entrepreneurship, on the other hand, is gaining momentum within the literature as the vehicle towards strategic renewal and change, which will make the shift from bureaucracy to innovation (Barringer and Bluedorn, 1999; Guth and Ginsberg, 1990; Shaw et al., 2005). Previous research results have demonstrated that entrepreneurship represents an interdisciplinary and multifaceted process (Busenitz et al., 2003; Kuratko et al., 2004; Sadler, 2000), which should not be confined to the private sector. Entrepreneurship holds the potential to flourish in social, non-profit and public sector organizations (Borins, 2002; Caruana et al., 2002; Leadbeater, 1997; Morris and Jones, 1999; Thompson, 2002; Zerbinati and Souitaris, 2005) but intra-organizational encouragement is not so simple. Managers and policy makers are required to employ a variety of practices to facilitate acceptance and implementation (Morris and Jones, 1999). Advancement of corporate entrepreneurship requires the integration of the effective adoption of specific organizational practices such as decentralization of authority, participation in decision-making, cooperation, avoidance of bureaucracy and encouragement of risk taking and creativity (Hayton, 2005; Strebel, 1996). Furthermore, practices that foster corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector are limited (Brown, 2004; Sadler, 2000) and fail to account for:* Employee heterogeneity (Ashkanasy et al., 2002; Ivancevich and Gilbert, 2000);* Employee group membership, status and identity-driven behavior (Ivancevich and Gilbert, 2000; Martin et al., 2006); and* Personal responsiveness to change; this trait has been found to be responsible for the failure of change initiatives and reform programs in organizations (Armenakis and Bedeian, 1999; Bradley, 2000; Steward and Walsh, 1992).Increased awareness of employee importance in organizational change and implementation has contributed to the adoption of internal marketing (Gronroos, 1994; Papasolomou, 2006; Varey and Lewis, 1999). Internal marketing focuses on people inside organizational boundaries and places emphasis on the satisfaction of employee needs (Ahmed and Rafiq, 2003). This article extends internal marketing frontiers by merging the process with corporate entrepreneurship. It further places emphasis on public organizations and aims to broaden the internal marketing concept and procedures to capture participative decision-making and empowerment (Varey and Lewis, 1999). A further objective of the research findings is to offer possibilities for public sector organizations to cope with challenges and opportunities, to improve and to do more with less (Caruana et al., 2002; Morris and Jones, 1999; Osborne and Gaebler, 1992; Ramamurti, 1986; Roberts, 2002; Zerbinati and Souitaris, 2005). This article is based on the premise that entrepreneurship is present in all organisations, irrespective of size or type (Caruana et al., 2002; Hult et al., 2003).Results are based on a survey conducted among a random sample of 223 public servants working at prefectures, which is the second level of Greek regional government. Conjoint Analysis and Cluster Analysis were employed to empirically test the importance and contribution of factors, which foster corporate entrepreneurship and the corresponding level of expression. Conjoint Analysis supports employee preference modeling in conjunction with organizational policy implementation and makes use of input elicited from specific scenarios. Cluster Analysis on the other hand, is used to form groups that display common employee preferences.Research results reported herein demonstrate that: firstly, Conjoint Analysis can be used to support effective internal marketing policy formulation and implementation and, secondly, that public employee attitude and preference towards corporate entrepreneurship is not homogeneous, which means that planning should accommodate for heterogeneity.The subsequent section encompasses a literature review followed by the experimental design and discussion of results. The article concludes with an overview of results, a formulation of tentative management practice guidelines and a discussion of areas for further research on the subject.\nEntrepreneurship and innovation in the public sector: The concept of entrepreneurship in the public sector\nFostering corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector: Stimulants of corporate entrepreneurship\nMethods and procedures: As discussed in the previous section, the proposed method examines the contribution of job rotation, reward, training and trial period in corporate entrepreneurship.Conjoint analysis\nAnalysis and results: Conjoint Analysis produces two types of results: individual, which corresponds to the utility presented by each respondent in relation to the several attribute levels considered; and group, which corresponds to the average utilities found in the group.The part-worth utilities of Conjoint Analysis will be used for post-hoc segmentation purposes (Green and Krieger, 1991; Lilien and Rangaswamy, 2002, p. 84). Table II shows the part worths for all respondents within the sample. Our results indicate an adequate level of internal validity in terms of Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient (r=1.000, p<0.001), and Kendall's tau (t=0.997, p<0.001) for the whole sample (Leigh et al., 1984).The interpretation of Conjoint Analysis results is quite simple. First, one looks at the relative importance of each attribute and, second to the distribution of utilities by their respective part-worth utilities. Results from Table II, indicate that the \"trial period\" of public servants is the most important attribute (27.88 percent). This is followed in descending order by \"training\" (26.43 percent), \"reward systems\" (24.75 percent), and \"job rotation\" (20.94 percent). The small differences in the importance scores demonstrate that all factors are perceived as being important from the public servants.Within the attributes, the part-worth utilities of each attribute were also investigated. For example, within the factor \"trial period\", the highest level of utility for the public servants was obtained through the \"six years\" trial period (U=0.3109), whereas the utility obtained during the \"eight years\" and \"ten years\" period was lower (U=-0.012) and (U=-0.2990), respectively. Utilities are scaled to sum to zero within each attribute.Cluster analysis\nDiscussion: The main purpose of the present study was to present a model for practicing internal marketing towards the facilitation of corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector context. An investigation was carried out to determine public servants' attitudes towards different scenarios that were constructed using three factors that foster corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector. Moreover, the \"trial period\" factor, that is, the years of employment required prior to the acquisition of the constitutional \"security of employment\" of the public servants, was incorporated into the research design. In addition, we investigated which segments could be distinguished based on the part-worth utilities of the factor levels.Results derived from the conjoint analysis experiment indicated that the factor with the highest average importance to public servants is \"trial period\" (27.88 percent). This is followed in descending order by \"training\" (26.43 percent), \"reward systems\" (24.75 percent), and \"job rotation\" (20.94 percent). The results obtained in this study confirm those derived from previous research demonstrating that public employees place great importance on job security (Frank and Lewis, 2004), and less importance on high pay (Crewson, 1997), and validate the content validity of the present study.According to Sadler (2000, p. 39), it is inappropriate to regard the public sector as a single operational structure as far as the factors that facilitate corporate entrepreneurship are concerned. In the present survey, important differences between the aggregate part-worths for the whole sample and these for the four clusters identified were observed. Results indicate that it is inappropriate to regard public servants as a single operational structure, and confirm the importance of employee heterogeneity in attitudes towards public entrepreneurship. Cluster analysis results clearly identified four groups of respondents. More specifically, these are the \"no way\", group, the \"convince me\" group, the \"tempt me\" group and finally the \"when do we start?\" group.Figure 5 provides a histogram of the frequencies of respondents identified in the four clusters of the survey sample.Upon observing Figure 5, it is clear that not all public servants react in a similar fashion to the factors that foster corporate entrepreneurship. It seems that public servants distribute themselves in a pattern that is consistent with Rogers' model of diffusion of technological innovations (Rogers, 1995). Rogers (1995) defines diffusion as \"the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system\" (p. 5).The model of innovation diffusion proposed by Rogers (1995) categorises potential adopters of an innovation into groups based on the time an individual adopts an innovation. According to Rogers, adopters fall into four categories. The first category incorporates the innovators and accounts for 16 percent of the population; these are the \"early adopters\" and represent the individuals willing to accept uncertainty. The second category captures the 34 percent of the population and incorporates the \"early majority\" - the individuals who are willing to adopt an innovation once they have learned enough about it. The third category captures the 34 percent of the population and includes the \"late majority\" - the individuals who generally are very skeptical about innovation and wait until most of the uncertainty has vanished. The final group encompasses 16 percent of the population and is made up of the \"laggards\" - the last adoption group.Results from our survey indicate that the identified clusters of civil servants correspond to Rogers' groups, with the \"when do we start?\" group being the \"innovators\", the \"convince me\" and \"tempt me\" groups being the \"early\" and \"late\" majority individuals and finally, the \"no way\" group being the \"laggards\". Additionally, results suggest that factors fostering corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector are perceived as a form of innovation from the main actors of the public sector social system that is, public servants. Introducing such initiatives in the public sector follows a pattern similar to the diffusion of technological innovations as suggested by Rogers (1995). The result can very helpful to policy makers since the groups identified, can be targeted with a different diffusion strategy. Following the recommendations of Bradley (2000), it can be argued that a change-program for the introduction of corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector should aim towards the \"convince me\" group. If it is aimed at the \"tempt me\" group, half of the public servants will be unswayed. By convincing those who need convincing, the \"tempt me\" and \"when do we start?\" people will most likely also be persuaded.Furthermore, our research design reveals attitudes of front line staff working in the public sector. Considering that intentions successfully predict behavior and attitudes successfully predict intentions (Kim and Hunter, 1993), our results indicate that there could be an increased possibility of successful application of corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector, through the practice of internal marketing. Moreover, empirical evidence suggests that employee-initiated change is more likely to produce positive attitudes compared to top management driven change (Griffin et al., 2005). The results of this research imply that the practicing of internal marketing could produce positive outcomes towards fostering public entrepreneurship since it is based on public servant choices and attitudes. Furthermore, results indicate that conjoint analysis can be used to support effective internal marketing policy formulation and implementation.\nConclusions and recommendations for further research: During the last 15 years, considerable effort has been built up around developing more effective, more efficient, and more flexible public organizations (Pollit and Bouckaert, 2000). Public entrepreneurship provides promising possibilities for the public sector organizations to revise their ways of working in order to cope with challenges and opportunities (Caruana et al., 2002; Morris and Jones, 1999; Osborne and Gaebler, 1992; Ramamurti, 1986; Roberts, 2002; Zerbinati and Souitaris, 2005).We examined public servants' attitudes concerning scenarios that were constructed based on three factors that have been found to foster corporate entrepreneurship namely: \"job rotation\", \"reward system/pay for performance\", and \"training\". In addition, we used the \"trial period\" of public servants in the research design. Results indicated that the factor with the highest average importance to public servants was the \"trial period\". This is followed in descending order by \"training\", \"reward systems\" and \"personnel turnover\". In addition, the aforementioned factors follow a distribution pattern similar to the diffusion of technological innovations.Intriguing findings of the present research should be interpreted with some caution. While this research represents an important step in identifying the importance of factors associated with corporate entrepreneurship, additional research is required to enhance confidence in the generalization of findings. First, our research relied on a sample from the Greek public sector. Thus, results may reflect a bias since public servants from other countries were not incorporated. Second, our data is cross-sectional in nature. Consequently, alternative relationships might exist. Future research should be longitudinal. Third, only four factors were incorporated in our research design. Future research should include a broader set of factors that are important for fostering corporate entrepreneurship.Finally, it would be very helpful in future experimental designs to reveal the attitudes of public sector's union members, since they are close to front line staff and research indicates a positive relationship among the persons that introduce initiatives and the decision to adopt them, from the members of the social network (Rogers, 1995). Moreover, future research should incorporate multilevel designs, since employees are nested within directorates or departments.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to look at how internal marketing can be coupled with corporate entrepreneurship. The paper then suggests explicit practices that enhance potential for innovation at the organizational level.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The article presents the results of a survey based on a random sample of 223 public servants working at regional Greek governmental organizations (prefectures). It makes use of full profile conjoint analysis and cluster analysis using an appropriate survey instrument. Drawing from earlier research, different attributes that foster corporate entrepreneurship and their corresponding levels were used to form specific scenarios. The applied methodology captures and formalizes scenario preference by the public servants who participated in the survey.\nFindings: - The results indicated four distinct clusters of respondents, whose classification formed a pattern, which is consistent with Rogers' model of diffusion of technological innovations.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Research relied on a sample of public servants from the Greek public sector and data is cross-sectional in nature. Future research should be multinational and longitudinal to test the results and assumptions reported herein.\nOriginality/value: - The findings of this paper are original and unique and provide a well-documented framework in addressing corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector. Furthermore, the results of the study are useful to policy makers interested in formulating a strategy that fosters corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector setting.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Making sense of business leadership vis-a-vis China's reform and transition
|
[
"China",
"Transition",
"Business leadership",
"Contextual boundaries"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Leadership is an essential element of competitiveness in business that has long become the focus of speculation (Day and Antonakis, 2012; Yukl, 2002). China, with its continuing economic, social, and cultural transition, generates increasing research interest in its business leadership phenomena at the interface of change and adaptation. The perception and practice of leadership, constructed at and through work, are informed by fundamental beliefs about the conjoined nature of the social structure, a sense of self, and related cognitive structures and processes (Nisbett, 2003). This requires relevant contextualization with regard to research on business leadership in China, which has largely been underspecified in the existing literature (Tsui, 2007). The simple transfer of theories into Chinese society without meaningful contextualization appears problematic because it may overlook constructs and phenomena salient in a different context that are shaped by specific philosophical worldviews, cultural history, and institutional forces (e.g. Child, 2009).\nLiterature review: The mainstream literature on leadership\nMethodology: Informed by the premises of grounded theory, this study employs a systematic qualitative approach to generate theory from data. A grounded theory is appropriate for this research that seeks to investigate how and why leadership is perceived in China, and has been recommended for the study of indigenous issues in China (Redding, 1990). In undertaking traditional ethnographical methods, data collection must be informed by \"in-depth knowledge of its norms, practices and customs\" (Neuman, 1994, p. 393). To this end, we used in-depth interviews as an enquiry strategy, with particular attention given to involving a cross-section of middle managers from Chinese enterprises, including state-owned enterprises (SOEs), domestic-private enterprises (DPEs), and foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs). Content analysis of several rounds of interviews added depth to the data analysis.\nFindings: General perceptions of leadership\nDiscussion and conclusion: In common with other countries, particularly those confronted with a hybrid cultural environment (Edwards and Kuruvilla, 2005), a crucial issue for China is an updated understanding of the leadership concepts formed and reformed in its transition process. Qualitative research design enabled us to integrate multiple factors, namely personal, organizational, economic, social, and cultural factors. The nature of the paper is neither cross-cultural nor a single theory applied to all contexts per se; nonetheless, the findings provide evidence-based insights about leadership perceptions and practice with the surrounding social and cultural contexts under China's ongoing transition. In fact, this study goes beyond reinforcing the core tenets of the Confucianism traditionally perceived as the Chinese paradigm of a leader (Aritz and Walker, 2014; Zhang et al., 2015). Rather, the interview findings illustrate concepts and issues not yet emphasized by either English mainstream leadership theories, or the theories of paternalistic leadership generally viewed as characteristic of a traditional paternalistic leader in Asia in general, and in China in particular.\nContribution and further research: Our investigation of Chinese concepts of leadership and its related themes provides an important and timely contribution to the literature, capable of generalizability outside its original context. It fills a gap in the research by exploring the indigenous issues affecting leadership in China through meaningful contextualization. For Chinese managers, this study sharpens understandings of what is perceived effective in their leadership behavior. For multinational enterprises, the findings facilitate expatriates better prepare for their international assignments in China. For human resource departments, this study shed light for leadership training programs as it enables comparison, synthesis, and development of theories based on considerations of cultural, historical, and societal perspectives.\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the contemporary paradigm of business leadership vis-a-vis China's reform and transitional context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper employs an evidence-based approach to explore the business leadership issues influenced by economic reform and within the context of societal transition in China. A qualitative research method was adopted based on in-depth interviews with a number of middle managers from a variety of Chinese enterprises, including state-owned, domestic-private and foreign-invested enterprises. Content analysis of several rounds of interviews added depth to the data analysis.\nFindings: The findings complement existing thoughts and illustrate concepts, issues, and characteristics not yet emphasized in mainstream literature. General patterns and associated characteristics of business leadership in China, as well as specific patterns associated with different forms of enterprise ownerships, are identified.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study makes a timely and necessary contribution that enriches context-specific understandings of business leadership against the backdrop of surrounding economic, social, and cultural changes.\nPractical implications: The study enriches understandings of commonalities and differences in leadership across the globe, facilitating working collaboratively to achieve common goals in a global community.\nOriginality/value: The study offers new insights into business leadership by linking contextual, personal, and cognitional factors together and demonstrates some unique characteristics of leadership styles in transitional economies like China.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Conceptualizing operations strategy processes
|
[
"Operations management",
"Organizational change",
"Action research"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Skinner's (1969, 1974) two seminal articles initiated the development of operations strategy (OS) theory and several advances have emerged since. However, a recent study (Slack et al., 2004b) revealed a discrepancy between the large number of OS publications in two leading OM journals and the perceived importance of OS in the eyes of practitioners. This is puzzling considering the present competitive challenges that industrial companies face. Increased globalisation, continuous advances in information technology (IT) and evolving global business networks force managers to deal with operations in a more strategic manner (Hayes et al., 2005). Skinner (1992) identifies four possible obstacles to the penetration of OS models and methods into industrial practice and the mind-sets of practitioners:1. a lack of leaders who understand and accept the new concepts;2. problems in middle management;3. problems with the ideas of manufacturing strategy; and4. problems with functional or departmentalised organizational structures.Recognizing that OS scholars can contribute most to reducing the third obstacle, this paper aims at developing a theoretical conceptualization and model of OS processes and illustrating the relevance and potential of the conceptual framework through a longitudinal case study. The case study data were collected at a Danish company as part of the development and implementation of an OS, in which the lead author was involved.The paper is structured as follows. First, the current status of OS theory is discussed and evaluated. Then, an initial OS process model is proposed, which is subsequently used to describe and analyse the main events and outcomes of an OS process. Finally, implications for OS theory and managerial practice are identified.\nStatus of operations strategy process research: OS is:... the ... pattern of decisions which shape the long-term capabilities of any type of operations and their contribution to overall strategy, through the reconciliation of market requirements with operations resources (Slack and Lewis, 2002, p. 16).Within the OS literature, it is customary to distinguish between content and process approaches. OS content approaches deal with how operations can create competitive advantage, by providing normative guidelines on what to include when formulating an OS. OS process approaches deal with how to conduct OS formulation and implementation processes.The vast majority of OS publications focus on content. Dangayach and Deshmukh (2001) reviewed 260 papers on manufacturing strategy from refereed journals and international conferences and found that only 23 (9 percent) addressed process issues. Boyer et al. (2005) found that only 8 (22 percent) out of 37 POMS papers on OS dealt with process issues. The research focus is unbalanced and there is an urgent need for an increased focus on the OS process (Anderson et al., 1989, 1991; Adam and Swamidass, 1989; Leong et al., 1990; Minor et al., 1994; Dangayach and Deshmukh, 2001; Boyer et al., 2005).Most process models that are available (Skinner, 1969; Hill, 1993; Mills et al., 2002) are prescriptive but not based on research into what actually happens in OS processes (Barnes, 2001, 2002). OS is presented as a rather linear, analytical and rational process of top-down OS formulation and implementation activities. This is not surprising as only a few studies have actually been completed on how OS develops in practice - see Table I for an overview of empirical OS process studies and conceptual contributions found in a review of main OM journals such as the Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, the International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Integrated Manufacturing Systems, Production Planning and Control, and Management Science, together with OS-paper collections or textbooks, including process issues. Most of these contributions describe OS as a deliberate and emergent, top-down and bottom-up, or intended and realized process (Misterek et al., 1992; Mills et al., 1995; Swamidass et al., 2001; Platts et al., 1998; Barnes, 2001, 2002; Slack and Lewis, 2002, Minarro-Viseras et al., 2005). Many stress that OS processes are not only technical-rational, but also social, cultural, political and learning processes (Anderson et al., 1991; Maruchek et al., 1992, Misterek et al., 1992, Vollmann et al., 1992; Bates et al., 1995, Benningson, 1996, Maslen and Platts, 1997, Menda and Dilts, 1997, Platts et al., 1998, Barnes, 2001, 2002; Slack and Lewis, 2002; Englyst, 2003, Minarro-Viseras et al., 2005 and Riis et al., 2006) while project management and facilitation issues also play an important role for outcomes (Maslen and Platts, 1997; Platts et al., 1998; Minarro-Viseras et al., 2005 and Riis et al., 2006). So, these authors provide us with a rich set of alternative conceptualizations of OS processes and the point of departure in the development of the model presented below.\nConceptualizing operations strategy: We view operations as a combined technical and socio-political system. The technical system is best described using classic decision categories such as capacity, supply network, process technology and development, and organization (Slack and Lewis, 2002). The actors or stakeholders comprising the socio-political system can be described by their knowledge, competencies, perceptions, logics, values, interests, needs, communication patterns, and power/political relations (Post et al., 2002; Slack et al., 2004a). Operations performance can be measured through, e.g. costs, delivery times, dependability, lead times, inventories, flexibility and quality (Slack and Lewis, 2002).Following March (1994) and Brunsson (1989, 2000), we conceptualize OS processes not simply as linear processes of OS formulation and implementation but as processes of dialogue and action occurring in an iterative manner over time. Actors involved talk about how to act on, intervene in, or change operations, observe the consequences of these actions, and draw conclusions as a basis for further dialogue, action or inaction, and so on. Dialogue need not be followed by immediate action, and actions may not be preceded by dialogue (Brunsson, 1989, 2000).Furthermore, we distinguish three key process dimensions (Vollmann et al., 1992; Barnes, 2002). The technical-rational dimension, dominant in the OS literature, refers to developing and implementing change related to the decision categories mentioned above. The cultural dimension refers to changes in actors' knowledge, competencies, perceptions, communication patterns, logics, values, needs and interests (Misterek et al., 1992; Burnes and Hakeem, 1994). The political dimension (Menda and Dilts, 1997; Badham and Buchanan, 1999) reflects that actors possess power resources, form alliances and engage in political strategies and tactics along the OS process.Project management and facilitation present two further dimensions. OS interventions are often organized and managed as (cross-functional) projects (Riis and Mikkelsen, 2005). In many cases, external or internal experts are used to facilitate events such as, for example, seminars, workshops and training sessions (Eden and Ackermann, 1998).Finally, under conditions of both stability and instability, created through the interaction of the dimensions described above and the influence of events external to the process, OS processes tend to unfold as complex and chaotic (MacIntosh and MacLean, 2001; Stacey, 2003), sequential and parallel, ordered and disordered, deliberate and emergent, top-down and bottom-up processes along the dimensions addressed above. Figure 1 shows these ideas and represents the model we will use to describe and analyse the OS case study presented below.\nResearch methodology: action oriented longitudinal case study: Case studies (Voss et al., 2002) or other forms of plant-based research (Hill et al., 1999) appear more appropriate than surveys or modelling exercises to study OS processes (Barnes, 2001, 2002). Our study is based on a combination of action research and ethnography. In action research, the researcher acts as both research scientist and change agent (Westbrook, 1995; Coughlan and Coghlan, 2002). This research strategy brings the researcher close to practice - this is \"research in action, rather than research about action\" (Coughlan and Coghlan, 2002, p. 222). Recognizing that \"truth is ... the daughter of time\" (Pettigrew, 1990, p. 274) we supplemented our interventions with interviews with key actors and investigated relevant documents from time periods before and after we were engaged with the company involved as is traditionally done with longitudinal ethnographic studies (Barnes, 2001).Research model\nThe RonCo case - from local and functional towards global and lean manufacturing: The situation before the intervention\nCase analysis, discussion and implications: This section presents and discusses the key lessons that can be learnt from the RonCo case.The role and impact of the OS interventions\nConclusion: This purpose of this paper was to develop a conceptualization of OS processes, drawing on the existing literature and illustrated by a longitudinal case study. We conceptualized the OS process as:* events of dialogue and action;* taking place in five dimensions of change - technical-rational, cultural, political, project management and facilitation; and* typically unfolding as a sequential and parallel, ordered and disordered, planned and emergent as well as top-down and bottom-up process and, therefore, probably complex and chaotic.The empirical data suggests the proposed OS framework is indeed useful for descriptive and analytical purposes. It complements the few existing empirical studies of OS formulation and implementation in practice and adds to the current understanding of OS processes, their nature, characteristics, and potential outcomes and can potentially contribute to the further development of robust OS process theories.The proposed framework and longitudinal case study also have managerial implications. Critical success factors seem to be:* Be aware that the role and impact of an OS intervention can be limited - use good fortune (e.g. new players) adequately.* Create an environment in which dialogue and action reinforce each other.* Be aware of the need to address technical-rational, cultural and political dimensions - establish a team capable of coping with these dimensions and their interaction.* Put effort into project management and facilitation of the OS process.* Combine planning and control with improvisation in order to cope with the complex and chaotic nature of an OS process.* Formulate moderate and realistic OS outcome ambitions.* Realize that middle management are a critical asset - they can make the OS a success, but also break the intervention.* Couple OS rhetoric and operations realities during the process.Further, the paper has demonstrated the potential of the action-based longitudinal case study methodology for studies of OS processes in practice. This method enabled us to propose and test a new OS process framework which, notwithstanding its limitations, would have been difficult with other less intensive case-oriented methods.Further, studies are needed of how OS processes evolve in practice. Particularly, in order to bridge the gap between current practice and theory, the framework needs validation and evaluation of its completeness using multiple studies.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present insights into operations strategy (OS) in practice. It outlines a conceptualization and model of OS processes and, based on findings from an in-depth and longitudinal case study, contributes to further development of extant OS models and methods which presently mainly focus on OS content, as distinct from process issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The methodology combines action research and a longitudinal single site case study of OS processes in practice.\nFindings: - The paper conceptualises an OS process as: events of dialogue and action; taking place in five dimensions of change - technical-rational, cultural, political, project management, and facilitation; and typically unfolding as a sequential and parallel, ordered and disordered, planned and emergent as well as top-down and bottom-up process. The proposed OS conceptualization provides a useful tool for describing and analyzing real-time OS processes unfolding in practice.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research is based on a single case, which limits the generalizability of the findings.\nPractical implications: - The findings suggest that, in order to obtain successful outcomes for an OS process in practice, change agents may need to moderate their outcome ambitions, manage process dimensions and agendas in a situational manner, balance inherent process paradoxes, strive at bridging both language and reality, as well as mobilizing key stakeholders, especially middle managers, throughout the process.\nOriginality/value: - The paper proposes a novel conceptualization of the OS process derived from the literature in relevant areas and findings obtained through longitudinal action research of an OS formulation and implementation process.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Easy to chew, but hard to swallow - consumer perception of neutrally marinated meat
|
[
"Neutrally marinated meat",
"Enhanced meat",
"Consumers",
"Focus group interviews",
"Appropriation",
"Meat",
"Consumer behaviour",
"Denmark",
"Food manufacturing processes"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This paper presents a case study of potential problems for the appropriation of new food products. The case study concerns a relatively new type of meat product, so-called neutrally marinated meat, which is meat injected or tumbled with water, salt, sugar and other ingredients such as phosphates, antioxidants and acids. The aim of neutral marination is to make the meat more juicy and tender, and some of the ingredients prevent rancidness and the growth of bacteria (Danish Meat Association, 2006; Dorffer, 2003; Hayes et al., 2006; Pietrasik and Shand, 2011). Neutrally marinated meat represents a technological novelty on the meat market, which is becoming increasingly common in industrialised countries all over the world. Unlike other innovations it has not been marketed as such, and in general, the introduction and spread of neutrally marinated meat have gone rather unnoticed.When a new group of food products like this one enters the market, its viability and future position on the market depend on consumers' acceptance and appropriation. Consumers' acceptance of food products depends on their experience of the taste and appearance of the products, but also on a number of other factors, such as the origin and processing of products (Holm and Kildevang, 1996; Holm and Mohl, 2000), nutritional content (sugar, fat etc.) and health aspects (Korzen-Bohr and O'Doherty Jensen, 2006), ethical aspects such as animal welfare, and convenience aspects (Bruhn, 2008). For new products to remain on the market, it is necessary that they are not only accepted, but also appropriated by consumers.Appropriation means that new products become familiar and that consumers make them \"their own\" in both a practical and conceptual manner (Miller, 1987; Niva, 2008). For new food products, this implies that they go through a process of integration into existing eating patterns. Part of this process involves the products finding a place in the relevant culinary systems and taxonomies, and becoming located in existing culinary categories, defining the products' place in the meal system (e.g. as breakfast or dinner) and their status relative to other products (e.g. as low or high status food). There are several examples in history of technologically advanced products, which have met severe problems of appropriation. For example, UHT milk and instant coffee have been introduced on the Danish market but have never become accepted as proper quality products by consumers.Studies have investigated consumers' sensorial assessments of neutrally marinated meat through blind tests (Carr et al., 2004; Hayes et al., 2006; Pietrasik and Shand, 2011; Robbins et al., 2003; Sondergaard, 2007), but our literature search showed no studies with a broader perspective on consumers' acceptance of neutrally marinated meat. We therefore set out to conduct a study which focuses on exploring the full range of views of consumers regarding neutrally marinated meat, using Danish consumers as a case.In this paper, we first describe neutrally marinated meat and its position on the Danish market. We then present the methodology of the study, followed by the results about peoples' views on neutrally marinated meat. Finally, we discuss some of the major problems related to the manner in which this new technology has been introduced in Denmark and conclude with outlining possible outcomes from the Danish case.\n2. Neutrally marinated meat in Denmark: In Denmark, the method of injecting or tumbling meat with water, salt, sugar and other ingredients is called \"neutralmarinering\" which literally translates into \"neutral marination\", and meat processed in this way is called \"neutralmarineret kod\". In this paper, we do not use the common English terms \"plumbed\" or \"enhanced\", but stick to the terms \"neutrally marinated meat\" and \"neutral marination\", because they are more in line with the Danish terms used by the informants in our study.According to reports from media and the meat industry a noticeable portion of the pork, beef and especially poultry either produced in or imported into Denmark has been neutrally marinated and the weight of the meat has typically been increased by 5-15 per cent. In wholesale, neutrally marinated pork, beef and poultry is common, whereas in retail, it is mostly poultry that is neutrally marinated (Danish Meat Association, 2006; Dorffer, 2003).The introduction and spread of neutrally marinated meat in Denmark has occurred during the latest decades, but has gone rather unnoticed. However, some criticism has been raised in the media and in the Danish Parliament about this method of processing meat and the way it is marketed (Folketingets Lovsekretariat, 2006, 2007; Hvilsom, 2006; Jydske Vestkysten, 2005). In 2010, the Danish Parliament unanimously adopted a law comprising strict rules on the production and naming of neutrally marinated meat (Guldagger, 2010).The meat industry, consumer organisations and universities have carried out sensorial tests to discover how sensorial experts and lay people assess the taste and texture of neutrally marinated meat, compared to meat that has not been processed (e.g. Hayes et al., 2006; Pietrasik and Shand, 2011; Sondergaard, 2007; Torngren, 2007). Generally, in these tests the neutrally marinated meat is favoured (Hayes et al., 2006; Pietrasik and Shand, 2011; Sondergaard, 2007; Torngren, 2007). To our knowledge, the views of ordinary consumers have not been represented in the public debate, and their views on the notion of neutrally marinated meat have not been investigated scientifically. Therefore, until the present study was conducted we did not know much about the views of consumers concerning neutrally marinated meat besides their immediate opinions on taste and texture.\n3. Methods: The study is based on qualitative, semi-structured focus group interviews. In September 2008, four focus group interviews were conducted with five to eight participants in each group (n=27). Participants were recruited by a market analysis company using a random telephone generator among their participant panel. Two of the focus group interviews took place in a rural area, while the other two took place in Copenhagen. To ensure variation in the views and arguments, each group was varied regarding age, gender, family type and educational background. Inclusion criteria were: over 18 years of age; not living with parents, shared or sole responsibility for food shopping in the household, no professional occupation within the food sector, no vegetarianism and no higher university education. Participants received gift vouchers for a variety of shops (value approx PS30) in return for the contributions.The focus group interviews were organised around joint tasks (see Table I), which encouraged the participants to express their views on various aspects of neutrally marinated meat and to discuss contradicting views in the groups. The interviews lasted for approximately 150 minutes each and were moderated by the first author of this paper.All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The approach taken to data coding and analysis was based on ethnographic analysis and template analysis (Crabtree and Miller, 1999; Hammersley and Atkinson, 1995). Reading the transcripts of the first two focus group interviews resulted in the identification of themes and an initial code-system was developed. This code-system formed the basis for the careful reading of all the transcripts and the themes were developed further; themes being split up or put together, new themes coming and others taken out, and themes changing from being descriptive to more analytical. This coding-process gave an overview of data and formed the basis for the analysis, which was done thematically.\n4. Results: In general, the concept of neutral marination was unknown to the consumers that participated in the focus group interviews. Most of the interviewed consumers did not know that meat is being processed in this way and were surprised that neutrally marinated meat is sold in Danish supermarkets. The terms \"neutral marination\" and \"neutrally marinated meat\" were unfamiliar to most of the interviewees. Some did recognise the words from labels in supermarkets or from the media, but did not know what they meant. Consequently, most interviewees reported that, as far as they knew, they had never tasted neutrally marinated meat. Only a few reported personal experiences with buying, cooking and/or eating neutrally marinated meat, and in all cases this had happened by accident and not on purpose.When being introduced to the concept of neutral marination, the interviewed consumers' immediate reactions were predominantly negative. Their first comments included words like \"ugh\", \"suspicious\" and \"totally meaningless\". But as the discussion proceeded and the interviewees tasted the meat, complex and ambivalent views showed. Each interviewee typically expressed views both in favour and against neutral marination.Favourable views supporting interviewees' acceptance of neutrally marinated meat\n5. Discussion: The focus group interviews indicated that consumers have very little knowledge about neutrally marinated meat. Most of the interviewed consumers did not know that meat is processed in this way and they did not know the terms used for labelling this kind of meat. None of the interviewees had chosen to buy, cook or eat neutrally marinated meat deliberately.Despite this, strong opinions about neutrally marinated meat were expressed in the focus group interviews after the interviewees had been introduced to the concept of neutral marination. A clear ambivalence was displayed, between on the one hand, favourable views of the taste, texture, robustness and potentially low price of this kind of meat, and, on the other hand, views of the meat as being unnatural, unauthentic and potentially risky to health. Further, a sense of concern was widespread because of a lack of information, anticipated unfair prices, and a suspicion that the meat industry and retailers produce and sell neutrally marinated meat only for profit without any consideration of the consequences for consumers. Typically, the informants were split between their positive experiences when tasting neutrally marinated meat, and their critical views.Further, neutrally marinated meat was perceived differently depending on the social context and it became clear that the categorisation of neutrally marinated meat in different social contexts is, as yet, unsettled. This conceptual indefiniteness may further the sense of ambivalence among consumers.These results point to a double set of tensions which are not yet settled. The acceptance of some quality aspects of the products needs to be balanced with the rejection of the whole idea of the neutral marination of meat and the suspicion of cheating. Sociological studies show that the appropriation of foods often takes the shape of a complex web of new and old ideas and gradual shifts or adaptions in everyday practices concerning food, eating and related practices, which can be explored by an analytical distinction between practical and conceptual appropriation (Niva, 2008). In the case of neutrally marinated meat, practical appropriation appears to have taken place, as the interviewees were likely to already have bought and eaten such products without being aware of it. Conceptual appropriation appears to be further away, since neutrally marinated meat has not yet been settled in the food categorisation system, and it is not clearly associated with everyday and discount food or with festive occasions and gourmet food.The consumers' reaction to neutrally marinated meat may be paralleled to the reactions to and the position of UHT milk on the Danish market. UHT milk, which has been heat-treated to a higher temperature than fresh milk and therefore has a longer storage life and can be stored at room temperature, was introduced on European markets in the early 1980s.In numerous European countries, UHT milk quickly became popular, because it was cheap and easy to store. In Germany, 60 per cent of consumers drink UHT milk and in France and Spain more than 90 per cent of the drinking milk sold is UHT (Abildgaard, 2005; Haugaard, 2007).In contrast, UHT milk has not become popular in Denmark. Only 1 per cent of the milk sold on the Danish market is UHT, and new types of UHT milk (ESL milk), which recently has been introduced in other European countries, has not been put on the shelves in Danish stores, because the dairy producers expect it to be unsellable (Abildgaard, 2005). Still, Danish consumers do buy UHT products when it comes to chocolate milk and milk desserts. This position of UHT milk on the Danish market reflects problems with the conceptual appropriation. UHT milk differs from what Danish consumers associate with milk, because the taste is slightly different from fresh milk, it has a longer product life and it can be stored outside the refrigerator until opened, and these characteristics question the authenticity of UHT milk. On the other hand, consumers do not hesitate to buy this kind of milk when it has been made into chocolate milk and desserts. This might be because they are not to the same extent concerned with the quality of the milk in these products.Thus, though there has been some practical appropriation, since consumers do buy products containing UHT milk, the conceptual appropriation of this kind of product is lacking. Other products have been met with the same ambivalence and lack of conceptual appropriation in Denmark. Examples are instant coffee and breaded chicken fingers. When entering the market, both products were originally seen as being modern and sophisticated convenience products. But after some time, their relative status in Danish food culture declined and they are now seen as being low grade substitutes for the \"real\" thing - freshly ground coffee and fresh chicken meat.Whether neutrally marinated meat will meet the same fate will depend on how its conceptual indefiniteness is settled. In the end, if the meat is considered to be a \"cheap\" and somewhat \"dubious\" alternative to \"real\" meat, it is likely that neutrally marinated meat will neither be conceptually nor practically appropriated by consumers in the long run. In that case, it is likely that neutrally marinated meat will find its place in the catering market and perhaps in a small niche in the discount market.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Meat which has been injected or tumbled with water, salt, sugar and other ingredients, has been available on the Danish market for some decades and is now becoming increasingly common. However, it is not known whether this so-called neutrally marinated meat will be appropriated by consumers in the long term, or will be destined to be a marginal second rate product. The purpose of this paper is to explore the views of consumers on neutrally marinated meat, including acceptance and potential problems for appropriation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Four focus group interviews were conducted involving 27 Danish consumers with various socio-demographic backgrounds.\nFindings: - The interviewed consumers had very little prior knowledge of neutrally marinated meat, and expressed ambivalent attitudes when introduced to it. They had favourable reactions to its taste, texture and robustness and saw the potentially low price as a positive feature. But they also viewed neutrally marinated meat as unnatural, unauthentic and potentially risky to health. Furthermore, concern was expressed due to the lack of information available to consumers and due to suspicion of unfair prices. The focus group interviews also showed that categorisation of neutrally marinated meat in different social contexts is not settled, underlining a sense of ambivalence among consumers. So, even though neutrally marinated meat is being consumed it is unclear if and when conceptual appropriation will take place.\nOriginality/value: - This study provides a broader perspective on consumer perception of new products than found in conventional sensorial tests, including views on the processing, health aspects, ethical aspects and convenience aspects.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Turnaround leaders' shifting gears in chronos and kairos time
|
[
"Principals",
"Turnaround",
"Leadership",
"Accountability",
"School improvement"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Nearly 20 years after No Child Left Behind (2001) and the expansion of federal school performance accountability systems in the USA, mandated school improvement remains a major concern for states, school systems and community stakeholders. From existing research on successful improvement or \"turnaround,\" it is clear that these efforts involve a set of intertwined agendas, such as improving staff morale while also demanding new and improved instructional practices; increasing rigor and student learning of key academic standards; and doing so within historically entrenched racial and social class inequities (Finnigan and Stewart, 2009; Giles, 2007; Leithwood et al., 2010). Furthermore, accountability-based turnaround is nested in district, state and federal policy contexts, as well as organizational cultures (Peurach and Marx, 2010). Thus, leaders in turnaround schools require flexible and varied skills to build relationships and guide instructional and cultural transformation in dynamic conditions that are cognitively and politically complex (Cosner and Jones, 2016; Finnigan, 2012; Koyama, 2014). However, most studies and reports that are directed toward turnaround leaders focus on what leaders do and less on what it is like for leaders to choose what to do at the right time and in the best ways given surrounding circumstances (Cosner and Jones, 2016).\nLiterature background: School turnaround is part of a broader accountability policy system. Most peer-reviewed research studies address one stage of accountability or turnaround policy at a time: when and how accountability systems identify schools as low performing (Hansen, 2012; Hochbein et al., 2013); when schools are developing school improvement plans (Fernandez, 2011; Mintrop and MacLellan, 2002; VanGronigen et al., 2017); leadership and schoolwide implementation of turnaround strategies (Ainscow et al., 2006; Cosner and Jones, 2016; Giles, 2007; Hamilton et al., 2007; Herman et al., 2008); and post hoc examinations of changes in performance (Brinson and Rhim, 2009; Dragoset et al., 2017; Hamilton et al., 2013). Longitudinal studies of turnaround that examine how schools sustain or lose ground on improvements are rare (exceptions include Bellei et al., 2016; Duke and Landahl, 2010; Earl et al., 2006; Finnigan and Gross, 2007). The literature base on accountability and school improvement is therefore organized by the staging of the policy process.\nMethodology: This qualitative multi-case study explored the experiences and perceptions of school leaders regarding accountability-driven school turnaround efforts over time. We adopted a multi-case design to generate some basis for comparison and conceptualization while giving space for consideration of complex individuals and contexts (Miles et al., 2014). As is typical for inductive research, our participants' data led us to adjust our research goals and to work on conceptual underpinnings of time in the process of leading turnaround (Charmaz, 2014).\nShifting gears: a metaphor for turnaround leadership experiences: In school turnaround, time proceeds forward in the chronos sense of school years, testing schedules, class periods and terms. Leaders also attend to a kairos sense of time when leading turnaround that is adaptive to the needs of the moment and of long-term goals while being sensitive to a specific school or community (cf., Chapman, 2004). This view does not reject the stages and steps of turnaround, which might be considered the overarching chronos trajectory, but rather enriches it with meaning that is derived from the nuances that make up kairos times (Smith, 1969).\nLeaders' experiences of turnaround: Each principal narrated how turnaround took the form of a path with unforeseen turns and changes in driving conditions. As they sought to lead their schools forward by shifting gears at just the right time, multiple principals spoke about or alluded to the psychological burdens of \"turnaround driving.\" Because this was evident for all principals, and seemed connected to the work of leading turnaround while sensing both chronos and kairos time, we describe these emotional tolls as well.\nImplications and conclusion: This study of principals' perceptions and experiences of leading turnaround provides insight into school improvement processes by conceptualizing leaders' engagement with chronos and kairos perspectives on time. Specifically, we introduced a metaphor of \"shifting gears\" to describe the nature of turnaround processes and leadership as not only linear-sequential but also contingent and adaptive, requiring the ability to contextualize and apply generally accepted leadership moves and to sense the right moments for them in specific spaces and times. We highlighted how leaders recalled and experienced shifting gears and the signals they used to decide the window of time was right for making a move. Finally, we considered how leaders' descriptions of turnaround leadership and shifting gears were connected to emotional or affective needs for support. In this conclusion, we comment on how the principals' experiences with their schools' turnaround processes have implications for research on leading school improvement, leadership preparation programs and district support systems.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In empirical research and practitioner guides, turnaround processes tend to be described in terms of discrete stages and strategies. Though necessary, this characterization belies the twists and turns of turnaround leadership. The purpose of this paper is to expand the assumptions of how turnaround proceeds in linear chronos time with the sensibilities of kairos time or the \"right\" time for turnaround leadership moves.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is an exploratory qualitative multi-case study with principals and their key supports (assistant principals, district leaders, teacher leaders) in four public turnaround schools. The grounded theory analysis conceptualizes the experiences of turnaround principals in flexible, complex ways.\nFindings: The findings begin with a metaphor and definition of \"shifting gears\" at chronos and kairos times that emphasizes how turnaround principals make adaptive, agentic adjustments when moving forward through changing terrain. The second half of findings describes each principal's experiences and reflections on their discernment of the right times for change within a chronological trajectory of turnaround. In addition, the leaders described shifting gears as strategic and responsive to contexts, sometimes taking a psychological toll.\nOriginality/value: Expanding notions of time in turnaround re-centers turnaround leaders as engaging in intellectually and emotionally demanding work. Such recognition challenges future research to address experiences and emotions in dynamic contexts. Hence, with this study, preparation programs and state and local systems may adjust holistic supports and leadership pipelines to sustain turnaround leaders.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Co-authorship networks: a review of the literature
|
[
"Social networks",
"Co-authorship networks",
"Literature review",
"Research collaboration networks",
"Research collaborations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Research collaboration is a key mechanism that links distributed knowledge and competencies into novel ideas and research avenues (Heinze and Kuhlmann, 2008). In simpler words, research collaboration connects different sets of talent to produce a research output. Co-authorship in research articles is considered a reliable proxy of research collaborations (Barnett et al., 1988; Melin and Persson, 1996). Using co-authorship to measure research collaboration has been a subject of significant interest since the 1960s (Beaver, 2001; de Solla Price and Beaver, 1966; Glanzel and Schubert, 2005; Melin and Persson, 1996). From bringing different talents together to giving scientific credibility, research collaborations may accrue several benefits for researchers (Beaver, 2001; Aghakhani et al., 2013). However, understanding research collaborations from the lens of social networks is a fairly young research area.\nCo-authorship networks: If one narrows down human social networks for which quantitative data exists, one is practically left with only a handful of them - two of these are a network of film actors (actors acting in a film together) and the network of researchers (researchers co-authoring a research piece together) (Newman, 2001c). Among these two networks, the one with true social function is probably only the researchers' network, as unlike film actor network, researchers mostly choose with whom they would like to do research and then pen down the results in the form of a co-authored research paper or artefact. These collaborations leave digital footprints in the form of bibliography, which can be effectively tracked and evaluated.\nConcluding remarks: Although there is a growing debate over what constitutes research collaboration (Katz and Martin, 1997), one of the most verifiable ways to examine it is to look at co-authorships of research papers (Glanzel and Schubert, 2005). It goes without saying that co-authors cannot write a paper together unless a fair degree of acquaintance exists between them. Network analysis in the form of citation analysis, co-authorship analysis, co-word occurrence analysis, and other indicators of knowledge production and scientific discovery have remained an important tool for bibliometric analyses. It is observed that co-authorship networks are arguably the only true representation of human acquaintance patterns for which numerous data points exist and a more precise definition of connectedness can be made (Newman, 2001c). Co-authorship networks are the largest publically available form of social networks. Moreover, because these networks are based on bibliographic data, they are free from subjectivity, which is a common drawback in questionnaire-based network studies (Newman, 2004b).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to attempt to provide a review of the growing literature on co-authorship networks and the research gaps that may be investigated for future studies in this field.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The existing literature on co-authorship networks was identified, evaluated and interpreted. Narrative review style was followed.\nFindings: Co-authorship, a proxy of research collaboration, is a key mechanism that links different sets of talent to produce a research output. Co-authorship could also be seen from the perspective of social networks. An in-depth analysis of such knowledge networks provides an opportunity to investigate its structure. Patterns of these relationships could reveal, for example, the mechanism that shapes our scientific community. The study provides a review of the expanding literature on co-authorship networks.\nOriginality/value: This is one of the first comprehensive reviews of network-based studies on co-authorship. The field is fast evolving, opening new gaps for potential research. The study identifies some of these gaps.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Winning engaged consumers: The rules of brand engagement and intention of co-creation in social commerce
|
[
"Co-creation",
"Brand engagement",
"Information exchange",
"Perceived value",
"Social media",
"Social support",
"Social networking",
"Social commerce"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Nowadays, it is essential for companies and firms to have a social media presence and to interact with existing customers and develop new potential customers. According to We Are Social (2019) statistics, there are 3.48bn active social media users worldwide, approximately 93 percent of these being active mobile social media users. Because of its popularity, social media facilitates an innovative channel for branding at the core of its customer engagement (e.g. Ahmad and Laroche, 2016; Zheng et al., 2015), thus changing business practice and service. A report issued by Marketo (2016) revealed that social media sites are among the most useful platforms to engage customers with brands at each stage of the consumer journey, which, in turn, allows for co-creation of value for the brand within customer networks. As such, social media has become a popular platform for a variety of commercial activities such as customer review and customer interaction, being referred to as the social commerce phenomenon (Lin et al., 2017). In the context of social commerce, customers can offer product assessment, recommend products, and share their personal experience about using products, thus creating value for branding. In such a scenario, customers could be considered as co-creators of value (Xie et al., 2008). Social commerce websites that help companies to create \"efficiency, novelty and lock-in\" value propositions (Zheng et al., 2017) and progressive advances in social commerce has revealed co-creation to be capable of increasing brand competitiveness (Bendapudi and Leone, 2003). In essence, consumers have become a glorified source of brand innovativeness (Klink and Athaide, 2010), particularly in the context of social commerce. Therefore, social commerce offers an effective approach for value co-creation, which is beneficial for both firms and customers (Franke and Schreier, 2010; Fuchs and Schreier, 2011). For example, ideas that are co-created with customers can outperform those that are generated by a firm's professionals, designers and marketers with regards to novelty and benefit (Poetz and Schreier, 2012). Social commerce is now gaining much attention from practitioners for facilitating value co-creation for gaining business profitable values. Therefore, it is essential for both academics and practitioners to understand the role of social commerce in value co-creation from the customer perspective.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Value co-creation with customers\n3. Research model and hypothesis development: Our research model is shown in Figure 1. Briefly, we identify three constructs (namely, social support, social commerce information sharing and social commerce value) from the literature on social commerce as antecedents of brand engagement, which, in turn, influence users' value co-creation intention.\n4. Research methodology: 4.1 Data collection\n5. Data analysis and results: We used the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method as the primary tool to test the hypotheses proposed. SEM is a tool used to analyze multivariate data, which is also appropriate for theory testing (Horton, 1980). Additionally, PLS is a suitable method for testing path models (Marcoulides et al., 2009).\n6. Discussion: 6.1 Key findings\n7. Conclusion: Co-creation intention has become a common feature within the social commerce context, and it is considered to be a highly promising channel for many companies. In order to exploit it, an important step is to engage consumers with social commerce sites or applications in order to motivate them to participate by raising their level of co-creation intention. In this study, our purpose is to improve understanding of how consumers can be an integral part of the brand in the social commerce context. We employ the social support theory, social commerce information sharing and social commerce value in contributing to explain the mechanism of engaging consumers with social commerce websites in order to increase the intention of brand co-creation. Our findings suggest that it is important for social commerce websites to consider engagement and its motivators as they attempt to boost levels of co-creation intention. As such, this research provides a useful foundation and empirical overview of how consumers can co-create brands in social commerce.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Under the sunlight of social commerce, few concepts have blossomed like value co-creation. But when blurred strategies are implemented, the opportunity to wilt a brand is high. To avoid the miscues and the controversies, an ascendant step is to engage consumers with social commerce sites. The purpose of this paper is to propose three antecedents to engage consumers with social commerce sites, namely, social support, social commerce value and social commerce information sharing, and the effect of brand engagement on the intention of brand co-creation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study used survey data from 234 Iranians with experience using social commerce sites. Variance-based structural equation modeling using the partial least squares path modeling approach was adopted to analyze the structural model.\nFindings: The authors found that social support, social commerce value and social commerce information sharing positively foster brand engagement. The study also revealed that brand engagement is a significant predictor of brand co-creation intention.\nOriginality/value: The study is the first study that considers and explains brand engagement from social support theory, social commerce value theory and social commerce information exchange. Also, the study shows how consumers can be an integral part of a brand. Unlike other studies which were done in industrialized countries, this study was employed in Iran.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Using signals to evaluate the teaching quality of MBA faculty members: fsQCA and SEM findings
|
[
"Vietnam",
"Signaling theory",
"FsQCA",
"MBA education"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Teaching quality is among the key factors affecting students' choice of a program for their study (e.g. Liu and Morgan, 2016). For that reason, during the past several years, a number of researchers have devoted their efforts in developing reliable and valid scales to assess teaching quality of faculty members (Annan et al., 2013; Marsh, 1982; Mittal et al., 2015; Ramsden, 1991; Ginns et al., 2007). Those efforts result in various assessment instruments such as the Students' Evaluation of Educational Quality (Marsh, 1982), the Course Experience Questionnaire (Ramsden, 1991) and the Student Course Experience Questionnaire (Ginns et al., 2007). Numerous research studies have employed these survey instruments or their modified versions to evaluate the teaching quality of faculty members (e.g. Abrantes et al., 2007; Jepsen et al., 2015; Nguyen and Nguyen, 2010; Spooren et al., 2014). These measures are based on student perception of the teaching quality of faculty members; that is, it is based largely on cognitive psychology. The evaluation of teaching quality based on signaling theory has largely been ignored in the literature.\nTheoretical background and hypotheses: Signals and signaling theory\nMethodology: Research context and design\nData analysis and results: Measurement validation\nDiscussion and implications: Existing research tends to base the evaluation of teaching quality of MBA faculty members on cognitive psychology and to employ traditional quantitative methods such as multiple regression or SEM to discover the net effects of a number of determinants of teaching quality of MBA faculty members. Realizing the asymmetry of information exists in education markets, this study, based on signaling theory, posits that faculty members' teaching quality is driven by the configuration of signal quality - including signal clarity, signal consistency and signal credibility - and teaching investment. Two methods of data analysis - fsQCA and SEM - were employed to discover the configurational role of teaching investment and the individual components of signal quality in teaching quality, and the net effects of these antecedents on teaching quality. In other words, the study investigates not only the recipe (i.e. the configuration of conditions) but also the ingredients (i.e. the net effects of individual conditions) leading to teaching quality.\nConclusions, limitations and future research directions: In conclusion, the education market in general and the MBA education market in particular is an experience-quality service market which is characterized by a combination of high pre-purchase information scarcity and high post-purchase information clarity, and signaling theory is an appropriate framework for the study of such a market. Faculty members can use quality signals to inform their students about their quality of teaching (Connelly et al., 2011; Kirmani and Rao, 2000; Wells et al., 2011). This is because students have difficulties in evaluating the teaching quality of faculty members before their enrollment, and the quality of signals can serve as an alternative and effective tool to attract students. Consequently, in order to convince students about the quality of their offering, MBA faculty members should invest in their teaching and send high-quality signals, that is, the signals should be clear, consistent and credible to their students. The results of this study confirm that a configuration of conditions (signal clarity, signal consistency, signal credibility and teaching investment - a recipe) is as important as the individual conditions (the ingredients).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Realizing the role of signals in the evaluation of teaching quality as well as the advantage of a set-theoretic approach to education research, the purpose of this paper is to employ a signaling framework and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to configure the roles of signal quality, including signal consistency, signal clarity, signal credibility and teaching investment in the teaching quality of Master of Business Administration (MBA) faculty members.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A sample of 342 MBA students in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam was surveyed to collect the data. fsQCA was employed to configure the conditions - signal consistency, signal clarity, signal credibility and teaching investment - for the occurrence of teaching quality, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the net effects of these conditions on teaching quality.\nFindings: fsQCA findings reveal that teaching investment combines with signal clarity, signal consistency and signal credibility to form sufficient conditions for the occurrence of teaching quality. SEM results confirm the net effects of these conditions on teaching quality.\nPractical implications: This study suggests that MBA faculty members should invest in their teaching and send clear, consistent and credible signals to their students in order to enhance their teaching quality perceived by their students.\nOriginality/value: The application of signaling theory to evaluate teaching quality, which has largely been ignored in prior research, and the use of fsQCA to better understand the complexity of necessary and sufficient conditions for teaching quality are two contributions of this study to the literature.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Developments and leanings of crowdsourcing industry: implications of China and India
|
[
"Management",
"Human resources",
"International business",
"Crowdsourcing",
"Outsourcing in India and China"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Crowdsourcing can be understood as a process of outsourcing tasks of an organisation to general public, where the term \"crowd\" equals to \"general public\". Though, absence of a universal definition, Howe (2008) defines it as an; \"act of taking a job traditionally performed by designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call\" (p. 1). Crowdsourcing functions with the help of three forces; firm, crowd, and the intermediary (the open source application Web 2.0). Many organisations actively engage in crowdsourcing; Adidas, BBC, BMW, etc. and simple, medium and advance tasks are being crowdsourced. Significance of crowdsourcing hinges on the network/connection. It can connect 4 billion mobile-phone subscribers which is over 65 per cent of world population (Eagle, 2009).\nTheoretical evolution: Open innovation opts firms to seek the research and development (R&D) assistance from external firms, but not from the crowd. User innovation motivates users to breed with innovative ideas. Nevertheless crowdsourcing buys ideas from users and non-users.\nChina, India and the outsourcing industry: By 2039, BRIC countries will be wealthier than many current major economies (Tu et al., 2011). Currently, China and India has second and fourth largest economy (GDP-PPP) respectively. Cross country comparison shows that India lags China substantially on many key determinants. Both countries are fragile in equal access to education, health and public services. Both have developing urban areas and less developing rural areas. Yet, two countries have increased their contribution on R&D. Firms such as Infosys, Wipro, Lenovo and Haier are some of the successful stories. Nations' bottom of the pyramid population delivers an attractive market.\nCrowdsourcing model: Our model (Figure 1) identifies three tasks; general tasks - no need of special skill; skilled tasks - need a special skill (e.g.: photography, software programming); professional tasks - require special knowledge or experience in science or consultancy to complete. We categorise tasks into two (Figure 2); \"completing tasks\" and \"generating ideas\". General and skilled tasks are mainly targeted at completing certain tasks. Professional tasks focus on generating new ideas to mend products/services. BPO and IT tasks can also be completed by the crowd. Nevertheless, Generating Ideas will behave as an additional business unit for the organisation. It is an extension of the R&D unit. Selected ideas will reshape the manufacturing of goods/services. Individuals will select the task that they can perform and appropriately completed tasks will get compensated. Intermediary applications such as social networks, firm's and third-party websites will provide the front-end interface, while Web 2.0 runs the back-end interface. The generated ideas/solutions will be turned into products/services with the support of a defined outsourced resources pool.\nAnalysis: Dutch firms have made an interesting assumption, that is \"Manufacturing jobs go to China and service work goes to India\", (CGKNG, 2011, p. 2). India and China shows similar trends in economic growth over the past decade (Figure 3). However the composition of gross domestic production (GDP) displays converse figures in two countries. Services sector dominates India's economy. In 2010 Services contribution to GDP was 55 per cent. Same year, Industry and Agriculture contributed 27 and 18 per cent respectively. Furthermore, revenue from IT software and services (excluding hardware) is expected to reach USD 88 billion in 2012. India increased its market share in the IT-BPO industry from 51 to 58 per cent between 2009 and 2011 period (TWB, 2012; NASSCOM, 2012).\nCase study on micro-task crowdsourcing in India: The study completed by Gupta et al. (2012), about mClerk; a platform for mobile crowdsourcing in semi urban areas of Bangalore, India provides a supporting case to the arguments we have highlighted in preceding sections. The project was deployed aiming at the digitisation of local-language text. mClerk overcame two major barriers in crowdsourcing which we have stressed in our study; connectivity and education (or language fluency) by linking people through low-end mobile phones and using a language which required only a very basic knowledge of English. In addition, mClerk was able to approach people who are ready to spend some time to earn additional money (in terms of mobile airtime credit). After initial recruitment of ten users, mClerk attracted 239 users from various backgrounds such as students, shopkeepers and labourers during its five weeks deployment period, and the users digitized 25,000 words during the study period with an accuracy level of over 90 per cent.\nConclusion: Our analytical view presents a possible impact of crowdsourcing on the outsourcing industry, in particular to India and China. Although it might be seen as a pre-empted perspective, even at present one can see a significant momentum for associating the pros of crowdsourcing with existing businesses, if not to replace those. In light of these developments, we see a strong need of policy implications and business process re-engineering strategies to harness the benefits of crowdsourcing into the present industry norms taking into account of the macroeconomic factors and potential impact on individual participants of the crowd. Moreover the success of these two markets will play a crucial role in stabilizing the future global economy; hence we see a positive intrinsic effect to the global economy, from adapting suitable crowdsourcing strategies in these markets. The paper has initiated a much needed idea/movement in terms of business management, and we welcome scholars/experts to investigate the matters further to suggest pro or anti-ideas/movements to build a synthesis as future extensions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Since crowdsourcing can be taken as a new field, the purpose of this paper is to suggest an idea/movement to motivate pro or anti-ideas/movements from scholars and experts to develop a synthesis in future.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper provides a quantitative analysis of world leading outsource provider markets: China - manufacturing sector: and India - service sector. The paper uniquely presents the much needed analysis details along with a model that fits crowdsourcing into outsourcing setup.\nFindings: There is a strong need of policy implications and business process re-engineering strategies to harness the benefits of crowdsourcing into the present industry norms taking into account the macroeconomic norms as well as the potential impact on individual workers or participants of the crowd.\nOriginality/value: The paper indicates a possible shift in the scope of management from managing a firm to managing beyond boundaries. Implications drawn in this paper can provide high impact support for decision makers and future research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Effect of supply chain management practices on customer development and start-up performance
|
[
"Entrepreneurs",
"Small-to-medium-sized enterprises",
"Business performance",
"Supply chain management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is growing interest in entrepreneurial start-ups, with Ries (2011) noting that there are more entrepreneurs operating today than any previous time in history. In many developing countries, high rates of graduate unemployment, among other factors, have further driven many young people to entrepreneurship, resulting in the proliferation of many entrepreneurial start-ups in developing regions like Sub-Saharan Africa (Eijdenberg, 2016; Owualah, 1999). This growth of entrepreneurial start-ups in Africa is actively encouraged and supported by governments and private sector alike. A recent phenomenon further spurring the impressive growth of entrepreneurial start-ups is the rise of \"start-up ecosystems\" all over the world, Africa inclusive (Kane, 2010; Ndabeni, 2008). These start-up ecosystems typically provide access to information technology, sources of funding, co-working spaces, networking, training and auxiliary services which enable start-ups to grow. The activities of these start-up ecosystems create a platform that helps start-ups from Africa and other parts of the developing world compete with rivals from developed economies (Luo et al., 2011).\nLiterature review: Supply chain management\nTheoretical framework: This study is underpinned by the resource-based view. Resource-based view emphasizes the role played by internal and external resources for superior performance (Barney, 1991). Firms are perceived to be made up of bundles of resources, skills and capabilities that serve as the basis of achieving competitive advantage over competitors because they are valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable (Barney, 1991; Kozlenkova et al., 2014). The study proposes start-ups that practice SCM are able to gain better customer development capabilities, which becomes the basis for achieving higher levels of organizational performance. The unique combination of skills, competences and processes which enable firms to successfully attract, satisfy and retain customers cannot be easily copied by competitors, allowing start-ups to enjoy sustained competitive advantage.\nMethodology: Measurement items development\nResults: Demographic results\nConclusion: Start-ups in developing countries are faced with several challenges which have resulted in high failure rates among entrepreneurial start-ups (Tushabomwe-Kazooba, 2006). This study explored SCM practices as an enabler of better customer development and start-up performance of start-ups in a developing country. Data was obtained from 72 start-ups operating in Ghana and analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results of the study revealed that SCM practices directly enhance both customer development and start-up performance. Customer development was also found to enhance start-up performance. Finally, a complementary partial mediation of the customer development on the effect of SCM practices on start-up performance was observed. There are some implications of the work. Although there is growing research interest in entrepreneurship and start-ups, there has been no research focus on SCM practices among start-ups. This study begins the academic discourse into this unexplored research area. This study is also the first, as far as the researchers are aware, to empirically explore the effect of SCM practices on customer development. The findings of this study indicate that, even in the highly uncertain context of start-ups in a developing country, practicing SCM enables firms to better attract, satisfy and retain their customers and as well enhances their performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The number of entrepreneurial start-ups operating in developing countries has grown tremendously in recent years. However, research suggests that most start-ups in developing countries fail shortly after becoming operational. The purpose of this paper explores how supply chain management (SCM) practices may enhance the performance of start-ups in developing countries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study develops and empirically tests a research model which explores the effect of SCM practices on customer development and start-up performance. A survey of 300 start-ups operating in Ghana was conducted, with 72 usable responses obtained. The research model was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.\nFindings: The results confirmed the positive impact of SCM practices on customer development and start-up performance. Customer development was also found to positively impact start-up performance. Additionally, a partial mediation role of customer development on relationship between SCM practices and start-up performance was observed.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the researchers' knowledge, this is the first study that empirically explores the effects of SCM practices on the performance of start-ups. This is also the first study that examines the effect of SCM practices on customer development to the best of the researchers' knowledge.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A framework for prioritization of intellectual capital indicators in R&D
|
[
"Intellectual capital",
"Research and development",
"Analytic hierarchy process",
"Delphi method",
"Human capital"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: According to the latest study conducted by OECD (2006), intellectual capital (IC) has played a significant role, as much as tangible capital, in improving labor productivity in the USA from 1995 to 2003. The importance of IC is shown not only by the strong support of international organizations (e.g. OECD and European Union (EU) Commission) but also by the large numbers of articles since the 1990s. In this timeframe, many private companies, especially research and development (R&D) intensive firms, have been strategically measuring various IC indicators such as workforce satisfaction, process effectiveness, and customer satisfaction. The common realization could be summarized in the following two points:1. IC is a key driver of innovation and core value in a new economy (Pike et al., 2005a); and2. strategy-oriented IC management enables companies to understand the value creation process, as well as to incubate competence to combat uncertainty surrounding the future success of R&D.Indeed, managing the IC provides new opportunities and different angles for R&D-oriented companies. This is largely because the companies have been suffering from under-priced evaluation and an exaggerated perception of the risks surrounding R&D investments under traditional accounting regulations (Lev, 2004). Therefore, managing the IC in R&D is an innovative approach that could help evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of R&D activities.Despite the significant efforts and research into IC management, most companies do not identify core IC indicators in some areas that directly influence business value (Ittner and Larcker, 2003). A number of companies also tend to weigh a long list of awkward, complex, and unnecessary indicators equally with IC (Bontis, 2001; Reisinger et al., 2003). The inefficient use of indicators, therefore, frequently results in:* increasing a manager's confusion;* unnecessarily complicating decision making; and* damaging business performance by incurring significant costs of opportunities missed.There is, unfortunately, a lack of research focusing on the prioritization of too many indicators and ways to identify a key area that influences IC total values and R&D performances. For instance, previous research (Searcy, 2004; Clinton et al., 2002) tried to unveil an implementation possibility of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) analysis in IC management. It did not deal with practical ways to employ the analysis result in IC management. Moreover, the previous research depended on only a single methodology, namely AHP analysis, without considering multiple methodologies (e.g. Delphi approach and AHP analysis). The single methodology, however, might be risky. For example, a popular methodology - AHP analysis - even draws a few criticisms because of a limited theoretical background (Parung and Bititci, 2006). This gap in the previous research is the main concern of this paper, since R&D organizations need to highlight core indicators and key improvement areas to achieve efficient IC management.The objective of this paper is to present a framework for prioritizing IC indicators and for suggesting key improvement areas. To increase the reliability of results, the framework employs two methodologies - the Delphi approach and AHP - that have been widely proven as among the best tools to weigh indicators (Pike et al., 2005a, b; Reisinger et al., 2003). The authors believe that the framework will significantly contribute to placating many practitioners' concerns about uncontrollable and inefficient indicators. This paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, the authors discuss the concept of IC and its indicators in R&D organizations. Section 3 presents a framework for prioritizing IC indicators. Section 4 demonstrates, the effectiveness of the framework using a case study conducted at K-institute, a public research institute. Finally, the authors provide a conclusion of their findings in Section 5.\n2 Literature review: The following section briefly describes, the two concepts germane to this study: IC and IC indicators in R&D.2.1 Intellectual capital\n3 Framework for prioritizing IC indicators: This section describes, a research framework to prioritize IC indicators. The framework is composed of four stages:1. analyzing value using a Delphi approach;2. prioritizing by using AHP analysis;3. identifying a key area; and4. receiving operational feedback (Figure 1).The main features of this framework are that prioritizing indicators should be started from the organization's strategies and contexts. Analyzing strategies and context will allow organizations to have prioritizing criteria and an analytical outlook for determining core indicators. Second, this framework uses multiple processes - a Delphi approach (first stage) and AHP analysis (second stage) - to prioritize core indicators. This prevents a possible error that is, for example, missing an important indicator. Third, the framework emphasizes feedback activities. For example, an operational feedback stage and the three screen processes encourage companies not only to improve continually improve their IC activities but also to avoid repeating errors. The fourth feature is that this framework provides managers with a visual map to make them understand the organization's weaknesses and strengths. The visual map will allow managers to identify areas for a short- or long-term basis focus. Among the four stages, prioritizing IC indicators, the second stage, will be explained fully because this stage is the most important stage in the framework.3.1 Stage 1: analyzing value by using the Delphi approach\n4 Case study: In this section, the implementation and effectiveness of the research framework is demonstrated by a case study of a public sector R&D institute, namely K-institute in South Korea. The institute, established in 1976, is a large and representative institute in the field of information and communication technology. Different from other public organizations, the institute has made an effort to earn royalty income based on its strategy.On the basis of an \"IC management roadmap\" established in 2001, the institute has developed and measured 137 indicators as well as presented its annual results through an IC report since 2004. One of the important features is that the institute's IC management is developed on the foundation of QM approaches such as the ISO 9001:2000 QM system standard and process management. The indicators, for instance, were obtained from checkpoints in ISO requirements, QM performances, and R&D processes. Similarly, the institute is operating an integration model that applied IC indicators and action plans into a QM-intensive award model (e.g. the European Foundation for Quality Management Business Excellence Model). In this section, the authors concentrate on ways of implementing the framework and the results achieved.4.1 Analyzing value using a Delphi approach (stage 1)\n5 Conclusion: In the new economy, it is widely acknowledged that IC is the most important source of business value in R&D organizations, in terms of both the short- and long-term perspective. Strategic IC management not only enables managers to manage IC value efficiently, but also allows stakeholders to generate better information for allocating objective investment. In this sense, a number of private companies have tried to measure IC indicators and express their hidden value through an IC report. Their efforts, however, by equally weighing or unintentionally neglecting important indicators frequently do not achieve their objective. Misunderstanding of core indicators has contributed to inefficient operations and employee ignorance, as well as tremendous opportunity costs. In this respect, prioritizing indicators can be one of the most important challenges to efficiently maximize IC management with limited resources. It stems from the assumption that establishing core indicators makes employees concentrate on essential activities that effectively drive R&D performances.This paper aims to present a framework for prioritizing IC indicators, as well as suggesting key improvement areas by using the Delphi approach and AHP analysis. This framework has three important characteristics. First, the framework emphasizes that weighing indicators should be based on organizations' strategies and contexts. Second, in order to prevent possible errors, the framework employs multiple processes for weighing indicators as follows:* first prioritization stage through the Delphi approach; and* second prioritization stage through the AHP analysis.Third, the last stage of the framework provides a visual map to let management identify the indicators or referred activities that should be improved as soon as possible. Through the case study, the effectiveness of the framework is demonstrated successfully. The sample organization uses the framework not only to establish a hierarchy of indicators, but also to identify core areas that should be developed in the short-term.This research contributes to the literature and practices in the many ways. First, this paper provides a practical and operational guideline on how to efficiently engage in IC management. This attempt will enable companies that have suffered from a long indicator list to identify the more important indicator and the area that should be developed within the short-term. Second, the authors tried to integrate IC management into traditional management tools (e.g. QM) by employing the concept of an operational feedback process and three screening processes. Based on the feedback processes, companies can continuously improve their IC activities, as well as prevent repeatable mistakes. Third, this paper tested the possibility of using a Delphi approach in prioritizing IC indicators. Through the case study, the authors find that the Delphi approach encourages managers to commit to the IC concept, as well as to propose more practical ideas.The authors, however, recognize that this paper has a few limitations and possibilities for future research. First, although the framework is conceptually applicable to both public and private R&D organizations, the effectiveness of the framework was tested in only one public R&D organization. In order to generalize the findings, future research should test the model validity for private R&D organizations. Moreover, empirical study should be conducted in different industries and countries. Second, this paper does not try to compare the analysis results between the Delphi approach and AHP approach. The result of the Delphi, in this paper, was only used for a possible list of important indicators. It is, however, worthwhile to compare the weighed results of both of the methodologies. Third, this paper does not touch a candidate group of appropriate IC indicators for R&D organizations. This is largely because only a few R&D organizations disclose their indicators through an IC report. Identifying standardized indicators in R&D, however, helps many R&D organizations to pay attention to the importance of the IC management.In a global environment, the authors admit that determining core IC indicators can play a key role in saving resources and focusing on the main valuable activities. Although the proposed framework is not a solid framework to weight IC indicators, the authors hope that this paper will be a starting point for future research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for prioritizing intellectual capital (IC) indicators, as well as suggesting key improvement areas by using the Delphi approach and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) analysis.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The effectiveness of the framework is demonstrated through the case study of a public sector research and development organization.\nFindings: - This paper identifies three major characteristics of the framework: weighing indicators that should be based on an organization's strategies and contexts; employing multiple processes (Delphi and AHP approaches) which can overcome the limitation of a single methodology; and providing a visual map that can help management identify which indicators and related activities need attention and should be improved.\nOriginality/value: - This research contributes to the literature and practices in several ways. First, this paper provides a practical and operational guideline on how to engage in IC management efficiently. Second, the authors try to integrate IC management into traditional management tools (e.g. quality management) by employing the concept of an operational feedback process and three screening processes. Third, this paper tests the possibility of using a Delphi approach in prioritizing IC indicators.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Managerial role in organizational CSR: empirical lessons from Ghana
|
[
"Leadership",
"CSR",
"Organisation",
"Managerial",
"Ghana",
"Managerial role"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the field of management and commerce these days, there is increasing demand from multiple sectors of society for corporations to be responsive to the different needs of their stakeholders. In fact, the influence of stakeholder pressure on management to adopt ethical and philanthropic practices (Carroll, 1991) and societal responsibility (Carroll, 1991; Berger et al., 2007) have been established strongly in the literature. This demand has become a concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in which corporate bodies have a responsibility to serve society in a pro-active way (Freeman, 1984; Lantos, 2001; Whetten et al., 2002). It also calls for organisations globally to be socially and environmentally responsible in the realisation of their economic objectives. However, it is management and managers who govern the various organisations and who have the opportunity to play a greater role in contributing to organisational success by effectively developing systems and policies aligned with the organisation's values, goals, and mission. This is because the primary objective of good corporate governance is the consolidation of a healthy governance culture, and the continuous improvement of governance practices beyond the minimum mandatory requirements of companies (Akkermans et al., 2007).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Corporate social responsibility (CSR)\n3. Methodology: The study looks at four organisations' social responsibility practices and the role of senior executives toward CSR. The organisations have been deliberately chosen from relatively high impact industry sectors given the increased likelihood that they confront numerous social and environmental issues. The agricultural sector particularly, in the area of cocoa cultivation in the entire West Africa has been criticised for employing unfair means in its operations, thus the selection of two organisations in charge of produce, buying and exporting of cocoa beans in Ghana. For the sake of this research, the two organisations will be labelled \"Cocoa 1\" and \"Cocoa 2\". The mining sector without doubt has been faced with several allegations on issues of self-seeking and unethical operations in Africa, thus the choice of one multinational mining giant operating in Ghana. In this research, the mining company will be labelled \"The mining company\", and the foreign Banks have also been condemned for excessively milking the developing countries of their little resources, hence the choice of one big multinational Bank which will also be labelled in this research as \"The Bank\".\n4. Results: Results are presented in Tables I-III.\n5. Discussion: The results of the study suggest that for CSR to succeed management in organisations must play a major role both in the promotion and implementation of CSR activities and that CSR must be actively managed from top executives. From the results, majority of respondents 74.07 per cent stated that there is a relationship between the effective implementation of CSR policies and management role in organisational CSR. Hence, this study suggest that for CSR policies to be effective especially in its implementation, then organisations must have leaders whose goals and passions are directed towards responsible behaviours of the organisations. This results supports Fairhurst's (2007) claim that leaders as agents of transformation have the ability to construct the environment to which they and their subordinates must respond to organisational responsibilities. The findings of this study further support Griffin and Ebert's (2002) assertion that social responsibility must start from the top and without the support from top management, organisational programmes cannot be implemented successfully. Accordingly, top management must embrace a strong stand on social responsibility and develop a policy statement that entails commitment particularly in developing countries. The findings effectively respond to the first research question which states that: \"What role do managers play in the implementation of CSR in Ghana?\" Similarly, the chi-square analysis of the data which sought to determine the strength of relation between managerial role in CSR and the effective implementation of CSR activities in organisations confirmed a positive and significant support to the study hypothesis. Hence, the finding of this work is that; there is a significant relationship between managerial role in CSR and the effective implementation of CSR policies in organisations.\n6. Conclusion and implications: This paper sought to explore the role of management in organisational CSR in Ghana. Based on the results, the study suggests that for CSR to be effective, management of organisations must become responsible for organisational change. The study has also shown that there is a relationship between effective managerial input and effective implementation of CSR, and that although organisations practice CSR, the implementations of these CSR policies in the various organisations are not effective and therefore need to be re-examined. This can be improved through good organisational policies that would help managers in Ghana enforce CSR standards.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the managerial role in the practices of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in developing economies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper takes the form of an empirical analysis of employees' opinions based on a quantitative survey of 100 middle and senior level managers from four organisations chosen from relatively high impact industry sectors.\nFindings: Managerial role in the practice of CSR is limited and ineffective in Ghana. Difficulties of effective CSR implementation mainly stem from leadership weak spots in the form of mismanagement and corruption, lack of leadership commitment and unwillingness to allocate monies due for CSR activities. Organisations can do better in the practice of CSR if management's attitude to CSR, corruption, and work behaviors are positive.\nPractical implications: The paper provides valuable information on managerial activities with regards to organisational CSR, and how these can be improved.\nOriginality/value: Empirical literature on CSR in developing countries is limited. This paper identifies the roles that management and organisational leadership can play in the practice of CSR in developing countries. The paper proposes a universal approach which aims to address the need for adequate and effective enforcement of CSR.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Effect of organizational relationship style on the level of knowledge sharing
|
[
"Relationship style",
"Knowledge sharing",
"High‐tech industry",
"Knowledge management",
"Knowledge organizations",
"Communication technologies",
"Information management",
"Competitive advantage",
"Taiwan"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nI. Introduction: In recent decades, the intangible resource of knowledge has surpassed traditional resources such as capital, manpower and energy in importance. In fact, according to Drucker (1993) and Thurow (1999), knowledge has replaced these tangible resources as the cornerstone of prosperity. It is therefore important for researchers to understand the processes by which and the people to whom this critical economical resource is communicated. This is why the research and development of information and communication technology is the backbone of the knowledge-based economy.The high-tech industry is in particular need of high-level human resources for organizational transformation, given the rapid pace of IT advancement in recent years. Therefore, how high-tech companies ensure that new workers acquire the necessary knowledge and skills of organizational operations within a relatively short time is an important area of study. In practice, the high-tech industry may develop an industry-specific knowledge management system and knowledge sharing to provide organizational members diverse learning opportunities in order to achieve knowledge and skill transfer within a short time.An efficient system of knowledge sharing within an organization provides that organization with a competitive advantage (Lee, 2010). As the demand for unskilled labor is replaced by the need for workers skilled in new technology, knowledge is becoming an increasingly important occupational prerequisite in Taiwan's high-tech industries. The sharing of knowledge and skills within an organization not only improves collaboration and relationships among workers, but also enhances the accumulation of knowledge for individual employees and for the organization as a whole.Lin (2008) identifies three organizational factors (i.e. structure, culture and interaction) that can facilitate the sharing of knowledge within a high-tech industry in Taiwan. Graen (1976) finds that an employee's role in the organization, as well as his/her relationship with the supervisor, affects knowledge sharing. Employee-supervisor relationships that are characterized by mutual trust, loyalty, respect and obligation generally lead to a core value of increased knowledge sharing, ultimately resulting in increased organizational capital (Petrash, 1996). The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to discuss relationship styles within high-tech companies and their effects upon knowledge sharing among employees.\nII. Literature review: A.Organizational relationship style\nIII. Methodology: The research structure and hypotheses of the current study, as shown in Figure 1, is based on reported findings in the Introduction and the Literature Review.A. Research structure and hypotheses\nIV. Results: A. Organizational relationship style and knowledge sharing\nV. Conclusions and suggestions: A. Conclusions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This study aims to examine the effect of organizational relationship style (employees' relationships with colleagues, supervisors, and the organization) on the sharing of knowledge in high-tech companies; it goes on to determine which particular relationship style is the most important in accounting for the extent of knowledge sharing in these companies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study uses a quantitative approach. Research hypotheses are tested by statistical methods including Pearson Correlation and Structural Equation Modeling. A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed, of which 182 valid questionnaires were returned (a 61 percent response).\nFindings: - An organization should establish, and maintain, relationships between employees to improve the sharing of knowledge within the organization, ensure a high interaction between employees, and create well-arranged knowledge resources for the organization.\nPractical implications: - The research shows that managers in the high-tech industry need to pay more attention to the interaction among organizational members. The relationship of an employee with the organization, supervisor and colleagues, and thus the willingness to share knowledge, can be improved via job rotation, implementation of a mentoring system, and role-playing activities.\nOriginality/value: - The significant findings of the study relate to high-tech industry in Taiwan. The proposed model can be replicated in other industrial and country settings in order to test its generality.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Barriers to knowledge sharing in third sector social care: a case study
|
[
"Case studies",
"Barriers",
"Knowledge management",
"Knowledge sharing",
"Non-profit organisations",
"Third sector"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Fixed graphic\nIntroduction: This paper examines the potential of knowledge management (KM) as a tool for service delivery outside the private sector using a case study methodology to identify the barriers to knowledge sharing (KS) in a social service, not-for-profit organisation (SSNFPO) in Scotland. The study aims to present a revised set of knowledge sharing barriers (KSBs) for this third sector context, and ultimately to explore a case where KM is embedding beyond its original private sector focus. Much of the KM literature focuses on the management of knowledge in competitive, for-profit industries, and, as such, the language used to describe both the theory and application centres on this type of business context. SSNFPOs then often develop their own definitions of what KM means for their organisation and adopt a customised approach (Hume and Hume, 2008, 2015; IRISS, 2012). This paper attempts to highlight this issue and present ways in which existing KM terminology may be used more effectively to reflect this context through an examination of barriers to KS specifically.\nThe case study organisation: The organisation chosen for this case study was Scottish Autism (SA). SA is an independent charity, a social enterprise and a private limited company which provides services for people with autism, defined as a lifelong, developmental condition that affects the way a person communicates, interacts and processes information (Scottish Autism, 2014). SA was established in 1968 by a group of parents and it now employs over 800 staff across Scotland to provide a variety of services to around 400 people. While SA is, at its core, a service provider, it is also a charity committed to working for the rights and quality of life of people with autism. The organisation does not strive to generate financial surpluses. However, it can (and does) pursue surplus-generating activities which improve support for those living with autism, enabling them to make a positive contribution to the local community or which can contribute to the base of knowledge on autism (Scottish Autism, 2013).\nLiterature review: This section will briefly cover KM terminology relevant to the study and give an introduction to Riege's triad of KSBs which forms the basis of the analytical template developed for this project, followed by discussion of KM and KS in relevant sectors including third sector, healthcare sector, social care sector and SSNFPOs.\nMethodology: Case study design\nFindings and discussion: Individual KSBs\nConclusions and further research: This study examined the extent to which existing literature on KSBs could be applied to a relatively unique organisational context. It aimed to supplement existing knowledge of barriers to sharing by proposing a revised set of barriers to more accurately reflect this context. An analytical framework was developed, based on Riege's triad and extant literature from alternative contexts, and compared with interview and questionnaire responses from staff in an SSNFPO based in Scotland. A revised table of barriers to fit this context has been discussed and developed. As such, the aim of the study has been achieved.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to build on existing theory of knowledge sharing barriers (KSBs) by exploring the concept in the relatively under-researched context of social service not-for-profit organisations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this study, case study methodology was used. Practitioner staff members took part in online questionnaires, followed by semi-structured interviews with line management and middle management staff. Secondary sources from the case study organisation were also used in the analysis. The analysis of questionnaire responses alongside responses from semi-structured interviews is compared with extant research into KSBs.\nFindings: The findings of this study highlight the need to re-examine the KSBs identified in the literature to reflect contexts beyond the private sector. Common barriers were identified, but some found in the case study organisation did not neatly fit into the existing definitions of KSBs. An updated list of KSBs to reflect this social service not-for-profit context is presented.\nResearch limitations/implications: Case studies are often not generalisable; however, the KSB list developed here could be further explored and tested in other third sector organisations.\nPractical implications: The research raises the question of applicability of current knowledge management (KM) theory and lexicon in the third sector and social care environment.\nOriginality/value: This study provides an insight into KM applicability in a third sector context, which is a relatively under-developed research area.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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An exploration of how domains of quality of care relate to overall care experience
|
[
"Assessment",
"Quality improvement"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: Despite global efforts to improve and assure the quality of health services, quality of care remains variable (Public Health England, 2016; Jha et al., 2005). That is, people do not receive high quality care every time (Zhan and Miller, 2003). It is argued that measuring and acting on issues of quality raised by patients can be a partial solution to this persistent challenge (Rathert et al., 2011). Measuring and acting on issues of quality raised by patients is now seen as an essential component of healthcare quality indicators globally (Health Foundation, 2013; Doyle et al., 2013; Aiken et al., 2012; Garratt, 2008). Patients, through their unique experiences, can offer insights into healthcare quality, which would be unseen from other perspectives such as the way a treatment, process or interaction has made them feel and subsequently, behave. Due to the complexity of healthcare systems, with many care transitions and multiple providers, patients are often the only people to view the quality of care holistically (Rathert et al., 2011).\nData analysis: Data analysis was performed using Stata Intercooled v13. Statistical significance was represented by a p-value of <0.05. The analysis of the data consisted of the following:\nResults: The overall Queensland survey response rate for the QSS was 35.9 per cent with 1,223 interviews. Of the 802 participants eligible to answer the CEFIT questions (i.e. those that reported a healthcare experience within the preceding 12 months), there was a 100 per cent response rate.\nIndependence of the quality domains: Prior to conducting analysis of the influence of each predictor (explanatory) variable on the dependent variable (DV), a regression analysis was conducted to assess levels of multicollinearity between the variables. Regression analysis between each variable was performed and the variation inflation factors (VIFs) assessed. The VIFs for each independent variable are presented in Table II: correlation between independent variables. Given VIF <=2.47, indicating that standard errors are larger by a factor of at most 2.47, we can conclude that the level of multicollinearity between variables is acceptable and there are not high levels of association between the independent variables. This finding allows us to be confident in assessing each individual predictor variable's influence on the DV, knowing that the variable is not overly influenced by the presence of the other predictor variables. It allows us to clearly identify the level of influence each domain variable has on overall care experience.\nRelationship between quality domains and overall care experience: In this unadjusted model, the overall care experience was the DV and the five quality indicators the predictor (explanatory) variables (see Table III: ordinal logistical regression on overall experience). Each predictor variable was individually regressed on overall care experience. Findings show that all quality indicators were significantly associated with a positive care experience. In other words, expressing some degree of positive experience of each of the quality indicators is associated with an increase in odds of a comparatively positive rating for overall care experience.\nImpact of other factors: Analysis was conducted to assess whether someone's social-demographic status influenced their response to the questions asked. The social-demographic data collected comprised of age, gender, BMI, address, level of education and income. Of these, only age showed some statistical significance as a predictor of the responses given to the quality domain questions. The age variable was dichotomised to <=50 (0) vs >50 (1). The results are presented in Table IV: ordinal logistical regression on each quality indicator, predictor variable age.\nPredictors of lower/upper half score for overall care experience: The dependent variable overall care experience was dichotomised to 0-5 (0) and 6-10 (1) to represent a lower and upper score for overall care experience, respectively. In the adjusted model (Table V: ordinal logistical regression on overall care experience), all predictor variables were included in the model. Each predictor variable was individually regressed on overall care experience while all other quality indicators were controlled (held constant). In this model, the results show only receiving the care that met personal needs and getting the care you needed were regarded as significant predictors of high scores for overall care experience. In other words, these two quality indicators were independently associated with overall quality experience when all other quality indicators were controlled. Expressing some degree of positive experience of each of these two quality indicators is associated with an increase in the odds of a high score for overall care experience.\nDiscussion: This study examined the relative influence of the CEFIT domains of healthcare quality on patients' experience of quality of care. Our study found that all of the domains of CEFIT, namely, safe, effective, timely, caring, system navigation and person-centred, were predictors of how patients rated their experience of healthcare quality. There was some variation in the degree of influence of the domains on participants overall ratings of healthcare experience. For example, in order of the significance, when all quality indicators were assessed together, receiving timely care (time), care that met my personal needs (effective) and getting the care I needed when I needed it (system navigation) were significant predictors of how participants scored their overall rating of healthcare quality experience. However, given that all domains of quality were significantly associated with a positive care experience when assessed individually, there remains a need to consider all of these aspects when examining healthcare quality from those in receipt of healthcare.\nLimitations: The nature of a population survey confines the results to those with a generic recent healthcare experience in an Australian population. This method does not take account of variations in how people from differing healthcare contexts (i.e. hospital or community/family practitioner) or location (i.e. urban, rural, less affluent areas) may have interpreted the CEFIT questions. The survey enabled access to a sample adequate for ordinal (multiple) logistic regression and the findings suggest the robustness of CEFIT to warrant the necessary resource for large scale testing in an inpatient environment.\nImplications for policy, practice and future research: Establishing the importance of domains of healthcare quality could inform what and how the patient experience of healthcare quality is measured. Our analysis shows that all domains in the CEFIT were important to the patient experience of quality of healthcare; therefore, complex statistical weighting of specific domains are not required. Rather, each domain is of value particularly when enacted in a person-centred way. As with any new tool, additional research will be required to determine its utility over time. However, a brief instrument such as CEFIT, which can be completed quickly, is clearly needed for improvement purposes within ward and clinical environments. Previous lengthy surveys are likely to be a burden to both patients and clinicians and unsuitable for repeated measurements at the frontline of care. Diverting resources from care delivery to care measurement is likely to negatively affect the very concept we are trying to improve - quality of care. Further validation work is clearly required within an inpatient population to establish whether CEFIT captures the patient experience of hospital quality. In the future we believe that CEFIT would be useful for problem identification to direct improvement efforts but are aware that this may need to be supplemented with additional qualitative data. CEFIT is not intended to discriminate reliably between care providers but rather measure local improvement over time. A future study examining the responsiveness of CEFIT in a specified context (i.e. hospital) is needed.\nConclusion: Understanding patients' views on their experiences of healthcare is essential for any service to be improved. Identifying those domains of quality that promote a positive experience will help healthcare professionals provide improved care. Despite the evolutionary nature of healthcare, caring behaviours of healthcare staff appear to be pivotal in patients' evaluations of healthcare quality. Overall, CEFIT has shown promise as a tool for patients' evaluation of their healthcare experience. CEFIT has been designed for improvement purposes (i.e. brevity), and this study has allowed us to test out the tool in a range of healthcare settings. Future work will focus specifically on use of the tool at a ward/team level and explore its potential as a means of understanding the domains of quality contributing to a positive experience in such a setting.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the relative influence of the different domains of healthcare quality from the Care Experience Feedback Improvement Tool (CEFIT) and identify key predictors of healthcare quality from the patients' perspective. Measurement is necessary to determine whether the quality of healthcare is improving. The CEFIT was developed as a brief measure of patient experience. It is important to determine the relative influence of the different domains of healthcare quality to further clarify how the CEFIT can be used and identify key predictors of healthcare quality from the patients' perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In sum, 802 people with a healthcare experience during the previous 12 months were telephoned to complete the CEFIT questions and an additional 11-point global rating of patient experience. To estimate the influence of different domains of healthcare quality on patient overall ratings of quality of healthcare experience, the authors regressed the overall rating of patient experience with each component of quality (safety, effectiveness, timely, caring, enables system navigation and person-centred).\nFindings: The authors found that all of the domains of the CEFIT influenced patient experience ratings of healthcare quality. Specifically, results show the degree of influence, the impact of demographics and how high scores for overall rating of patient experience can be predicted.\nOriginality/value: The findings suggest that all of the CEFIT domains are important in terms of capturing the wholeness of the patient experience of healthcare quality to direct local quality improvement.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
"Hobson's choice" servicescape: consumer anxiety and enjoyment
|
[
"Anxiety",
"Servicescape",
"Consumer emotions",
"Enjoyment",
"Consumer decisions",
"Hobson’s choice"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Mr Tobias Hobson, from whom we have the expression, was a very honourable man, for I shall ever call the man so who gets an estate honestly [...] I say, Mr. Hobson kept a stable of forty good cattle always ready and fit for traveling; but when a man came for a horse he was led into the stable, where there was great choice; but he obliged him to take the horse which stood next to the stable door; so that every customer was alike well served according to chance, and every horse ridden with the same justness; from whence it became a proverb, when what ought to be your election was forced upon you, to say, \"Hobson's choice\" (Signed by Hezekiah Thrift, written by Steel, \"The Spectator\", No. 509, October 14, 1712).\nIntroduction: In a variety of consumption contexts, consumers are typically able to make a choice among the options freely. A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one option is offered, thus forcing the decision-maker to select the offered choice or abandon it (Maguire and Zimet, 1935; Vendemia, 2002). Because Hobson's choice does not offer a genuine alternative, decision-maker faces immense uncertainty because every option is a \"second best\" (Cohodes, 1995).\nTheoretical background: Hedonic vs utilitarian features of servicescape\nStudy 1: Overview and procedures\nStudy 2: Because Study 1 relied on participants' recollection of prior airport experience which is not always veridical, we aimed to strengthen Study 1 findings and test additional hypotheses in a controlled experiment. A field experiment was not feasible in an airport environment which is why a hypothetical scenario-based experiment was deemed more appropriate.\nDiscussion and conclusion: This manuscript presented two studies which examined differences in affective responses (enjoyment and anxiety) to the physical environment in Hobson's choice in contrast to true choice settings. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that consumer perception of hedonic service stimuli translates into greater experienced enjoyment, whereas the negative impression of utilitarian servicescape stimuli increases consumer anxiety. However, the negative effect of utilitarian stimuli on anxiety was only partially supported in Study 1 because there was no evidence to support the negative relationship between \"seating\" variable and anxiety. Such finding could be a consequence of the Study 1 research design which relied on US-based sample's recollection of airport experience about predominately domestic trips. The seating at the US domestic airports is relatively standardized, suggesting the lack of variance in participants' responses.\nStudy 2: Study 2 expanded the findings comparing the relationships between affective response and decisions between Hobson's choice and true choice settings and also supported affect-laden decision-making on a different kind of consumer behavior. According to Study 2, enjoyment increased customers' tendency to pay more for airport service fees in both settings and on their willingness-to-travel from the airport in the true choice setting. However, enjoyment did not drive willingness-to-travel for leisure in a Hobson's choice situation. A possible explanation for this result could come from Hobson's choice decision task constraint, which decreases pleasure from the travel activity and makes decision appear more like \"work\" (Tonietto and Malkoc, 2016). Furthermore, anxiety was found to reduce the willingness-to-travel in both groups and willingness-to-pay in Hobson's choice group. Contrary to original predictions, anxiety was positively associated with consumers' willingness-to-pay higher fees in a true choice group. This phenomenon could be attributed to impulsive spending decisions that are common in high anxiety situations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one option is offered. The aim of this study is to examine dimensions of \"Hobson's choice\" servicescape and their effect on affective responses and to understand how affective responses drive consumer decisions in \"true choice\" and \"Hobson's choice\" servicescapes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two studies have been conducted. The first study used mixed methods approach (focus groups and online survey) to examine dimensions of \"Hobson's choice\" servicescape. The second study used a scenario-based experimental design to compare the effect of enjoyment and anxiety on consumer decisions in \"true choice\" and \"Hobson's choice\" servicescapes.\nFindings: Study 1 results indicate that hedonic and utilitarian servicescape attributes have a different effect on contrasting emotional responses. This study reveals a positive relationship between consumer enjoyment and hedonic stimuli in Hobson's choice servicescape. Furthermore, inadequate utilitarian servicescape dimensions cause consumer anxiety. Study 2 results indicate that enjoyment plays a more important role in consumer decision-making in true choice settings, whereas anxiety is more important in Hobson's choice settings.\nResearch limitations/implications: Hobson's choice settings should focus on servicescape features that reduce anxiety and thus lead to affirmative consumer decisions. On the other hand, true choice settings should try to improve consumer enjoyment to create affirmative consumer decisions.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study to examine and compare drivers of consumer's emotions and their effect on consumer decisions in Hobson's choice and true choice servicescapes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Research status, hotspots and trends for information behavior in China using bibliometric and co-word analysis
|
[
"Bibliometric analysis",
"Research trends",
"Co-word analysis",
"Information behaviour in China",
"Research hotspots",
"Research status"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Research on information behavior in China has experienced a rapid development over the past years. It has attracted great attention from Chinese scholars and become a hot topic field, especially in library and information science. Subsequently, there is a sharp rise in the number of articles about this topic, and some of these articles are very significant and influential (e.g. Cao and Hu, 2002; Deng, 2003; Gu, 2007; Hu et al., 2008; Li and Zhang, 2009; Li et al., 2012; Qiu and Wu, 2013; Deng and Yang, 2014). It is worthwhile to note that the research on user information behavior was one of five contributions of information science to the society in the twentieth century (Hahn, 2003).\nMaterials and method design: Data collection\nResults and discussion: Publication growth analysis\nConclusions: In this study, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis on information behavior research in China was conducted with the data source from the CAJD by using BICOMS, MS Excel 2010, CiteSpace II, Sci2, SPSS19.0, and Ucinet6.0. The analysis methods mainly cover statistical analysis, temporal analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, strategic diagram, and social network analysis. Based on the above results and discussion, the valuable conclusions may be drawn as follows:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the research status and outputs of information behavior in China in order to reveal its in-depth research pattern and trends.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The author collected literature during the past 29 years from China Academic Journal Network Publishing Database. Bibliometric analysis, including publication growth analysis, core authors and collaborative degree analysis, core journals analysis, and institutions distribution, was performed. The temporal visualization map of burst term was drawn, and the co-occurrence matrix of these keywords was analyzed by the hierarchical cluster analysis, strategic diagram, and social network analysis.\nFindings: The earliest article on information behavior in China was published in 1987. And the number of articles has risen continually since then, which follows the logical growth law of literature. The collaborative degree of authors is on the rise in general. The distribution of these articles obeys the Bradford's Law of Scattering. School of Information Management of Wuhan University remarkably ranks the top in most publications. In all, ten important research directions were identified, which are in the imbalanced development. And a newly appearing topic with great potential for further development, namely information seeking and information security, is identified.\nOriginality/value: This study provides important insights into the research status and trends on information behavior in China, which might provide a potential guide for the future research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Coping with mental health conditions at work and its impact on self-perceived job performance
|
[
"Mental illness",
"Mental health",
"Mental health conditions",
"Coping",
"Coping strategies",
"Job performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2018) defines mental health condition as a condition that involves changes in emotion, thinking, or behavior (or a combination of these) that are associated with distress and/or problems while functioning in social, work, or family activities. Despite the rising number of individuals dealing with mental health conditions at workplace (Weissman et al., 2017) and the negative effects of such conditions for organizations (Collins et al., 2011), surprisingly little is known about how individuals with mental health conditions navigate the workplace (Elraz, 2018). While such individuals have received a great deal of attention in health-related disciplines, the fields of management and organizational psychology are lagging behind (Follmer and Jones, 2018).Studying mental health conditions at work is important for several reasons. Firstly, mental health conditions are costly, both in a direct way in the form of being unable to work and having to rely on government income support (Heffernan and Pinkilton, 2011), and in an indirect way through a loss of productivity due to sick leave (Levinson et al., 2010). In addition, employers are reluctant to hire individuals with mental health conditions (Dietrich et al., 2014), despite legal recognition of mental health conditions as a disability (Santuzzi and Waltz, 2016). This leads this group of workers to experience lower employment rates compared to the general population (Harris et al., 2014), and when they are employed, under-employment (Levinson et al., 2010) and low wages (Baldwin and Marcus, 2007) are common. Employment is important for individuals with mental health conditions, as previous research has found that work improves functioning and recovery by providing structure and stability (Boot et al., 2016), gives meaning and purpose to their lives (Jackson et al., 2009), and thereby improves their general well-being and financial independence (Niekerk, 2009). Furthermore, individuals with mental health conditions can contribute to the workplace in unique ways. Forgeard et al. (2016) refer to positive beliefs about mental illness (PBMIs), defined as \"perceptions of specific positive qualities, benefits, or advantages individuals associate with their disorder(s) or symptoms\" (p. 198). In addition, individuals can also develop some valuable characteristics, such as empathy and resilience that flow out from their mental health conditions (Galvez et al., 2011). For organizations, employing individuals with mental health conditions can also be beneficial in that it improves their reputation, improves the ambience and culture in the organization, and increases loyalty and commitment amongst employees (Peterson et al., 2017).Having established the importance of mental health conditions in a workplace context, we answer several calls for research on the workplace experiences of individuals with mental health conditions (Elraz, 2018; Follmer and Jones, 2018). While research has documented in what way mental health conditions affect different aspects of their lives (Corrigan and Miller, 2004), little is known about work-related outcomes. In this article, we focus on an organizationally relevant outcome, namely, self-perceived job performance, defined as the perception of an individual's overall performance (Meyer et al., 1989, 1993).Moreover, although previous research has identified ways in which individuals cope with the stigma related to their mental health conditions (Ilic et al., 2012), we know little about the way those individuals cope with their condition in the workplace and what the outcomes are of the different strategies they may use. Coping, defined as the cognitive and behavioral efforts made to master, minimize, or tolerate stressors (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984), is a relevant theoretical perspective when studying mental health conditions in the workplace (Taylor and Stanton, 2007). To cope with stressful situations, individuals adopt problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984). As mental health conditions can be considered stressors (Ilic et al., 2012) and impact one's functioning, a coping lens can help us understand how individuals deal with the fluctuating nature of their symptoms and how this relates to work-related outcomes like one's job performance. Drawing on 257 responses to a qualitative questionnaire and 17 semi-structured interviews, this exploratory study aims to better understand how employees with mental health conditions deal with their conditions at work using a stress and coping lens, leading to the following research questions:In what way do mental health conditions affect self-perceived job performance?How do employees with mental health conditions cope with their conditions at work?Whether and how do those coping strategies affect their self-perceived job performance?\nLiterature review: Mental health conditions at work\nMethods: Our study had two phases: phase 1 consisted of 257 responses to a qualitative questionnaire, and phase 2 involved 17 in-depth interviews. In phase 1, we used a qualitative questionnaire, which is a qualitative way of defining and investigating variation in populations using a questionnaire (Jansen, 2010). This type of questionnaire does not aim to establish frequencies or descriptive statistics, but aims to determine the diversity of some topic of interest within a given population, in this case, the experiences of people with mental health conditions at work. The qualitative questionnaire has been argued to be useful to analyze the lived experiences of individuals (Fink, 2003), which was what we tried to achieve. The questionnaire allowed us to identify themes, and this was followed up by semi-structured interviews to shed light on the way individuals with mental health conditions cope with their conditions at work.Sample\nFindings and discussion: In this section, we present and discuss the findings of both the questionnaire and interview data. At the end of each quote, it is indicated whether it comes from the participants who filled out the questionnaire in phase 1 or from the interview data in phase 2. Below, we outline in what way their mental health conditions affect their self-perceived job performance, answering our first research question.How mental health conditions affect self-perceived job performance\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This exploratory qualitative study examines both the impact of mental health conditions on self-perceived job performance and how individuals with mental health conditions cope with their conditions at work.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 257 responses to a qualitative questionnaire and 17 in-depth interviews with individuals with mental health conditions are analyzed.\nFindings: The findings show that mental health conditions can negatively impact self-perceived job performance in the form of lower quality of one's work, slower pace, and more mistakes. In addition, the findings reveal coping strategies that positively and negatively affect one's performance at work. Strategies that negatively influence one's performance include substance abuse and self-harm, suppressing and hiding one's symptoms, and forcing oneself to continue to work when feeling unwell. Coping strategies that tend to positively affect their performance include accepting one's condition and taking time off, medication and counseling, mindfulness activities, transparent communication, humor, and a compensation strategy.\nOriginality/value: A growing number of individuals struggle with mental health conditions at work, impacting both organizations and employees. However, little is known about the influence of mental health conditions on one's performance at work, how individuals cope with their mental health conditions at work, and what effect those coping strategies have on organization-relevant outcomes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
You abuse but I will stay: The combined effects of job stress, customer abuse, and emotional intelligence on employee turnover
|
[
"Pakistan",
"COR theory",
"Customer abuse",
"Organizational turnover",
"Workplace emotions"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The efficient management of employee turnover is a pressing issue for many high-contact service organizations. When productive employees leave, the quality of services offered is adversely affected (Mardanov et al., 2008) as employees are the heart and soul of a service organization. There are several elements already identified by researchers which cause an employee to leave organizations - both personal as well as organizational. The perceptions of superiority among demanding customers, who are certain that organizations will go their maximum to meet their demands, usually results in misbehaviour with frontline service staff (Yagil, 2008). The demanding attitude of customers leaves employees helpless, especially where a culture of care for employees does not exist and there is a lack of organizational support (Yagil, 2008). Another pressing reason which triggers employees to leave organizations is job stress. With an increase in competition, organizations (considering employees as prime resource) are striving hard to improve the level of service where frontline service employees can play a critical role. Hence, to meet the increasing demands of customers, organizations (the managers) push frontline staff to meet the deadlines and make every effort to serve the needs of their customers (Wong and Ko, 2009). In service organizations, it is understood that employees are supposed to serve customer needs by keeping every other thing aside which causes job stress (Dudenhoffer and Dormann, 2013) and is a major element contributing to organizational turnover. Superiority of the customers (based on customer-is-king mindset) in an organizational setting can lead to another psychological issue among employees that is usually known as emotional exhaustion - a state where employees feel burdened and are unable to perform their work effectively and efficiently (Choi et al., 2014). Once frontline service employees reach at that level, they do not remain excited in the work they perform which results in several negative work outcomes such as lack of job satisfaction and employee intentions to leave an organization.\nLiterature review: COR theory\nModeration of EI: The incidents of customer abuse are on the rise that is already discussed in the earlier sections of this paper. The emotional labor is the core job requirement for frontline service jobs where employees are supposed to exhibit socially desirable emotions (Yavas et al., 2013) which are only possible where employees and other frontline staff possess higher levels of emotional strength or intelligence. The construct of EI has gained a lot of appreciation among management and psychology researchers involved in the investigation of social and workplace behaviors. The emotional display is pivotal for customer satisfaction where both the facial appearance and emotional expressions are regarded as imperative indicators of EI (Stirrat and Perrett, 2010). EI is rooted in psychology. The personality researchers (Mayer et al., 1997) outlined a four-branch model:\nEmotional exhaustion and job satisfaction: The emotional exhaustion is detrimental to employee health, career progress, and also to their personal/familial relationships (Piko, 2006). Once an employee gets emotionally exhausted, the performance is affected which results in job dissatisfaction. The decrease in employee job satisfaction leads to many negative outcomes for organizations - employee turnover in particular (Poddar and Madupalli, 2012). Job satisfaction is an attitude based on the overall work experience with an organization. For the purpose of this study, we envisioned job satisfaction as a mediator between emotional exhaustion and organizational turnover (employee intent to leave the organization). There are several reasons that employee may like or dislike the jobs as well as the organizations. For example, in a high-contact service setting, where customer abuse is common, the support from all organizational units is imperative to ensure success. However, in banking sector, it is notable that banking organizations, operating in developing world, are trying to manage the employee-customer interactions while the organization-employee linkage is missed (Kashif et al., 2015) which can lead to many negative outcomes for organizations - lack of job satisfaction and intention to leave. Based on this evidence, we propose one mediating (H5) and the confirmatory (H6) hypothesis:\nResearch framework: The literature on job stress, customer abuse, and other negative outcomes for organizations led us to develop the research framework which is outlined in Figure 1.\nResearch methods: The data were collected from 230 frontline banking staff working in various capacities, i.e. customer service executives, relationship managers, key account executives, and manager operations. It is notable to mention here that all of these people usually interact with the customers on a daily basis as part of their job. Formal approvals were sought from branch managers before collection of data. A letter from the university (where the lead author is employed) was sent to the branch managers, with questionnaire and one-page research outline attached. The approvals were granted within three weeks' time.\nResults and data analysis: There were 58.7 percent of respondents aged between 24 and 32 years old; 26.7 percent aged between 35 and 45 years old; and 14.7 percent were aged between 45 and 55 years old. In total, 36 percent respondents were women and 64 percent were men. This represents a good mix of age and gender. The sample is representative of the banking population where mostly the males are employed.\nData analysis through structural equation modeling (SEM): The data cleaning (identification and management of missing values and the outliers) is imperative to ensure quality analysis before the development of both the structural as well as measurement models. For this study, the multivariate outliers were identified by means of the Mahalanobis distance (D2) with a probability less than 0.1 percent, as suggested (Schinka et al., 2003). The minimum acceptable distance is found between the two points - making data an ideal candidate for further analysis. The analysis of indicators of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test was also performed to establish the goodness of fit index (GFI). The results revealed a lack of normality of the indicators. The findings are considerable to establish a violation of multivariate normality because the normal distribution of all variables in a block is a requirement for the existence of multivariate normality of linear combinations developed (Schinka et al., 2003).\nDiscussion: What is the current level of customer abuse during service encounters (was known earlier through the conduct of qualitative studies conducted in Pakistani banking sector (Kashif and Zarkada, 2015) as perceived by employees dealing with the customers on a regular basis? Does customer abuse contribute to employee stress and emotional exhaustion among banking employees? Is EI of banking employees positively contributes to the stress-abuse-exhaustion relationship? The research community is now well aware of the answers to these questions which have some theoretical and managerial implications. The moderating effects of emotional exhaustion further delineate the customer abuse-turnover path, and the Pakistani banking context is unique to this study. As per the authors' knowledge, research studies which encapsulate the moderating effect of EI in the banking sector context are scant. In this way, the research is amongst the few marketing-led studies that investigate employee turnover intent by linking it to the EI exhibited by banking employees (Poddar and Madupalli, 2012).\nLimitations and future research: The employment of a non-student sample to collect data, robust statistical analysis (SEM) through AMOS, enrichment of employee turnover path, and the country context of Pakistan with its high-growth banking sector are unique products of this study. However, current research also has few limitations. First, the employment of survey is not without limitations such as social desirability bias. However, while collecting data, we made sure that respondents are sitting at a fair distance to each other so that the questionnaire items are not discussed before they completely fill in a questionnaire and return it back to the office of the branch manager. This request was made to the respective branch managers to minimize the effects of social desirability - a common issue in all the survey research. The job stress has been framed as an element to cause emotional exhaustion among frontline banking employees. However, the other organizational stressors such as organizational policies, hierarchy, and structure, and perceived organizational support are also regarded as important elements either contributing toward, or minimizing the emotional exhaustion among frontline employees (Choi et al., 2014). Future studies are strongly recommended to frame a much more comprehensive model to study the employee turnover path by inculcating the other organizational stressors which may cause intent to leave the organization - even much strongly than the customer abuse. Another limitation is the context of banking sector of Pakistan. The customer abuse, job stress, and turnover intentions are common issues facing employees performing frontline service jobs (Harris and Daunt, 2013). Hence, we recommend that future researchers should consider collecting data from other high-growth industries in the developing world, such as tourism, telecom, and healthcare. A multi-level analysis can offer rich insight to the study of turnover intentions among service providers.\nConclusion: Customer abuse is common in all the service jobs - banking is not an exception. However, management of emotions is an integral part of successful service design and delivery. By virtue of this study, we propose EI of banking employees to groom as an asset - organizations must help them to protect, build, and sustain their knowledge, energy, and abilities. The customers moderately abuse frontline employees which lead to emotional exhaustion. Hence, we also suggest customer training (formal/informal) programs to be initiated by the bank management to educate customers regarding the policies and procedures of a complex service - banking in particular. The customers visiting banks are not well aware of the banking policies and procedures and this lack of awareness has the potential to trigger them to misbehave with frontline staff (Kashif and Zarkada, 2015). However, how to train customers is a real challenge ahead but it can also make life easier for the frontline staff working elsewhere. The management of job stress among frontline bank staff is also been highlighted by virtue of this research. The bank policy makers need to minimize the job stress level of employees. One good way is to do it through managers working closely with the frontline staff to develop mutual trust and spread a wave of hope which must instill confidence in the fact that managers and banking organization really cares for the stake of employees - as postulated in recently conducted studies (Yavas et al., 2013).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the combined effects of customer aggression, job stress, and emotional intelligence (EI) on job satisfaction and organizational turnover among managers from a developing country, i.e. Pakistan.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data are collected from 230 respondents working as bank managers in Pakistan by means of a cross-sectional survey. The collected data are analyzed by employing a structural equation modeling (SEM) technique.\nFindings: The employees perceive that job stress positively influences emotional exhaustion among employees. Furthermore, EI negatively influences job exhaustion to minimize the potential to lead it through to organizational turnover.\nOriginality/value: The combined effects of customer- and organization-related elements have been scarcely investigated - the heart and soul of contribution regarding this research. The moderation of EI to lessen the emotional exhaustion is a significant contribution to this study. Finally, the context of Pakistan's banking sector is also unique to this study.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A comparison of brand personality and brand user-imagery congruence
|
[
"Self assessment",
"Brand image",
"Brand identity"
] |
[
{
"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.Image is a bridge that connects individuals to the brands they consume in the marketplace. Both \"brand image\" and consumer \"self-image\" are often critical factors that drive purchase behavior. The image that a person has of her/himself often influences the brands individuals purchase (Belk, 1988; Plummer, 2000; Sirgy, 1982; Zinkham and Hong, 1991). The simple presence of a particular brand (e.g. Gucci, Porsche, or Nike) can serve to define a person with respect to others, particularly when social identity is involved. By choosing brands with particular image associations (e.g. sophisticated or sporty), individuals can communicate to others the type of person they are or want to be seen as, in turn enhancing their own self-image and psychological well-being (Aaker, 1996; Graeff, 1996; Grubb and Grathwhohl, 1967; Keller, 1993; Underwood et al., 2001).\nReview of relevant literature: The notion that brands communicate information beyond functional product utility that is important to the consumer motivates an important area of brand research. Levy (1959) often receives credit for initiating this debate, arguing that consumers are not functionally oriented and market behavior is significantly affected by the \"symbols\" used to identify goods, primarily the image projected by different products and brands. Scholars from across disciplines (e.g. psychology, anthropology, and consumer behavior) argue this is the case because individuals often use symbolic brand meaning for personal-expression and social communication (Belk, 1988; McCraken, 1986; Zinkham and Hong, 1991).Introduced above, the central premise of self-congruity theory is put forward by the image congruence hypothesis. The hypothesis suggests that, as the similarity, that is congruence, between one's self-image and a brand's image increases, so should the favorability of brand attitudes and hence the likelihood of positive action (e.g. purchase) in regards to that brand (Gould, 1991; Graeff, 1996; Sirgy, 1982, 1986). Numerous studies on a variety of product categories and services have produced results supportive of the image congruence hypothesis and provide evidence that self-brand congruity also affects related constructs such as brand satisfaction, preference, purchase intentions, and choice (Birdwell, 1968; Dolich, 1969; Erickson, 1996; Grubb and Grathwhohl, 1967; Graeff, 1996; Levy, 1959; Malhotra, 1981; Ross, 1971; Sirgy, 1982).Research provides evidence that a number of variables moderate the relationship suggested by the image congruence hypothesis. Self-brand congruity is not an important driver of consumer brand attitude in all product categories, nor does it drive consumption equally for all individuals (Dolich, 1969; Gould, 1991; Graeff, 1996; Hogg et al., 2000; Sirgy, 1982). In particular, conspicuousness of brand use (i.e. private versus publicly consumed), and consumers' \"self-monitoring behavior\" each are evidenced to play an important moderating role in the relationship between self-brand congruity and brand evaluations (Aaker, 1999; Gould, 1991; Hamm and Cundiff, 1969; Landon, 1974; Zinkham and Hong, 1991).Central to self-congruity theory are the two constructs: \"self-image\" and \"brand image.\" In order to study the congruity phenomenon, researchers typically employ techniques to measure these two image perceptions and then use standard calculations to determine the difference or distance between the image measures (Gould, 1991; Graeff, 1996; Sirgy, 1982, 1986; Sutherland et al., 2004). Because such calculated congruity indicators are typically the focal point of analysis, the conceptualization and measurement of both self-image and brand-image is of central importance in self-brand congruity research. The self-image construct has received the most attention, while little attention has been paid to brand image and its different dimensions within the domain of self-congruity.Self-image\nMethodology: This study employed survey research to compare the predictability of UIC and BPC in the self-congruity model. Preliminary research generated an extensive list of brands highly relevant to respondents, used to select the units of analysis for the study. Questionnaire refinement occurred via two pre-tests on sub samples of the target population. A convenience sample of 272 (n=272) undergraduate college students participated in the primary survey, recruited from undergraduate courses at a large southern university.Brand selection procedure\nResults: Descriptive statistics\nDiscussion and implications: Among the significant regressions, the self-brand congruity measures produced significant regressions, but did not account for a large portion of explained variance. Overall, results suggest that unique self-brand congruities (UIC and BPC) based on different brand image drivers increased the explanatory power in most brand attitude models.BPC measures added to the explanatory power of the model in five of the eight tests. However, when BPC entered the model, the increase in explained variance was typically a small percentage. Interestingly, when BPC was significantly related to favorable brand attitudes, it was for the lower evaluated brands. This finding was unexpected and implications require future investigation.Findings demonstrated that for public brands, UIC measures provided the best predictor of brand attitude across all brands. For public brands, a stronger association was evidenced between UIC and BPC than was the case for private brands. In contrast, for private brands, brand personality based congruity (BPC) provided a better predictor in the attitude models for two of the analyzed brands. Sony, judged by respondents as a private brand, produced a model more like the public brands, in that UIC was the best predictor. This may be because Sony has a large range of product offerings consumed both publicly and privately.The distinction found between public and private brands was an important contribution of this study. Results suggest that user-imagery may be a more important congruity driver for public brands, while a more general image (i.e. personality) may be more important for private brands. This may indicate that user-imagery is not active or salient for private brands. This finding illustrates that these two constructs should not be used interchangeably, particularly when publicly consumed brands are involved.If brand user-imagery and brand personality are theoretically transposable in the self-congruity model, then results should have been similar across brands, and correlations between congruity types more robust. The results did show a consistent positive association between the examined congruities, yet the relationship was only moderately strong at best. Brand personality and brand user-imagery are complementary constructs, though they do have independent effects in the self-congruity model.Determining when user imagery does and does not play an important role in an overall brand personality in itself will shed light on the self-brand congruity phenomenon, and help strategists isolate what aspects of a brand image drive positive attitudes. In other words, user-imagery type congruence may, at times, be more important than other brand image facets and should be central in a brand personality strategy. It is possible that the opposite may also be the case in regards to brand personality and related symbolic brand associations.While these results are based on a non-random sample of university students, the results illustrate the practical implications of this type of research. Public brands, high on UIC should be positioned towards a desired and stereotyped user-image. On the other hand, private brands that are less dependent on user-image associations should be positioned with using brand associations other than stereotyped user characteristics.\nConclusions: Brand personality is an integral part of brand image and is important for product differentiation in the marketplace. The central goal of this study was to determine the contribution of brand personality as a transposable construct for brand user-imagery in the traditional self-brand congruity model and if the two brand image constructs independently contribute to the prediction of favorable brand attitudes. The results suggest that brand personality based self-brand congruity should be treated as a separate construct. In particular, brand personality researchers need to account for the user-imagery construct, rather than simply using brand personality in its place, because it alone may drive the overall personality position for publicly consumed brands. Overall, the usefulness of the self-brand congruity model is enhanced by making salient the importance of isolating different brand image facets as the basis of self-brand congruity measurement. This exploratory study advanced the usefulness of the self-congruity model for brand personality research.\nLimitations: The main limitation of this study was that it relied on a convenience sample of university students, not necessarily representative of all university students or the general population. The sample was also skewed with more women (62 percent) than men (38 percent). Results of this study should not be generalized beyond the group of students in the sample.The study was also limited by the use of personality measures not intended for self-congruity research. The BPS scales were not originally developed to assess respondent self-image, even though they are based on image descriptors used in decades of brand image research. Further care must be taken in replication and construct validation studies to address this issue. Other measures of brand personality may have produced different results.\nFuture research: Future research should use probability sampling methods of other populations and more accurate measures of behaviors. The development of measures for identifying socially conspicuous and image-based brands would help researchers avoid having to make assumptions about the social conspicuousness and image-based nature of objects under study. Because self-brand congruity measures did not explain large amounts of variance, future research should focus on the identification and testing of other variables that will increase the explanatory power of the model.Additionally, as argued by congruity theorist Sirgy et al. (1997), the technique of calculating congruity scores using the same scales to measure both respondent self-image and brand image perceptions are hampered by methodological flaws. To address this issue, future research would benefit from the development of a \"global\" type BPC measure, similar to the global user-imagery measure or other innovative techniques that would aid in the measurement of the brand personality self-brand congruity construct.Finally, researchers should examine individual brand personality dimensions to determine if particular dimensions are more predictive in a self-brand congruity model. According to Aaker (1997), the brand personality dimensions \"Sophistication\" and \"Ruggedness\" differ from any known major dimension of human personality, and suggest that these two dimensions may relate to or tap into brand personality dimensions that individuals' desire, but do not necessarily have. In other words, consumers may experience congruence with one dimension and not another. By doing so, the brand personality construct may contribute more explanatory power in self-congruity attitude models.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to compare the brand personality and brand user-imagery constructs in congruity theory to examine their relationship in the image congruence model as a basis of modeling brand attitudes for publicly and privately consumed brands.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A total of 272 surveys measured subjects' self-image perceptions and subjects' perceptions of brand personality and user-imagery. Congruence measures were used as indicators of the difference between respondent self-image and each brand's image, and served as independent variables in stepwise regressions with brand attitude as the dependent variable.\nFindings: - The results indicated that, for publicly consumed brands, user-imagery-based congruence measures contributed more often to the explanatory power of the model. For privately consumed brands, brand personality congruity produced significant regressions but did not account for a large portion of explained variance, while user-imagery only entered one private brand model.\nOriginality/value: - Brand personality and brand user-imagery are often used interchangeably in self-congruity theory research. Although both constructs have received past research attention, no studies have compared them in the same study. The study fills the gap in the literature and enhances the usefulness of the self-brand congruity model, providing a knowledge base for determining an overall brand positioning strategy.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Building school connectedness through shared lunches
|
[
"Social interaction",
"Health",
"Ethnography",
"Children",
"Relationships",
"Nutrition",
"School health promotion",
"Schools",
"Young people",
"Connectedness"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: Introduction\nMethods: This study used a critical ethnographic methodology to explore how shared school lunches impact on school connectedness in a secondary girls school (13-18 year olds) in New Zealand. This approach enabled to gain insight into the multiple generative mechanisms in shared lunches contributed to school connectedness by using interpretive accounts and observations of their context.\nFindings: The findings describe the key mechanisms by which shared lunches fostered school connectedness.\nDiscussion: Shared lunches at school enabled students and teachers to recognise and show their common humanity, create an informal environment, encourage sharing, enable inclusive participation, demonstrate sacrifice for the communal good, and facilitate experiences of diversity. These mechanisms contributed to increased social interactions in which people got to know each other better and were able to gain insight into others' personalities. This allowed for opportunities to establish and strengthen social relationships, and appeared to contribute to indicators of connectedness, including a positive, respectful school ethos, increased levels of trust, mutual reciprocity, tolerance of diversity, a sense of community, perception of value, and a feeling of safety. Shared lunches provided many opportunities for different social interactions to occur that likely contributed to improved relationships within the school community.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: School connectedness is a well-established protective factor for young people's physical, mental, and social health. The purpose of this paper is to explore the promotion of school connectedness through the practice of shared lunches within a secondary school context in New Zealand.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An ethnographic methodology was used to explore in-depth the mechanisms by which food practices included indicators of school connectedness, and used interviews and observations with teachers and 16-18-year-old students in a New Zealand secondary school.\nFindings: The results describe six key mechanisms by which shared lunches fostered school connectedness: showing common humanity, creating an informal setting, encouraging sharing, enabling inclusive participation, demonstrating sacrifice for the communal good, and facilitating experiences of diversity. These mechanisms contributed to increased social interactions in which people got to know each other better and were able to gain insight into others' personalities. This allowed for opportunities to establish and strengthen social relationships, and contributed to indicators of connectedness.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study is exploratory with findings reported from one school. Further research in other contexts on the value of shared lunches for building school connectedness is required.\nOriginality/value: Shared lunches, as part of an overall strategy to develop a well-connected school community, are adaptable and can fit into a multitude of situations to meet different needs. The findings of this study contribute to understanding the mechanisms by which shared lunches can affect indicators of school connectedness.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A case-based reasoning approach to rate microcredit borrower risk in online Kiva P2P lending model
|
[
"Microcredit",
"Case-based reasoning",
"Online P2P lending",
"Borrower risk rating",
"Expert-based model",
"Knowledge artifacts"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Microfinance and microcredit are innovative poverty-alleviation instruments, recently conceived but already effectively implemented to support the creation of income-generating and sustainable activities in developing countries. Although these initiatives often require basic and relatively trivial interventions of digitization and automation of activities, the new technological scenario in which computational approaches are previously available just for the developed countries represents an interesting area of research not only for disciplines like economics but also for computer science. In particular, this paper discusses the possibility to adopt the case-based reasoning (CBR) approach (Aamodt and Plaza, 1994) to improve microcredit initiatives. More precisely, we will consider the Kiva microcredit system[1], which provides a characterization (rating) of the risk associated with the field partner supporting the loan, but not of the specific borrower which would benefit from it.\n2. Microfinance: Microfinance is regarded as an innovative and effective poverty-alleviation tool to help the unbanked poor people, especially in developing countries, aiming to create income-generating activities (Amin, 2008; Hamada, 2010; Milana and Ashta, 2012). In developing countries, economic managers have been challenged by and continue to challenge issues like employment generation, poverty reduction, and sustainable development that microfinance is dedicated to deliver. It still works as a critical approach against poverty and financial exclusion even facing some of its recent crises and the resulting criticism (Isa et al., 2011). Microfinance provides the underserved poor access to financial services that help alleviate poverty through encouraging income-generating activities, empowering, and enhancing security which are the priority programs of World Bank proposed in a set of strategies for fighting against poverty in 2000 (World Bank Report 2000 on Microfinance, 2000).\n3. Microcredit: One of the trends of today's microfinance operations is the adaptation and transformation of their business models from paper based to digital or automation due to the continuous competitive pressure to balance between outreach and operational sustainability. Such trend is connecting the developed world to the developing countries in different dimensions making some parts of microfinance business easy and globally accessible in one hand, but throwing some challenges to the same market on the other hand. P2P platforms are emerging with such challenges to them who are still employing paper-based workflows, but with the opportunities through web-based or the internet models making this line of business more accessible and comfortable to all including individual lenders. Many P2P platforms have developed to spread the microcredit to individual lenders in the developed world aiming to link Western investors to the sector. Among the leading P2P platforms some of the most relevant are Kiva, MYC4, Zidisha, myELEN, Opportunity International, and the Microloan Foundation. Another web-based microlending model with unique features is United Prosperity that is non-profit platform that uses its lending money to provide guarantee to local banks that provide microloans to micro-entrepreneurs. Such guarantee from United Prosperity enables the banks greater leverage (usually loan amount is double of the guarantee) than traditional microcredit. Also, this model unlike others facilitates the microcredit borrowers to develop a relationship or a credit history with local banks by which the borrowers become independent in the long term. The prime advantages of these P2P models are lower operational costs, affordable interest burden to borrowers, easy access of Western individual lenders/investors who made the source of lending fund's portfolio well diversified, globally accessible platforms which are accessible by any poor borrowers specially from most of the developing countries. In 2009, US-based Zidisha became the first P2P microlending model to connect lenders and borrowers directly worldwide without local intermediaries. Based on wider coverage of both borrowers and lenders, another US-based P2P model, namely Kiva, has significant lending for more than $643 million from 1.2 million plus lenders in 84 different countries across the world. Although it is already mentioned about the benefits of such web-based models in microfinance activities, these P2P models have some problems like disclosure regarding borrower's or applicant's information, risk rating in borrower selection, methodologies for providing loans through local partners/ intermediaries and interest rate computation (use of flat rates), recovery of loans in case of default, etc. Among them, the problem with the borrower/loan applicant's information is critical to the web-based lenders to remain active in such platforms and to sustain them in the long term in the promotion of noble goal, i.e. reducing global poverty. Moreover, it is serious because no individual credit risk rating is provided directly or indirectly by the field partners or by such lending platforms, thus resulting in bearing the default risk that lies absolutely with the lenders who ultimately refinance the field partners. To address this problem, we have chosen the leading model, i.e. Kiva, to represent the borrower/loan applicant's profile in a scientific manner which not only solves the problem of borrower's information in Kiva but also in other models that have the same problem in this sector.\n4. CBR in microfinance: CBR has many applications in finance from different perspectives. Among the divergent applications, forecasting and monitoring are the prime focuses in different branches of finance like corporate (Chun and Park, 2006; Oh and Kim, 2007), SMEs (Moon and Sohn, 2008; Sartori et al., 2016), and even credit scoring in banking (Chuang and Lin, 2009; Lee and Chen, 2005; Vukovic et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2012; Yap et al., 2011). In addition, CBR applications are found in predicting business failure (Li and Sun, 2011) and bankruptcy (Bryant, 1997; Jo et al., 1997; Min and Lee, 2008; Saha et al., 2016; Shin and Han, 2001; Ye et al., 2011). Most of the applications have been found in corporate sector relating to accounting, portfolio management, decision support, and associated areas (Mechitov et al., 1995; O'Roarty et al., 1997). The use of CBR methods is widely appreciated in credit scoring (Lee and Chen, 2005) for corporate clients (Chuang and Lin, 2009).\n5. Kiva and its workflow: Kiva, founded in 2005, is a non-profit organization with the mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Its lending mechanism is different (internet based) from traditional lending technology (group-based brick-and-mortar model) and even from other web-based lending models in microfinance sector. It acts as an intermediary (online platform) to provide people with the opportunity to lend interest-free small amounts of money to underprivileged entrepreneurs via the internet to microfinance organizations in the developing world. Kiva allows its users (lenders) to lend the money to borrowers (entrepreneurs) through its field partners (MFIs).\n6. CBR for loan risk rating in Kiva: The CBR approach is based on a reasoning by analogy approach that is based on the assumption that similar problems have similar solutions. The overall method can be summarized in the well-known 4R's cycle by Aamodt and Plaza (1994) that, applied to our specific context, is schematized in Figure 3: a description of the new problem is given (i.e. information about a new borrow request), then it is compared to the description of similar problems already solved and stored in the case base according to a similarity function. The most similar problem description is then retrieved and its solution (i.e. a risk rating) is reused as a first attempt to solve the new problem without starting from scratch. If the reused solution does not perfectly fit the problem, then a revise step can be applied to adapt it. Finally, the new problem description and its (possibly revised) solution are retained in the case base whenever the outcome is provided (i.e. the loan is either repaid in time, or the reimbursement is delayed or the borrower defaults). Of course, this approach requires the definition of a case structure, comprising a description of the situation, an adopted solution, and an outcome; and a proper similarity metric supporting the retrieval of cases that are relevant to the one at hand. This problem-solving paradigm is suitable to deal with domains whose problem-solving methods have not been fully understood and modeled, but in which experiential and episodic knowledge is instead present. In fact, within this paradigm, it is not necessary to elicit and represent the knowledge required to construct a solution from the description of the current problem, but it is rather necessary to have an idea of how to compare two situations, two cases, and rate their degree of similarity.\n7. Experimental results and evaluation: In this section, we will show how borrower risk assessments have been carried out with two expert models (EM01 and EM02) with two versions of each. We will show how sample data probability distributions have been used in the integration of initial weights of risk factors to make the weights assignment more objective in EM02. Then, the results of four versions of the two expert models will be described and discussed for using the best score in the CBR-integrated system. Finally, the evaluation of the CBR-integrated system has been made with the test scores of the loan cases taken from hold out sample or test set.\n8. Conclusions: The paper has presented a CBR tool for improving microcredit system (Kiva), in particular for providing a loan request risk rating based on past loans that are most similar to the new one to be published on the microcredit website. The system has been developed and a strategy to solve the cold boot problem has been devised and implemented: as of this moment, the case base is being populated to better cover the variety of the potential loan requests, and then we have proceeded with a quantitative evaluation of the CBR system effectiveness. The system predicted 77 percent of the successful loan cases as less risky or safe borrowers and 60 percent of the unsuccessful or default loan cases as high risky or problematic borrowers correctly. Both the rates of sensitivity (77 percent) and specificity (60 percent) seem quite encouraging and they represent an improvement over expert-based risk rating models. We did not evaluate the potential improvement of overall achieved results due to the incremental learning feature of the CBR approach: the rationale of the experimental evaluation was to provide an idea of how the system would perform initially, with just the starting cases available. A plausible (i.e. considering the fact that the outcomes of a loan require a substantial amount of time to be generated and recorded) evaluation of the fact that new cases might bring new knowledge is objective of future works.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the case-based reasoning (CBR) approach to improve microcredit initiatives by means of providing a borrower risk rating system.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The CBR approach has been used to consider the Kiva microcredit system, which provides a characterization (rating) of the risk associated with the field partner supporting the loan, but not of the specific borrower which would benefit from it. The authors discuss how the combination of available historical data on loans and their outcomes (structured as a case base) and available knowledge on how to evaluate the risk associated with a loan request can be used to provide the end users with an indication of the risk rating associated with a loan request based on similar past situations.\nFindings: The adopted approach is applied and evaluated employing a selection of cases from individual loans. From this perspective, the case base and the codified knowledge about how to evaluate risks associated with a loan represent two examples of knowledge IT artifacts.\nOriginality/value: The originality of the work lies in borrower risk rating in online indirect peer-to-peer microcredit lending platforms. The case base and the codified knowledge are the two contributions in knowledge IT artifacts.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
2-D periodic structures. A numerical study
|
[
"2D lattice structures",
"Frequency band gaps",
"RUC"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The study of the dynamic properties of a 2D lattice (Zhou et al., 2009; Wang et al., 2009; Martinsson and Movchan, 2003; Phani et al., 2006; Zhen et al., 2008; Gaofeng and Zhifei, 2010) is usually based on few assumptions. Firstly, by virtue of the Bloch theorem, the hypothesis of infinite lattice points allows to restrict the study to the representative unit cell (RUC).\n2. Numerical experimentation and assumptions: The numerical results presented in this study deal with two RUC configurations: a primary configuration (I) made of four micro-beams [Figure 2(a)] and a different configuration (II) which has been enhanced by means of four auxiliary micro-beams [Figure 2(b)].\n3. Final remarks: It has been observed that the position and width of the first band gaps are influenced by the magnitude of the micro-scale parameter l. In general, a forward shift of the first band gaps is related to the size effect. Moreover, flat bands also appear in the low-frequency region if auxiliary micro-beams are present. Finally a not-uniform mass density distribution over the RUC may influence the band structure of the 2D periodic material.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Within the context of 2D square lattices, searching for the existence of band gaps assumes a great interest owing to many possible fields of application: from energy absorption devices to noise and vibration controllers, as well as advanced strategies for the seismic isolation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The underlying microstructure may influence the mechanical response of 2D square lattices according to a complex interplay between different factors. A first one is related to the so-called \"size-effect\". A second one relates, instead, to the mass density distribution.\nFindings: It has been observed that lumped masses may induce additional band gaps to appear and may magnify their width. Finally, an additional factor deals with the inner damping characteristics of the constituent materials, which usually are polymer-based.\nOriginality/value: This study focuses on the first factor from a specific perspective: to investigate the influence of the size effect on the existence and properties of frequency band gaps.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Implementing capabilities-based quality management and marketing strategies to improve business performance
|
[
"Technology",
"Quality management",
"People",
"Marketing strategy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In today's turbulent and unpredictable economy, businesses are being increasingly pressured to evaluate organizational performance for improvements. Technological changes foster innovation and new ways to reach customers, especially appealing to those of younger generations, but many customers still prefer traditional service attributes such as face-to-face interactions over the detached efficiency online channels provide. Today's dynamic business environment presents organizations with a variety of adaptable capabilities to improve their bottom line. In light of this twenty-first century dichotomy, how can a business choose which organizational capabilities to prioritize? This paper proposes that the answer is not found in one attribute or the other but in an intentional coordination of various capabilities such as technological and human assets. This research explores the impact each of these capabilities has on the design of both the quality management practices and the supporting marketing strategy. Specifically, this study postulates that these capabilities, when carefully managed together, will result in enhanced organizational performance through improved customer satisfaction and higher output quality levels.\nIntroduction: Overcoming poor organizational performance in any business, specifically service businesses, is of critical focus today. According to one study, roughly 50 percent of customers stop their patronization of financial service providers with low or weak performance (Allred and Addams, 2000). For some, this performance is determined by new marketing approaches and service market plans that more effectively reach customers (Kaynak and Harcar, 2005). For others, the focus is on organizational change in which competitive survival demands changes in managerial strategies to enhance service quality (Pettigrew et al., 2001). The climate of service firms is dynamic, as many are shifting from traditionally based physical views of the organization to a more people-oriented structure (Cuganesan, 2006), with one study clearly displaying the positive relationship between excelling in human skills and organizational performance (Al-Tamimi, 2006). On similar grounds, Chase and Apte (2007) have urged the need for more research in the service sector for improving business performance. Narasimhan (2014) has discussed a theory of quality management that involves multiple layers of operational capabilities. The author states, \"There is much to be gained by understanding the phenomenon of capabilities more holistically than we have attempted to thus far\" (p. 221). Hence, improving performance based on organizational capabilities becomes a focal point of interest.\nTheoretical background and hypothesis development: As noted earlier, Ethiraj et al. (2005) emphasize that capabilities serve as a major source of competitive advantage, and they can be conceptualized as either infrastructural (technology based) or structural (people based) capabilities. Investing in infrastructural capabilities can result in achieving marketing objectives such as securing customer relationships (Nielsen, 2002). Also, Power (2005) shows that infrastructural capabilities cannot improve organizational performance unless the relationship is mediated by an effective strategic process utilized in designing a marketing strategy. As the presence and influence of technological factors increases a service firm's relationships with customers, the connection between infrastructural capabilities and marketing strategy becomes critical to analyze. Therefore, this paper proposes:\nMethodology: In total, 530 participant banks were selected for this study from the list of top 1,000 US Banks in the last publically available edition of the Thomson/Polk World Bank Directory. The retail banking manager from each bank was chosen as the key informant. After constructing the questionnaire and conducting a pilot test, a mail survey was distributed utilizing the total design method mail survey process (Dillman, 1978). Each key informant was sent a cover letter that explained the purpose of the study, the survey, and a postage-paid business reply envelope. In total, 81 responses were received, yielding a response rate of 15.6 percent, a response rate similar with those obtained from other studies that use retail banking (Huete, 1988; Roth and van der Velde, 1991). The Cronbach-a value was calculated to determine the internal validity of the items, and the resultant a level for each scale was above 0.70, which suggests that the measures were reliable (Nunnally, 1978). Means, correlations, and internal validity statistics of the constructs measured are reported in Table II.\nResults: Utilizing PLS modeling, all hypotheses (H1 through H5) were supported, as can be seen in Table III. Before discussing the five relationships explored through this analysis, the elements of both infrastructural and structural capabilities warrant brief explication. As shown in Table I earlier, infrastructural capabilities which are technology and logistics based, involve strengths such as business locations that are positioned close to the target markets, proper demand management, a sufficiently sized MIS staff, close relationships with software suppliers, and an integrated information system. Structural capabilities, which are people based, include well-educated employees, job enlargement opportunities, motivational financial incentives, well-developed customer management policies, and an established teamwork structure. With this in mind, the specific relationships explored in this paper will now be discussed.\nDiscussion: The premise of this paper is to understand the impact infrastructural capabilities (such as technology) and structural capabilities (such as people) have on the development of marketing strategy and the implementation of quality management in service firms. The impact on overall organizational performance is assessed as well. Using data collected from the banking industry, several implications can be derived.\nOperationalizing the study findings: The importance of linking infrastructural capabilities and structural capabilities to the development of marketing strategy and the implementation of quality management has been proposed, but the practical relevance for managers must still be illuminated. While marketing strategy has been shown to have a positive impact on organizational performance, what are some practical ways such an effective strategy can be designed? Based on the scale items used to collect the data analyzed in this paper, the following suggestions are offered:\nResearch findings and managerial implications: To assess the real world contributions of our research findings, we subjected the outcome of this study to a reality check. Toward this objective, a panel of three senior executives from large banks was formed to reflect on the study findings. Each of these panel members had over 20 years of banking experience, college degrees, and professional banking credentials.\nConclusions and directions for future research: The objective of this paper was to show how successful coordination of infrastructural and structural capabilities, such as technology and people, leads to the development of a well-designed marketing strategy as well as effective implementation of quality management practices. It has also been shown that proper integration of the marketing strategy with the quality management ideals in turn enhances performance. Utilizing data collected from US retail banks as well as structured interviews from three senior banking executives, this paper has contributed to an understanding of the critical interrelationships between marketing and quality management and provided opportunities for exploring these connections further in the future.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of successfully coordinating infrastructural capabilities, such as technology, and structural capabilities, such as people, on the performance of service businesses. Effective coordination of these two types of capabilities is shown to impact the implementation of quality management practices and the design of marketing strategy, both of which when utilized properly, lead to enhanced organizational performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors surveyed retail banking firms for this study to analyze empirical data on infrastructural and structural capabilities. Results were corroborated on the basis of in-depth interviews with several banking managers to provide real world verification of the findings.\nFindings: Results indicate that both infrastructural and structural capabilities positively impact the design of marketing strategy, while only structural capabilities impact the implementation of quality management practices. Both, successfully implemented quality management ideals and a well-designed marketing strategy, are shown to enhance overall organizational performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: Research was conducted on a specific sector of the service industry, the banking sector. Also, the relatively small size of the study sample may have impacted the outcome of research applicability in some large businesses. Continuously emerging financial regulations could not be incorporated in the study. On the positive side, strong managerial feedback provides guidance toward adopting the study results, and lays the foundation for future research.\nOriginality/value: As today's rapidly evolving society pushes people out of service encounters, replacing them with efficient and cost-saving technology, roles of both the people and the technology in an organization must be fully understood. This paper shows that, despite the exponential growth of technological innovation, both people and technology are critical to enhancing organizational performance through sound quality management practices and supportive marketing strategies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Determinants for innovation implementation at SME and inter SME levels within peripheral regions
|
[
"Knowledge",
"Innovation",
"Small-to-medium-sized enterprises",
"Dynamic capabilities"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Small- or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in peripheral regions are being increasingly challenged to respond to technology and market changes, both local and global, in developing innovation as a source of competitive advantage (Clark, 2010; Oke et al., 2007). However SMEs have innate resource and skill limitations in seeking to address these challenges, especially in peripheral regions (Pinho, 2008; Vester and Boshoff, 2006). The emergence of the knowledge economy (KE) raises the possibility of using knowledge constructs to at least ameliorate these disadvantages as suggested by Zhang et al. (2006). Knowledge factors are likely to interact with a broad range of variables in the innovation implementation process; however further research at SME level is needed (Pinho, 2008).\nLiterature analysis: The knowledge and innovation challenge to peripheral regions\nResearch methodology: In addressing the aims of the study the research process was constructed in three stages, i.e. model development, testing and explanation. A multi method approach helped to address the innate limitations attributed to a single method. Stages 2 and 3 essentially represent a sequential approach based on Creswell's (2003) taxonomy where a quantitative method in which theories are tested is followed by a qualitative method involving detailed case exploration, which is used to corroborate the quantitative findings. This approach enables propositions developed and tested at firm level using quantitative methods in an earlier stage (i.e. stages 1 and 2) to be further probed for causality and longitudinal effects using qualitative methods based on case analysis (i.e. stage 3). Creswell (2003) suggests that the qualitative approach elaborates on the findings from the quantitative findings rather than seeking new areas of inquiry (referred to as explanatory) and Izquierdo and Cillan (2005) suggest that longitudinal data provides more insight into probable causation.\nResults and discussion from stage 2: Participants\nResults and discussion from stage 3: The findings from stage 3 follow on in a sequential manner from the findings of stage 2. Rather than exploring new areas this stage seeks to inquire into the causal nature of the dynamic knowledge-based relationships from stage 2 and as shown in Figure 2. The case study (CaseDyn) was from a peripheral region and had a well-developed approach to innovation implementation based on the path model. Casedyn, which designs, manufactures, installs and services environmental products, had a range of products and services fitting all four areas suggested by Kotler's (2002) pipeline of innovation, i.e. market penetration, market development, product development and possible joint ventures. There were 80 employees and the level of competition and the customer's expectations, were all increasing. In relation to innovation implementation a tabular analysis approach to qualitative data were used as suggested by Miles and Huberman (1994) using Ambrosini et al.'s (2009) multi-level definitions, characteristics and levels of dynamic capabilities in which Tables VI and VII were coded from the data.\nConclusions and recommendations: From the path diagram (Figure 2), as derived from the structured equation modelling, it is concluded that innovation implementation within SMEs located in peripheral regions involves a broad and eclectic range of antecedents, mediating factors and innovation outcomes, consistent with the contingent and evolutionary path approach (Galende, 2006; Bessant and Tidd, 2011). These knowledge constructs and propositions verified in Figure 2 and Appendix show the need for peripheral-based SMEs to leverage these knowledge based constructs (consistent with potential and realised absorptive capacity, Zahra and George, 2002) to overcome the innate peripheral limitations in other more traditional type of resources (e.g. assets, skills, proximity to markets). The findings are encouraging in relation to what Cooke (1996) referred to as the need for bottom up or firm level development studies, in addition to the top down or more structural approach of regional government policy and programmes to help address peripheral limitations (Cooke and Schwartz, 2008). It is concluded that there is an opportunity in peripheral regions to more effectively align these bottom up and top down approaches to further leverage innovation outcomes. These approaches offer alternatives to policy makers, e.g. DETI (2012) at a contextual level. It is suggested that there is an opportunity to link bottom up firm level findings with regional level studies of government policies and programmes to give a more in-depth picture of peripheral effects and how to address them using KE approaches.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: Innovation efforts of small- or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in peripheral regions are limited both by innate resource limitations and by location factors such as excessive distance from key markets and higher cost bases for new technology. However, the emergence of the knowledge economy may enable leveraging of knowledge to address such innate limitations. The aim of this study is to twofold. First, the study explores how SMEs in peripheral areas, i.e. challenging regions, seek to implement innovation from a path perspective by examining the contributions from antecedent and mediator variables or constructs, including knowledge-based factors identified in the literature, using a cross-sectional survey of SMEs at firm level. Second, to further examine how these path model constructs and relationships contribute in a causal manner to innovation implementation at an activity level of analysis based on knowledge-based view and dynamic capability theory, using a case study analysis.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A sequential mixed method approach is used. In relation to the first aim a hypothetical path model is tested using structured equation modelling techniques based on a cross-sectional survey of SMEs in peripheral regions (n=604). For the second aim, to further examine how the path model constructs and relationships contribute to innovation implementation in a causal manner at an activity level of analysis, an explanatory case-based approach is used based on dynamic capability theory.\nFindings: The findings show that at a firm level knowledge factors influence innovation implementation as mediating factors through knowledge acquisition and assimilation which is consistent with potential absorptive capacity, and knowledge sharing linkages. Antecedent factors of lifecycle, leadership, culture and historical propensity to innovation were found to interact with the mediating variables of knowledge acquisition and assimilation, TQM/business improvement and knowledge sharing linkages (external), to produce a range of innovation outputs, including knowledge transformation and sales of new products and services from innovation activities. Based on the case study findings the underlying knowledge-based dynamic capabilities which contribute to the relationships within the path model were identified and further research agendas established.\nOriginality/value: There is a relative paucity of studies on innovation implementation within SMEs in peripheral regions using a knowledge-based perspective at firm level, as opposed to regional level (e.g. regional innovation studies). In this context unique resource limitations and the contribution of knowledge-based factors need to be addressed. This study seeks to compliment regional level studies by making a contribution at both a cross-sectional SME or firm level and at an activity level of analysis in this area and to identify areas for further research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Learning about customers: Managing B2B alliances between small technology startups and industry leaders
|
[
"B2B",
"Alliances",
"Market orientation",
"Learning",
"Customers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In this paper we seek to provide insights into how a firm can develop and utilize inter-firm relationships to innovate, creating superior value with customers from different disciplines and industries. In particular, we focus on business-to-business relationships between small technology start-ups and their key customers, generally large industry leaders. We seek to understand drivers of both success and failure of, and to derive a process model of reciprocal learning and innovation for, such asymmetric relationships. With this objective in mind, we chose a qualitative and interdisciplinary approach, integrating views from marketing strategy and management literatures.The rapid development and increasing complexity of knowledge in today's dynamic environments have made it increasingly difficult for a single firm to contain and capitalize on all relevant knowledge. As a result firms specialize and utilize inter-firm relationships to complement their knowledge (Lane et al., 2006; Grant and Baden-Fuller, 2004; Powell et al., 1996). This has created an environment of interdependent firms where the effective and efficient management of interactions is recognized as a source of competitive advantage (Polo Redondo and Cambra Fierro, 2007; Rayport and Jaworski, 2005). Firms aiming to produce superior products need to interact and learn from customers, channel members, suppliers and other external organizations on a one-to-one basis (Ramani and Kumar, 2008). The potential learning from successive interactions between firms over time opens up opportunities for joint value creation and innovation (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004). However, the realization of such opportunities has been elusive due to the complexities of managing inter-firm learning relationships, as evidenced by the large percentage of alliance failures (Patzelt and Shepherd, 2008). The challenge of developing successful learning alliances becomes even greater for small technology firms partnering with their generally much larger customers.From a marketing perspective, as companies increasingly realize that customers and customer relationships are among their most important assets, marketing scholars have turned their attention to the core capabilities of the firm that are necessary to develop and manage customer relationships. As a result, concepts such as market orientation (MO) were developed that emphasized the establishment of good information processes and systems within the firm to understand the needs and wants of customers (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990; Narver and Slater, 1990). A market orientation is valuable because it focuses the organization on continuously learning and creating value for customers (Slater and Narver, 1995). MO studies maintain that in order to build a competitive advantage firms need to develop market sensing and customer linking capabilities (Hult and Ketchen, 2001; Day, 1994). However the extant literature considers customers in an aggregated manner, as a homogeneous and atomistic group, with little attention being paid to the processes behind the relationships (Ford and Hakansson, 2006). Very few studies have discussed market orientation at an inter-firm level and these have been mostly in the context of channel relationships (e.g. Elg, 2007; Siguaw et al., 1998) where considerable knowledge overlap exists between manufacturer and distributor firms serving the same market. Different authors have pointed out the need to explore market orientation at other network levels, for example in inter-industry networks where firms may serve different markets (Elg, 2007; Hernandez-Espallardo and Arcas-Lario, 2003).From a management perspective the relational view of the firm maintains that a firm's ability to learn from another firm is based on the social interactions and the collaborative process that the partners develop, as well as the relationships between members of those firms (Gulati, 1998; Dyer and Singh, 1998). It offers a useful theoretical lens to explore value-creating linkages between organizations (Doz, 1996, Arino and De la Torre, 1998). Most research in this field has been focussed on horizontal alliances between large organizations with high levels of knowledge redundancy and/or focused on one way learning, where firms attempt to learn as much as possible of what is already known by the partner (Hagedoorn and Duysters, 2002). Very little is known about reciprocal learning, where the aim is to jointly develop new knowledge and innovate (Lubatkin et al., 2001).The paper begins with the development of a set of propositions derived from extant theory that integrates the complementary perspectives of alliance research with a particular focus on market orientation and the relational view. The case study methodology adopted in this study is then discussed, followed by its findings. The paper concludes with theoretical and managerial implications, as well as directions for future research.\nValue creation with customers: This section develops a theoretical understanding of the main stages and factors that contribute to the value creation process with customers through the development of a set of propositions derived from extant literature as recommended by various authors (Yin, 2003; McCutcheon and Meredith, 1993; Johnston et al., 1999; Fletcher and Barret, 2001; Gibbert et al., 2008) to ensure internal validity and guide the fieldwork and the ensuing analysis. However, as both reciprocal learning and market orientation in inter-organizational settings are relatively new concepts, inevitably only a limited number of studies specific to these phenomena exists (Siguaw et al., 1998; Elg, 2007, 2002).Process overview and intervening constructs\nResearch methodology: A case study approach\nFindings: Overview of derived model\nConclusions, implications and directions for future research: In this paper, we set out to explore the dynamics involved in learning alliances resulting in value creation between small technology start-ups and industry leaders by investigating a set of propositions derived from theory.Our analysis of the literature suggests that homophily (similarity of characteristics between firms and customers) has a positive impact on value creation and innovation. Lane and Lubatkin (1998) posit that a high degree of similarity in knowledge bases is needed for effective learning to take place; Knight and Pye (2005) emphasize similarity in values and communication processes; and more recently Wagner (2010) discussed supplier-customer homophily considering similarity of dimensions such as general approach to doing business, strategic orientation and risk taking. These studies are either conceptual, involve supplier-distributor firms that serve a common set of customers or take place between large well established firms that are or may become competitors in some markets or geographic areas. In asymmetric relationships such as those studied here, differences prevail over similarities. Although these differences represent significant communication challenges and difficulties for learning through knowledge absorption (Kumar and Nti, 1998; Grant and Baden-Fuller, 2004), we found empirical evidence of value creation through the blending of the partners' knowledge and capabilities. In our inter-industry relationships firms were more ready to share ideas and exchange information as they did not see each other as competitors, making homophily less of an issue at the organizational level. On the other hand, we did find evidence to support the notion that homophily at the individual level was still in play.Learning is a path-dependent process, where the acquisition of further knowledge is dependent on existing knowledge of the same kind, with knowledge growing by increasing specialization. To understand learning phenomena, we must understand both the processes that drive specialization through current trajectories as well as those that facilitate exposure to new forms of knowledge that can be recombined and transformed.Bangens and Araujo (2002) found that in the absence of business relationships, learning opportunities consist of \"learning by doing\" and \"learning-by-using\". We found empirical evidence of the benefits for technology start-up firms of \"learning-by-interacting\". These benefits include exposure to new markets, endorsements from industry leaders and access to complementary resources to develop innovative solutions that could not have been developed alone. However, we also found that interacting is not a given. Firms need to learn how to interact and collaborate, which in essence means finding the right balance between being purposive (having a clear sense of what the firm wants from the relationship) on the one hand, and being adaptive (maintaining the ability to learn from the process, and adjusting to the customer's needs and requirements for the shared project to succeed) on the other.For young technology ventures, value-creation through rapid new product development is critical to gain access to early cash-flows and increase the odds of survival (Eisenhardt and Schoonhoven, 1996; Golden and Dollinger, 1993). Owing to the increasing costs of new product development, asymmetric alliances of this type are likely to be particularly beneficial to young, resource-constrained firms (Gruber, 2003; Van Gils and Zwart, 2009), since alliances with industry leaders enable firms to gain faster access to resources and build credibility (Soh, 2003; Teece, 1992; Teng, 2007).Previous research on asymmetric alliances between small and large firms places the emphasis on confrontational issues, of David against Goliath (Prashanthan and Birkinshaw, 2008: Katila et al., 2008). Most of the value is often appropriated by the large partner and the survival of the small firm is put at risk (Alvarez and Barney, 2001). We found evidence of a concept of dual value appropriation, where partners do not split the total value generated as proposed in the literature (Dyer et al., 2008; Khanna et al., 1998; Hamel, 1991), but each fully appropriates it as it represents a different value proposition for each of them.Our research contributes to broadening our understanding of market orientation in inter-organizational settings. Previous research has discussed MO at firm-level (Intra-firm MO) (Jaworski et al., 2000; Tuominen et al., 2004). However, our study extends this concept to the inter-firm level (Inter-firm MO) and shows that firms, far from accepting the market as a given, proactively attempt to alter it by offering customers a way to experiment with the future or to use exploratory products as a means of discarding the existing way of doing business.Our findings suggest that a firm can create value for customers and markets using its external relationships (inter-firm market orientation) in addition to its internal resources (intra-firm market orientation). Inter-firm MO opens the door to thinking beyond the boundaries of a single firm (its internal organizational structures and processes) and to viewing customers not only as a source of business but also as a business resource, a learning partner that can be utilized by the firm to jointly create value. The advantage of developing a MO in these networks compared to in the more traditional manufacturer-retailer dyads is the potential for breakthrough innovations. Our findings support the literature which argues these are increasingly based on collaboration between companies from different disciplines and industries with low levels of knowledge redundancy (Lubatkin et al., 2001), where the alliance intent is the co-application of each other's knowledge (Grant and Baden-Fuller, 2004).The co-development of breakthrough innovations requires customer-specific investments, which with the need to adjust and coordinate efforts with partners to develop and maintain valued relationships, mean that firms are likely to have a small number of significant relationships that need to be carefully selected and monitored. Preferred partners for engaging in the alliance will be those with similar values in terms of collaboration with others and interdependent learning objectives, goals and commercial objectives.This study has identified four critical dimensions of learning alliance success, and proposed how they could be measured: Learn about Customers, Interact with Customers, Customer specific investments and Co-Develop breakthrough innovations. These dimensions capture:* a firm's capacity to learn about the customer's needs and problems, its expectations and assessment process;* a firm's ability to interact and build a valued relationship with individual customers reflecting its interaction capacity at different organizational levels;* a firm's investment practices to gain in depth customer understanding and facilitate new ideas emerging; and* a firm's capacity to co-develop products and services based on organizational creativity and flexibility to guide its resource allocation decisions.Also significant is the critical role-played by committed champions, as innovative projects often imply organizational changes. Committed champions are highly respected in their own organization and are able to bridge the gap between the two organizations by carrying out internal \"selling\" of the project when problems arise. Such committed champions (top managers in the small technology firms and middle managers in the customer firms) play an important dual role in facilitating organizational changes as firms need to adjust to their partners since start-ups are likely to have restricted access to key decision makers in the large corporation. This situation is very different from that in relationships between large well established firms where executives of equivalent stature will return each other's calls.The evolutionary perspective adopted in this study offers a good approach to understanding interorganizational dynamics in which the unfolding of events over time plays a key role. Although small, our purposive sample, together with our detailed qualitative approach, provides insights into the processes behind the relationships and demonstrates how each firm is affected differently by environmental and technology changes and reacts in unique ways. Further research to test our findings using large-scale longitudinal studies is now warranted. Future research might also consider the effect of inter-firm MO on performance and innovation, as well as undertaking the development of scales to measure inter-firm MO. Finally, our sample is restricted to alliances between two partners; extensions to this research could examine how asymmetric alliance dynamics play out in collaborations which include multiple partners.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to gain a better understanding of how small technology start-ups learn about a key customer in the context of B2B relationships, and to propose a model of interfirm learning with customers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using a qualitative case-based approach, the authors immerse themselves in the development of three learning alliances between technology startups and industry leaders, two successes and one failure, to gain an in-depth understanding of the dynamics involved. Data were collected on both sides of the alliance dyad.\nFindings: - The paper delineates four learning cycles: alliance inception, joint-learning, specialization and discovery. These learning cycles constitute sequences of increasing understanding, cooperation, and higher order learning between the partners; evolving from an exchange of existing knowledge to the joint development of new knowledge.\nOriginality/value: - This study contributes to an integration of the alliance and marketing literatures by offering empirical evidence of a different type of alliance, namely the reciprocal learning alliance. It also contributes to broadening our understanding of market orientation in inter-organizational settings. In the context of business-to-business relationships, the study has identified four critical dimensions of learning alliance success, and proposed how they could be measured: Learn about customers; Interact with customers; Customer-specific investments; and Co-develop breakthrough innovations. Finally, the study demonstrates the significant role played by \"committed champions\".\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A confirmatory factor analysis of knowledge management assessment instrument in Indian higher educational institutions
|
[
"Reliability",
"Validity",
"Indian higher educational institutions",
"Knowledge management assessment instrument (KMAI)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: 1.1. Knowledge management process practices\n2. Methodology: 2.1. Purpose\n3. Results and discussions: 3.1. Overview\n4. Conclusion: In practically, the measurement scale KMAI used for this study is highly reliable and validate for conducting the study in any Indian higher educational institutions. The reliability and validity is analyzed through exploratory factor analysis and CFA. The acceptable model fit was achieved since all the chosen fit statistics meet the requirement. This research paper is an endeavor to explore the three dimensions of KMAI, namely, \"knowledge application\", \"knowledge acquisition and creation\" and \"knowledge storing and sharing.\" Since all the factors have good acceptable reliability value, each factor can be measured individually depending on the nature of the research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the reliability and validity of the knowledge management assessment instrument (KMAI) developed by Lawson (2003) that consists of 24 items.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study involved 225 research scholars and 225 faculties' members from nine higher educational institutions. The respondents were required to respond to a five-point Likert scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The collected data were then analyzed using the SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 18.0 software packages. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted earlier than performing a confirmatory factor analysis.\nFindings: All constructs revealed the acceptable internal consistency reliability. A good model fit was found for the measurement model using several fit index tests like CMINDF, TLI, GFI AGFI, CFI and RMSEA. The findings showed that all fit indices criteria were accomplished. It also showed the acceptable reliability and construct validity.\nResearch limitations/implications: KMAI was examined using confirmatory factor analysis only. A large sample size and sample area can be used.\nPractical implications: This research paper is an endeavor to explore only the reliability and validity of the KMAI. Thus all the three dimensions, namely, \"knowledge application\", \"knowledge acquisition and creation\" and \"knowledge storing and sharing\" proved out to be reliable and validate when it will be tested in case of any Indian higher educational institutions.\nOriginality/value: The main contributions of this study is that all the factors have good acceptable reliability value; each factor can be measured individually depending on the nature of the research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A fuzzy-based House of Risk assessment method for manufacturers in global supply chains
|
[
"Risk management",
"Risk assessment",
"Global supply chain",
"Risk analysis",
"House of Risk"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: According to ISO, Guide 73 (2009), risk is defined as an effect which is \"a deviation from the expected--positive and/or negative.\" No doubt that risk should refer to the negative side, e.g. hazard risks and uncertainty risks. It is known that risk is defined as a combination of the consequences of an event and the associated likelihood. In reference to the definition of risk management (RM), it should be the coordination of different activities in order to direct and control an organization with regard to risk (Wang 2009). Similarly, Fone and Young (2000) noted that RM could be taken as a function for general management so that managers could evaluate risks in order to achieve a firm's overall objectives.\n2. Supply chain risk management (SCRM): Manufacturers in a global supply chain usually face risks arising from different aspects, including internal and external factors (Chung et al., 2011; Sun et al., 2015). The risk in a supply chain has gained more attention as it has become the major factor affecting the supply chain performance (Juttner and Helen, 2003). Supply chain risks can turn out be a series of negative outcomes in various areas of the supply chain, including sales, customer service, operations, marketing and supply. The outcomes include overordering, inaccurate forecasting, overproducing, long buffer of delivery, delay in new product launches, etc. (Christopher and Lee, 2004).\n3. Proposed fuzzy HOR assessment method: HOR is regarded as a proactive model, and consists of two major parts: FMEA and House of Quality (HOQ). Its idea is to prioritize the significant cause of supply chain risk and the most cost-effective mitigation measures.\n4. Case study--manufacturer in a global supply chain: We conducted a case study for one of the leading manufacturers in small household electrical appliances. This manufacturer produces more than 30m pieces of products annually. One of its major products is the hair dryer. It has a number of manufacturing plants in Mainland China and customers from all over the world. The suppliers of different materials and components mainly come from East Asia. The company relies on sea freight as the major transportation means for delivering products to overseas customers. This manufacturer is in a very classical large scale global supply chain.\n5. Conclusions: RM is crucial to any organization, especially to those participating or managing in a global supply chain, which usually face risks coming internally or externally. To manufacturers, internal risks may come from production, labor and information systems, while external risks may come from suppliers, third-party logistics and customers. Based on the problem complexity, this paper applies The SCC Risk Research Team (2008) framework approach to identify systematically the internal and external risk events and risk agents. In order to precisely convert the subjective qualitative decisions of assigning the severity and correlation value between risk events and risk agents, we propose a fuzzy logic expression. To further enhance the modeling accuracy, the occurrence of risk agents is modeled by the numbers of happenings obtained by analyzing the historical data. This fuzzy modeling approach replaces all the subjective value assignments in the traditional HOR approach. We conducted a case study in a leading small electronic home appliance manufacturer, who operates in a classical global supply chain. A total of more than 200 staff were interviewed and collected their view on the risks by the proposed linguistic approach. Our results showed that risk agents can be identified and the corresponding significance can be represented by the modified aggregated potential risk value. With such, it helps the manufacturers to understand better about its risk level and design for the corresponding proactive actions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Risk management is crucial for all organizations, especially those in the global supply chain network. Failure may result in huge economic loses and damage to company reputation. Risk assessment usually involves quantitative and qualitative decisions. The purpose of this paper is to apply fuzzy logic to capture and inference qualitative decisions made in the House of Risk (HOR) assessment method.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In the existing HOR model, aggregate risk potential (ARP) is calculated by the risk event times the risk agent value and its occurrence. However, these values are usually obtained from interviews, which may involve subjective decisions. To overcome this shortcoming, a fuzzy-based approach is proposed to calculate ARP instead of the current deterministic approach.\nFindings: Risk analyses are conducted in five major categories of risk sources: internal, global environment, supplier, customer and third-party logistics provider. Moreover, each category is further divided into different sub-categories. The results indicate that the fuzzy-based HOR successfully inferences the inputs of the risk event, risk agents and its occurrence, and can prioritize the risk agents in order to take proactive decisions.\nPractical implications: The proposed fuzzy-based HOR model can be used practically by manufacturers in the global supply chain. It provides a framework for decision makers to systematically analyze the potential risks in different categories.\nOriginality/value: The proposed fuzzy-based HOR approach improves the traditional approach by more precise modeling of the qualitative decision-making process. It contributes to a more accurate reflection of the real situation that manufacturers are facing.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Healthy, wealthy and wise? Why workers join involuntary wellness programs
|
[
"Organizational behaviour",
"Employee attitudes",
"Individual behaviour",
"Employee health",
"Involuntary wellness programs"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nReview: It's estimated that two of three Americans are now overweight - and that's bad for business. Having a fit and healthy workforce not only benefits the individual, it also means less time off sick, lower costs and better organizational performance. Firms that encourage a \"wellness culture\" are showing that they care about their employees - and can expect a payoff in terms of morale, motivation and productivity. What's harder to predict is whether wellness can be made compulsory - and if compulsory, whether it still delivers a \"win-win\" result.\nWellness programs deliver benefits: Including a wellness program (WP) in employee benefit packages encourages employees to become more aware of their health status and to develop a healthier lifestyle. Done right, it can:\nParticipation can be linked to rewards and penalties: The US Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 expanded health insurance plan wellness incentives up to 30 per cent of total coverage costs, to promote health-contingent WPs. Since then, an increasing number of employers or medical insurance plans in the USA have adopted involuntary wellness programs (IWPs).\nReasons to participate: Making healthy living effectively a requirement of employment raises some interesting questions for HR management, including:\nEmployee attitudes: So how did these employees view the new IWP?\nMaking the program effective: People who are open to the idea of a lifestyle change may regard surcharges as an inevitable part of an involuntary program. IWPs can inflict losses on employees whose health status is poor and the risk of losses may be a more powerful incentive to change behavior than the prospect of future benefits. On the other hand, if employees regard the program as unfair, they may simply give up and pay up - and become frustrated, dissatisfied and demotivated over increased costs that appear to be outside their control.\nComment: This review is of \"Involuntary wellness programs: the case of a large USA company\", by Hong et al. (2015). The expansion of health insurance plan wellness incentives under the US ACA of 2010 prompted this exploratory study of the introduction of IWPs, a new development in human resource management. It raises questions about how workers see these programs, their willingness to participate and the ways in which HR managers might try to influence perceptions. As such, it lays the groundwork for future empirical research into the effectiveness of IWPs as a way to improve the health of the workforce.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of introducing an involuntary wellness program (IWP) on employee attitudes and willingness to participate.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper analyzes responses to a survey of office workers employed by a US education and media company when the existing wellness program was replaced by a new IWP.\nFindings: It's estimated that two out of three Americans are now overweight - and that's bad for business. Having a fit and healthy workforce not only benefits the individual, it also means less time off sick, lower costs and better organizational performance. Firms that encourage a \"wellness culture\" are showing that they care about their employees - and can expect a payoff in terms of morale, motivation and productivity. What's harder to predict is whether wellness can be made compulsory - and if compulsory, whether it still delivers a \"win-win\" result.\nPractical implications: The study indicates aspects that may require particular care when introducing an IWP to ensure that employees appreciate the health benefits of this approach rather than joining the program for purely economic reasons.\nSocial implications: It provides an insight into the effects of expanding health insurance plan wellness incentives under the US Affordable Care Act of 2010.\nOriginality/value: This paper aims to raise the question of whether individuals can be incentivized to adopt a healthier lifestyle.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Collection building amongst heritage amateurs
|
[
"Information behaviour",
"Cultural heritage",
"Amateurs",
"Community groups",
"GLAM institutions",
"Participatory heritage"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The field of collection building and information science is becoming increasingly aware of the needs of cultural heritage in relation to digitisation, preservation of born-digital cultural material and the discourse on heritage taking place on online platforms. The newly initiated EU COST network, ARKWORK[1], is a collaboration between information scientists and archaeologists, with the aim at understanding how archaeological knowledge is produced and used in a digital context. The edited volume on Cultural Heritage Information (Ruthven and Chowdhury, 2015) examines current research and development in relation to the creation, access and management of digital heritage information. However, as in information science, much of what is done within this field focuses on organisations and professionals as well as education. As has been argued for the field of everyday life information seeking (ELIS) (see below), collection building and information behaviour of amateurs in relation to cultural heritage is just as relevant as that of professionals, as it can give us an understanding of a more intuitive approach to these subjects.\nUnderstanding heritage amateurs: The interest in heritage has grown according to Bagnall (2009; pp. 105-106), who talks about a \"heritage boom\" in Britain since the 1970s. This interest can furthermore be seen on a global scale with the UNESCO convention of 1972. UNESCO's understanding of heritage has over the years developed from monuments, buildings and sites (UNESCO WHC, 1972; Article 1) to the inclusion of other tangible (e.g. paintings, manuscripts, shipwrecks) and intangible (e.g. oral traditions, performing arts, rituals) heritage (UNESCO, 2016). There is no consensus between nations on the understanding of cultural heritage, which depends greatly on the cultural traditions of each country or culture (Ahmad, 2006). Furthermore, the definition of cultural heritage can and does have implications on what is preserved, who will preserve it and how it will be preserved (Alzahrani, 2013), often leaving the heritage of marginalised groups unpreserved (Borgen et al., 2016). In the context of this paper, heritage is defined as any tangible or intangible concept or object that has cultural significance now or in the future. This is necessarily a very wide definition which aims to be inclusive of all cultures and traditions.\nResearch fields: Collection building is in itself a wide subject and in terms of heritage it is often dealt with in the professional context of gallery, library, archive and museum (GLAM) institutions. However, some research fields do tangent or even overlap into the subject of collection building amongst heritage amateurs. The following will review literature related to this subject in both newer and more established research fields.\nConclusion: This paper has identified a growing interest in heritage amateurs and collection building with and amongst them from different directions, which has motivated this literature review as an attempt to find common ground. First, the paper defines heritage amateurs as people who take an active unpaid interest in tangible or intangible culturally significant concepts or objects. This is followed by examining three heritage amateur groups and their engagement in collection building:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to gather an overview of different research fields that study collection building amongst heritage amateurs (e.g. amateur archaeologists, family and local historians, etc.).\nDesign/methodology/approach: First, the paper will define the term heritage amateur and then identify possible fields in which these groups and their collection building have been studied. A snowball procedure was used to collect material for the study.\nFindings: While there is an overlap between some of the subjects and fields examined, there is a potential for more collaboration resulting in a deeper understanding of collection building amongst heritage amateurs.\nResearch limitations/implications: The term heritage amateur is not widely used, and the identification and collection of material for the review rely on the definition and understanding of this term and the groups included under it.\nPractical implications: This review of existing literature will benefit researchers and practitioners in the fields of education, information science, museums, libraries and archival studies, as well as the multidisciplinary area of heritage studies.\nSocial implications: There is a growing institutional and political interest in making digital heritage collections available to the general public, and this paper argues that an important part of this is understanding how heritage amateurs already do this.\nOriginality/value: This paper will connect narrow interest areas such as participatory heritage or serious leisure and show how their angles on heritage amateurs differ and compare.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A study of the effect of social shopping deals on online reviews
|
[
"Groupon",
"Online review",
"Social shopping",
"Social shopping deal"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Social shopping has been on the rapid increase. Social shopping combines product/service sales with consumer participation in a social network environment with a synergistic relationship between social networks, consumers, and local merchants (Lee et al., 2015). Among various social shopping revenue sources, social shopping deals have become the main revenue source for social shopping sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial. Social shopping sites depend heavily on social media to inform consumers about social shopping deals and solicit purchasers who have similar interests in products and services. Due to the experience-based immediacy of typical social shopping deals, customers are mostly local to the regions where the merchants are doing businesses. An increasing number of merchants are rapidly adopting innovations such as social shopping deals to better serve customers, improve productivity, extend market base, and stay competitive (Kim et al., 2013). However, studies on the effectiveness of social shopping deals for merchants are scarce (Kumar and Rajan, 2012).\nLiterature review: Social shopping\nDiscussion: In order to further understand the differences between the restaurant businesses and the health and wellness businesses, we made a comparison in terms of the review scores and the number of reviews. Tables VII and VIII summarize the result of t-tests.\nConclusion: As social shopping is increasingly adopted by businesses, the impact of the online reviews on the sales growth needs to be taken into consideration in designing and offering social shopping deals. Despite the potential significance of customers' reviews of social shopping deals, the critical mass of empirical studies still lacks in this area. This study contributes to the literature of the social shopping and online review areas by investigating the effect of social shopping deals on the customers' online reviews and potential sales growth. For the restaurant businesses, the Groupon customers' review score is a persuasive factor for the growth rate of the reviews, and consequently for sales growth. However, for the health and wellness businesses, Groupon customers' review score does not affect the growth rate of the reviews. For them, the regular customers' review score is an important persuasive factor for the growth rate of the reviews. For the health and wellness businesses, there is a negative awareness effect of the Groupon customers (the number of Groupon reviews) on the growth rate of the reviews.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate social shopping deals and their impacts on review metrics at an online review site, Yelp and to compare the review metrics of the restaurant businesses and the health and wellness businesses to understand how social shopping deals affects them.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study adopts a multiple regression model to analyse the effect of seven independent variables on the dependent variable, the growth rate of reviews which is a proxy of sales growth. This sample consisted of the review data of 134 merchants which offered social shopping deals at Groupon in 2011. The online review data of these merchants were collected in 2015 to analyse the relationship between the deals and the grow rate of the reviews.\nFindings: For the restaurant businesses, there is a positive persuasive effect of Groupon customers' review score on the growth rate of the reviews and consequently on the sale growth. For the health and wellness businesses, there are a positive persuasive effect of the regular customers' review score on the growth rate of the reviews and a negative awareness effect of the number of Groupon reviews on the growth rate of the reviews. The review data also show that the Groupon customers of the health and wellness businesses are three times more likely to post their reviews than those of the restaurant businesses.\nResearch limitations/implications: First, while the author limited the study to the seven independent variables, additional variables may exist. These additional variables may also influence the number of reviews, too. Future research needs to identify such variables to build a comprehensive model. Second, future research needs to address other types of businesses, such as education and entertainment, and compare differences between them. Third, while the study focussed on the review score and the number of reviews, a more in-depth analysis of the comments using sentiment analysis and social network analysis may shed additional insights on their review activities.\nOriginality/value: Despite the potential significance of customers' reviews about social shopping deals, the critical mass of empirical studies still lacks in this area. The study contributes to the literature of this field by investigating the effect of social shopping deals on the customers' online reviews. This study provides practical guidance for the improvement of online reviews about social shopping deals.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
What future for industrial relations in Europe?
|
[
"Europe",
"Trade unions",
"Industrial relations",
"Neoliberalism",
"Collective bargaining",
"Globalization",
"Austerity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As is clear from the other contributions to this special issue, the systems of industrial relations consolidated in most of Western Europe after 1945 and constructed in the ex-dictatorships of southern Europe in the 1970s are under attack on many fronts. Meanwhile, in most of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), where systems of organised industrial relations were at best only partially established after the collapse of the Soviet regime, the scope for unilateral dominance by (in particular foreign-owned) employers has been further enlarged. It is also clear that the European Union (EU), far from acting as a force for harmonisation of regulatory standards and a strengthening of the \"social dimension\" of employment regulation, is encouraging the erosion of nationally based employment protections and provoking a growing divergence of outcomes.\nThe new \"Great Transformation\": Karl Polanyi (1944), writing three-quarters of a century ago, interpreted the development of capitalist economies as the outcome of a \"double movement\". The first, in the nineteenth century, involved the imposition of \"free\" markets (though the whole idea of free markets is an oxymoron, since all markets are social and political constructs). The damaging social effects of this process, in particular those transforming labour into a \"fictitious commodity\" to be hired and fired at will, provoked a counter-movement. Hence the struggles in the twentieth century for social, industrial and economic democracy represented a countervailing process to impose some constraint on the disruptive social consequences of market liberalism. Markets became \"embedded\" in a systematic regulatory web.\n\"Divisive integration\": It has long been customary to identify a limited number of industrial relations patterns in Western Europe: the Nordic countries with strong traditions of labour market regulation based primarily on exceptionally strong central organisations of unions and employers, buttressed by highly developed welfare states and an egalitarian ethos; a \"central\" model comprising Germany, Austria and the Benelux countries, with strong but less encompassing collective institutions; a \"southern\" model with less organisational capacity among the collective organisations of capital and labour, and far greater dependence on the state as a regulatory mechanism; and as an outlier, the Anglophone countries of Ireland and the UK with more weakly regulated labour markets (Gumbrell-McCormick and Hyman, 2013). Since EU enlargement in 2004, the CEE countries are often seen as a fifth, \"transitional\" model (but transitional to what?), with particularly weakly developed collective institutions among the labour market actors and with governments torn between the pursuit of deregulated labour markets to enhance national competitiveness and anxiety to maintain social protection to avoid social protest and support the electoral base of the governing parties. Bohle and Greskovits (2007) have also suggested that the diversity among CEE countries necessitates further differentiation among country types: neoliberalism in the Baltic states, \"embedded neoliberalism\" (marketisation to some extent constrained by state regulation and social protection) in most countries, neocorporatism in Slovenia.\nWhat is to be done?: Hence to differing degrees, the balance of class forces in Europe has shifted dramatically towards employers, and capital has increasingly escaped the constraints painfully constructed in previous decades, while the dominant approach of the EU is to reinforce rather than to regulate this trend. Is the juggernaut of capital now irresistible? The starting point for any sober assessment of alternative trajectories is that structural forces are powerful, but that agency is also important. To explore the tension between structure and agency we need to focus on social relations. These relations are in turn always uneven and contradictory, creating openness to historical contingency, since material contexts impose constraints but also create opportunities. The organisational capacities and strategic competence of the key actors shape the outcomes, perhaps producing the difference between success and failure.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to perform a systematic cross-country comparison of key features of industrial relations in Europe in a context where consolidated post-war institutions are under attack on many fronts. The author discusses a number of key similarities and differences across the countries of Europe, and end by considering whether progressive alternatives still exist.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper draws upon academic literature and compares the contributions to this special issue in the light of common problems and challenges.\nFindings: The trend towards the erosion of nationally based employment protection and collective bargaining institutions is widely confirmed. In most of Central and Eastern Europe, where systems of organised industrial relations were at best only partially established after the collapse of the Soviet regime, the scope for unilateral dominance by (in particular foreign-owned) employers has been further enlarged. It is also clear that the European Union, far from acting as a force for harmonisation of regulatory standards and a strengthening of the \"social dimension\" of employment regulation, is encouraging the erosion of nationally based employment protections and provoking a growing divergence of outcomes. However, the trends are contradictory and uneven.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to an updated cross-country comparative analysis of the ongoing transformations in European industrial relations and discusses still existing progressive alternatives.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Volunteerism and organisational culture: Relationship to organizational commitment and citizenship behaviors in India
|
[
"Organizational citizenship behaviour",
"Organizational commitment",
"Organizational culture",
"Indian work context",
"Motives for volunteerism"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Organizational commitment (OC) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) have acquired much significance as the measures of employees' attitude and behavior for improving organizational effectiveness (see, e.g. Meyer et al., 2012; Hoffman et al., 2007). Researchers have been interested in exploring the antecedents of OC and OCB as a means of creating positive work culture and climate (Mowday et al., 1982; Meyer and Allen, 1997; Organ, 1988). OC studies indicate various predictors (e.g. organizational support, age, tenure, promotion, job-related factors, satisfaction) of different forms of OC (affective, continuance and normative) in western and non-western contexts (Meyer et al., 2002). Similar to this, OCB studies in a cross-cultural context have shown the importance of various predictors (self-esteem, psychological contracts, affective and normative commitment ) of different acts of citizenship in Asian and western contexts (Meyer et al., 2002; Van Dyne et al., 2000).\nHypotheses development: Motivation for volunteerism\nMethod: Participants and procedure\nControl variables: Age, education and tenure were used as control variables as per prior studies and because previous research has found them to be related to OC and OCB (Mowday et al., 1982; Organ, 1988; Mathieu and Zajac, 1990; Karsh et al., 2005). Studies have shown that age is positively related and education is inversely related to OC. The OC-tenure relationship develops only after an employee has spent some years in the organization and has accumulated investments or \"side-bets\" which would be the deciding factor as to whether or not to continue membership with the organization (Mathieu and Zajac, 1990).\nResults: Results of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and reliability analysis\nDiscussion: The main aim of this study was to investigate the impact of motives for volunteerism and organizational culture on attitudinal and behavioral measures in terms of commitment and citizenship behaviors while demographic variables were controlled. Thus I have formulated two major hypotheses to see the strength of relationship between predictor and criterion variables. These hypotheses were supported by the results of the hierarchical regression analysis except for the significant impact of organizational culture on OCB.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of motives for volunteerism and organizational culture on organizational commitment (OC) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in Indian work context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The data were collected from 248 middle and senior managers of a public sector organization in India. The self and other reported questionnaires were used to collect the data.\nFindings: Results of hierarchical regression analysis have shown that personal development dimension of volunteerism was found to be the positive predictor of OC and OCB both. However, career enhancement, empathy and community concern dimensions of volunteerism had mixed effects on both the criterion variables. Furthermore, culture had not shown a significant impact on OCB; however, it had a positive influence on affective and continuance commitment. Moreover, demographic variables (age, education and tenure) had strong impact on OC than OCB.\nPractical implications: OC and OCB are highly desirable forms of employees' behavior in which motivation for volunteerism and organizational culture can play a significant role. However, both OC and OCB are differentially predicted by these antecedent variables.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study which has explored the impact of motives for volunteerism on OC and OCB in the field of organizational behavior in a non-western work context such as India.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Positive steps to end negativity in the workplace: The hidden costs of an individual and organizational phenomenon
|
[
"Employee attitudes",
"Organizational culture",
"Performance",
"Discipline"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A young and enthusiastic journalist was offered what seemed to be his dream job as a sub-editor of an evening newspaper.\nDamage to organizational goals: Some employees may begin to feel that their contribution is not being rewarded. They may start to become disconnected from the organization and begin to look elsewhere as more and more companies come up with better remuneration, facilities and possibilities for growth. Other staff may spend time looking for ways to deal with the negativity on their own. This can reduce their productivity. The disconnection between management, HR and employees may widen, eventually damaging the goals of organization.Negativity typically stifles the creativity of an individual. In a negative workplace, workers often tend to work within the proven methods to accomplish tasks, as they may be afraid of trying something new. Communication between team members can suffer, resulting to problems in co-ordination. In addition, there can be health risks - particularly higher stress levels - related to workplace negativity.According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report, US companies lose about $3 billion a year because of workplace negativity. When a significant number of employees behave negatively, it can make the whole organizational culture negative, too. Customer satisfaction may then begin to drop, employee turnover to rise and quality of work to decline.The most important task in managing negativity in the workplace is to identify its causes. Negativity does not always come from individuals alone. It can be a result of corporate downsizing, cost-cutting or worsening of conditions of work.One way to manage negativity in the workplace is to set up a small team of HR experts to resolve conflicts between employees. Members of this conflict-resolution team need to be senior managers or employees, and capable of understanding human behavior in various situations. The selection of team members is, then, a challenging task for management.If an incident of negativity is reported against an employee, members of the conflict-resolution team need to research the matter to establish whether the complaint is valid. In doing so, they should normally avoid confronting directly the person against whom the complaint has been made, as this can damage his or her reputation, perhaps without justification. Managers must leave a channel open for employees to connect with them directly. Employees should be able to reach the management with their thoughts and ideas without fear.There should be a company policy through which an anonymous complaint can be submitted to the HR department through an online system. A time-frame should be provided within which the investigation report must be submitted to management by the conflict-resolution team. Multiple complaints against same person must be thoroughly investigated to ensure that no complaint goes unattended. If no action is taken against offenders, other employees may get discouraged from reporting similar incidents in future.If the complaint turns out to be valid, management should take suitable action against the subject of the complaint. This could be, for example, a verbal or written warning or, in the worst cases, dismissal.However, there may be less drastic ways of dealing with the matter, particularly for employees who have valuable skills that the organization does not wish to lose. For example, the employee could be transferred to another team where the personalities more closely match his or her own, or allocated work that he or she can largely perform alone.\nExit interview offers valuable insights: The exit interview with employees who are leaving the organization can offer valuable insights into negativity in the business. This is because these employees can talk frankly about their reasons for leaving the firm. This is valuable feedback for the department that deals with conflict-resolution.Simple strategies like offering the employees control over their work, listening to the concerns of the employees, and treating them with respect and courtesy can help organizations to deal with workplace negativity. Organizations must come up with ideas of rewarding innovation and must inspire their employees to be creative.\nNote: Gaurav Bagga heads the corporate-relations vertical in BTES, an HR consulting group that deals with professional development through corporate training.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to consider workplace negativity from an individual and organizational perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - It underlines the upfront and hidden costs of workplace negativity and suggests some ways to deal with it.\nFindings: - It highlights the importance of ensuring that every report of workplace negativity is properly investigated and that a fair and proper outcome is achieved.\nPractical implications: - The paper urges the need for a small team of HR experts to resolve conflicts between employees. Members of this conflict-resolution team need to be senior managers or employees, and capable of understanding human behavior in various situations.\nSocial implications: - It draws attention to a problem that is costly for individual employees, organizations and society as a whole.\nOriginality/value: - The paper deals with a topic that is little discussed in mainstream human-resource management.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Company slogans, morphological issues, and corporate communications
|
[
"Marketing",
"Corporate identity",
"Corporate communications",
"Slogans",
"Morphological issues"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Company and brand slogans are important in the areas of corporate identity and corporate communications and play a useful role regarding maintaining firms' corporate identity and brand visibility (see: Salem, 2012; Dass et al., 2014; Fuertes-Olivera et al., 2001; Hansmann et al., 2009; Hornikx et al., 2010; Kohli et al., 2013; Lee and So, 2007) (see: Tables I-IV). Corporate identity is particularly important in this process when dealing with organizational reputation, visual identity, corporate branding, firm-specific image, etc. (see: Balmer, 2008; Balmer et al., 2009; Blomback and Ramirez-Pasillas, 2012; Bosch et al., 2005, 2006; Cayla and Penaloza, 2012; Cornelissen and Elving, 2003; Powell et al., 2009). Slogans along with corporate identity deliver these benefits and can help in strategic communication, sales, positioning, etc. In the presence of the internet and social media, companies have increased the use of slogans on their web sites (Rigby, 2012). This specifically helps corporate communications and media experts when dealing with outside audiences and consumers. Slogans are also associated with firms' heritage and brand building (Verboven, 2011).\nWhy are slogans important? Conceptual issues and literature review: In today's competitive business world, slogans are important when creating corporate image or identity (Dowling and Kabanoff, 1996; Lee et al., 2006; Lowrey, 2002). Two types of slogans are designed by companies. At the macro level, company slogans can present the whole firm and their affiliated units. At the micro level, product or brand slogans are created for specific brands or products (see Figure 1). In company and product slogans, morphology or collection of words matter when dealing with marketing effectiveness and corporate identity. Semantic as well as syntactic features are equally important in slogans when looking at the issues of orthographic (spelling) (Frankish and Turner, 2007; McNamara and Altarriba, 1988). Phonological and lexical areas of spoken words can enhance the usefulness of slogans in this process as well (Mani and Plunkett, 2007; Slowiaczek et al., 2003).\nData and methodology: For this study, we retrieved secondary data from the companies' web sites that sell products and services in global and domestic markets. The sample included 1,189 companies that originated from Asia, Europe, South America, and North America. For 2007 data, we selected companies from the Business Week's (2005) list which ranked 1,200 companies by market capitalization. Out of this list, only 329 companies provided slogans on their web sites. We investigated the same companies' web sites in 2012/2013 to compare and contrast slogans as well as changes in their morphological issues and contents. The study was planned in a way to have a five-year interval in the investigation. This interval was helpful regarding investigating slogans and their morphological issues and contents. We used companies' webs sites because of their mass appeal, corporate identity, and delivery of messages. The study used content analysis (qualitative and quantitative) to analyze the data those have been widely employed in other studies with accuracy and reliable methodological rigor when dealing with longitudinal issues, \"textual content,\" \"mass messaging,\" etc. (Neuendorf, 2001, pp. 16-22).\nResults: General findings and content analysis\nDiscussion, implications and future research: Like any research and investigation, implications carry weight and are important within the domains of their discipline and functional areas. The same applies to corporate communications, corporate identity, and marketing. Findings of the paper and literature reveal that slogans are useful in corporate communications, corporate identity, and image building areas (see: Laran et al., 2011; McMillen and McMillen, 2011; Vaes et al., 2011; Vance and Virtue, 2011a, b). Since most of the slogans use product and brand names, this necessitates the importance of using product and brand names in slogans. Companies selling products and services need to use shorter slogans that maintain visibility in the corporate communications and corporate identity. Above all, in corporate communications and firm-specific identity building, slogans are used with one purpose in mind: how to create a consistent image and identity when dealing with changing markets, consumers, and stakeholders. Companies need to be careful when dealing with their corporate image and identity issues. Within these perspectives, slogans take special roles when seeking niche markets or dealing with competition and changing business models (Verboven, 2011).\nConcluding comments: In conclusion, findings of the work support the notion that in corporate communications and corporate identity areas, slogans are critical when dealing with consumers, audiences, and product/brand-specific strategies (see: Table III). Corporate experts, managers, and practitioners are often exposed to changing audiences, complex environments, and even social media that impact corporate communications, corporate identities, and marketing activities (see: Balmer, 2008; Balmer et al., 2009; Blomback and Ramirez-Pasillas, 2012; Bosch et al., 2005, 2006; Cayla and Penaloza, 2012; Cornelissen and Elving, 2003; Powell et al., 2009). A well designed slogan can be a good asset in image building and corporate identity. Digital media and related technologies have played an important role in this process. No wonder company slogans and corporate communications go hand-in-hand when dealing with firms' identities, communicative actions, and image building strategies in the business world and its related areas.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyze company slogans which play an important role in corporate identity and corporate communications.\nDesign/methodology/approach: By discussing relevant literature, morphological issues (word formation in sentences), and content analysis, the study investigates 329 companies and their slogans that operate in global and domestic markets.\nFindings: The study finds that within the areas of corporate identity and corporate communications, company slogans tend to be diverse with distinct forms and morphological features. The work reveals that slogans go through evolutionary changes because of diverse markets and firms' corporate communications and corporate identities. The study also compares and contrasts slogans from 2007 to 2013 which were used by the firms on their web sites.\nPractical implications: Interestingly, over half of the companies did not keep their slogans in 2012/2013. Many firms have stopped using slogans on their corporate web sites and systematically capitalize on brands and corporate identities when dealing with the areas of corporate communications. This supports the notion that slogans help corporate identity and corporate communications.\nOriginality/value: The paper's original value added is in the areas of corporate communications, slogans, and corporate identity.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A critical review examining substance use during the disaster life cycle
|
[
"Disaster",
"Substance use",
"Disaster resilience",
"Vulnerability",
"Disaster life cycle"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Center for Environmental Information (NOAA - NCEI), 2017 was the most expensive year on record for disasters in the USA, causing over $300bn in damage (NOAA, 2107). The country was directly hit by major hurricanes including Harvey, Irma and Maria, which caused extensive damage. Estimates of damage from Hurricane Harvey alone exceed $125bn (Mooney, 2018). Wildfires in California, hailstorms in Colorado and tornadoes across the Midwestern portion of the country significantly impacted these areas as well. These tallies provide quantitative estimates of the fallout from these disasters while tracking and evaluating the widespread economic and societal impacts of climate events. While these loss assessments and cost analyses are valuable in our understanding of disaster impacts, other areas of inquiry in the context of disaster should be pursued to expand the definition of what constitutes disaster \"loss.\" The indirect losses from disaster, which are more difficult to quantify, \"count\" too, and this paper is a call to improve our measurement and thus our understanding of one specific social consequence of disaster: substance use.\nSocial vulnerability and anti-social behavior: There is a slowly evolving approach, which considers vulnerability in terms of the extent to which anti-social behavior (which is often labeled as crime) may happen after a disaster. Although there is disagreement in the literature about whether these illegal activities occur and the who may be involved, there is now a growing body of evidence suggesting that several types of illicit drug use have taken place after major disasters like Hurricanes Katrina and Florence (for examples, see Harper and Frailing, 2016). Further, evacuations, flooding and blocked roads and bridges could put patients that are in addiction treatment in the predicament of being isolated without the medications they need to prevent withdrawal, like methadone or buprenorphine (Schumaker, 2018). These narratives often cast substance use as criminal behavior and this can be problematic in many ways, one of which serves to cast substance users as \"criminals.\" This effectively marginalizes a group that is characterized by strong negative perceptions of drug using behavior.\nSocial vulnerability and substance use: Several negative outcomes like mortality and injury can result from exposure to a disaster. Research also suggests that individuals who experience trauma as a direct result of living through a disaster also have a greater risk of developing addictive disorders compared to individuals in the general population (Framingham, and Teasley, 2012; Hapke et al., 2005; Hodgins et al., 2010; Lawson et al., 2013). Importantly, prior research in this area suggests both the frequency and prevalence of substance use increases among disaster survivors (Abrahams et al., 1976; Gleser et al., 1981; Joseph et al., 1993; Logue et al., 1979), yet, much of this work has narrowly focused on the escalating use of legal substances such as alcohol, tobacco and caffeine. For instance, estimates suggest one-tenth to one-third of disaster survivors report problematic alcohol use, especially if they reported suffering from persistent health problems or pain (Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, 2012). Additionally, the literature documents the increased use of alcohol and tobacco (Ho et al., 2002; Melnik et al., 2002; Smith et al., 1999) as well as caffeine (Vlahov et al., 2002) following disasters, particularly among survivors who suffered injuries and reported experiencing grief and PTSD symptoms (Pfefferbaum and Doughty, 2001). Similarly, Joseph et al. (1993) found an increase in the use of alcohol, cigarettes, sleep aids, antidepressants and tranquilizers among survivors of the Herald of Free Enterprise ferry sinking in Belgium in 1987.\nSocial vulnerability, substance use and relapse: Another important consideration in the aftermath of disaster includes rates of relapse, or a clinical worsening of symptoms, which have been hypothesized to increase following exposure to disaster (Norris et al., 2006). Individuals with pre-existing mental disorders tend to present a high likelihood of relapse during and after disasters (Smith et al., 1990). For example, a significant number of relapses were reported in a small sample of recovering alcoholics, immediately after the September 11th attacks (Zywiak et al., 2003). Similarly, relapse was fairly high among former heroin, crack and cocaine users after September 11th, but this was limited to those who had recently stopped using drugs within the six months immediately preceding the attacks (Weiss et al., 2002).\nDiscussion and recommendations for future research: One of the first considerations regarding research on substance use during the disaster life cycle involves the nature of examining change. Disaster research is often bound by point-in-time snapshots, so any inquiry focused on the initiation, escalation, desistance, or transition of substance use coinciding with a disaster requires the collection and analysis of data that can capture these shifts. It is here we propose changes that will improve data collection so communities can more fully embrace an ethic of prevention against meteorological disasters, as well as responses to disaster that include substance use and relapse. Improved data collection can be accomplished in a number of ways, and considering some of the common data sources on substance use in the general population in several countries can help guide prospective studies in this area.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to argue that substance use is a real risk for people who experience disaster, and especially so for socially vulnerable populations; second, to incorporate questions that help measure substance use during the disaster life cycle in pre-existing data sets.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors provide a critical review and discussion of what is missing from current drug use data sets, and how they could incorporate collection techniques for disaster stricken populations. The manuscript is not based on research but helps develop and test hypotheses. The authors are more discursive, and review philosophical discussions and comparative studies of other pre-existing data sets that collect substance use information.\nFindings: Although it would take some effort to change these pre-existing national surveys, it could be done, which would allow researchers to collect much more extensive and informative data with regard to substance use during the disaster life cycle.\nResearch limitations/implications: This manuscript is a commentary/discussion piece that proposes ideas for improved data collection. Ideally, the authors would be able to test these updated surveys.\nPractical implications: Improved data collection methods, and improved emergency response and recovery.\nSocial implications: Having the ability to collect these data will ultimately make communities more resilient.\nOriginality/value: The authors argue that the overlap of crime and disaster, in which substance use during the disaster life cycle falls, is an extremely understudied area. As the field of disaster studies continues to grow, the methodological and theoretical challenges of studying crime and disaster have prevented this sub-field from advancing. The authors wish to advance the discipline by pushing toward improved data collection during substance use during the disaster life cycle.\n",
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