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Sexy or smart? The impact of endorser ethnicity and portrayal on Chinese women's attitudes toward luxury advertising
|
[
"Self-referencing",
"Appearance self-esteem"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The luxury goods market has grown rapidly in recent years (D'Arpizio et al., 2014) and has established itself as a global industry worth approximately $200bn a year (Li and Leonas, 2019). China and Chinese consumers have been playing a leading role in the growth of the luxury goods market. According to the 2017 Worldwide Luxury Markets Monitor Report, China was the top performer, accounting for 32 percent of luxury personal goods purchases (D'Arpizio et al., 2017). Despite several years of rapid growth in the industry and a now slowing economy, China's luxury goods market is still expected to keep growing (Yang, 2015; Rovai, 2018), particularly in terms of the online luxury market. As such, nearly 80 percent of luxury brands have already ventured into the digital market in China (Rovai, 2018).\nTheoretical background: Standardization and localization advertising appeals\nStudy 1: The objective of Study 1 is to test H1a, H1b, H2a and H2b by examining participants' attitudes toward advertisements and brands under different experimental conditions with regard to endorser ethnicity and portrayal in luxury advertising. It is expected there will be a significant interaction effect of endorser ethnicity and portrayal on consumer responses and that such an effect will be more prominent in the consumption of luxury products. Study 1 used a 2 (endorser ethnicity: Western vs Chinese)x2 (endorser portrayal: sexy vs smart)x2 (product type: luxury vs non-luxury) between-subjects factorial design. Three pre-tests were conducted to determine the portrayal of a non-celebrity endorser, the product, and the brand name for the actual experiment. All pre-tests were conducted online and female adults were recruited with the help of a small incentive.\nStudy 2: The objective of Study 2 is twofold. First, it aims to further validate the theoretical explanation for the interaction effect of endorser ethnicity and portrayal of Chinese female consumers' attitudes toward advertisements and brands. We conducted Study 2 as a follow-up study using a real luxury brand. Second, it is used to test the moderating effect of consumers' appearance self-esteem on consumer responses toward the interaction between endorser ethnicity and portrayal in luxury advertisements.\nGeneral discussion: Across the two studies used in this research, empirical testing provided support for all of the hypotheses generated (see Table I for details). Based on these findings, the theoretical contribution and implications for marketers and advertisers are discussed.\nLimitations and directions for future research: Our studies contain several limitations. First, we selected a handbag as the product to be used in the simulated advertisement by conducting a pre-test. Although a handbag was a suitable product choice for this study due to its popularity as a conspicuous luxury item, the category of luxury products covers a wide range of items, such as those more privately consumed (e.g. Victoria's Secret products). In this way, the generalizability of our results is limited. Future studies replicating the methods and procedures used in the current study for other kinds of luxury products (e.g. those that are more privately consumed) may generate different (and interesting) results.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the interaction effect of endorser ethnicity (local Chinese vs Western) and portrayal (smart vs sexy) on Chinese women's attitudes toward luxury advertisements and brands, as well as any moderating effect appearance self-esteem has on the above-mentioned interaction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two online experiments were conducted. Study 1 was a 2x2 factorial design (with 280 participants), while Study 2 was a 2x2 x2 factorial design (with 320 participants). Data were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) test and simple effect analysis.\nFindings: Results demonstrated that Chinese female consumers are more likely to have a positive attitude toward advertisements for luxury goods and brands when a local Chinese (vs Western) endorser is used and portrayed as smart (vs sexy), particularly if consumers have low appearance self-esteem.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research focused only on female consumers and only one product type was used for the experiments. The use of controls for potential confounding effects was insufficient in this study design.\nPractical implications: To maximize profits, marketers should choose the most appropriate combination of endorser ethnicity and portrayal in the Chinese luxury goods market. Accordingly, if adopting a localization strategy and using a Chinese female endorser, the endorser should be portrayed as smart rather than sexy. In contrast, if a luxury brand adopts an internationalization strategy and uses the same Western female endorser as in other countries, it is more effective to portray her as sexy rather than smart. Furthermore, advertisers should pay particular attention to Chinese female consumers who have low appearance self-esteem when advertising their product and/or brand.\nOriginality/value: Compared with past studies concerned with consumers' perceptions of endorser image in advertisements through a focus on endorser ethnicity, this study linked endorser portrayal with his/her ethnicity and discussed the interaction effects between these two factors on consumers' attitudes toward the advertisement and the brand portrayed in the advertisement. The findings herein contribute new insights to the body of work on luxury marketing and endorser advertising.\n",
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Religion, national culture and cross-country differences in the use of trade credit: Evidence from European SMEs
|
[
"Working capital",
"Religion"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The European Union expanded to include 28 members in 2014. Of these, 18 share a common currency, the euro. Although the Union has made attempts to harmonize its currency, and its political and judicial systems, national culture is not necessarily as easy to harmonize. By national culture, we refer to the values and attitudes expected to drive people's actions (Hofstede, 1980). It has also been suggested in the previous literature that nations are not necessarily willing to harmonize their values or cultures. Two opposite theories have been presented to explain these differences in harmonizing cross-country values (Breuer and Quinten, 2009). First, the theory of convergence suggests that people are willing to converge their attitudes and behavior to harmonize the economic system. The latter one, the theory of divergence, however, suggests that at many levels, the differences in attitudes and behavior exist a long time after integration.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Trade credit\n3. Data and sample: 3.1 Firm data\n4. Results: 4.1 Comparative analysis\n5. Conclusion: Previous studies suggest that national culture, in addition to the legal environment and the financial market system, can explain some of the cross-country differences in financial decision making. We use religion, several of Hofstede's national culture dimensions, and some additional cultural-orientation scores from Schwartz to explain the observed cross-country differences in trade credit in European countries. Using a sample of 126,593 SMEs from 35 European countries, we find that religion and national culture explain some of the cross-country variations in trade credit. We find that the levels of trade credit are higher in Catholic countries as opposed to those in Protestant countries. These results hold after we control for cultural values, the macroeconomic and legal environment and several firm-level factors. We further measure people's religiosity with the share of people believing in God. The results suggest that religiosity has a positive influence on trade-credit levels only in Catholic countries.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether religion or national culture can explain previously observed cross-country variation in trade credit.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using the firm-level SME data from 35 European countries, religion and cultural factors of Hofstede and Schwartz, the authors provide new evidence on the determinants of the cross-country variation in trade credit.\nFindings: The results indicate that religion and national culture are associated with trade credit. The authors find that the levels of trade credit are higher in Catholic countries than in Protestant ones and that peoples' religiousness has an impact on trade credit only in Catholic countries. The authors also find that Hofstede's cultural dimensions, such as power distance and uncertainty avoidance, are positively associated with trade credit.\nPractical implications: Overall, authors' findings indicate that religion and national culture are important determinants of trade credit management, and that the association between commonly used cultural values and trade credit depends on the religious, legal, and financial environment.\nOriginality/value: To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first study to research the relationship between national culture and trade credit.\n",
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Process orientation and the impact on operational performance and customer-focused performance
|
[
"Operational performance",
"Process orientation",
"Customer-focused performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Several organizations use process orientation as a source of competitive advantage (Kohlbacher and Reijers, 2013). A process-oriented organization is an organization that, in all its thinking, emphasizes processes and as a result outcomes valued by customers (McCormack's and Johnson, 2001). It is recognized as an organizational capability related to the improvement of productivity, quality and customer satisfaction (Kohlbacher, 2010). Hence, process orientation is a key driver of operational performance (OP) and customer-focused performance (CP) and ultimately firm performance. However, research into the impact of process orientation on firm performance yielded mixed results (Kohlbacher, 2010) dependent on the specific operational definitions used (Chen et al., 2009; Nadarajah and Latifah Syed Abdul Kadir, 2014). Indeed, process orientation is generally a broadly defined construct (McCormack, 2001) including: process measurement (i.e. components that measure output quality, cycle time, process cost and variability), process jobs (i.e. the identification of a process owner rather than functional manager and process view (i.e. the documentation of end-to-end processes). Kohlbacher and Gruenwald (2011) also incorporate elements of management commitment and employee involvement in their definition of process orientation. Moreover, it can be defined at the company level (McCormack, 2001), but also at staff level reflecting the degree to which staff truly thinks and works flow-oriented across all functions, i.e. the extent to which employees are completely committed to process-orientated thinking (see for instance Cleven et al., 2016). Process thinking by staff is a prerequisite for a company in becoming truly process oriented (McCormack and Johnson, 2001). In a process-oriented company, employees are always aware of their (internal) customers, and understand that, regardless of their functions, an employee is a part of a process to creating customer value, while in a function-based organization employees are generally focused on the function they are performing and have little or no understanding of how that function is related to creating customer value (Willaert et al., 2007). Nevertheless, the literature is scant about the effect of process orientation of staff on organizational performance (vom Brocke and Sinnl, 2011; Kohlbacher, 2010; Tarhan et al., 2016). With this study, we aim to fill in these voids by examining the interrelationships between various dimensions of process orientation including process thinking by staff, process view (i.e. process mapping (PM)) and process standardization (PS) and improvement. More specifically, we hypothesize and show that process thinking by staff impacts operations performance and in particular CP, but we also hypothesize that these effects are mediated by PM and PS and improvement.\n2. Theory and hypotheses: Process orientation is an important component of process management with different functions at different aggregation levels of an organization (Kohlbacher, 2010). From an organizational perspective, process orientation is the approach of having an organizational focus on the business operations, often with an end-to-end perspective, aimed at creating value for customers (McCormack and Johnson, 2001). In a process-oriented company, every employee is aware of the customer, and understands that, regardless of his or her job function, he or she is a part of a value chain creating value for customers (Willaert et al., 2007). Hence, from an individual perspective, process orientation by staff is the ability to think in terms of processes; it includes knowing one's position in the value chain and identifying internal and external customers (Conduit and Mavondo, 2001; Vera and Kuntz, 2007) and, hence, customer value in order to improve business processes (Adler and Cole, 1993). By being process-orientated there is a need to formally map and manage the processes (Kohlbacher and Gruenwald, 2011; Skrinjar and Trkman, 2013). Process thinking and process knowledge of workers are important drivers for effective value stream mapping (Rother and Shook, 2003). An increased level of process thinking by staff enhances the focus on processes and supports the formalization of processes by PM (Sever, 2007; Skrinjar and Trkman, 2013). We, therefore, hypothesize that process thinking by staff is positively related to PM:\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Data collection\n4. Results: 4.1 Path model and hypotheses testing\n5. Discussion: A sample of business school participants provides data for assessing the impact of process thinking by staff on OP and CP. All study scales were determined to be unidimensional, reliable and valid. Results of the path analyses via SEM showed that the final model illustrated in Figure 2 fits the data adequately well and specifically supports all but one of the hypothesized direct relationships. The results of this study indicate that there is a cumulative model of process orientation comprising the components process thinking by staff, PM and PS. This study shows that these components are cumulative developments, building on each other. It also empirically validates the theoretical claim of Benner and Tushman (2003) that process management entails three main practices: mapping processes, standardizing and improving processes and adhering to systems of improved processes (i.e. the standard operating procedure) resulting in operations performance.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of process orientation at the employee level on operational performance (OP) and customer-focused performance (CP), where the components process thinking by staff, process mapping (PM) and process standardization (PS) are cumulative developments, building on each other.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Structural equations modeling is used to analyze survey data collected from 198 participants at a business school in the period 2012/2013.\nFindings: The results show that the impact of process thinking by staff on both OP and CP is mediated by PM and PS and improvement. The study also shows that process thinking by staff is a prerequisite for PM and standardization.\nOriginality/value: This research makes several important theoretical and managerial contributions toward the objective of a better understanding of the working of process orientation. It shows that different components of process orientation reinforce each other; process orientation maturity depends on the effort being applied in creating a particular sequence of process management components and that these components should be considered as cumulative developments, building on each other.\n",
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Curriculum integration of sustainability in engineering education - a national study of programme director perspectives
|
[
"Attitudes",
"Curriculum integration",
"Engineering education",
"National survey",
"Faculty support"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent decades, a revelation has unfolded about the necessity to realign the functioning of most institutions of society - including education - towards a sustainable development. The United Nation's sustainable development goals (SDGs), described in Agenda 2030 (United Nations General Assembly, 2015), has had a large impact on the global society in providing a common vision of what sustainability means. In higher education, graduates are sometimes described as potential change agents (sometimes together with members of faculty). As such, they are being likely to take on professional roles that will put them in the power of creating the changes necessary for the SDGs to be fulfilled (Kioupi and Voulvoulis, 2019).\n2. Engineering education for a sustainable society: Engineers will play a central role on the path society takes towards long-term sustainability. They are central in addressing societal challenges involving new technical solutions, but will also need to adopt a broader view on how technical systems affect social and economic dimensions. They will also need to better address how we can work meaningfully to counter negative global trends such as destructive climate change, environmental degradation, oppression and inequality.\n3. Method: Based on the literature of current approaches and obstacles, this study addresses how programme directors of all engineering degree programmes in Sweden consider their work, incentives and challenges related to sustainability teaching. An online survey was submitted to all programme directors of engineering in Sweden (N = 244) proceeded by short follow-up interviews of their survey answers.\n4. Results: In this section, core findings are presented.\n5. Discussion: It should be noted that there is a risk that the sample may not be statistically representative. However, in the end, significant effort was put into recruiting respondents and a very high response rate was actually achieved (34%). Therefore, the authors are confident that any deviation would not potentially shift the general conclusions of this study and thus, no specific compensatory factors were weighted into the analysis to compensate for this risk.\n6. Conclusions: The main driver for programme directors to strengthening the element of sustainability are not the fact that this is a requirement for the right to award degrees in engineering - by law (Svensk forfattningssamling, 2005) and by accreditation regulations (Svensk forfattningssamling, 2006) - but rather that individual programme directors believe this to be important. It is the personal motivations of faculty and programme directors, together with the dedication from their students, that drives most of the changes currently sweeping the sector. However, further support from the department and university management is clearly needed.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to report on how programme directors address sustainability within engineering education at Swedish universities and engineering colleges.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study was performed as a survey with follow-up interviews around the following core questions: to what extent do programme directors possess a deep understanding of the subject of sustainable development? Which are the core competencies in sustainable development that programme directors identify as important for their engineering students to acquire during their basic training? To what extent are those competencies integrated into engineering education today and what kind of support do programme directors receive from their department to integrate these competencies into the curriculum?\nFindings: Programme directors believe that learning for sustainable development is important mainly based on their personal convictions. However, out of 10 potential learning objectives extracted from the literature, only four-six are implemented in degree programmes. Learning objectives and activities are not always aligned, as students are required to learn about interdisciplinary collaboration without working with students from other faculties. The programme directors receive some support from the department, but they express a need for additional support. Examples of support that they suggest are faculty training, efficient teaching material and incorporation of sustainability in the quality assessment instruments for degree programmes.\nOriginality/value: This study is the first comprehensive, national survey of what programme directors think about sustainability in higher education. Their views are important in the attempt to accelerate the integration of sustainability in higher education curricula.\n",
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EFDA-fed: European federation among fusion energy research laboratories
|
[
"Energy",
"Laboratory testing",
"Research",
"Europe"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Owing to improvement in data communications and the integration of computer systems into the internet, users have being developing their way of working from closed systems, where working stations, services and resources are isolated at communication level from other systems, to open systems where services and resources are available from any point of the internet. In this type of environment, users access resources and services, which are distributed and located in different organisations and each of them manages and specialises in a set of services. On the other hand, the concept of connection to the internet has developed very quickly, above all, with the generalization of WIFI technologies. Nowadays, it is very difficult to use exclusively a fix PC for connecting or to specify a fix source IP address for the connections. Users require mobility in their way of working. These new requirements have demanded new types of security solutions for computer systems, which must be able to work in multi-organisation environments, so they must be flexible enough to be integrated with installed systems and new developments, they must be able to scale independently the number of organisations and users, and they must enable mobility. These new necessities make solutions, which are valid for closed systems, very difficult to manage in this type of environment.1.1 Description of the problem\n2. Federation: In order to give a multi-organisation solution to the problem previously described, a federation that covers a set of EFDA organisations, as can be seen in Figure 1, has been started up. A federation is an organisational and technological solution, which involved a security technology and a set of common policies for providing a secure infrastructure to a multi-organisation environment. There is a set of properties that any federation must take into account, and a set of elements that any federation should have.2.1 Federation properties\n3. Authentication and authorization infrastructure: The most important element for starting up a federation is the authentication and authorization infrastructure (AAI). In the case of EFDA federation, the AAI is currently implemented using PAPI. This situation does not exclude the integration of other technologies and technical solutions for getting compatibility among different technologies. From a first stage, PAPI and Shibboleth (Needleman, 2004) were evaluated as real candidates for EFDA federation. In a first point, a short comparative between PAPI and Shibboleth is presented, showing the main reasons why PAPI was chosen. In the following points, different technical aspects related with the PAPI infrastructure that implements EFDA federation are presented. I am not going to give detailed information about elements and protocols of PAPI[4] and Shibboleth[5], because they are very well documented.3.1 PAPI and Shibboleth\n4. New PAPI technologies: As result of the adaptation of PAPI to EFDA federation requirements, new technical solutions have been developed. In this point the two most important ones are described.4.1 JAVA PAPI Runner\n5. Conclusions: Since the summer of 2007, it is running the project for the development and installation of a stable federation infrastructure among EFDA fusion laboratories. There are currently six fusion laboratories involved into the federation: CIEMAT (Spain), CEA (France), JET[10] (UK), IST (Portugal), HAS-KFKI (Hungry) and EFDA (Europe). All of them have PAPI as authentication and authorisation infrastructure, and all of them are using PAPI proxy as access control front-end to their resources. Since the federation start up, a set of interesting resources has been integrated, since central services as the wiki site or the web file system, passing through new prototypes of data-analysing tools based on new data access paradigms, until community interesting resources located outside the federation and offered through the federation, and integrating video. Thanks to real environment working, some important technical solutions have been developed and can be a very important base for extending these functionalities to other systems such as Shibboleth, enabling the integration of other type of client tools.PAPI has demonstrated in TJII acquisition systems its validity as technology for providing secure access to services and web resources, and it is currently a stable technology for providing and extending services into the federation. In fusion community, there are many services that currently demand federated solutions, above all considering the multi-organisations working groups that are currently working on different tasks and that require repositories and coordination tools with secure access. With a similar philosophy, ITER is designed with the idea of being a fusion centre open to researchers from different countries and laboratories, and EFDA federation is being a perfect testing environment for this type of technologies.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - The fusion energy research in Europe is developed by a set of laboratories of different countries and organisations. EFDA is an organisation whose main objective is to promote and improve the coordination and collaboration among these laboratories. This paper sets out to describe a working federation (EFDA-Fed) that gathers EFDA (as organisation) and a set of fusion research laboratories: EURATOM/CIEMAT (Spain), CEA (France), JET (UK), IST (Portugal) and KFKI/HAS (Hungary).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - To achieve the objective a federation among all the organisations has been implemented based on PAPI as the authentication and authorization infrastructure that provides a security layer for accessing data among organisations.\nFindings: - During the implementation of EFDA federation some improvements in distributed single sign on systems have been achieved such as the integration of JAVA applications and a single sign off mechanism.\nPractical implications: - Users who belong to one of the federated organisations will be able to access from any IP address to resources located in any organisation of the federation in a secure way. On the other hand, new resources can be shared for federated users and access policies to these services can be implemented.\nOriginality/value: - The paper describes a successful use of an open source technology (PAPI) for implementing a real multi-organisation infrastructure for sharing services in a secure way, and integrating client applications and with a complete single sign off mechanism.\n",
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Day-level job crafting and service-oriented task performance: The mediating role of meaningful work and work engagement
|
[
"Job crafting",
"Meaningful work",
"Service-oriented task performance",
"Work engagement"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the last decades, the service industry has experienced an immense growth (Dall'erba et al., 2009), as there has been a shift from the production of products and goods to the provision of services (Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003). In this light, employee performance also changed: where it used to refer to the quality or number of products made, nowadays employee performance increasingly refers to the quality of the services provided (Bowden, 2009; Oliva and Sterman, 2001). Providing high-quality services is essential, as it increases customer loyalty and offers competitive advantages for organizations (Taylor and Pandza, 2003). However, as a consequence of the economic crisis, service quality is increasingly pressurized. Budget cuts have resulted in a smaller workforce that has to do the same amount of work in less time, thereby seriously threatening the core business of many service organizations. At the same time, resources such as help and feedback from coworkers are decreasing, as they are busy too (Reinardy, 2013).Having a highly demanding job with few(er) resources available puts employees at risk to develop stress-related complaints that might eventually result in a burn-out (Demerouti et al., 2001). To prevent this from happening, it seems worthwhile to find ways that protect employee well-being, while at the same time optimize employee performance. One way to achieve this is through the enhancement of meaningful work (May et al., 2004) and work engagement (Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004). In the past, this has mainly been done using top-down approaches such as job redesign (Holman et al., 2010). Lately, however, interest in bottom-up approaches - in which employees themselves initiate desired changes - has risen. One particularly fruitful example is job crafting (Wrzesniewski and Dutton, 2001), which refers to small changes employees make in their work to align their job with their wishes and preferences.In this paper, we aim to unravel the daily process through which job crafting is related to a key performance indicator in the service industry: service-oriented task performance (S-OTP; i.e. performing one's service-related tasks optimally). S-OTP is an important behavioral outcome in the service sector, as it enhances employee functioning and customer satisfaction (Sin et al., 2006). We examine whether daily job crafting is related to daily S-OTP by exploring the mediating role of daily experienced meaningful work and work engagement in this process. Using a within-subject design in which employees are followed over four consecutive working days, we are able to study the short-term dynamics of job crafting, not only between persons, but also within (Ohly et al., 2010). This is important, as it advances our understanding of the same-day effects of job crafting on work-related cognitive evaluations and affective-motivational states (i.e. meaningful work and work engagement) (Hoge and Schnell, 2012) and actual behavioral outcomes (i.e. S-OTP). Doing so, we gain a deeper understanding of the daily process leading from altering one's job characteristics (i.e. job crafting; Tims and Bakker, 2010) to enhancing the provision of high- quality services.We build our model by integrating two dominant literature traditions of job crafting: one based on positive psychology (Wrzesniewski and Dutton, 2001) and one based on job (re)design (Tims and Bakker, 2010). Wrzesniewski and Dutton (2001) propose that employees craft their job to fulfill basic psychological needs, leading to meaningful work and enhanced performance. Tims and Bakker (2010) argue that employees craft their (perceived) job demands and job resources to increase fit between the job characteristics and their personal needs and abilities, leading to work engagement and enhanced performance. However, little is known about the daily motivational process relating job crafting and work engagement (Petrou et al., 2012). Integrating meaningful work into the job crafting-work engagement relationship provides us with a (motivational) reason why employees craft their job and how this is related to day-level performance.Earlier cross-sectional research has shown that psychological meaningfulness mediated the relationship between job crafting and work engagement (Peral and Geldenhuys, 2016), whereas weekly job crafting has been found to be related to weekly meaningfulness through increased weekly person-job fit (Tims et al., 2016). Building on these studies, we contribute to the literature not only by unifying the two literature traditions on job crafting, but also by advancing our understanding of the overall process leading from job crafting to performance in which motivational components (i.e. meaningful work and work engagement) play a key factor. Moreover, using a within-person design, the results of this study strengthen the findings of the work by Peral and Gelderhuys (2016) and Tims et al. (2016) by showing that the processes described in their studies not only hold over time (i.e. weekly) or on a cross-sectional level, but also on a daily basis. This advances our understanding of the motivational pathway leading from job crafting to performance.Second, this paper adds to the literature on meaningfulness by being the first to examine whether daily experiences of meaningful work are related to well-being and daily functioning at work. Allan et al. (2018) showed that instructing individuals to do daily acts of kindness increased their daily experience of meaningful work, but how daily experiences of meaningful work are influenced by self-initiated or crafted rather than instructed changes at work as well as how daily experienced meaningfulness influences well-being at work (i.e. work engagement) and functioning (i.e. daily performance) are still unknown. Although we know meaningful work influences long-term outcomes reflecting dedication to one's career and a willingness to put in extra effort, insight into daily dynamics of meaningful work is a novel advancement in the literature (Allan et al., 2018).Lastly, this study adds to the job performance literature by focusing on a behavioral outcome that is important for the service industry: S-OTP. S-OTP emphasizes the importance of the provision of high-quality services. Although the relationship between job crafting and performance has been studied before (for a meta-analysis, please see: Rudolph et al., 2017), none of these studies have focused on task performance in terms of providing high-quality services. To this aim, we developed a tailored measure assessing S-OTP and explore whether daily S-OTP can be enhanced through daily job crafting. As providing services is increasingly important for contemporary organizations (Bowden, 2009), this paper not only broadens the generalizability of job crafting, but also is of practical value to service-providing organizations. Based on our results, we hope to provide service organizations with guidelines to enhance their employees' well-being and functioning through the use of bottom-up job redesign techniques.From job crafting to work engagement\nMethod: Study design and participants\nResults: Descriptive statistics\nDiscussion: The main focus of this article was to advance our understanding of the process leading from job crafting to S-OTP, by examining the role of meaningful work and work engagement in this process. We built our model by integrating two literature traditions on job crafting that have dominated the literature in the last decade: the job (re)design approach (Tims and Bakker, 2010) and the positive psychology approach (Wrzesniewski and Dutton, 2001). We proposed meaningful work (the positive psychology approach) to act as a mediator in the well-established relationship between job crafting and work engagement and performance (the job (re)design approach) (Rudolph et al., 2017). As expected, seeking resources and seeking challenges were positively related to S-OTP via meaningful work and work engagement, whereas reducing demands was negatively related.This study contributes to the literature in several ways. First, this is the first study to justify the importance of daily experiences of meaningful work in explaining how employees alter their job daily in order to improve their functioning. That is, employees craft their job to make it more meaningful and engaging, thereby enhancing performance. As little was known about the reason why job crafting and work engagement were related (Petrou et al., 2012), this study enhances the understanding of this process by emphasizing the role of daily meaningful work. Although some scholars took a first step by showing that job crafting was related to heightened meaningful work, they did not examine whether meaningful work explains why job crafting is related to work engagement (e.g. Tims et al., 2016), or when they did so, they only used cross-sectional data (Peral and Geldenhuys, 2016). Results showed that seeking resources and seeking challenges were effective strategies to enhance meaningful work, and, in turn, work engagement. Through seeking resources and challenges, employees fulfill their basic psychological needs (Berg et al., 2013), leading to heightened meaningful work and work engagement. However, reducing demands was negatively related to meaningful work and work engagement, making it an ineffective strategy to enhance meaningful work. A possible explanation for this negative effect may be that when people reduce their demands, they are unable to fully fulfill their basic psychological needs that day (Berg et al., 2013), leading to lowered meaningful work and work engagement. Together, these results provide a deeper understanding of the reasons why employees craft their job, as seeking resources and challenges may be used to enhance meaningful work and work engagement, whereas reducing demands may be used for other reasons, for example, to prevent health impairment (Demerouti, 2014; Petrou et al., 2012).Furthermore, results showed that meaningful work is positively related to S-OTP via work engagement. Thus, on days that people experience their work as meaningful, they can become engaged, enabling them to provide high-quality services. These results are in line with earlier studies showing a positive relationship between meaningful work and performance (e.g. Wrzesniewski, 2003), and between work engagement and task performance (Rudolph et al., 2017). However, we add to the literature by showing that meaningful work is related to S-OTP via work engagement.Furthermore, full support for the overall model was found, suggesting that job crafting is related to (service) performance via meaningful work and work engagement. This is in line with the theory of work adjustment (TWA) (Rounds et al., 1987) and shows that people actively adjust their job to enhance correspondence between their needs and the work environment to enable optimal performance (Blau, 1987). As the provision of services is becoming increasingly important for contemporary organizations (Bowden, 2009), our results stress the relevance of job crafting as a means to enhance meaningful work, work engagement, and ultimately (service) performance for these organizations. Note, however, that not all job crafting strategies were effective to improve service performance. Whereas expanding the scope of the job (i.e. seeking resources and challenges) had a positive, indirect effect on service performance, reducing demands had a negative indirect effect, implying that it inhibits employees from providing high-quality service. Demerouti et al. (2015) also found similar unfavorable effects using supervisor ratings of creativity and adaptivity. Their explanation is that employees who take the initiative to reduce their job demands seem to select the most important tasks to invest their energy (Demerouti, 2014), and they let down less essential tasks of work performance.Lastly, this study contributes to the literature with the measure of S-OTP. Since the concept of employee performance is shifting from the quality or number of products made to the quality of the services provided (Bowden, 2009; Oliva and Sterman, 2001), more tailored measures, focusing on the dynamics between service-employee and customer, are necessary. Our measure emphasizes the importance of active listening, emotional support, and expectation management to provide optimal services. Although the measure was tested in an unemployment agency, active listening, emotional support, and expectation management represent aspects of service quality that are relevant across different service settings (Burleson, 2003; Hsieh and Yuan, 2010; Weger et al., 2010), making the measure a useful tool for research in other organizations providing services as well.Practical implications\nConclusions: To enhance productivity and efficiency, organizations nowadays ask employees to do more work in less time and with less people. Job crafting enables employees to achieve this goal by shaping a work environment that lets them to make meaningful contributions to the organization. This, in turn, stimulates the experience of work engagement and enhances levels of S-OTP. Job crafting may be beneficial for the organization as well as for employees themselves, as job crafting protects well-being and enhances performance. These are both valuable aspects for sustainable employability, now and in the future.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study examines whether job crafting is related to service-oriented task performance (i.e. performance aimed at providing high-quality services) through meaningful work and work engagement.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 156 employees of a Dutch unemployment agency (4 days, 531 observations). Multilevel SEM was used to analyze the data.\nFindings: Results showed that job crafting was related to service-oriented task performance via meaningful work and work engagement. Specifically, seeking resources and seeking challenges were positively related to service-oriented task performance via meaningful work and work engagement, whereas reducing demands was negatively related to service-oriented task performance via meaningful work and work engagement.\nOriginality/value: The study concludes that seeking resources and seeking challenges are beneficial for service-oriented task performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A revelation of employee feelings of alienation during post-mergers and acquisition: An outcome of perceived organizational justice
|
[
"Equity",
"Integration",
"Mergers and acquisitions",
"Perceived organizational justice",
"Alienation",
"Hierarchical regression"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Companies today need to be fast growing, efficient, profitable, flexible, adaptable, and future-ready to have a dominant market position. Without these qualities, firms believe that it is virtually impossible to be competitive in today's global economy. It has become all but impossible in this global environment for firms to compete with others without growing and expanding through deals that result in mergers or acquisitions (M&As) (Lucenko, 2000; Deogun and Scannell, 2001). Even though being highly valued and prominent strategy of growth, M&As do not have a very high success rate to boast of. Researchers (Thach and Nyman, 2001; Ellis and Lamont, 2004; Pablo and Javidan, 2009; Marks and Mirvis, 2010) present that barely 25 percent-35 percent of M&A achieve their desired goals and can be considered as successful. A study by KPMG found that approximately only 17 percent of cross-border acquisitions create shareholder value, while 53 percent destroyed it (Economist, 1999). An important body of research suggests that between one-third and one-half of these M&A failures occur as special emphasis is given to strategic and financial goals of the deal (Stahl and Mendenhall, 2005), while they lack post-integration management (Quah and Young, 2005; Schweiger and Lippert, 2005) and also because they undervalue psychological, cultural, and people issues (Rees and Edwards, 2009).\nTheoretical framework and literature review: The amalgamation of two companies is always a significant event in the corporate history, especially if at least one of them is big. There is a sudden cloud of uncertainty that envelops the employees at the middle and lower tier of the management hierarchy. During this state of change, where two organizations synthesize into a new entity and move toward a new course of growth, development, and identity, the resistance of employees ebbs and flows along the stages of shock, denial, blame, testing, experimenting, discovering, learning, and finally integrating (Kubler- Ross, 1969; Devine, 2002). Research points toward a \"we vs they\" attitude of employees during M&As and also antagonism, condescending attitudes, distrust, tension, and hostility (Larsson and Finkelstein, 1999). A number of scholars categorized various theories as to why organizations enter into a merger relationship, and how organizational initiatives impact employees' psychological outcomes, however, no such theory deals with employees' feelings of alienation in M&A in particular.\nResearch methodology: This section of the study presents the methodology to examine the research gap discussed in the introduction of this study. The study adopts a cross- sectional survey research design where cross-sectional data were collected from five mergers and acquisitions in India on control variables and on perceived organizational justice and employee's feelings of alienation. The empirical investigation was conducted wherein both quantitative and qualitative data were collected to study the correlates of dimensions of employees' feelings of alienation during M&A. Qualitative data from open-ended questions and quantitative survey data were analyzed further. The focus of the quantitative data was to get employees' perception of fairness issues in the organization, and thus their perceptions of different kind of justice decisions and their feelings of powerlessness, social isolation, and normlessness were measured. On the other hand, the qualitative data were collected to grab employees' detailed insights and their feedback on the entire M&A process.\nResults: This study investigated the relationship between the dimensions of perceived organizational justice and employee feelings of alienation during M&As. The results of the multiple correlation analysis indicated negative relationship between these variables. H1 presented the relationship between perceived organizational justice and employee feelings of alienation in the newly merged organization. The results of this study confirmed H1. A high negative correlation coefficient was obtained between perceived organizational justice and employees' feeling of alienation (Table III: r=-0.516, p<0.01).\nDiscussion: The aim of this research was to emphasize the employee feelings of alienation during M&As while addressing their equity perception concerns. The results of the study accepted H1, as primarily a high negative correlation was highlighted between perceived organizational justice and employees' feeling of alienation. This hypothesis also presented that perceived organizational justice had significant relationship with each of the alienation dimensions. These results are in line with the relationships proposed by various contemporary researches (Cropanzano et al., 2001; Shafiro et al., 2007). These results indicate that managers must pay attention to employees' perceptions of organization justice. The results from this study confirmed the predictions regarding the effects of perceived fairness on employees' psychological outcomes. Employees who perceived that resources were equally distributed among the employees of both the merging firms, similar policies and procedures are followed to manage the employees, and fair and respectful interactions were done between the employees of both the firms after the merger were more likely to have a sense of control and lower social isolation and tend to get influenced positively by the merger process. This finds support in employees open ended responses, as one of the employees from deal 2 reported on his perception of procedural justice - \"even after merger they (the employees of other merging entity) were given promotions on the basis of our pervious promotional policies which allow a promotion in every two years, while we people were given promotion and pay hike on the basis of our previous HR policies where a promotion is given after every seven years of service. This is really dissatisfying, we feel as we have been treated with partiality.\"\nConclusion: Following the large number of mergers and acquisitions, the organizations going through nowadays it will be incomplete to speak of the benefits organizations gaining without mentioning the kind of hardships they go through this entire period of transition. The process of integration appears to be difficult simply because M&As involve the integration of not only of the processes but also of the people involved from the different merging entities, and on top of that sharing of the resources between the employees of the two different entities and the resultant employees reactions could simply intensify the pains of the management. It is central during M&As that employees who perceive the entire transition phenomenon fair and reasonable tend to get affected by the feeling of alienation very unlikely, and hence the ones who experience fair allocation of resources, fair implementation of policies and procedures, and respectful and candid interactions and conversations amongst the employees of different merging companies are more likely to have a sense of control and lower alienation and hence tend to get influenced positively by the change process.\nImplications of the study: The results of this study suggest several interesting management and research implications. This study has strong implications for the multinational corporations that are making inroads into M&As. M&As are very common in the contemporary business scenario, especially when organizations want to internationalize so rapidly. During M&As, there is higher ambiguity at the acquired organizations' side related to if the distribution or allocation of resources would be at par with what has been given to the acquiring side. Apart from this, pay disparity, exposure to training and development, restructuring, change in the status or position, change in the culture, policies and practices, etc. may have long lasting impact on the employees' emotions and attitudes toward the merged firm. Thus, it becomes crucial for management to consider these emotional fallouts of employees while treating them fairly and candidly. This research also provides the foundation of studying the variable alienation as a function of organizational practices and of their respective impact on the employees' justice perceptions. This study presents the future directions not only for the management researchers, but also for the researchers in the field of behavior and psychology to explore the variable of alienation more as there is the need for better understanding of the cause and effects of employee feelings of alienation during organizational change. Also, since there is no literature available on whether the size of the merged firm or type of M&As or the frequency of undergoing such deals impact employee feelings of alienation, thus, the current study presents the vast opportunities of studying these in depth.\nLimitations of the study: Employees' feelings of alienation and their perception of justice were measured by self-reporting questionnaires, which may be affected by social desirability factor. Social desirability factor is to be kept into account while interpreting the results of these self-reports as what people say about what they have done, cannot be relied upon as an accurate account of what they actually did or what they would have done. Moreover, the self-reported data often are affected by common method bias. For example a meta-analysis conducted by Organ and Ryan (1995) on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) of employees states that \"studies that use self-ratings of OCB along with self-reports of dispositional and attitudinal variables invite spuriously high correlations confounded by common method variance\" (p. 779). The accuracy of the data collected was dependent on the participants' level of awareness of their emotions and perceptions as well as the emotions of others and to act based on emotional information. Thus, the accuracy of the data collected was dependent on the assumption that participants would express their true opinions as to their perceptions about integration initiatives and their psychological outcomes. The final limitation involved was the gap in the literature in this area. Regarding availability of literature, there was a significant amount of research material on mergers, acquisitions, integrations, and even on their felt justice, but the availability of the data related to their psychological outcome of alienation was scarce.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In the literature of mergers and social justice, equality is regarded as a crucial phenomenon to achieve social integration. This paper is based on the philosophy that during mergers and acquisitions (M&As), the employees who experience the equal distribution of resources, equal respect to each other's policies and procedures, and fair and respectful interactions, are more likely to have a sense of control and lower social isolation and hence tend to get influenced positively by the M&A process. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between perceived organizational justice and employee feelings of alienation during post-M&As.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional survey research design has been used. This study was undertaken on a sample of 315 employees from five organizations in India. The quantitative data were subjected to univariate and bivariate analysis, while qualitative data were subjected to relational content analysis. Different dimensions of justice were studied in relation to the feelings of alienation using multiple correlational analysis and hierarchical regression analysis.\nFindings: Multiple correlational analyses revealed significant negative correlation of perceived organizational justice and of all of its dimensions with all the dimensions of alienation. However, the results of the hierarchical regression analysis found interactional justice and distributive justice to be the major predictors of alienation during M&As. Apart from the quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis also revealed interesting insights, unique to the individual organization.\nOriginality/value: The study has significant value for both MNCs and researchers. This study has strong implications for the multinational corporations that are making inroads into M&As but consistently failing due to employee issues. This study also presents future directions to the researchers to explore more in the area of soft issues of M&As.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Incorporating data sharing to the reward system of science: Linking DataCite records to authors in the Web of Science
|
[
"Web of Science",
"Bibliometrics",
"Data sharing",
"Research evaluation",
"DataCite",
"Reward system of science"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The idea that the raw data used in scientific research should be made available to other scholars is more than a century old. When the journal Biometrika was founded in 1901, it aimed to publish raw biometric data, as well as the results of future analyses based on these data (The spirit of Biometrika, 1901). Raw data available to the public and other researchers were perhaps not easily done in the print era, hence, research data have traditionally been left out of the social contract of scientific publishing (Vision, 2010) as well as from the reward system of science (Costas et al., 2013). Calls for the development of a data sharing culture and its necessary infrastructures have been heard since the 1970s. With the digital era came new possibilities for data sharing and a growing belief that \"data should be openly available to the maximum extent possible\" (Arzberger et al., 2004, p. 136) and that a reward system that stimulates data sharing should be put in place in the near future (Costas et al., 2013).\nData collection: Dataset and cleansing\nResults: We linked a total of 70,701 DataCite records to 60,784 distinct authors from WoS. This represents a relatively small proportion (5.7 percent) of the total records included in DataCite for the year 2015. However, this is not surprising given that not only researchers, but also governments, non-research organization, companies, and other professionals may also be creators of data sets recorded in DataCite. The ten most prolific data producers collectively account for about 5 percent of the attributed data sets. At the top of the list is Gordon Dooley, the Director of the company that developed the Cochrane Register of Studies and a Member of the Cochrane Linked Data Project[2]. We also find a data scientist at Berkeley and two of his collaborators, three botanists from the Canadian Museum of Nature, and three researchers in development biology, public health and environmental science. Furthermore, a manual search on the DataCite website using these researchers' names retrieved a large number of data sets. This provides a certain assurance of the validity of our matching algorithm and of the resulting data set.\nDiscussion: The results of this study provide useful insights on the possibilities DataCite offers for large-scale automatic attribution of data sets to authors of scientific publications. This has several practical implications.\nConclusion: This study is a first attempt to link research data creators to scientific authors. The method developed allowed us to attribute 70,701 data sets to 60,784 distinct authors of WoS publications, using mostly basic information such as the creators and authors' names, the titles of the data sets and publications, and the abstract of the publications. Using these linkages, we are able to obtain a broad picture of data sharing activities across all scientific disciplines, showing that data sharing is much more prevalent in some disciplines, like biology and biomedicine, than in others. If we are to broaden out the scope of outputs used in the scientific reward system by including data sets, a first step is to be able to attribute different products to researchers. While the use of author IDs such as the ORCID or ResearcherID intends to establish such linkages, as self-reported tools they still are more of a promise than a reality. In this sense, methodologies such as the one presented here may contribute to respond to such demand.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: It is widely recognized that sharing data is beneficial not only for science but also for the common good, and researchers are increasingly expected to share their data. However, many researchers are still not making their data available, one of the reasons being that this activity is not adequately recognized in the current reward system of science. Since the attribution of data sets to individual researchers is necessary if we are to include them in research evaluation processes, the purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of linking data set records from DataCite to the authors of articles indexed in the Web of Science.\nDesign/methodology/approach: DataCite and WoS records are linked together based on the similarity between the names of the data sets' creators and the articles' authors, as well as the similarity between the noun phrases in the titles of the data sets and the titles and abstract of the articles.\nFindings: The authors report that a large number of DataCite records can be attributed to specific authors in WoS, and the authors demonstrate that the prevalence of data sharing varies greatly depending on the research discipline.\nOriginality/value: It is yet unclear how data sharing can provide adequate recognition for individual researchers. Bibliometric indicators are commonly used for research evaluation, but to date no large-scale assessment of individual researchers' data sharing activities has been carried out.\n",
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] |
Step by step to better performance
: Organizational-citizenship behavior can transform employees and the workplace
|
[
"Performance",
"Motivation",
"Organizational behavior",
"Employee well-being"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Organizational-citizenship behavior (OCB) occurs when a worker embraces an organization's core values to such a degree that the person is inspired to go beyond job rewards and requirements and to act in ways that will improve the workplace simply because such acts feel right and natural.\nThe sources of OCB: OCB is fostered through leadership, organizational culture and its attendant structure and processes and intangible rewards. Often, these intersect.\nSystem of shared meaning: Increasing OCB is not easy for leaders. The first step is to understand current OCB levels. On a more profound level, when an organization has low employee OCB, it often has a culture that does not honor it. Otherwise, the tools for encouraging OCB would be present in the set of accepted values, norms and attendant processes and structures that define an organization's culture. Stephen P. Robbins refers to this as \"a system of shared meaning\". A process map of how improvements in OCB can be implemented is presented in Figure 1.\nNote: Jacqueline R. Mayfield, is professor of management, College of Business Administration, Division of International Business & Technology Studies, Texas A&M International University, 5201 University Boulevard, Laredo, TX 78041-1900. Jacqueline Mayfield is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: jmayfield@tamiu.edu\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss how to foster organizational-citizenship behavior (OCB), which offers benefits including improved competitive advantage and employee welfare.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper defines OCB, discusses its benefits and limitations and offers advice on interventions.\nFindings: It is argued that enhanced OCB can significantly improve organizational performance and employee well-being.\nPractical implications: A framework that could help companies to implement OCB, while recognizing that the circumstances of every business are different has been set out.\nSocial implications: This paper reveals why OCB is less common among the millennial generation.\nOriginality/value: OCB as a tool to boost employee motivation and to breach the gap created by the disappearing traditional employer-employee psychological contract has been presented.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Employer branding: Your not-so-secret weapon in the competition for young workers
|
[
"Brand image",
"Work experience",
"Employee attitudes",
"Brand attributes",
"Employee recruitment",
"Employer branding"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nReview: The best employers get nearly twice as many job applications compared with other organizations. So when they are recruiting, they can pick and choose from a bigger talent pool and select the very best applicants. The \"baby boomer\" generation is retiring from the workforce and later generations are smaller in size. The result of these demographic factors has been to increase fears of labour shortages. Competition for a shrinking talent pool of younger workers means that employers need to focus on the things that make their company attractive to potential applicants.\nEmployer branding is a valuable asset: When an individual applies for a job, they are an unknown quantity as far as the employer is concerned. So people typically go to considerable trouble to present themselves well, to provide information that describes their qualifications and career history and to give reasons why their experience makes them particularly well suited for the position. But there is a comparable gap in the individual's information - they only know what the company chooses to share about its operations and what they may have been able to pick up from third party reports. In other words, there is a risk associated with the lack of information that may stop them applying for a job with an unfamiliar organization.\n... which can attract and motivate potential employees: It's fairly easy to find out some facts, such as where a company is based and the starting salary for a particular job. Other things - like what a company is really like to work for - are harder to establish. Jobseekers may have to rely on word of mouth or on the information that the employer chooses to make public.\nHow young workers respond to employer branding: A recent survey at a North American university studied young people who were starting to look for work, asking them to pick one of four well-known companies on which to answer questions. Almost 300 students - whose work experience ranged from zero to twelve years - completed a questionnaire that focused on company familiarity, company attraction and employer brand image.\nCommunicating a desirable employer brand image: The study started out with the idea that brand image would be more important to workers with limited job experience, but the results show no support for this. Functional and symbolic attributes were significant predictors of company attractiveness to jobseekers at all levels of work experience.\nComment: This is a review of \"Young workers' perception of brand image: main and moderating effects\", by Myrden and Kelloway (2015). This study, conducted at a large North American university, examines the relative importance of different aspects of the employer brand in determining whether young jobseekers find the company attractive. Using self-report data from the survey, it goes on to investigate the extent to which work experience affects their interest in the company as a prospective employer.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of employer branding on company attractiveness to younger workers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper analyzes the relative importance attached to symbolic and functional company attributes using a survey conducted at a large North American university. It considers the impact of differing levels of work experience on responses to employer branding.\nFindings: The best employers get nearly twice as many job applications compared with other organizations. So when they are recruiting, they can pick and choose from a bigger talent pool and select the very best applicants. The \"baby boomer\" generation is retiring from the workforce, and later generations are smaller in size. The result of these demographic factors has been to increase fears of labor shortages. Competition for a shrinking talent pool of younger workers means that employers need to focus on the things that make their company attractive to potential applicants.\nPractical implications: The study suggests ways in which human resources professionals can maximize the effectiveness of employer branding as a means of attracting job applications from young workers.\nSocial implications: It notes that symbolic attributes are more strongly predictive of company attractiveness than functional attributes and that this effect becomes more marked with work experience.\nOriginality/value: This paper aims to show how marketing concepts can be applied in a human resource context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The ten commandments of quality: a performance perspective
|
[
"Quality management",
"Quality",
"Quality profession"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Quality has been an elusive concept in many organisations today. Many people view quality as the degree of innate excellence and some others view it as a lack of defects or mistakes or errors in business processes. However, quality is no longer viewed as the degree of excellence of a product or service in the twenty-first century. For instance, we take two cars such as Mini Cooper and Rolls-Royce. If you perceive quality is about excellence, then obviously you would conclude Rolls-Royce is a higher quality car. However, you could equally argue that if both products satisfy the purpose for which they were purchased for, both of them can be treated as quality products. As long as both products meet or exceed customer expectations, it would fit well with Juran's view on quality. The importance of quality in services cannot be underestimated due to the growth of service industries in many countries around the world. Quality in services is however viewed differently compared to manufacturing as it depends upon a number of dimensions such as timeliness, completeness, consistency, responsiveness, empathy, accessibility and convenience, courtesy, etc. Moreover, it is very difficult to define what the customer wants in the context services compared to manufacturing. For example, the speed of service can be a critical quality characteristic for customers; however, the perceptions of speed vary significantly for different customers as well as across many service organisations provide the same service.\nConclusion: Although quality is a strategic component or driver of many businesses today, very little attention has been paid on the leadership, culture, education and change management aspects associated with quality improvement. This paper presents ten commandments of quality from the perspective of an academic and a practitioner who has been involved in teaching, research and training/consultancy on QM for over two decades. The ten commandments of quality in my perspective include: leadership for quality, customer advocacy, emphasis on teaching applied statistical methods to quality professionals, creating a culture of CI or II, employee empowerment, ownership and engagement, training and education for quality, extending quality into supply chain, quality and environment, LO and sustaining issues of quality. These commandments can be used as a guide for achieving and sustaining quality in various organisations despite of their nature and size.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide quality professionals of tomorrow with ten commandments of quality.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The ten commandments are based on the 20 years experience of the author as an academic, researcher, consultant and a practitioner in the field of quality management (QM).\nFindings: The ten commandments of quality in my perspective include: leadership for quality, customer advocacy, emphasis on teaching applied statistical methods to quality professionals, creating a culture of continuous improvement or incremental innovation, employee empowerment, ownership and engagement, training and education for quality, extending quality into supply chain, quality and environment, learning organization and sustaining issues of quality.\nResearch limitations/implications: The key features outlined in this viewpoint paper is based on a single perspective. However, the author is currently pursuing a study looking into the viewpoints of ten QM experts around the globe.\nOriginality/value: The paper provides an excellent resource for many researchers and practitioners in the field of QM who can use the key features expressed in the paper as a guide for achieving and sustaining quality in their businesses.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Public opinion information dissemination in mobile social networks - taking Sina Weibo as an example
|
[
"Social media",
"Public opinion",
"Microblog",
"Information dissemination",
"Mobile social network",
"Network attack",
"Mobile internet"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With the rapid development of mobile communication technology and widespread use of mobile devices, mobile social network has become very popular among people. Mobile social media, as a new media form, generates a lot of information during the interaction process. With the increasing use of mobile social networks, the human-node network based on social media construction becomes more and more obvious. The mobile terminal surpasses non-mobile terminal to become the domain new growth motive force of the internet. By the end of 2018, there were about 5.1 billion mobile phone users worldwide, with a penetration rate of 67.2%. China has 1.14 billion mobile users which is the largest number in the world.\n2. Literature review: In this section, we mainly review works toward public opinion on social media, social analysis method and information transmission path.\n3. Methods: This study applies several techniques including feature extraction, key node identifying and path analysis to figure out structural features and transmission path of information in mobile environment.\n4. Results: The discussion about \"network attack\" reached its peak worldwide on May 13, 2017 causing world-wide concern among nations, enterprises and public. Public opinion about network attack spreads rapidly on social media, especially mobile network platforms. This paper chooses \"network attack\" as data source and collects 23,567 posts from Sina Microblog including nodes, forwarding and commenting relations as the edge and plots.\n5. Discussion: This paper uses methods of social network analysis and information transmission path analysis to analyze public opinion dissemination. We are aiming to:\n6. Conclusion: On the theoretical level, this paper compares characteristics and differences among nodes of public opinion between mobile terminals and non-mobile terminals. We apply methods of social network analysis and information transmission path analysis to study the structure of users' network and public opinion propagation modes in Weibo. The comparison method is used to reveal the difference of information propagation between mobile terminals and non-mobile terminals. The study in this paper provides a new theoretical basis and model analysis method for the research on the discipline of public opinion dissemination on mobile social. It also provides methodological guidance and insights for studying public opinion dissemination in the mobile environment.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Social media, especially microblog, has become one of the most popular platforms for public opinion dissemination. However, so far few studies have been conducted to explore information dissemination under the mobile environment. This paper aims to introduce the approach to analyze the public opinion information dissemination in mobile social networks.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper chooses \"network attack\" as the research topic and extracts 23,567 relevant messages from Sina Microblogs to study the structure of nodes for public opinion dissemination and the characteristics of propagation paths on mobile internet. Public opinion dissemination is compared on both mobile and non-mobile terminals.\nFindings: The results reveal the characteristics of public opinion dissemination in mobile environment and identify three patterns of information propagation path. This study concludes that public opinion on mobile internet propagates more widely and efficiently and generates more impact than that on the non-mobile internet.\nSocial implications: The methods used in this study can be useful for the government and other organizations to analyze and identify problems in online information dissemination.\nOriginality/value: This paper explores the mechanism of public opinion dissemination on mobile internet in China and further investigates how to improve public opinion management through a case study related to \"network attack.\"\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Evolving B2B e-commerce adaptation for SME suppliers
|
[
"Buyer‐seller relationships",
"Small to medium‐sized enterprises",
"Electronic commerce",
"Supply chain management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.\nIntroduction: Electronically mediated interactions between business partners are increasingly replacing or transforming the more traditional methods of conducting business (Brady et al., 2008). This change in the way business is done is even more palpable in industries that are dominated by large, influential buyers, where the use of electronic exchange platforms to conduct business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce (e-commerce) is considered to be a powerful, even inescapable, requirement. It is within this context that this article explores a central issue in industrial marketing, namely the buyer-seller relationship, by focusing on how its development influences and is influenced by the use of B2B e-commerce strategies. More specifically, the research objectives of this article are:* to identify what kinds of B2B interactions are imposed by influential buyers who want to do business electronically with their suppliers* to explore the link between these electronic interactions and the buyer-seller relationship; and* to see how influential buyers and SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) suppliers adapt their own strategies in this online environment.This line of inquiry seems particularly relevant because current knowledge of the role of the buyer-seller relationship as a determinant of e-commerce adoption behavior among SMEs remains scarce. Smaller suppliers are dependent on large buyers' processes (Quayle, 2003). They are also naturally inclined to adapt to their trading partners' initiatives (Brennan et al., 2003). Although they are making great strides in adopting e-commerce by placing it at the center of their technological and corporate business plans (Damaskopoulos and Evgeniou, 2003; Drew, 2003), their progress in this regard still remains limited compared to that of their larger business partners (Archer et al., 2003; Elia et al., 2003; Lucchetti and Sterlacchini, 2004; Quayle, 2003; Wagner et al., 2003). This mismatch in the B2B e-commerce adoption rate between larger and smaller trading partners creates tensions, since the larger partners, in order to integrate their supply chains, will tend to exert pressure on SMEs to conduct more electronic interactions. Past research has demonstrated that SMEs are more vulnerable to outside e-commerce initiatives. Indeed, it has long been recognized that large buyers have the power to influence their suppliers to adopt inter-organizational systems (IOS) (Chwelos et al., 2001; Iskandar et al., 2001; Kurokawa et al., 2008), regardless of whether that power is seen as coercive (\"by means of threats\") or non-coercive (\"by means of promises\") (Boyle and Dwyer, 1995). Furthermore, several studies have demonstrated that external factors explain most e-commerce adoption by SMEs (Damaskopoulos and Evgeniou, 2003; Grandon and Pearson, 2004), and that their e-commerce initiatives tend to focus on specific trading partners (Chan and Swatman, 2004).Our current knowledge of this phenomenon leaves several questions unanswered. First, since the relationship with their larger trading partners is so important, why do SME suppliers seem to be adapting to B2B e-commerce so slowly and unresponsively? Second, can the pressures exerted by the influential buyer be strong enough to eventually destroy the relationship with the supplier and make previous relationship investments worthless? Third, in an effort to improve the efficiency of the interactions between buyer and seller, can power be used to induce electronic collaboration? Fourth, when dealing with large clients' requirements, SME suppliers often have limited choices. Their dilemma is as follows: adapting to those requirements means incurring additional costs whereas refusing to adapt could result in a loss of revenues. How can the SME suppliers best handle this situation in order to remain competitive? This last question is of particular interest to practitioners.\nResearch background: This paper builds on three distinct areas of knowledge:1. the literature on buyer-seller relationships;2. the literature on the adoption and use of IOS technology; and3. the literature on portfolio models.When examining buyer-seller relationships, the notion of evolution is important and can be the source of paradox (O'Driscoll, 2008). Relationships are not stable, but constantly evolving. Various classifications of the development of the buyer-supplier relationship have been proposed and used in the academic literature, from transactional to relational (Archer and Yuan, 2000; Gronroos, 1994), opportunistic to collaborative (Cousins and Spekman, 2000), arm's-length to partnership (Dyer, 2000; Sako, 1992), exit to voice (Mudambi and Helper, 1998), partner selection to relationship maintenance (Wilson, 1995), searching process to termination process (Batonda and Perry, 2003), etc. While the names differ, their central premise is identical: relationships evolve. However, deliberately making the relationship evolve in a given direction can be a delicate matter. Building closer relationships must be based on the appropriate tradeoff between relationship costs and benefits (Gadde, 2004). Existing interactions influence the organization and its network (Wilkinson, 2006). Therefore by modifying the interactions the buyer-seller relationship is ultimately influenced. Also of importance is the concept of dyadic adaptation, defined as \"the behavioral or organizational modifications at the individual, group or corporate level, carried out by one organization, which are designed to meet the specific needs of one other organization\" (Brennan et al., 2003). This concept is often associated with the level of influence that one partner exerts on another (Brennan and Turnbull, 1999). Dyadic adaptation is more frequent on the supplier side (Brennan et al., 2003), which may be partly attributable to the natural tendency of a supplier to adapt to its buyer's requirements.Research on adoption of various types of IOSs such as Electronic Document Interchange (EDI) or e-marketplaces that are used to conduct B2B transactions has become a central point of interest in the academic literature (Chang et al., 2003; Markus and Christiaanse, 2003). Several studies indicate that a single type of IOS cannot fit all business situations. For example, certain e-marketplaces are more appropriate to specific types of buyer-supplier relationships (Skjott-Larsen et al., 2003). Moreover, the use of different IOSs influences buyer-supplier relationships (Carr and Smeltzer, 2002). It is therefore desirable to manage the fit between the buyer's purchasing situation and the IOS to optimize value creation in the buyer-supplier relationship (Hartmann et al., 2002). Other authors take into account the goal pursued by business partners, which is an important dimension of the relationship (Mohr and Spekman, 1994; Mudambi and Helper, 1998), in explaining the adoption of transactional or cooperative IOSs, suggesting that each has different benefits and adoption considerations (Markus and Christiaanse, 2003). Overall, previous research highlights the relevance of using the buyer-seller relationship perspective in order to understand the adoption and use of the IOSs examined in our study.The literature on purchasing and relationship portfolio models provides some useful tools for understanding how buyers manage different supplier relationships. Since the 1980s, the concept of portfolio management in buyer-seller relationships (Fiocca, 1982; Kraljic, 1983; Shapiro et al., 1987) has been used to understand business markets or categorize customers and suppliers and support strategy orientations (Bensaou, 1999; Dabholkar and Neeley, 1998; Krapfel et al., 1991; Olsen and Ellram, 1997). For example, Bensaou (1999) suggests a classification of buyer-seller relationships based on their specific investments. This implies that investments in proprietary IOSs can influence the buyer-seller relationship. Other authors propose various models to provide input into management decisions by suggesting portfolios characterized by \"buyer-supplier power-dependence\" (Gelderman and Van Weele, 2000) or transaction cost (Krapfel et al., 1991). Finally, an interesting perspective suggests looking at the \"goal of the relationship\" and \"the balance of power\" from a \"temporal perspective\" (Dabholkar and Neeley, 1998). The buyer can view the relationship from a short-term perspective focused on a single or a few limited transactions, or from a long-term perspective focused on repeated transactions. The concept of portfolios has also been applied to the e-commerce context. For example, the Kraljic purchasing portfolio model has been taken as a starting point to determine the type of IOS best suited for the purchase of various types of products (Santema, 2003). The same exercise has also been performed to build a taxonomy of e-marketplaces (Sawhney and Kaplan, 2000). Although portfolio models present some limitations in relationship analysis (Dubois and Pedersen, 2002; Leek et al., 2002) because the variables they include are often subjective and difficult to measure, these models present dimensions that are essential in interpreting the data gathered from the field and help to explain why different relationships use different IOSs.\nMethodology: Data collection and analysis\nResearch findings: The main research goal was to discover some interesting insights into electronic interactions. Common patterns among the firms involved in this field study appeared by themselves through the data collected, which is highly consistent with grounded work (Glaser and Strauss, 1967).Current electronic interactions\nDiscussion: Our findings indicate that the requirements to which suppliers must adapt are closely linked to the level of relationship they have with their buyers. When a supplier does adapt to these requirements, the relationship can evolve and, as it evolves, the requirements change again. If the supplier does not adapt, then the relationship may stall or be halted. Thus, our evolving B2B e-commerce adaptation model suggests that:* B2B e-commerce adaptation feeds back into the relationship, thereby increasing cooperation;* substantial adaptation can be incremental over time; and* there is a link between adaptive behavior and the stage of development of the relationship.Our findings also raise some interesting implications that answer the fundamental questions raised earlier.Why do SME suppliers seem to be adapting to B2B e-commerce so slowly and unresponsively?\nManagerial implication: How can an SME supplier remain competitive?\nConclusion: This paper contributes to our understanding of the link between electronic interactions and the buyer-seller relationship by exploring the electronic interactions that influential buyers will oblige their SME suppliers to engage in and by explaining how these requirements evolve over time according to the level of the relationships. These requirements are prerequisites to achieving a desired relationship and also serve the purpose of testing the supplier. Paradoxically, once the supplier adapts to them, the relationship evolves, resulting in new requirements and thus requiring more adaptation, which takes the form of a strong positive circular feedback loop between B2B e-commerce adaptation and relationship levels. As buyer-seller relationships are being redefined, many suppliers are wondering whether their previous relational investments are still valuable to the buyers. They are. However, adapting to the electronic interactions is more valuable. When dealing with more than one buyer, business processes will generally be found to be similar for each relationship level whereas the e-commerce technologies will be slightly different. This makes e-commerce adoption even more complex, as the SME supplier may experience different but simultaneous and ever-changing pressures from each buyer. The model proposed in this paper can serve as a tool to align B2B e-commerce strategies and buyer-seller relationship levels.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore a central issue in industrial marketing, namely the buyer-seller relationship, by focusing on how its development influences and is influenced by the use of B2B e-commerce strategies. More specifically, the paper aims at identifying what kinds of B2B electronic interactions are imposed by influential buyers; exploring the link between these electronic interactions and the buyer-seller relationship; and seeing how influential buyers and SME suppliers adapt their own strategies in this online environment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The multi-case study methodology was used to allow for rich data collection and analysis and to support the discovery of patterns.\nFindings: - The results indicate that large buyers use specific e-commerce processes and tools for the different relationships they have with their SME suppliers. The latter must adapt to these requirements to attain the next relationship level or risk forfeiting their established position. When a supplier reaches the new level, other requirements arise, forcing it to continuously adapt its e-commerce strategy.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The model proposed in this paper can serve as a tool to align B2B e-commerce strategies and buyer-seller relationship levels.\nPractical implications: - Some SME suppliers have developed a competitive advantage by going through this cycle faster than their competitors. The following relationship stages were observed: pre-relationship, spot relationship and contractual relationship. Interestingly, there was no collaboration stage in the relationships studied.\nOriginality/value: - The paper contributes to an understanding of the link between electronic interactions and the buyer-seller relationship. Its information is particularly relevant to organizations that transact or plan on transacting electronically with clients or suppliers in a B2B setting.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The role of organizational climate in setting project goals
|
[
"Project management",
"Behavioural operations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: To further enhance operations performance, organizations continue to invest in new projects (Zwikael et al., 2019). Examples of such projects include the implementation of new production technologies, and the design of a superior supply chain process. However, for such projects to successfully enhance operations performance, their goals must be aligned with the operations strategy. Accordingly, setting long-term project goals effectively has been found in the literature to be an important process (Samset and Volden, 2016; Musawir et al., 2017; Laursen and Svejvig, 2016; Zwikael and Meredith, 2018) because such goals can motivate and orientate the project team toward a direction that will eventually enhance operations performance (Linderman et al., 2006; Latham et al., 2007). Examples of such goals include \"increased throughput,\" \"reduced production costs\" and \"improved supply chain responsiveness.\" Project goals are set by a project proposal development team during its front end and before a project's business case is submitted for potential funding approval.\n2. Theory development: This section reviews the existing literature and raises hypotheses. First, we conducted a review of the general management literature on our overarching goal-setting theory. This theory was selected because of its high relevance to the core area of the paper, as well as being an established theory which can build synthesized coherence (Locke and Golden-Biddle, 1997) across the general, operations and project management disciplines. Then, we conducted a systematic literature search of \"project goals,\" \"organizational support,\" and \"OC\" in the academic general management, organizational behavior, operations management, and project management literatures for the following levels of analysis: the entire organization, the project level and the project front end.\n3. Empirical study: The objective of this study was to test empirically the hypotheses. In particular, we are interested in understanding how OC impacts the effectiveness of organizational support on goal setting during the project front end stage. We tested the hypotheses through a longitudinal survey of 200 managers in the USA. A survey methodology has been selected to allow empirical testing of our hypotheses.\n4. Discussion: 4.1 Theoretical contributions\n5. Conclusions: Literature has identified TMS as a critical success factor during project execution, when outputs are being developed by the project team (e.g. Pinto and Slevin, 1988; Zwikael and Globerson, 2006). However, this paper found that during the strategic stage of the project front end, when project goals are being set, established TMS practices to the project team are less effective. Instead, results of a longitudinal study suggest that implementing a formal organizational framework for project goal setting is the most effective support senior management can provide to the project proposal development team. Therefore, operations managers should ensure that their organizations utilize an effective project benefits management framework that guides teams in developing long-term project goals that aim at enhancing operations performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Project goal setting, led by a project proposal development team, is an important operations process because effective goal setting aligned with the operations strategy can enhance project investment decision making, project success and thereby operations performance. The purpose of this paper is to argue that because of the strategic nature of this task, the organizational climate (OC) that the proposal development team works in is critical for the effectiveness of their goal setting.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors raise hypotheses regarding the role OC plays in enhancing the effectiveness of the support senior executives provide to project proposal teams. The authors test the hypotheses in a longitudinal survey of 200 managers in the USA.\nFindings: Results show that a formal organizational process used by proposal development teams for setting project goals is highly effective and that an appropriate OC further intensifies the positive effect of such a process. However, a formal organizational process has no positive effect on effective goal setting if implemented in an environment with a poor OC.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes to the literature by finding that a positive OC intensifies the already positive effect of organizational support. In practice, the creation of such a climate can enhance project goal setting, project success, and as a result, operations performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Assessing the consumer perception of the term "organic": a citizens' jury approach
|
[
"Dairy products",
"Organic foods",
"Consumer behaviour",
"Attitude surveys"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Consumer awareness of the impact of intensive agriculture has grown in recent decades and the demand for organic food, which reduces the need for inorganic chemical application, has risen substantially. This could be explained by the rise in awareness of food health and safety issues (Viaene and Gellynck, 1997; Lumbers et al., 2003; Baltzer, 2004; Rohr et al., 2005). Consumers have also expressed concern on wider production and sustainability issues such as animal health and welfare (Buzby, 2001; Maravegias et al., 2002). According to the Soil Association's (SA) recent market report the UK market for organic produce is now worth PS1.6 billion in sales (Soil Association, 2006). The SA continue by saying:... the numbers and range of people buying organic food have also risen, with two out of three consumers now knowingly buying organic food (65.4 per cent) and over half of people in the most disadvantaged social groups (C2, D and E) now buying organic food and drink (Soil Association, 2006).Within the organic sector raw milk plays a significant role. The market for raw organic milk has grown by an average of 25 per cent per annum over the last decade. In 2005/6 around 312 million litres of raw organic milk was produced, with a forecasted growth to 543 million litres by 2008/2009 (OMSCo, 2007).The rise in demand for organic food has led to a number of studies aimed at understanding the composition of the market sectors (Soil Association, 2001, 2002; Mintel, 2000), or typifying consumers by their attitudes and intentions (Donovan and McCarthy, 2002; McEachern and Willock, 2004). A relatively smaller number of studies have focused on what the UK consumer understands by the term \"organic\". Taylor Nelson Sofres (2002) asked a large number of households how they would identify an organic product and found that buyers claimed simply to look for the word \"organic\" on the label. Padel and Foster (2005) argued that this supports the conclusions of Mintel (2000) that UK consumers do not differentiate between opposing brands but simply identify with the term \"organic\". However, this may lead to a number of misunderstandings over the provenance of an organic product as, for example, Harper and Makatouni (2002) found that, after holding a number of focus groups, consumers associated the term \"organic\" with animal-welfare friendly. In response to this, Makatouni (2002) found that consumers would like to be better informed and would appreciate more information on the organic certification process.Implicit within these studies is the assumption that, when given adequate and objective levels of information, consumers will make a rational choice after developing considered opinions towards food labels. Accordingly, this paper examines consumers' response to organic produce when provided with these higher levels of information concerning its production effects.Whereas previous studies have adopted questionnaire or focus group type research methods which can only offer limited information given constraints on time, this paper differs by adopting a participatory approach known as a citizens' jury (CJ). The use of participatory methods has grown within academic research recently (Enticott, 2001; Hendriks, 2005; Blackstock et al., 2005). The CJ method itself was originally developed to remedy a perceived deficiency in public policy making by enlarging public participation within the process (Kuper, 1997). CJs have been held since the early 1970s, in the first instance in the USA and Germany. In Britain, the first CJs were held in the mid-1990s and currently more than 100 have been held on such diverse topics as educational reforms, health rationing, waste disposal and genetic testing (Wakeford, 2002). CJs are particularly valuable when the issue to be considered involves considerable technical information and where it is feasible that members of the public will be able to reach a decision for or against a particular motion or in favour of one option over another. In this case a CJ is useful for comparing organic and conventional dairy production methods, with the aim of exploring what consumers understand by the term \"organic\".It has been claimed that organic dairy farming may provide a number of desirable benefits; in particular, the removal of chemical-based fertilisers and pesticides may help to improve water quality and enhance biodiversity (Soil Association, 2007). Furthermore, OMSCo (2007) claims that higher levels of omega 3 are present in organic compared to conventional milk, and this, along with reduced levels of pesticide residues, makes it healthier for the consumer. However, while organic food has been promoted for its perceived environmental and health benefits, the downside of organic production and consumption have, arguably, not received as much attention. Firstly, the production risk for an organic producer tends to be higher because of the grazing management systems implemented in organic production and the avoidance of inorganic-based pharmaceuticals. Given the inherent instabilities in farm incomes and the cyclical nature of agricultural supply, these cannot be underestimated (Sundrum, 2001; Vaarsta et al., 2005). In addition, the whole arena of animal welfare and organic milk has a number of detractors claiming that there may be increasing pressure on the cow as demand for organic milk increases. Furthermore, restrictions on the use of established antibiotic treatments may prolong an animal's suffering (Kijlstra et al., 2003; O'Mahony et al., 2006).Accordingly, this paper outlines the results of a citizens' jury deliberating organic and conventional dairy farming, highlighting the results in terms of consumer knowledge of organic production methods and recommendations for what they would want from the organic system itself. The next section discusses in greater depth the nature and purpose of the citizens' jury methodology. The paper then outlines the data collection method and results, and finally provides discussion and conclusions.\nMaterials and methods: A CJ is generally regarded as an instrument in which a group of representative citizens gets \"together to hear evidence, question witnesses and, through a process of collective discussion and deliberation, make informed recommendations on the issues before it\" (Kuper, 1997, p. 139). The process of a CJ involves around 12-16 members of the public, selected to represent a cross-section of a defined community. The jury meets over a number of days to consider a public policy question. The jurors are briefed by expert witnesses, and discuss the issues with each other in a series of small sub-groups and larger group forums, chaired by an independent moderator. On the final day the jurors reach conclusions and make recommendations (Aldred and Jacobs, 2000). Given the nature of a group, it is assumed that the jurors will reason from the perspective of a citizen rather than from their personal perspectives. Notably, jurors do not have well-defined preferences for many of the complex policy options they are asked to assess prior to participation in the CJ, but these preferences are constructed during this process (Kenyon et al., 2001).The first stage of the CJ is to select the appropriate jury. In this case the jury consisted of 12 inhabitants of Penicuik, a small town on the peri-urban fringe to the Southeast of Edinburgh in Midlothian. The site was chosen as Penicuik provides a catchment of both urban- and rural-based citizens. Hence it was expected that their knowledge of the subject would be mixed. Table I presents descriptive statistics of the Penicuik jury members.Recruitment of jurors was based on a number of specific criteria, and while there were reasonably distributed spreads across age, sex, consumption and purchasing of vegetarian and organic food, a bias exists towards urban dwellers. As noted above, Penicuik was chosen to capture both rural and urban citizens. Some account was taken of this within the CJ by providing more background information regarding agriculture and dairy production in particular to the participants prior to the CJ.The jury process\nResults: Pre- and post-knowledge of farming systems\nDiscussion and conclusions: This paper has attempted to address the information asymmetry inherent in most consumption choices, using liquid milk as an example. For the UK liquid milk market at least, information is populated by the interests of groups with a remit for promoting organic over conventional production. Advertising materials and documents from both the Soil Association and OMSCo promote organic milk on the grounds of human health, farmer benefits, environmental sustainability and animal welfare (Soil Association, 2007; OMSCo, 2007). The Milk Development Council only promotes the general consumption of milk for its health benefits (Milk Development Council, 2007). There seem to be no counter claims for the possible benefits of conventional compared to organic milk. In order to assess the extent of these asymmetries a methodology was applied, which allows provision of a level of information which is not usually available to the average consumer. This has raised two issues. Firstly, did the participants of the jury feel their knowledge had been improved to the extent where consumption choices have been influenced, and secondly, given this higher state of knowledge, which system did they prefer?A number of areas were probed to establish the extent to which knowledge has been affected. Most participants rated themselves at low or minimal levels of knowledge for agriculture prior to the CJ. This confirms a number of other studies, which have highlighted the disconnection between the consumer and farming (Institute of Grocery Distribution, 2005). However, further to this, a notable increase in knowledge occurred over the course of this citizens' jury. This would be expected, given a focus on dairy production, and organic methods in particular. Nevertheless, this change in knowledge has been significant enough to affect stated consumption decisions.The CJ has therefore shown how jurors rework information in the course of the CJ and how the CJ programme can facilitate this process. In that process the lifeworld experiences of the jurors play an important role. Jurors use their knowledge to make the information given to them by expert witnesses their own and evaluate it. Their final verdict is likely to be based on in-depth understanding through contextualisation of the different aspects related to the central question of organic and conventional milk consumption.An interesting diversion emerged between consumer perception of the term organic and what the organic system offers. Significantly, they favoured a system in which the restrictions of the organic schemes were relaxed for what they perceived to be advantageous to animal welfare. Firstly, this raises information provision issues, echoed by a number of other studies in this area. Clearly, it is not feasible to provide the detailed information that was offered within the CJ to the general consumer. The problem of providing more detailed levels of information is that most marketing resources are focused on promoting one particular system, and in terms of liquid milk this seems to be organic. There has been some effort at addressing this need for greater information by government, but clearly these are large gaps which need addressing.Secondly, issues emerge for the bodies that regulate organic schemes. It would seem that consumer perceptions of organic agriculture have been skewed. This research aims to add to the small body of work aimed at how consumers perceive organic agriculture. However, more work should be conducted on creating clearer and unbiased information for the consumer to fully appreciate the consequences of their choice.Finally, this study has focused on liquid milk production because there are clear asymmetries within the promotion of conventional and organic produce. Clearly, some of these findings can be applied to other sectors, because a CJ is effective when comparing different production methods, of which the organic versus conventional debate has proven quite topical. Similar issues emerge within the meat production sectors, in terms of the economic, environmental and welfare impacts of organic versus conventional production. Hence, the findings of the jurors, preferring a mixture of improved conventional and less restrictive organic regulations may also be applicable, to varying degrees, for other meat production sectors.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The paper seeks to assess the knowledge consumers have of organic farming and what they would prefer from the organic system.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A citizens' jury (CJ) was held in Penicuik, a small town on the peri-urban fringe of Southeast Scotland. A CJ consists of a small group of people, selected from the general public, who meet over a number of days to deliberate upon a particular question. The major advantage of this approach is the ability to provide a greater level of technical information and offer fewer time constraints on the deliberation process amongst the group. In the case of dairy farming, the jury was presented with evidence of the economic, environmental and welfare impacts of both conventional and organic systems and asked to recommend its favoured system and how it would define the term \"organic\".\nFindings: - The jury's knowledge of certain aspects of farming had improved over the two-day period and was unanimous in favouring organic agriculture when solely considering the environment, but was mixed towards the animal welfare effects. Conversely, when considering the economic impacts the jury supported the conventional system. This complicated the decision for the group favouring one particular system.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Some bias is introduced into the jury as most citizens either worked or came from an urban background and hence may have less knowledge of dairy systems when compared with those from a rural background. However, most CJs begin from a point where participants have little or no knowledge of the subject and their views are shaped by the CJ process itself.\nPractical implications: - The findings show the implications of the consumer decision-making process.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is the first application of a CJ to consider organic food. Previous studies have adopted a questionnaire or focus group approach, both of which impose constraints on information dissemination and time to deliberate on decisions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Field work supervision through open and distance learning: an Indian perspective
|
[
"MSW",
"BSW",
"Field work supervision",
"Social work programmes",
"Open and distance education (ODE)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Supervision of field work is an integral component in social work education. As field work is the core in social work training, similarly field work supervision is the core of effective field work practice. Supervision literally means \"to oversee\". It is an interactive process between the supervisor and the supervisee and the effectiveness of supervision is highly dependent on the quality of relationship between the supervisor and supervisee (Cohen and Laufer, 1999). In conventional mode of teaching, the face-to-face component of supervision is common. However, this aspect becomes a challenge when social work is offered through the open and distance learning (ODL) mode.\nReview of literature: Field work supervision is an integral component in social work education. The term supervision has derived from the Latin words - \"super\" meaning \"over\" and \"vision\" meaning \"to see\". Thus the word supervision means \"to oversee\" (Fehmerling, 2013 as cited in Magnussen, 2018). A definition given by Itzhaky (2000) explains supervision as a helping process in which a skilled person (supervisor) helps a less skilled person (supervisee) with ideas and theoretical knowledge with the practice of which clients are enabled to receive highest quality service (Karpetis, 2010). Internationally, several official reports, journal articles and practice texts emphasize the importance of supervision in professional social work practice (O'Donoghue, 2015).\nMethodology adopted to conduct the study: The study adopted a qualitative research methodology where content analysis and case study methods were adopted. Content analysis of programme guides and all field work practicum journals of BSW, MSW, MSWC programmes of IGNOU was conducted. Data were analysed using coding categories, which were derived directly from the text data. Table I shows the number of books used for content analysis.\nFindings: Field work practicum in social work education through ODL at IGNOU\nComponents of field work through ODL: There are nine components of field practicum in social work which are designed in the SOSW at IGNOU. The nine components are common in all the programmes, however, specific requirements are explained below (Ghosh and Kurian, 2016):\nRecommendations: It is evident that field work is an important component in social work. Be it in conventional mode or ODL mode, the mechanism to practice field work will differ. The following future plan is recommended to overcome the challenges faced by supervisors during field work practicum supervision and to develop the knowledge and expertise of all the field work carried out by the students:\nConclusion: The social work profession has now gained wide popularity in terms of job opportunities. More and more candidates are coming forward to take up the course. By offering social work through ODL, the SOSW has reached the unreached. Field work is an important component of the social work programmes especially in BSW, MSW and MSW (Counselling). In conventional universities, it is convenient for students to practice field work due to several reasons such as classroom setting, proximity to teachers, etc. However, in ODL system, practice of field work effectively becomes a challenge. Thus, this paper highlighted the several methods adopted by the SOSW to enable learners practice field work effectively. Provision of self-learning materials, programme guide and field work practicum journals to the students and practitioners guide to the supervisors are some of the techniques employed by IGNOU. The paper also discussed about the method of field work supervision and evaluation that are being employed by the supervisors. Meetings with supervisors are made mandatory and learners have to report the meeting through IC. Regular workshops are also conducted by the School to train the supervisors regarding field work supervision in the ODL mode. The paper highlighted some challenges like non-specified days of meeting with supervisor, administrative issues and unethical practices while supervising students in ODL mode. Finally the paper offered some recommendations to strengthen the field work supervision in the ODL mode.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the method of field work supervision in BSW and MSW programmes offered through open and distance learning (ODL) at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The key argument of the paper will focus on the fact that despite various challenges, field work supervision through ODL provides lot of scope and flexibility to students, generating a cadre of trained social work professionals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper adopts a case study approach in presenting the various methods employed for field work supervision by the University. This section will highlight the achievements in terms of developing indigenous theory course and the best practices adopted by IGNOU to train social work professionals through adequate and timely supervision in the ODL mode.\nFindings: Field work supervision in the ODL mode poses many challenges, especially when compared to that in the conventional universities. Some of these include irregular meeting of supervisor and student, inability of students to meet supervisor due to several reasons like remote location, poor economic background, lack of leave for working professionals, etc.\nResearch limitations/implications: There is a need for developing a mechanism to regularly orient field work supervisors in supervising students in the ODL mode. It is recommended that regular field work practicum workshops be conducted for supervisors and students. Viva for field work could be made mandatory at different regional centres. Field work supervision could be enhanced through the use of technology, namely, Skype, e-mail, WhatsApp, etc.\nOriginality/value: The paper describes the various nuances of field work supervision through ODL system. It is an original work and is of great value in understanding the challenges and difficulties encountered by learners and academic counsellors throughout the process of supervision. The paper highlights important recommendations by the stakeholders themselves in mitigating the challenges faced during field work supervision through ODL.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Antimicrobial stewardship: Australia
|
[
"Clinical governance",
"Patient safety",
"Antimicrobial stewardship",
"Antibiotic resistance",
"Antibiotics",
"Antimicrobial resistance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nOverview: Funding and administration of the health care system via Australia's Government for each of the eight states and territories is fragmented (Spigelman and Rendalls, 2015). Prior to the development of a national approach to antimicrobial stewardship, local jurisdictions developed their own programmes that were driven by committed clinicians and researchers. Some of these initiatives were adopted at the national level.\nMethodology: This report is a non-systematic web-based search for literature policies and guidelines related to strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance in Australia and reports of interviews with key stakeholders, including antibiotic prescribers, hospital pharmacists, clinical governance employees and hospital managers. The websites reviewed were the Australian Department of Health, and those of the Departments' of Health for the six states and two territories in Australia.\nFindings: Concern about the level of antibiotic resistance in a marker antimicrobial, Staphylococcus aureus, led the Australian Government to fund the Australian Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AGAR) in 1986 to conduct alternate yearly surveys of hospital and community clinical specimens for antimicrobial resistance (Turnidge et al., 1989). That the sampling by AGAR that was later found to have significantly underestimated antibiotic resistance in the community was ascribed to funding constraints (Azim et al., 2015).\nTherapeutic Guidelines: Antibiotic: This publication was initiated in 1978 by a group of concerned clinicians (Antibiotic Expert Groups, 2014). The Guidelines provide Australian prescribers with appropriate indications for antibiotic use. They are updated regularly and are available in print, electronic and mobile device format and provide a ready source of advice. The Guidelines are endorsed by key clinical Colleges and the Australian and State Health Departments. Therapeutic Guidelines Limited (TGL) now produces the guidelines. The TGL is an independent not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to improve health outcomes through autoreactive, practical, independent therapeutic guidance (Therapeutic Guidelines Limited, 2012).\nNPS Medicinewise: The NPS Medicinewise was established in 1998 (NPS Medicinewise, 2016) and is an independent organisation funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health to support the quality use of medicines. The NPS works collaboratively with clinicians, consumers, opinion leaders and other key stakeholders to understand important issues that impact medication use in order to determine how processes and systems can be improved. Information is provided to consumers (including through annual antibiotic awareness week, a consumer telephone line and medicine lists in an App)[1] plus clinician education that attracts Continuing Professional Development Points. The NPS provides a key point of engagement with consumers and general family practitioners to raise antibiotic awareness and improve prescribing practices (NPS Medicinewise, 2016).\nNAUSP: The NAUSP was implemented in 2004 to monitor antimicrobial utilisation in participating hospitals (South Australia Department of Health and Ageing, 2015). NAUSP evolved from the South Australian Health surveillance programme that commenced in 2001. The ACSQHC now funds and supports NAUSP as part of the AURA project. NAUSP undertakes surveillance for 20 antimicrobial agents in accordance with WHO methodology using the ATC/DDD system (World Health Organisation, 2011). The required data include hospital pharmacy dispensing records and inpatient occupancy. Paediatric and neonatal settings do not currently provide data because utilisation data are not standardised for these settings (South Australia Health, 2012). NAUSP reports bi-monthly and annually, with hospitals grouped by the latest peer grouping (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2015). Data are reported by total microbial usage and antimicrobial agent as well as by ICU and non ICU use (South Australia Health, 2016). NAUSP and the Commission have promoted increased participation by hospitals which can access hospital-level data to make comparisons with peer hospitals.\nNAPS: The NAPS complements the NAUSP by providing an assessment of qualitative indications of antimicrobial prescribing practices. NAPS was developed from work undertaken by Melbourne Health and the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity. NAPS is undertaken voluntarily on an annual basis using a standardised audit tool to assess quantity and quality of antimicrobial prescribing. The survey has been conducted through the NCAS since 2011. The focus of NAPS is to:\nNCAS: Building on the work of Melbourne Health and Melbourne University, the National Health and Medical Research Council was awarded a grant totalling $AUD2.5m in 2014 to develop the NCAS: using a One Health Approach (NRMRC, 2014) The NCAS will continue the NAPS and broaden the focus of NAPS to include:\nAntimicrobial Stewardship Clinical Care Standard: The ACSQHC provides guidance to the States on antimicrobial stewardship through the Therapeutic Guidelines: Antibiotics and Clinical Care Standards (ACSQHC, 2016a, b, c, d). The ACSQHC also takes a coordinating role in the development of educational materials, guidelines, community education and coordinating the reporting of antimicrobial use in Australia.\nNSW Clinical Excellence Commission 5x5 Antimicrobial Audit: The NSW Clinical Excellence Commission established the Quality Use of Antimicrobials in Health care programme in 2012 to:\nStrengths and weaknesses of the current system: Australia has been slow to move towards a national approach for the management of antimicrobial use. Clinician groups working through local health services and universities have driven the locally developed initiatives and these have been expanded nationally on a voluntary basis.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the context for strategies to overcome antimicrobial resistance in Australia, which may provide valuable learnings for other jurisdictions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Non-systematic review of literature from websites of national, state and territory health departments and interviews with key stakeholders for Australian strategies to reduce antimicrobial resistance.\nFindings: In July 2015 all states and territories in Australia adopted the National Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy 2015-2019, which is built on the World Health Organization policy package to combat antimicrobial resistance. This strategy represents \"the collective, expert views of stakeholders on how best to combat antimicrobial resistance in Australia. It will also support global and regional efforts, recognising that no single country can manage the threat of antimicrobial resistance alone\". It combines quantitative and qualitative monitoring strategies with frameworks and guidelines to improve management of the use of antimicrobial resistant drugs. Prior to this, health services and states developed and implemented initiatives aimed at monitoring and improving prescribing practices. Development of the national strategy has encouraged and fostered debate within the Australian health system and a raft of new policy initiatives.\nResearch limitations/implications: Surveillance strategies are in place to monitor impact and trends at jurisdictional and sector levels. However, actual impact on antimicrobial resistance and prescribing practices remains to be seen as existing initiatives are expanded and new initiatives implemented.\nPractical implications: This overview of key Australian initiatives balancing quantitative and qualitative surveillance, accreditation, research, education, community awareness and price signals on antibiotic prescribing practices may be valuable to health systems in developing local strategies.\nOriginality/value: The authors provide an up to date overview of the context, strategies and aims of antimicrobial stewardship in Australia.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Why firms should develop women professionals: organizational support, growth and retention
|
[
"Career development",
"Perceived organizational support",
"Women professionals",
"Hospitality industry"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A company's most valuable resource is its human capital. This fact is widely acknowledged. Talent retention should, therefore, be high on the agenda for any business hoping to enjoy sustainable success. It is crucially important to identify gifted individuals and nurture them in preparation for top management positions in the future.\nThe equality myth: The present time is supposedly one where equality is greater than ever before. Reality is somewhat different though. Some things remain much more equal than others. Take company leadership, for instance. In many organizations, these roles are predominantly filled by men. Women are at best a minor presence.\nHow to aid the development of female professionals: Appropriate initiatives need to be in place if a company is to successfully develop female professionals for future leadership positions. Some businesses believe that implementing the odd human resource (HR) program here and there will suffice. This is not the case. Any impact will be minimal at best if such an approach is adopted.\nProviding support during mid-career: The challenges faced by female professionals typically intensify during the mid-career phase. As many have started a family by this time, juggling work and family commitments becomes more difficult. It is, therefore, vital that the organization provides the necessary backing in the shape of granting employees greater autonomy at work. Increased flexibility:\nComment: The review is based on \"Give and you shall receive: investing in the careers of women professionals\" by Walsh et al. (2016). A compelling case for the development of women professionals is presented. Challenges faced by such employees are noted by the authors who suggest ways in which companies can provide effective support that enables sustainable growth and assists retention of key workers.\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: A company's most valuable resource is its human capital. This fact is widely acknowledged. Talent retention should, therefore, be high on the agenda for any business hoping to enjoy sustainable success. It is crucially important to identify gifted individuals and nurture them in preparation for top management positions in the future. The present time is supposedly one where equality is greater than ever before. Reality is somewhat different though. Some things remain much more equal than others. Take company leadership, for instance. In many organizations, these roles are predominantly filled by men. Women are at best a minor presence.\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"
}
] |
Community development in the school workplace
|
[
"Community development",
"Community‐building",
"Schools",
"Teacher collaboration",
"Community of practice",
"Teacher teams",
"Communities",
"Teachers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Internationally, schools for secondary education have seen themselves confronted with reforms pertaining to changing curriculum frameworks, new designs for teachers' professional development and the changing role of teachers (Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin, 1995). More specifically, reforms that underlie the increase in collective action between teachers include collective teaching, development of thematic lesson material, coherence between subject areas, and distributed decision-making. These reforms call for consultation and coordination between teachers. Teachers need to share responsibility and authority for decision-making about their common practices (Hargreaves and Dawe, 1990). Therefore, to deal with recent reforms and the accompanying complexity of work, ongoing collaboration between teachers has become more important.In recent years, teacher collaboration has received more attention from scholars (Achinstein, 2002). An array of scholars and reformers has called for the strengthening of collaboration between teachers by means of promoting communities of teachers in schools (Levine and Marcus, 2010; James et al., 2007). The term \"communities of teachers\" refers to \"teachers\" collective engagement in sustained efforts to improve practices' (Louis et al., 1996, p. 758). An argument for promoting communities of teachers is that communities foster collaboration to be more than an occasional exchange between teachers. Communities embed teacher collaboration into the culture of the school (Vescio et al., 2008), making collaboration expected, inclusive, genuine, and ongoing (Seashore et al., 2003). This is illustrated by a study by Bolam et al. (2005), in which teachers reported an increase in collaboration as they organised their work according to a community. This evidence suggests that organising and stimulating teachers to work together as a community is a promising strategy for school management to reinforce collaboration between teachers.Although there is a growing awareness of the potentially strong role of communities, empirical research about how teacher communities in the school workplace function is largely absent (Imants, 2003; Westheimer, 1999). In a review on teacher communities in secondary education Lomos et al. (2011) conclude that they:[...] consider it desirable to conduct more research into the functioning of professional community in the day-to-day practices within schools. It would be interesting to see whether teachers have actually integrated the professional community approach into their daily practices on their own initiative rather than in response to external measures of change or governmental pressure (Lomos et al., 2011, p. 140).In this study, we want to investigate the issue of whether communities of teachers develop in the current school workplace context and if so, how community development comes about. The aim of this study is twofold. The first aim is to explore whether and to what extent community development of teacher teams actually takes place during an extended period of time. The second aim of this study is to explore the community-building efforts that teacher teams undertake.\n2. Theoretical framework: 2.1 Community of practice\n3. Method: As not much is known yet about community development and community-building efforts in teacher teams, a mixed methods approach was used, i.e. qualitative and quantitative research methods were used in a single study (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004). Data from seven teacher teams (72 teachers) in one school were gathered within the school year of 2008-2009. With regard to community development, one school year was considered an extended period of time.3.1 Case selection\n4. Empirical findings: The community development as perceived and observed for each teacher team is described in Table III. No development is depicted with a \"0\", limited positive and negative development is depicted with a \"+\" and \"-\", considerable positive and negative development is depicted with a \"++\" and \"- -\". To help interpret teacher teams' absolute community development (column CD), teams' begin levels (column T0), that is, teams' degree of Mutual engagement, Shared repertoire, and Joint enterprise at the beginning of the school year, are included in Table III (T0).The results of Table III imply that overall there was little community development according to the perceptions of the teachers. In teams 1, 3, 4, and 6, no community development took place according to the team members. In team 2, there was limited negative perceived development with regard to Mutual engagement. In teams 5 and 7, there was limited negative development with regard to Shared repertoire. However, the results imply that overall there was some community development according to the observations. In team 1 there was considerable positive observed community development with regard to all three dimensions. In team 3 there was considerable negative community development with regard to Mutual engagement. In team 6 there was considerable positive community development with regard to the dimension Shared repertoire. In teams 2, 5, and 7, there was limited positive and negative observed community development on one or more dimensions. In team 4 there was no observed community development.4.2 Community-building efforts\n5. Conclusions: Our first research question concerned the degree to which community development of teacher teams takes place. We discuss our main finding.5.1 Community development of the seven teacher teams is modest\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The aim of this study is to explore whether and to what degree community development of teacher teams takes place and how community development comes about, that is, what community-building efforts teacher teams undertake.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using a multi method approach, quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from seven interdisciplinary teacher teams in a secondary school during one school year. Teachers' perceptions of community development were complemented with video-observations of team meetings by relative outsiders.\nFindings: - Data showed that the teacher teams undertook a wide variety and amount of community-building efforts. However, community development of the teacher teams as perceived by the teachers was limited. Relative outsiders observed some community development.\nPractical implications: - From the findings the authors conclude that school managers could play a more proactive role in supporting teacher teams' community-building efforts. Strategies embedding community-building into the culture and policy of the school, including diagnosing, custom-made support and making efforts explicit, could be effective.\nOriginality/value: - The current study takes a long-term approach, investigating the community development of teacher teams during the course of one school year. In addition, community development is measured using two perspectives, i.e. that of the community members and that of the relative outsider.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Control systems in outsourcing new product development: role of globalization and digitizability
|
[
"Outsourcing",
"New product development",
"Globalization",
"Control systems",
"Digitizability"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the last few decades, scholarly research and managerial attention have focused on three important domains of the current and evolving business landscape: new product development (NPD) and the stage-gate process of NPD (Clift and Vandenbosch, 1999; Cooper and Kleinschmidt, 1993; Ettlie and Elsenbach, 2007; Shepherd and Ahmed, 2000); outsourcing (Gupta et al., 2006; Rundquist and Halila, 2010; Quinn and Hilmer, 1994; Roy and Sivakumar, 2012); and control systems in business-to-business relationships (Kok and Creemers, 2008; Kashyap et al., 2012; Rauyruen and Miller, 2007). In addition, there are a number of research papers that examine the two-way overlaps of these three individual domains (NPD and outsourcing e.g. Raassens et al., 2012; Ragatz et al., 2002; NPD and control systems e.g. Walter, 2003; Carson, 2007; outsourcing and control systems e.g. Kang et al., 2012; Roy and Sivakumar, 2014). However, there is a shortage of research (especially conceptual research) that integrates all these three research domains (NPD stages, outsourcing and control systems) using an integrated approach. Due to the increase in outsourcing of all stages of NPD (particularly in the global context) and the growth in information technology resulting in digitization of several activities associated with NPD, the gap in literature deserves additional exploration. While increased globalization in outsourced activities presents unique challenges in the context of organizations wanting to establish stronger control systems to face the increased uncertainty and risk, the development of information technology has enabled the deployment of new control systems and processes that were not feasible before. Thus, globalization and digitizability are two variables that can inform and enhance the research at the interface of NPD, outsourcing and control systems. Our goal is to address this major gap in the literature. The positioning of our research is presented in Figure 1.\nConceptual framework: In our discussion, the organization that outsources the NPD activity is called the focal organization since our paper takes the perspective of this organization. The external entity to which the outsourcing activity is contracted out is called the provider organization or supplier. Although our discussion has the flavor of business entities, given the generalizability of key concepts and ideas, our theorizing and propositions will be valid for other entities as well (e.g. non-profit organization, NGOs, service providers, consultants, educational institutions and so on). Our goal is to develop a broad-based conceptualization that can provide a practical framework for thinking about control issues in outsourcing NPD. We also note here that \"product\" means \"goods\" and \"services,\" including knowledge-based services.\nDevelopment of main effect propositions: Initiation and control\nDevelopment of moderating effect propositions: Before developing research propositions concerning the moderating role of globalization and digitizability on the link between the stage of NPD and control systems, we describe the manner of moderating effect we consider in our paper. This is important because a number of nuanced interpretations exist in the literature for conceptualizing the moderating effect (Hays, 2013). The classic definition of the moderating effect, which we use in our research, denotes how the level of the moderating variable influences the slope of the independent variable on the dependent variable (illustrated as Model 1 in the discussion of templates by Hayes, 2013). If we denote the equation regarding the main effect of independent variable (denoted V1) on the dependent variable (denoted V2) as V2=a + b1V1. When examining the moderating role of a variable (denoted M), the equation becomes V2=a + b1V1 + b2MV1. Therefore, combined effect of variable V1 on variable V2 becomes (b1 + b2M). That is, the slope of V1 on V2 depends on the level of M. This conceptualization is applicable for two different methods of measuring the variable M: First, it is measured as a continuous variable; second, it is measured as a dichotomous variable. In the case of a continuous variable, the slope can be calculated as (b1 + b2M). For a categorical variable (e.g. when M is set to 0 when it is \"low\" or below the median) and set to 1 when it is set to 1 when its \"high\" or above the median), then the slope of V1 on V2 becomes b1 when M is low and (b1 + b2) when M is high. The key point to note is that the slope of V1 on V2 changes for different values of M. To give a specific example from our model, the moderating effect denotes how the slope between the initiation stage and control systems changes for different values of globalization.\nDiscussion: Theoretical contributions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to propose that the nature and degree of control during new product development (NPD) outsourcing depends upon its initiation stage or implementation stage; second, to delineate the moderating effect of globalization and digitizability that further influence the link between NPD stage and control systems.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors propose a conceptual framework and develop a series or propositions.\nFindings: The nature and degree of control systems required in NPD is contingent upon the stage of the NPD process and this relationship is moderated by the degree of globalization and digitizability.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper offers a conceptual platform that can be explored in future empirical research. The paper offers a series of propositions as well as measurement items to enable this task.\nPractical implications: The research underscores the idea that instituting appropriate control systems in outsourcing NPD is a complex process that requires careful consideration of the nature of the activity, the nature of the control and firm strategy.\nOriginality/value: This paper is the first to conceptually examine the domain of the three-way intersection of NPD stage-gate process, outsourcing relationships and control systems. By doing so, the authors extend each of the three individual research domains in new directions as well as enhance the understanding of the interrelationships among these three domains.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The "Dean's Squeeze" revisited: a contextual approach
|
[
"Business education",
"Higher education",
"Management education",
"Management development",
"Business Schools"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The dean's squeeze is a fascinating \"framing\" phenomenon. Cultural and organizational perspectives provide powerful lenses through which we assign meaning and value to ongoing events and activities. The same world can look very different from the perspectives of deans and faculty - and both can be right. The path to successful dean-faculty relationships is bridging that frame gap, a responsibility that should be equally shared by all involved (Gallos, 2002, p. 183).\nNote on the methodology: The paper is part of an ongoing research project exploring the development of business schools. This paper builds on our empirical studies and personal experiences with business schools and their management in a number of countries, primarily in Europe, North America, Asia, and Middle East, where both authors have studied, worked, or both worked and studied during the past ten years.\nDeanship in context: University as a \"cathedral of learning\": origins of the traditional research university\nDean meets worlds: As with beauty or art, context is necessary to our comprehension of leadership. Change the context and one person's leader is another person's irksome other (Wexler, 2005, pp. 1-2).\nConcluding remarks: As a consequence of the increasing globalization of management education, we will witness further internationalization of the university dean position. Although this transformation is likely to concern the entire university sector, business schools are at the forefront of this development in many ways. Business schools (compared with, for instance, liberal arts departments or education faculties) operate in more global higher education markets; thus, these schools naturally recruit deans from international job markets. Therefore, a person can make an international career as a business school dean. As Starkey and Tiratsoo (2007, p. 55) argue, \"deans almost constitute a profession in their own right.\"\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for identifying the primary tensions that business school dean's encounter when moving between different university contexts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is part of a larger research project on the development of business schools. This conceptual paper builds on the studies and personal experiences of business schools and their management in a number of different countries, primarily in Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East.\nFindings: The present study argues that as a response to the increasing corporatization of higher education, the university sector has fragmented into at least three identifiable contexts: the traditional research university, the academic capitalist university, and the corporate university. The authors conclude that the match between a dean's worldview and the university context ultimately determines the appropriateness, survival, and success of deanship.\nPractical implications: The paper provides practical suggestions for managing business schools. Given that \"good\" leadership is always context dependent, no single deanship would fit for all business schools. As an outcome, both deans and the selection committees making decisions regarding their recruitment should be sensitive to their worldviews originating from the university contexts in which they previously worked.\nOriginality/value: Emphasizing a contextual approach to business school leadership, this paper proposes a new typology of deanship situations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
HR BPO service models for small and medium enterprises
|
[
"Business enterprise",
"Outsourcing",
"Human resource management",
"Small to medium‐sized enterprises"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As the business environment changes rapidly and competition becomes fierce, companies focus on their core competency and outsource non-core functions to outside vendors. Recently, companies are increasingly adopting Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) that outsources non-core business processes as wells as supporting information technology (IT). Gartner (2003) Group defines BPO as:... the delegation of one or more IT-intensive business processes to an external provider that, in turn, owns, administrates and manages the selected processes based on defined and measurable performance metrics.BPO permits the company to focus on its core-competency by outsourcing constantly changing business processes and supporting IT (UN, 2003). BPO can leverage provider's leading-edge technology as well as their economy of scale, gaining significant reduction in costs.One report indicates that HR BPO market grows rapidly, with a revenue growth rate of 45-50 percent annually for the next several years (Murphy et al., 2002). In Korea particular, 99.7 percent of the firms are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with less than 300 employees (Joo, 2004). In contrary to their size of contribution to Korean economy, SMEs have difficulty of recruiting and retaining quality employees as indicated by a survey. The survey reports that only 9.9 percent of the surveyed people prefer to work in SMEs as opposed to 76.4 percent wishing to work in the larger company (KFSB, 2003). As results, Korean SMEs increasingly recognize the importance of HR management to remain competitive. However, HR is not their core competency. For Korean SME, BPO might be a solution to resolve their current problem in HR.The goal of this research is first to investigate the outsourcing needs of Korean SMEs in each of the following HR sub-processes:* recruiting;* training;* HR administration;* payroll; and* benefit processes.Then, the outsourcing needs are analyzed against the characteristics of the companies such as company size, operating environment, culture and IT maturity. Lastly, BPO service models are developed according to the characteristics of the company.Companies are increasingly recognizing the interdependency of the tasks within and across HR sub-processes and the importance of coordination among the tasks. Therefore, BPO service models in this study are developed in a way that the series of interdependent tasks within and across the sub-process are converged and connected. The examples of the interdependency can be found:* between the development of HR strategy and the recruitment of new employees; and* between evaluation and training of the employees.The lack of coordination among the tasks results in inconsistency and ineffectiveness in performance. For example, when the recruitment is not coordinated with HR strategies, the problem occurs such as recruiting new employees whose qualifications do not match with the strategic needs of the company. Similarly, the coordination problem occurs when training of the particular employee does not reflect the evaluation results of the employee.To fulfill the objective of this research, the questionnaire is used to assess the outsourcing needs of the companies. The data collected by questionnaire are analyzed against the characteristics of the companies. Then integrated BPO service models are developed based on the analysis of the questionnaire data and the interviews with HR managers. This study used both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. As BPO is expected to be booming in the next few years, this study helps BPO service industry to better serve SMEs in the area of human resource management.\nHuman resource sub-process: HR function consists of five sub-processes:1. recruiting;2. training;3. HR administration;4. payroll; and5. benefit processes.This research first identifies the constituent tasks for each of the above HR sub-process as well as their interdependency. Then the tasks are included in the questionnaire to investigate the needs for each task. The tasks that comprise each process are described below.Recruiting sub-process requires the most time and costs among HR sub-processes. The advance in IT introduces new ways of the recruitment. Currently, outsourcing of the recruiting sub-process is mainly associated with e-recruitment such as recruiting system development and operation. In this study, the following constituent tasks of the recruiting sub-process are included in the questionnaire:* development and operation of the recruiting system;* development of the recruiting strategy, objectives and plan;* advertisement, resume/personnel screening, and selection; and* BPO effect analyses.Training sub-process includes HR development, education and evaluation. Currently, outsourcing of the training sub-process is mainly associated with the following tasks: non-core tasks such as registration, operation, and test/after-care of educational program; or core tasks requiring expertise such as educational program development. In this study, the following constituent tasks of the training sub-process are included in the questionnaire:* development and operation of the training system;* development of the training strategies, objectives, and plans;* educational contents development;* operation of educational program; and* BPO effect analyses.HR administration sub-process involves development, maintenance and deploying people to accomplish the firm's goal. In this study, the following constituent tasks of the HR administration sub-process are included in the questionnaire:* development and operation of HR administration system;* development of HR strategy, objectives and plan;* employee data and record management;* employee self-service management; and* BPO effect analyses.Payroll sub-process is important to motivate their employees and ultimately accomplish firm's goal. At the same time, payroll can be a complicated and time-consuming set of activities that does little to increase revenue or market share for a company. Thus, this sub-process is a popular area for outsourcing. In this study, the following constituent tasks of the payroll sub-process are included in the questionnaire:* development and operation of payroll system;* development of payroll strategy, objective, plan;* tax filing and compliance;* insurance; and* BPO effect analyses.Benefit sub-process includes operation and management of insurance, health and other benefits. Benefit sub-process becomes more complex due to a dramatic increase in the number of benefits offered. In this study, the following constituent tasks of the benefit sub-process are included in the questionnaire:* development and operation of benefit system;* development of benefit-related strategy, objective, plan;* health insurance;* other benefits; and* BPO effect analyses.These HR sub-processes are interdependent. For instance, the recruiting and training sub-processes may be operated and managed independently, yet they could be interdependent in that educating the mission of the company through internet-based e-learning contents is a part of recruiting sub-process in attempt to attract high-quality applicants. Another interdependency can be found among HR administration, recruiting and training sub-processes. These processes are interdependent in that recruiting and training sub-processes must be aligned with strategic objectives set by HR administration sub-process.The lack of coordination in this interdependency could result in:* recruiting new employees whose qualifications do not match with the HR strategy; or* not properly re-educating the employees for the area where the skill shortage is expected.When the mismatch is found, another iteration of the related HR sub-processes is imperative. The reiterations to achieve alignment result in longer cycle time of HR process. This problem becomes more costly when skill shortages and lack of competence result in unreliable promises and annoyed customers. Whenever, interdependencies between constituencies exist, coordination of those constituencies plays a vital role for optimum performance of the whole.Once BPO service industry identify the specific tasks in which companies have more outsourcing needs, then the series of identified tasks are converged and connected to create the integrated services.Dimensions of company attributes\nResearch methodology: Survey instrument and interviews were used in this study to ask HR BPO needs and characteristics of the company. The questionnaire consists of two parts. The first part includes 42 questions to assess the BPO needs in the areas of recruit, training, HR management, payroll, and benefit processes. The second part consists of questions to identify firm specific factors such as operating environment, firm size, culture, and IT maturity. Participants responded to five Likert scale items except for the questions for the firm size. In five Likert scale, the end labeled \"very low\" was assigned at a value of 1 and \"very high\" was assigned at the top end. A total of 1,000 questionnaires were distributed to SME in Korea. About 50 surveys were returned. Relatively low-response rate is the limitation of this research. The reason could be attributed to the fact that HR BPO is new to industry.Cluster analysis was performed to identify the pattern of BPO needs. Then, the cross analyses was applied to identify the firm specific variables that are significant to explain the characteristics of each cluster. Finally, interviews with HR managers and CEO were performed to complement the survey data. HR managers or CEO responsible for managing HR function were interviewed. Owing to the characteristics of SMEs, often CEO is in charge of overseeing HR functions. Based on the result of the survey and interviews, the integrated BPO service model for SMEs were developed to meet the needs of each cluster.\nAnalysis: Cluster analysis is used to identify the emerging patterns of BPO needs. Cluster analysis is a multivariate technique of classification criteria to produce the item grouping (Hair et al., 1998). Combinational methods combining both hierarchical and non-hierarchical methods were used as the clustering algorithm. Results of the cluster analyses in Figure 1 indicate that three clusters are formed. While the first labeled as FULL_BPO indicates the BPO needs in all of HR sub processes, the second labeled as PARTIAL_BPO indicates the BPO needs in training sub process. The third labeled as NO_ BPO show no BPO needs.According to the cross analyses performed between company characteristics (operating environment, firm size, culture and IT maturity) and these clusters, IT maturity (0.047) is considered to be a significant factor to explain the profile of each cluster (p<0.5). The average of operating environment and innovative culture for all the three clusters were rated above 3.4, which is considered to be above average. The firm size is used for descriptive purpose rather than normative.FULL_BPO group showed outsourcing needs in all of HR sub processes. About 72 percent of the responding SMEs fall in this category. This group appears to be above average in all the following areas: operation environment (mean=3.7), culture (mean=3.7) and the level of IT maturity (Table I). Although FULL_BPO group showed outsourcing needs in all of the HR sub-processes, this cluster showed the highest interests in the training sub-process (Figure 1). At the task level, FULL_BPO showed the highest interests in \"advertisement and selection\" task of recruiting sub-process (mean > 4.0), followed by \"tax compliance\" task of payroll sub-process (mean=4.0). Except the benefit sub-process, \"planning\" task of each sub-process showed the lowest outsourcing needs. This means that the planning tasks are strategic ones that are difficult to be outsourced. The \"planning\" task of the benefit sub-process was rated as the highest among the tasks of the benefit sub-process.PARTIAL_BPO group showed outsourcing needs only in training. Most of firms (89 percent) in this cluster has \"less than 30 employees,\" \"above average\" in competitiveness (mean=3.4), \"above average\" in creative culture (mean=3.4). However, this group showed \"below average\" in IT maturity (mean=2.8) as opposed to \"above average\" IT maturity of FULL_BPO group (Table I). This indicates that IT maturity is a valid indicator to determine the degree of integrated process outsourcing - as firms approach maturity phase, firms tend to integrate the process as well as supporting IT.At the task level, this cluster showed some interests in \"tax compliance\" task of payroll sub-process (mean > 3.5) and \"advertisement and selection\" task of recruiting sub-process (mean > 3.0).NO_ BPO group appeared to have low needs in all of the HR sub-processes. The profile of NO_BPO group does not seem to be different from other groups (Table I). Based on interviews with a CEO in NO_BPO group, we tentatively conclude that this group has security concerns about outsourcing or has a lack of mind in outsourcing. The CEO his company might consider outsourcing if the security of the service is guaranteed and trustworthy relationships between vendors are formed. Even though this cluster has low needs in outsourcing, at the individual task level, the firms showed some interests in \"e-learning contents development\" task of training sub-process (mean > 4.0) and \"advertisement and selection\" task of recruiting sub-process (mean=4.0).\nHR service model for SME: As indicated by study results, IT maturity could be an influential factor on degree of process integration. While IT maturity of FULL_BPO group is \"above average,\" IT maturity of PARTIAL_BPO group is \"below average.\" This implies that FULL_BPO group with higher IT maturity takes BPO as an opportunity for higher level of transformation and a correspondingly higher degree of changes. In contrast, PARTIAL_BPO group requires less transformation and less changes, under-leveraging IT's potential capabilities (Venkatraman, 1994). In this study, two different service models are proposed - partially integrated model based on the needs of PARTIAL_BPO group and fully integrated model based on the needs of FULL_BPO group. Overtime, fully integrated model may be necessary.Partially integrated model\nConclusion: This study identifies the outsourcing needs of SMEs in each of the HR sub-processes and suggests BPO service industry with two different service models - partially integrated model and fully integrated model. Compared to fully integrated model, partially integrated model could again result in deploying isolated systems and discrete processes. Thus, fully integrated model is more desirable in that regards. However, recruiting and training based partially integrated model - seems to be viable for SMEs in Korea for the time being. Radical BPO in relationship-based business culture will encounter more obstacles than in rational western culture, just as implementation of Business Process Reengineering in Korea had more resistance. In addition, strong labor union in Korea particular would resist radical PO due to the nature of BPO such as cutting existing employees. Like other oriental countries, business in Korea is characterized as relationship-based rather than rational.During the interview process, the obstacles for BPO in relation to the vendor were also identified:* security of the service due to the sensitivity of HR data;* credibility of the vendors;* lack of the customized service; and* lack of expertise of vendors.Internal obstacle has also been found. Since, BPO is new to SMEs, lack of mind in top-management was found to be internal obstacle for adoption of BPO.BPO service involves business processes as wells as supporting IT. In this sense, BPO service model should include not only description of business process but also description of IT to support the process. The main focus of this study has been on the former - business process. The study focusing on the latter - description of technology, remains as future academic endeavor.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - The goal of this research is first to investigate the outsourcing needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in each of the following HR sub-processes: recruiting, training, HR administration, payroll, and benefit processes. Then, the outsourcing needs are analyzed against the characteristics of the companies such as company size, operating environment, culture and information technology maturity. Lastly, integrated business process outsourcing (BPO) service models are developed according to the characteristics of the company.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - To fulfil the objective of this research, the questionnaire is used to assess the outsourcing needs of the companies. The data collected by questionnaire are analyzed against the characteristics of the companies. Then integrated BPO service models are developed based on the analysis of the questionnaire data and the interviews with HR managers. This study used both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.\nFindings: - This study suggests BPO service industry with two different service models: partially integrated model where e-recruiting and e-learning are integrated and fully integrated model where all of the HR-subprocesses are integrated.\nOriginality/value: - As BPO is expected to be booming in the next few years, this study helps BPO service industry to better serve SMEs in the area of human resource management.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Building a personal reputation: Using gossip to increase stature within the workplace
|
[
"Reputation",
"Gossip",
"Deviation",
"Workplace",
"Behavior"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Gossip is a widespread feature of communication and a dominant part of our lives. It is often seen in a negative light - it can be upsetting and destructive to the person at the center of it, disruptive to the workplace, or even seen as bullying behavior. However, the benefits of gossip are often overlooked. It can form social bonds, allowing workers to understand an organization's culture. It can be an effective means of passing on valuable information and can help to fill in any knowledge gaps. Possession of gossip-worthy information could also elevate an individual's status.\nWork-related gossip: Gossip about work-related topics, within the workplace, is seen in a more positive light than gossip about someone's personal life. It is more acceptable and more likely to be passed on. Positive gossip may even strengthen the reputation, and thus the career of the person spreading the gossip.\nReputation: An individual's reputation may be based on their actions. However, action alone does not cause a reputation to develop; it must be extreme enough to warrant others taking an interest and it must be seen and spread to a wider audience. The messenger spreading the information must also be seen to be a credible source of information. Gossip is an informal means of sharing information, and thus it is a primary means of spreading a person's reputation.\nDeviation: In an organization, workers hold specific roles that have certain actions and expectations associated with them. These expectations are understood by all those in the relevant community. If a person veers off from these expectations and acts in an unexpected way, it is a deviation. As these actions are not the expected norm, it may cause others to notice and take interest in it and to try and make sense of this behavior by discussing, evaluating, and assessing it with other interested members of the group. They may want to boost their own reputations by being in possession of the knowledge.\nAudience: There are two groups who may discuss deviant behavior: direct observers and audiences who have the behavior reported to them.\nResults: Study 1 showed that when there is deviation from the norm, the worker becomes the subject of gossip. However, this was related to the group norms - only deviations related to the workplace were rated highly - subjects felt the high deviation of the worker outside of the workplace would not be taken into account within the workplace. A single occurring deviation is not as discussed as a deviation that occurs on a regular basis. Via the subjects' responses to a newsletter, it was seen that gossip served more of a role than formal communication in terms of assessing and developing personal reputation. Study 2 had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.75 for the raters who saw the subject on a daily basis (direct observer) and 0.87 for those who saw the subject three or less times a month. This proved that direct observers have differing opinions, whereas indirect observers converge on an opinion.\nConclusion: It can be seen that gossip is a useful tool in developing personal reputation. To develop a reputation, an individual must understand the norms and values of the organization and deviate from these in a positive, productive, and repetitive way. There must be a credible audience who finds the behavior of interest to report to others for discussion and analysis. There is an innate desire for individuals to build a positive reputation. Gossip is an effective tool for achieving this goal.\nComment: The review is based on \"Gossip: A channel for the development of personal reputation\" by Zinko, R., Tuchtan, C., Hunt, J., Meurs, J., Furner, C., and Prati, M. published in the International Journal of Organizational Analysis.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: This review investigates gossip and how it contributes to building personal reputation. Deviated behavior from group norms causes an individual to become the center of gossip. Gossip is more effective than formal modes of communication for promoting personal reputation. Importantly, the deviated behavior must be detected by an audience and warranted significant enough to be passed on to a group for evaluation and discussion to affect reputation.\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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Relative importance of satisfaction dimensions on service performance: A developing country context
|
[
"Job satisfaction",
"Service orientation",
"Service quality/performance",
"Developing countries",
"Customer services quality",
"Ghana"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The theory that job satisfaction affects employees' performance has arguably received sufficient treatment in the literature. Various studies, spanning across a broad range of literature such as human resource management and organisational behaviour (Maslow, 1954; Herzberg et al., 1959; Schlesinger and Zornitsky, 1991; Hallowell et al., 1996), to social-psychology (Smith et al., 1983; George, 1991; Judge et al., 2001), through to the mainstream services' literature (Berry, 1981; Schneider and Bowen, 1985; Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991; Rust et al., 1996; Bettencourt and Brown, 1997; Sergeant and Frenkel, 2000; Malhotra and Mukherjee, 2004; Liao and Chuang, 2004; Lee et al., 2006; Karatepe et al., 2007) have examined this subject. By and large, the conclusions from these various studies indicate that overall satisfaction of employees is critical to their quality performance or service orientation in delivery.Yet, in spite of the general conclusions, a critical review of the literature reveals important gaps that need to be considered. First, it is important to note that the current literature is largely informed by insights obtained from developed country contexts (especially North America and Western Europe) and to a minor extent, from Asian economies. Consequently, the extent to which the underlying theory of the satisfaction-performance thesis is relevant to developing countries, especially, those in sub-Saharan Africa, which has received very little attention, need to be addressed. Given the recent calls by some scholars for more context specific research in the management literature (Akaa and Riordan, 1988; Holtbrugge, 1999; Tsui, 2004; Cui et al., 2006), we consider this neglect as an unfortunate omission. The current research should therefore be of special interest to scholars and practitioners because of the dawn of the \"global village\" and the consequential transfer of foreign investments from industrialized economies to emerging and developing nations (Debrah, 2002; Owusu-Frimpong and Mmieh, 2004).Second, the paper seeks to extend the literature by examining the relative impact of various satisfaction dimensions on service performance, using a case study from a developing country perspective. This objective is motivated by a need to test the relevance of the Two Factor Theory of content (intrinsic) and context (extrinsic) satisfaction factors (Herzberg et al., 1959; Herzberg, 1966) in explaining service performance. This is considered important because even although the Two Factor Theory suggests that only content elements are motivators or are important to employees' performance, there is no conclusive evidence to support this. In addition, the relevance of the theory in the current global economic environment has not been tested, especially, in non-rich developing countries.Third, from a methodological perspective, this paper also seeks to make an additional contribution to the literature by employing both global and broad measures of satisfaction to test their relative impact on service performance as prior studies only used either global or narrow measures of the construct. Split sample analyses were also performed to examine the potential moderating influences of the corporate cultures of the two organisations investigated.The rest of the paper is structured as follows: following on from the introduction, the next section provides background information on the study context, and is followed by a review of the relevant literature. This is followed by a discussion of the theoretical/conceptual framework and resulting hypotheses. The paper next explains the methodology employed in the study. Finally, the findings, discussions, conclusions and implications of the research are presented.The study context\nLiterature review: Job satisfaction defined\nConceptual perpectives and hypotheses: Despite the seemingly strong theoretical and empirical support for the satisfaction-service performance thesis, a further validation of its underlying theories was deemed important. The paper's main contention was that certain situational/environmental factors (Davis-Blake and Pfeffer, 1989; Staw and Cohen-Charash, 2005), such as differences in national cultures (Hofstede, 1980; Bhardwaj et al., 2007; Venzin et al., 2008; Sutton-Brady et al., 2010), corporate culture (Johnson, 1996; Wilson, 1997) and economic factors (Walker et al., 1977; Sutton-Brady et al., 2010), could potentially impact on or moderate the satisfaction-service performance relationship.These perspectives were mainly informed by the theories of cognitive dissonance and forced compliance paradigm (Festinger, 1957; Festinger and Carlsmith, 1959). According to these theories, a person or groups of people may act contrary to their private attitudes in order to reduce the dissonance or conflict between his/their cognitions and feelings. Following on from this logic, it was contended that service-orientated attitudes and behaviours exhibited by employees during service creation may not necessarily be explained by their job satisfaction or general job attitudes. In other words, service employees may not like their jobs (negative attitude towards work), but a pressing need to secure their jobs (for example, to enable them support themselves and/or families), may lead them to exhibit service-oriented attitudes and behaviours in the course of service delivery. Therefore, given that there are relatively fewer formal job opportunities in attractive sectors like the banking sector in Ghana, it is plausible to contend that bank employees here may not be satisfied with some aspects or overall aspects of their work, and yet continue to exhibit excellent job attitudes and behaviours.In addition, Ghana like most developing countries tends to incline towards a collectivist culture (Hofstede, 1980; Triandis, 1995; Blankson et al., 2007) where individuals tend to respect social norms and show respect to authority (Malhotra et al., 2005). Based on this assumption, one could further argue that employees in such cultures will be less direct in expressing their emotions.Given the countervailing arguments advanced for and against the satisfaction-service orientation thesis in the above discussion, it was considered important to further examine the validity of the general hypothesis that:H1. The job satisfaction of bank branch employees in Ghana will positively and significantly impact on their service orientation in service delivery.Predictability of multidimensional, composite and global satisfaction\nMethodology: The data used for this research was collected via a survey of employees in the banking sector in Ghana. The survey involved employees from 85 branches of two large commercial banks. The two banks were chosen because they were perceived to have different corporate cultures: one was locally-owned while the other was foreign-owned. Thus, it was expected that the possible moderating influence of corporate culture differences may be controlled (Johnson, 1996; Wilson, 1997).A total of 1,268 retail employees across 85 branches of the two banks (referred to here as Bank A and B) in Ghana were contacted. The sampled population was made up of 1,009 employees across 60 branches of Bank A, and 259 employees from 25 branches of Bank B. Out of the total employees targeted, 544 (43 per cent) responses were obtained, out of which 535 were usable. Of the 535 valid responses, 420 and 115 were from Bank A and B, respectively. In addition, 511 (96 per cent) out of the 535 valid respondents indicated their gender, while 24 (4 per cent) did not. Of the 511 respondents, 284 (56 per cent) were males, with 227 (44 per cent) being females. Most of the respondents (75 per cent) were between the ages of 25-54.Measurement of instruments\nFindings: Impact of satisfaction on service orientation\nDiscussion: The findings from the various analyses reported in this paper should be of interest to management scholars and service managers alike. First, despite the mild variances explained in service orientation in delivery by satisfaction of the bank employees, the findings can be said to indicate further support for the satisfaction-service orientation literature which has hitherto been based mainly on developed market research (Schneider et al., 1980; Dienhart et al., 1992; Keillor et al., 1999; Bettencourt et al., 2001; Saura et al., 2005; Chen, 2007). This is because this study, like the previous ones, all identified mild but positive impact of satisfaction on service performance. The modest effect of satisfaction should, however, not be surprising since alternative theoretical models, such as personality traits (Hogan et al., 1984; Schneider et al., 1992; Cran, 1994), and situational factors such as challenging economic conditions (Walker et al., 1977; Sutton-Brady et al., 2010) in Ghana, may also account for the additional variance in the service orientation of the bank employees.Second, the finding that multidimensional measures of satisfaction are better predictors than global measures suggests further empirical support for the methodological literature: the contention in the extant literature is that broad measures of constructs provide deeper and a more robust approach to examining the intricate relationships between attitudinal variables and performance (Fisher, 1980; Ironson et al., 1989).Third, from a theoretical perspective, the emergence of context elements of satisfaction as being better predictors of service performance is interesting, as it seems to raise further questions regarding the general validity of the Two Factor Theory of Herzberg and his colleagues. Instructively, this finding adds to the list of empirical studies mainly from the Western world which provides support for the importance of context or hygiene elements of work within a service delivery context (Schneider et al., 1980, 1992; Schneider and Bowen, 1985; Bitner, 1990). For example, the emergence of satisfaction with supervision and communication as relatively stronger predictors, re-affirms the relevance of some past research such as the GAP model of service quality (Parasuraman et al., 1985); communication and control processes in service delivery (Zeithaml et al., 1988); and role theory (Chung and Schneider, 2002) which all attest to the importance of service environments to employees' service performance. Perhaps, this finding should awaken management scholars to begin to question the relevance of the Two Factor Theory of satisfaction and motivation in both developing and developed economies, especially, in light of the current difficult economic environment.Fourth, it is also important to note that context satisfaction elements relating to pay and rewards appeared not to make to any significant impact on the service orientation exhibited by the bank employees. Perhaps, satisfaction with pay and rewards appeared to have no impact on the bank workers' service performance because the employees are naturally service oriented (Hogan et al., 1984), or that they may have been compelled to fake positive service attitudes and behaviours (Festinger, 1957; Festinger and Carlsmith, 1959) given the limited opportunities to obtain or change jobs in the country. By and large, this finding seems to corroborate some earlier studies in developed markets (Hoffman and Ingram, 1992; Hartline and Ferrell, 1996; Wilson, 1997) but also conflicts with others (Schneider and Bowen, 1985; Schneider et al., 1992; Bettencourt and Brown, 1997; Chebat et al., 2002) which indicate that satisfaction with pay and rewards make significant impact on service performance.\nConclusions and implications: The main objective of this study was to examine the relative importance of satisfaction dimensions and measures in explaining service performance, termed in this paper as service orientation in delivery, within a developing country context. Overall, the broad findings from the study indicate some support for the relevance of the satisfaction-service performance thesis even in a non-developed economy, characterised by relatively challenging economic conditions. However, some outcomes reported in this paper seem to challenge the validity of the Two Factor Theory and its relevance for job motivation and design. This is because context satisfaction elements seemed to be stronger motivators than content satisfaction elements in this research. In particular, context satisfaction factors relating to co-workers, supervision and communication appeared to be more important predictors of the service orientation exhibited by the bank branch employees. Interestingly, satisfaction with pay and rewards appeared to be unimportant to the service orientation exhibited by the bank employees. The managerial and future research implications of these findings are discussed below.Managerial implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to examine the relevance of some existing Western motivation and job design theories in explaining employees' service performance, termed service orientation in delivery, in a developing country context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The satisfaction-performance thesis and the two factor theory (motivation and hygiene factors) are tested using a case study from a developing economy, Ghana. Survey data were collected from 535 retail bank employees of two large commercial banks across 85 branches in the final phase of the research. Multiple and hierarchical regression as well as split sample analyses were used to examine data.\nFindings: - Overall, the findings indicate some support for the validity and relevance of the satisfaction-service performance thesis even in a non-developed economy. Some outcomes, however, seem to challenge the validity of the two factor theory: context/hygiene satisfaction elements emerged as better predictors of service performance than content/motivator factors. In particular, context satisfaction dimension relating to co-workers appeared to be the most important predictor. Satisfaction with pay and rewards, however, appeared unimportant to the service performance of the bank employees surveyed.\nResearch limitations/implications: - As the research was limited to the banking sector from only one developing country, generalisations and applications of its findings should be made with caution. Future studies which provide broader conceptual and empirical views, in terms of how specific co-worker attitudes and behaviours motivate or discourage service-oriented performances in multi-country studies, could be useful.\nPractical implications: - Despite its limitations, the confirmation of the satisfaction-performance thesis in this paper may indicate to managers that some, if not all, of the management theories taught in American/European schools may be equally relevant to developing economies such as Ghana. In addition, the findings provide managers with insights regarding the potential importance of context satisfaction elements to employees' service performance.\nOriginality/value: - Overall, the broad findings from the study indicate some support for the relevance of the satisfaction-service performance thesis even in a non-developed economy, characterised by relatively challenging economic conditions. However, some outcomes reported in this paper seem to challenge the validity of the two factor theory and its relevance for job motivation and design.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Managing occupational identity and institutional pressure within French business schools : Current challenges
|
[
"Occupational identity",
"Institutional pressure",
"French business schools"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The teaching-research divide has attracted considerable attention and debate in the USA. In particular, scholars have discussed the prominence of the \"publish or perish\" culture in universities and business schools due to reward systems that segregate the two academic activities - encouraging publication at the expense of quality teaching (Kerr, 1975; Burke and Rau, 2010; Andre and Frost, 1997). Finding the proper balance between these activities has been a central theme in research on higher education. Scholars, business school leaders and accreditation bodies (AACSB) have proposed changes to move \"beyond the divide\" (Brew, 2006) and bring research and teaching together - particularly emphasizing the role of selection, recruitment and staffing processes (Burke and Rau, 2010); promotion of an integrative institutional culture (Jenkins et al., 2007); and the student involvement (even undergraduates) in research activities (Brew, 2006).\nLiterature review: OI involves claims of \"who we are\" as members of a profession and \"what we do,\" relative to other occupations (Nelson and Irwin, 2014; Pratt et al., 2006). Studies have shown that people draw on their \"occupational affiliations\" to interpret and react to work situations (Chreim et al., 2007; Nelson and Irwin, 2014). As such, \"occupational identity serves as an interpretive lens\" that influences both adoption decisions and reaction to institutional pressure (Nelson and Irwin, 2014).\nThe changing environment of FBSs, and implications for faculty: France is characterized by a split (or two-tier) system in which business schools operate outside the traditional university system - unlike most countries where business schools exist within universities (Fridenson and Paquy, 2008). Business schools - commonly referred to as French Grandes Ecoles de Commerce - were created in the late nineteenth century by business owners and chambers of commerce to train the children of business owners in accounting and business law. At the core of the FBS system is a unique student selection process based on an elitist national competitive examination (\"concours\") after two years of preparatory classes (\"Classes preparatoires\") that students begin immediately after graduating from high school. Business schools select students based on their performance in the \"concours,\" and these students begin the three-year, general \"Grande Ecole\" (GE) program, considered the schools' flagship program (Kumar and Usunier, 2001; Thietart, 2009; Kodeih and Greenwood, 2014). For most of their existence, FBS have operated in a familiar, national institutional environment and, until recently, research was mostly confined to the public university sector (Kodeih and Greenwood, 2014).\nMethods: As a former doctoral student of one FBS under study and a faculty member of another, the author has over eight years of first-hand experience of the changes brought about in FBS in response to the pressure from the competitive global environment. The study draws on 44 interviews, conducted between 2007 and 2013, in ten different FBSs, and an array of written documents. The schools were chosen because they offered contrasting insights, notably in terms of age, size and research vs teaching orientation (Siggelkow, 2007): for example, some have a long tradition of research while others have only recently directed their attention towards research. I also conducted four interviews with field-level experts to investigate the research challenges FBS have faced.\nFindings: Each interviewee's initial OI influenced their interpretation of the transition within their school and their subsequent response. Informants told different but converging stories, as summarized below.\nTeaching-oriented OI/resistance to research: The data revealed that the traditional vocational identity was apparent in faculty members who - for the most part - hold French doctorates, see themselves as \"the heart\" of their organization, and are particularly involved in the school's activities (teaching and developing programs), as well as in external activities (consulting, for instance). For such professors, research activity is either infrequent or mostly confined to business-oriented publications and books[2].\nTeaching-oriented OI/accommodation: A small proportion of professors in the teaching orientation category have adopted an instrumental approach, perceiving the new institutional pressures as a way to \"turn their careers around\" or \"simply to keep their jobs\" as suggested by one faculty member:\nResearch-orientated OI/resistance to teaching: In contrast, adherents of the new research-oriented logic are mainly young, international professors who hold international PhDs, see themselves as members of an international network of researchers, have high expectations and are not particularly committed to their organization - choosing instead to work where the best conditions are offered (Thietart, 2009). They mainly conduct international theoretical research and are less keen on teaching; the international academic community is their reference point. As such, they barely understand the emphasis of traditional professors on teaching and other activities, their attachment to the centrality of the GE program in the school - a program international professors consider \"not necessarily the most interesting one on offer\" (2009), and their reluctance to conduct theoretical research. They consider such behavior as an obstacle to the institutionalization of a research orientation:\nResearch-oriented OI/accommodation: A contingent of professors in this category continues to value the importance of teaching and a practice-oriented approach. They consider teaching and research as non-conflicting, and strive to build synergies between them. They express \"sympathy\" with those people who, they feel, are \"left-out\" and \"wronged\" by the new rules of the game [...]:\nOrganizational strategies: Most FBS had no significant research commitment or activity until the early to mid-2000s. The following section describes the strategies adopted by different schools to manage their existing and new faculty members. Four different ideal-typical strategies emerged from the data, even though empirically, schools' strategies can fall somewhere between ideal-types. The findings draw on data from five[3] different schools to illustrate these strategies: one was traditionally committed to research; the other four recently adopted a research orientation.\nResearch-intensive school (FBS1): The strategy of a research-active institution clearly emphasizes this identity: \"FBS1 is a research school.\" For that purpose, recruitment, staffing and appraisal practices focus on enhancing the research orientation and \"being attractive to good scholars\" as mentioned by the dean of faculty. Given that FBS1 is a research pioneer in France, the old cohort of professors who used to conduct research - albeit on different basis - is still active today:\nTeaching-oriented school incorporating research standards: Until the beginning of the 2000s, research \"had little importance, or at least was not valued as it is now in French business schools\" (Interview dean of research, 2009). Schools in this category experienced the transition towards research at the same time and had few research-active scholars. To respond to these pressures, they have sought to shape the behaviors of their initial faculty (especially teaching-oriented members) by implementing incentive systems and training programs; they also hired and socialized international research-active scholars. Yet, as described below, FBS combined these practices in different ways, which resulted in three distinctive strategies.\nTransfer-market strategy (FBS2): This strategy involves directing resources mostly towards recruiting and staffing international research-active scholars - often at the expense of current faculty aspirations:\nSplit system (FBS3 and 4): Here, schools keep teaching and research activity separate by recruiting \"teaching-only\" professors and reducing teaching loads for research-active faculty. FBS3 and 4 have adopted such a split system, promoting a hybrid discourse and implementing different \"tracks,\" whereby teaching-only faculty have different requirements from those of research-active professors:\nOne-size-fits-all approach (FBS5): Schools using this strategy encourage all faculty members to \"accommodate\" both activities, regardless of their initial commitment to research or teaching. The purpose of such a strategy is to bring about a shift from resistance to accommodation in both teaching-oriented professors, by encouraging research, and researchers, by encouraging greater attention to teaching:\nDiscussion: Taken together, the findings of this study suggest that OI influences actors' responses to institutional change. While most professors perceived either teaching or research as a threat to their occupational role, a contingent of professors was able to accommodate both types of activity, embracing the \"full faculty role\" (Burke and Rau, 2010, p. 139). A better understanding of these conflicting perceptions helps to illuminate how certain characteristics of OI can ease or intensify the tension arising from institutional change and multiple demands. Cohort effects, existing capabilities, educational background and the relative attachment to traditional FBS characteristics were particularly significant in this sense.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how faculty members in French business schools (FBSs) manage intense pressure to adapt their practices and roles to new international academic standards. It stresses that in order to stimulate people's accommodation of new institutional demands it is important to apprehend and manage occupational identity (OI).\nDesign/methodology/approach: This is an inductive qualitative study that draws on 48 interviews in ten FBSs and written data.\nFindings: The paper categorizes faculty members' responses to demands for more international academic research based on their initial OI. It also discusses the strategies schools employ to manage this transition and faculty's professional roles.\nOriginality/value: The originality lies in the empirical examination of a phenomenon that has so far been studied only theoretically. Business schools can improve their performance and avoid mission drift by apprehending and managing faculty members' occupational identities.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Preliminary study of the vibration-based maintenance implementation: case study
|
[
"Condition-based maintenance",
"Implementation of vibration-based maintenance",
"Organization of maintenance",
"Vibration analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Facing the current challenge of increasing production and reducing costs, maintenance professionals are turning increasingly, in order to remain competitive, toward the so-called condition-based maintenance (Bogardd, 2000; Al-Najjar, 1997). Indeed, several studies have shown the importance of this form of maintenance in improving productivity (Bevilacqua and Braglia, 2000; Luxhoj et al., 1997; Riis et al., 1997). Yet, this form of maintenance is not widely used (Jonsson, 1997). Bengtsson (2007) states that; condition-based maintenance presents only 10 percent of all activities of maintenance.\n2. Implementation of the VBM approach: To deal with the difficulties of implementing the VBM, organize technical means, logistical and human resources and associate maintenance managers to all stages of implementation of such a policy by an ongoing commitment and effective management based on economic indicators, we developed an approach articulated on five additional phases to implement the VBM (Figure 1).\n3. Deployment of the inventory phase: The start of VBM and its sustainability in the company requires careful preparation to collect and analyze data related to the machine fleet and staff responsible for vibration monitoring. This allows, thereafter, estimating the impact of a monitoring program on the number of breakdowns, maintenance costs and availability rates of each rotating machinery and production line. This phase (Figure 2) that provides maintenance decision makers with the current status in terms of equipment performance and staff skills should help determine the reference values of economic indicators essential for profitability measurement and the effectiveness of any monitoring program and accountability of the different actors.\n4. Deployment of the feasibility study phase: The second phase relating to the feasibility study is essential to analyze the techno-economic challenges and the organizational aspect to make the decision to continue the project of setting up the VBM or seek other maintenance policies. This study focuses on three components as shown in Figure 6.\n5. Conclusion: In this paper, we have presented the implementation and validation work of the first two phases of the implementation approach of the proposed VBM. The application of different scientific templates and tools that we have developed allowed us to present objective information to those in charge of maintenance, on the one hand, about the inventory of the machine park and the vibration cell personnel and on the other hand, about technical, organizational and financial feasibility of the VBM. Despite the difficulties in collecting reliable data, the expected objectives of the two phases were achieved. With data from the inventory and the results of the feasibility study, we obtained the commitment of management to continue the development of our approach.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop the different phases of the implementation of vibration-based maintenance (VBM). Then, the focus will be on the first two stages, namely, the inventory and feasibility study where each step will be translated into a very detailed implementation process through an industrial case study.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is based on a state of art on the implementation of the VBM; a survey of national and international experts in the field of VBM and finally an analysis of 30 years of VBM practice in a large Moroccan company in the field of chemical processing, via a collective approach called Diagnostic Court Autonome.\nFindings: The study showed that improving productivity by reducing downtimes due to vibration defects through effective vibration monitoring is possible and investment in equipment and vibration monitoring personnel is largely justified in the company studied.\nOriginality/value: This paper presents in detail the two preliminary phases with all procedures describing in a practical way the operating rules to apply and organize the roles of different actors. The work will be useful both to researchers and maintenance managers interested in structuring their vibration monitoring cells.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Stress and psychological well-being in UK and Malaysian fire fighters
|
[
"Job satisfaction",
"Occupational psychology",
"Stress",
"Fire services",
"Malaysia",
"United Kingdom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Fire fighters help to protect the public against fires and others emergencies threats by rapidly responding to emergency calls. In the course of their work, they can be exposed to physical, chemical and biological hazards. They also face the risk of psychological conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), resulting from witnessing traumatic events. In common with other less risky occupations, they can experience occupational stress relating to their work conditions (i.e. shiftwork) or other organisational or career issues (Malek et al., 2003). Furthermore, according to Haslam et al. (2003) emergency service personnel are at high risk of developing PTSD.While there is an extensive literature on stress in policing (e.g. Alexander and Walker, 1994; Brown and Heidensohn, 2001; Kircaldy et al., 1988), only a few empirical studies have systematically examined the causes and effects of stress in fire fighters' work. Most of these have concentrated on the specific effects of distressing events causing PTSD (Al-Naser and Everly, 1999; Corneil, 1993, Corneil et al., 1999, Richard and Rachel, 2005) rather than the more general issue of occupational stress and its effects. This article focuses on sources of stress as predictors of psychological well-being (anxiety, stress and depression) and job satisfaction among UK and Malaysian fire fighters. It also examines the roles of coping behaviour as moderator between exposure to occupational stressors and its impact on psychological well-being and on job satisfaction.1.1 Causes and effects of occupational stress in fire fighters\n2. Method: 2.1 Procedure\n3. Results: 3.1 Descriptive statistics\n4. Discussion: 4.1 Overview\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship among sources of stress, coping strategy, job satisfaction and psychological well-being and to examine the roles of coping behaviour as the moderator variable.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study uses a questionnaire survey and area sampling design, with responses of 617 Malaysian fire fighters and 436 UK fire fighters. The questionnaire comprises: the Sources of Occupational Stress in Fire Fighters & Paramedics scale, the Coping Response of Rescue Workers and the Job Satisfaction Scale. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis is used to examine the moderating effect of coping behaviour on job satisfaction and psychological well-being.\nFindings: - It is found that the sources of occupational stress have significant negative correlations with job satisfaction and psychological well-being. The results of the regression analysis indicates that overall coping behaviour has a significant influence on overall job satisfaction for UK fire fighters but not for Malaysian fire fighters. However, overall coping behaviour has a significant effect as a moderating variable between sources of stress and psychological health for Malaysian fire fighters.\nPractical implications: - The results suggest that training that focuses on psychological aspects (stress management, coping strategies, etc.), and the use of counsellors should be highlighted. It is suggested that the Malaysian Fire Brigade should establish a Counselling Unit, to deal with psychological problems faced by the fire fighters.\nOriginality/value: - This study shows how theories originating in developed countries (USA and Canada) can help explain the psychological health of the fire fighters in a developing country (Malaysia). The analysis of statistical results led to the development of a model to interpret the factors influencing psychological health in Malaysian and UK fire fighters. Beside that, the evidence from the study also highlighted that factors such as culture may influence the ways employees cope up with the situations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Age and the pursuit of happiness among immigrants
|
[
"Immigrants",
"Happiness",
"Assimilation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The reliance of the US economy on immigration is evident both in the labor provided to low-skilled occupations and in the expertise brought to high-skilled occupations. Immigration is believed to benefit immigrants' lives by improving their economic situation. The magnitude of these mutual benefits depends in part on immigrants' productivity and commitment to the USA. A number of scholars suggest that immigrants who are satisfied may be more productive in the labor market and are likely to remain in the country (Borjas, 1999; Lester, 2005; Massey and Akresh, 2006). While there is a growing literature on the well-being and happiness[1] of both individuals and society, empirical research on the happiness of immigrants has been largely overlooked.\nBrief review of the literature: Until about a decade ago, there were conflicting findings in economics and psychology studies about the relationship between happiness and age. Now most studies support a U-shaped relationship between age and happiness (Frijters and Beatton, 2012). Clark and Oswald (1994) are pioneers in studying this topic. Using the British Household Panel Study, they find that happiness is lowest for those in their mid-30s, and increases afterward. Over a decade later, Blanchflower and Oswald (2008) conduct a large study of 500,000 randomly chosen American and Europeans. Their results reveal that European men and women reach the minimum level of happiness around the same time, during their mid-40s. Conversely, American men experience the lowest happiness during their early 50s, while American women do so in their late 30s.\nData and empirical framework: The NIS-2003 is employed in this study to examine factors contributing to the happiness of immigrants in the USA. The NIS is a longitudinal survey of a random sample of legal immigrants who became permanent residents (i.e. received green cards) in May through November of 2003.\nEmpirical results: Table II displays the estimated coefficients (expressed in log-odds), standard errors, and marginal effects, computed as probability of being in the highest category, \"very happy\" for all immigrants. Immigrants in their 50s have significantly lower odds of being \"very happy,\" compared to young adult, 18-34 year old (at 10 percent level). However, there is not a statistical difference between young adult immigrants and immigrants from the other age groups. The non-linear relationship between age and happiness is also documented in some previous empirical studies of immigrants (Bartram, 2011; Olgiati et al., 2013). Furthermore, the relationship between happiness and factors relevant to assimilation is generally as expected. Being employed and owning a home are associated with increased happiness. In regards to human capital, proficiency in English is positively related to happiness, while having a college degree is negatively related to happiness. Lastly, social capital in form of religious membership is linked to increased happiness.\nDiscussion: The empirical results highlight that while some factors are important for happiness in certain age group, they may not be for other groups. For instance, employment is positively related to happiness among young immigrants, age 18-49, but not among those aged 50 years and older. This finding corresponds with the existing literature that suggests there is a positive relationship between happiness and excitement in form of job satisfaction and financial success among young adults (Harry, 1976; Mogilner et al., 2011). Then again, being a member of religious institution is found to have a positive relationship with happiness among older immigrants, but no relationship is found among young immigrants. This finding is consistent with Cox and Hammonds (1988) who suggest older people see church becomes a center of social activity that enhances their sense of belonging in a community.\nConclusions: \"Different men seek after happiness in different ways and by different means [...]\" (Aristotle). This study shows that while the factors associated with happiness in the general population also hold for immigrants, there are some variations in what is important for happiness across age groups. Using four separate ordered logit regressions, each for a different age group, we find that employment is particularly important to happiness among young immigrants (age 18-34). For middle-aged immigrants happiness is strongly related to family life (i.e. marriage and children), human capital, and wealth. And, for older immigrants (age 60 and over) happiness is significantly linked to their social involvement in religious institutions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how various factors, particularly ones associated with ability to assimilate to a new country such as social capital and human capital, may affect the happiness of immigrants in different age groups.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study utilizes the New Immigrant Survey 2003, which is a nationally representative survey of immigrants who became permanent US residents, to produce four separate ordered logit regressions, each for a different age group, 18-34, 35-49, 50-59, and 60 and older.\nFindings: The empirical results indicate that employment is important to happiness among young immigrants (age 18-34). For middle-aged immigrants happiness is strongly related to family life (i.e. being married, having children), human capital, and wealth. For older immigrants (age 60 and over) happiness is significantly linked to social capital (i.e. involvement in religious institutions, communication ties to friends and family).\nPractical implications: Understanding factors associated with the happiness of immigrants can help communities to undertake appropriate support and services for different age groups.\nOriginality/value: The study differentiates what contributes to the happiness of immigrants in different age groups. Most studies only include a binary categorical variable for age groups and do not employ a fully differentiated analysis for age. The study also explores how social capital relates to happiness. Studies of happiness among immigrants mostly omit any role of social capital variable.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Learning how to cope with uncertainty: Can high-reliability organizations be a role model for manufacturing companies?
|
[
"Manufacturing companies",
"High-reliability organizations",
"Learning and development demands",
"Mission-based reflection and learning"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Regardless of whether companies in industrialized countries manufacture consumer or industrial goods or components, they increasingly have to cope with dynamic and unpredictable conditions in highly volatile markets (Montealegre, 2002). A main trend can be perceived in the development from stable market conditions and standardized production processes toward more technologically complex and flexible forms of production (e.g. Morris et al., 2006). Mass customization and the co-configuration of products, services and processes between producers, suppliers and customers are examples of the ways in which today's enterprises are organized (Victor and Boynton, 1998; Adler, 2001; Engestrom, 2004, 2008; Okhuysen et al., 2013). Hence, employees and teams within manufacturing companies have to cope with the uncertainty of upcoming demands along ambiguous paths with multiple partners, which significantly increases the complexity, interdependencies and individualization of production processes. These demands cause a major challenge for learning and development as the capacity for continual reflection, adaption and development of work processes is required of employees (Cressey et al., 2006). However, the learning and development that is required to meet such dynamic change and to address the work demands in manufacturing companies has often been criticized from theoretical and empirical perspectives as being inappropriate to address such challenges (Ardichvili, 2003; Maurer and Githens, 2010). In particular, companies do not seem to be sufficiently prepared to face the increasing uncertainty that is brought about by unforeseen events or upcoming crises (e.g. Wang et al., 2009).\nConceptual background: The change of work in manufacturing companies and their changed demands on learning and development\nEmpirical study: Case description and empirical research question\nFindings: All the interviewed employees stated that their work changed significantly due to the high level of customization and changed customer demands during the manufacturing process as shown in the following two quotes[3]:We don't manufacture repetition parts. We have solutions. Sometimes there are indeed similar follow-up orders, but apart from that, everything is individual according to customer specifications. And order changes are very common in the manufacturing process. I would say so about 70 to 80 percent(order manager, electronic company).This is already pretty complicated. Sometimes we need to rebuild things directly because of the customer has realigned. For example, the product does not go to Malaysia, but suddenly to Mexico. And we'll have to rebuild everything(manufacturing worker, electronic company).\nDiscussion: As early as Barley and Kunda (2001) commented critically that industrial work has changed significantly, but the assumptions and models about work have not (see also Engestrom, 2008). Actual work demands have moved in a direction, which comes close to the requirements of mission-based HROs. The discrepancy between work practice and models about work explain the empirical results of this study, which shows that the current learning practices of the three manufacturing companies hardly meet the requirements of the changed demands of their work processes (e.g. Okhuysen et al., 2013; Engestrom, 2008). The firms' learning conceptualizations focus on individual training, mainly technology oriented, as their assumptions of work are still based on a model of stability and predictability. However, the firms' demands rely on a flexibility of production and work processes, the complexity of products and the coordination between the involved actors - which are characteristics for which mission-type HROs and their team members are well prepared for.\nConclusion: This study is based on the fact that work demands in many manufacturing companies in industrialized countries have been changing due to the viability of markets and the increasing complexity and individuality of products. This change of work goes along with a changed demand for learning and development. Our three case examples demonstrate that manufacturing companies and their staff are often not well prepared for this change. This lack of preparation shows in the fact that the training means are still based on individual workplace qualification as required for stable and continuous production and that collective reflection and development rarely occur. In contrast, HROs maintain a strong focus on preparing their staff and teams to address high degrees of uncertainty at a very low error rate and to be able to act flexibly according to situational demands. Since these basic requirements also exist in manufacturing firms and HROs are able to successfully master them, we have asked whether the learning concepts of mission-based HROs (fire brigades, special police forces and emergency rescue services) can serve as a role model for manufacturing companies and their changed demands.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Manufacturing companies increasingly have to deal with uncertainty and complexity without being sufficiently prepared for it. High-reliability organizations (HROs) successfully deal with dynamic and unknown situations. The authors ask the question whether learning concepts of HROs can be a role model for manufacturing companies and if their learning principles can be successfully applied there. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors' research is based on high-reliability theory and former qualitative empirical studies on learning and development of mission-based HRO. The authors compare their learning practice with learning and development demands of the own empirical cases studies of three manufacturing firms.\nFindings: Learning concepts in the manufacturing firms are disconnected from their practical demands. In HRO in contrast, learning and development follows a distinct choreography, with a focus on collective reflection. Manufacturing firms can learn from HROs about learning principles especially with respect to collective reflection-on-action in order to develop situational awareness. However, the HROs' learning should not be seen as a strict role model as their work organization differs significantly from that of manufacturing firms.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research is based on in-depth case analyses (e.g. interviews and observation). The outcomes are case specific and focus on manufacturing firms. Hence, only patterns or principles can be generalized. To gain a more complete picture, the authors suggest further case analyses in different industries.\nPractical implications: Manufacturing firms can benefit from learning principles of HROs, like combining formal and informal learning and collective reflection on practice.\nOriginality/value: The paper connects previous research on HRO with original empirical research on manufacturing firms. Through the matching of data, the authors contribute to the discussion on whether the concept of HROs can be seen as a role model for learning and development in manufacturing firms.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Socio-demographic and lifestyle factors associated with nutrition label use among Malaysian adults
|
[
"Malaysia",
"Demographics",
"Lifestyles",
"Nutrition labelling"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The overconsumption of easily available and energy-dense food further exacerbated with sedentary lifestyles amidst obesogenic environments has become characteristic of societies at large (Swinburn et al., 2011). Diets high in sugars and fats often displace fruit and vegetable intake when combined with low physical activity significantly increases the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer (Lobstein and Davies, 2009; Swinburn et al., 2011). Hence, diet and physical activity remain important modifiable risk factors in the etiology of NCDs that contributes to more than 60 per cent of mortality worldwide (World Health Organization, 2011). From a dietary viewpoint, the trend towards increased consumption of packaged and processed foods in both developed and emerging economies should not go unnoticed (Wills et al., 2009). In recognition of the importance of food safety and the potential influence of these nutritional information on consumers' acquisition of health information, purchase and consumption, certain countries including the USA (US Food and Drug Administration, 1994), and Canada (Health Canada, 2005) mandate the display of nutrition labels on pre-packaged foods. Meanwhile, nutrition labelling in the European Union is not mandatory until 2016 (The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, 2011).\nMethods: Study design and participants\nResults: A total of 30,992 respondents were included in the analyses. Socio-demographic and lifestyle habits of the participants are presented in Table I. The participants consisted of 55.6 per cent women. Mean age of the participants was 42.10+-15.69 years. Majority of them were Malays (56.5 per cent) followed by Chinese (21.6 per cent), Indians (8.47 per cent) and Others (13.46 per cent). Only a tenth of the participants had tertiary education. Majority of them were married (71.3 per cent), resided in Peninsular Malaysia (79.7 per cent) and in urban areas (59.4 per cent). The average monthly individual income of the participants was RM 1,963.05+-2,674.48. Slightly more than half of the participants were physically active and nearly a quarter were smokers. Overall, only 15 and 11 per cent of the participants read fat and sugar contents on the nutrition labels, respectively.\nDiscussion: This study aimed to identify the factors associated with nutrition label use among Malaysian adults participating in the nationwide NHMS III survey. From our findings, only 11-15 per cent of participants read the nutrition labels, in contrast to the majority of participants who reported label use in a systematic review (Campos et al., 2011), Turkey (Besler et al., 2012) and China (Zeng et al., 2013) which reported\nConclusion: Drawing from nationally representative data, this study identified that socio-demographic and lifestyle factors were significantly associated with nutrition label use among multi-ethnic adults in Malaysia. Females, young adults aged between 18 and 30 years, Malays, tertiary educated, singles, employed, physically active and non-smokers were significantly associated with increased odds of nutrition label use. Our findings potentially serve as a guide for public health practitioners and policy makers on which groups of adults to focus their health promotion efforts, namely, males, older adults aged between 31 and 40 years, ethnic minorities, primary educated, widowed/divorced individuals, unemployed, physically inactive and smokers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Nutrition labels bridge communication between food manufacturers and consumers and are instrumental in shaping food choices and dietary habits. Gaining insight into the factors associated with nutrition label use precedes evaluating the effectiveness of these labels. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the socio-demographic and lifestyle factors associated with nutrition label use among multi-ethnic Malaysian adults.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data from the Third National Health and Morbidity Survey (n=39,506) on nutrition label use was analysed. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the factors associated with reading nutrition labels, adjusted for confounders.\nFindings: The findings show that females, young adults aged between 18 and 30 years, Malays, tertiary educated, singles, employed individuals, physically active adults and non-smokers were significantly associated with increased odds of nutrition label use.\nResearch limitations/implications: Causality could not be established due to the cross-sectional study design. The scope of the data collected limited investigations to the socio-demographic and lifestyle factors associated with nutrition label use. Future research measuring consumers' attention, motivation and comprehension of nutrition label use and subsequent food selection should be conducted.\nPractical implications: Health promotion efforts targeted towards promoting the use of nutrition label among males, older adults aged between 31 and 40 years, ethnic minorities, primary educated, widowed/divorced individuals, unemployed, physically inactive and smokers are recommended.\nOriginality/value: This nationwide study provides valuable insights into the socio-demographic and lifestyle factors significantly associated with nutrition label use among Malaysian adults.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
China's new energy vehicles: value and innovation
|
[
"Business models",
"China",
"Electric vehicles",
"Emerging economies",
"Innovation",
"New energy vehicles",
"Innovation",
"Emergent strategy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The automobile industry is of strategic importance to the world's economy. According to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, the automobile industry has a global turnover of almost EUR2 trillion, which, if it were a country, would make it the world's sixth largest economy. In addition, they claim that the automobile industry accounts for over 5 per cent of the world's manufacturing jobs and that each directly created job supports at least another five jobs indirectly (OICA, 2012). However, it is also an industry facing a crisis. It is claimed that it has both an adverse effect on public health, through the various forms of pollution it causes, and contributes to global warming through carbon dioxide emissions from motor vehicles. Until recently, the economically advanced economies were seen as the prime culprits for these unwelcome side effects of the internal combustion engine (ICE); this now looks set to change as other parts of the world embark on industrial growth.In the past two decades, the \"emerging economies\" (see Table I) have grown to become a significant economic force. The share of international trade accounted for by developing and emerging economies has risen from 30 per cent in 1995 to an estimated 45 per cent in 2010, with China and India acting as the two dominant poles for growth. While both Europe and America continue to suffer below average growth and high unemployment in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, China and India now have growth rates of around 10 per cent (Dailami, 2011). This economic growth does not come without a cost since China is reported to emit more carbon dioxide than the US and Canada combined (Rogers and Evans, 2011) and has some of the most polluted cities in the world.What are the prospects for the future as the emerging economies continue to grow and the ownership of automobiles becomes more widespread? Where will the solution to the problems associated with ICE-powered vehicles be found? In this article, we examine the prospects of a solution coming from the emerging economies themselves. Specifically, we will look at the development of alternatives to ICE-powered vehicles in China. China has made new energy vehicles (NEVs) - a classification that covers both pure and hybrid electric vehicles - a key element of its industrial strategy. Below we examine the roles played by technological and business model innovation in one particular form of NEV, the electric vehicle (EV), and contrast the relative success of these two approaches. We begin this examination with a brief review of some of the current literature on technological and business model innovation in emerging economies.\n2. Technology innovation in emerging economies: The resource-based view of the firm argues that resources that are rare, difficult to imitate and non-transferable lead to a long-term competitive advantage. For many years, firms in advanced economies have tended to equate these properties with technological superiority. However, as Mathews (2002) points out, most high-tech firms recognize that resources based on technological superiority alone eventually become transferable, and frequently use this fact to their advantage.Much of the literature on technology and emerging economies focuses on the issue of technology transfer. The traditional argument is that technological innovations occur in the more advanced economies and, over time, diffuse into wider use. Authors such as Altenberg (Altenburg et al., 2012) argue that the capacity for technological innovation is only developing slowly in emerging economies. However, while it is true that most of the research behind new technologies takes place in the more advanced economies, the role of innovations elsewhere in the production chain should not be overlooked. The ways in which Chinese automobile manufacturers have transformed the product architecture of the motor car from a \"closed integral\" to \"quasi-open\" architecture, enabling them to produce a wide range of cars at a fraction of what it would cost an American or European manufacturer, is a perfect example of this (Wang and Kimble, 2010).Bower and Christensen (1995), among others, have argued that apparently simple changes in process management can produce a \"disruptive\" technology that offers consumers a radically new value proposition; one that established firms are unable to understand or compete with. Later, Christensen claimed that these disruptive technologies often originated in \"emerging markets remote from, and unimportant to, the mainstream\" (Christensen, 1997, p. 15).\n3. Business model innovation in emerging economies: According to Teece (2010, p. 172), a business model describes the way in which a firm \"delivers value to customers, entices its customers to pay for value, and converts those payments to profit\". A good business model means that a product offers value propositions that are compelling for customers, creates an advantageous infrastructure for the enterprise and generates a substantial revenue stream. An inappropriate business model means that a product will either fail to deliver value or fail to capture it.Using a similar argument to Bower and Christensen (1995), Mitchell and Coles (2003) contend that innovations in business models can also be \"disruptive\". However, the effect of business model innovation is less clear-cut. A new business model does not completely replace an existing business model in the way a new technology might but simply redefines how a product is seen and how it is offered to the customer. Thus, the advantage of business model innovation comes from the way it allows the same basic product to be offered in a new way, which yields more profit than can be obtained using the current business model.There have been a few studies that look directly at business model innovation in developing or emerging economies. However, Hart and Christensen (2002, p. 52) draw attention to the potential value of such business models, observing that:[...] business models that are forged in low-income markets travel well; that is, they can be profitably applied in more places than models defined in high income markets.Similarly, David Chao, a partner with Doll Capital Management, explains that Chinese businesses have to \"cater to extremely price-sensitive markets [...] that's why they have to come up with original solutions\" (quoted in Mitra, 2009).\n4. Technology and business innovation in the new energy vehicle industry in China: Having briefly reviewed what has been written about technological and business model innovation in emerging economies, we now examine two different sectors of the NEV industry in China. These represent two different solutions to China's problem of remaining a key player in the global automotive industry while simultaneously dealing with the environmental problems caused by the current generation of ICE-powered vehicles.The first approach sees EVs as a straightforward substitute for ICE-powered vehicles. This approach enjoys the active support of the Chinese central government but needs to overcome a number of substantial technical problems in order to succeed. The second is a less high-tech version of an EV, the Low-Speed Electric Vehicle (LSEV) that uses a set of technologies already in existence. Although the development of the LSEV is not actively supported by the central government, it does have the support of some provincial governments and is already enjoying a surprising degree of commercial success.4.1 The EV industry\n5. A comparison of the success of the EV and LSEV in China: How is it that the sales of an unglamorous low-tech, low-speed vehicle in one province can outstrip the sales for the whole of China of a high-tech vehicle that is seen as being one of the pillars of China's future industrial development? The key points concerning differences of approach in the two industries are summarized in Table V and discussed in greater detail below.5.1 The approach of the EV industry\n6. Some comments on innovations from emerging economies: The case study of the EV and LSEV in China is an opportunity to look at the nature and potential impact of an innovation that originates from within an emerging economy. In this final section, we comment on the lessons that may be drawn from this.First, our work highlights the need to take a more decentralized view of innovation and to monitor innovations that come from the emerging economies. The past experience of \"disruptive\" innovations from Japan and Korea has already demonstrated the risks of not doing so. As we noted in the introduction, the number of competitors from emerging economies will almost certainly increase and their \"non-orthodox\" approach to innovation, such as quasi-open product architecture in automobiles could have profound implications for existing companies.Second, we make the point that commercially focused innovations can have a greater impact than those based on technology. This is particularly the case in emerging economies where markets are growing quickly while basic science lags behind. As Leibowitz and Roth (2012) observed in their interview with Kevin Wale, the managing director of GM in China:What China does better than any place else in the world is to innovate by commercialization, as opposed to constant research and perfecting the theory, like the West. When the Chinese get an idea, they test it in the marketplace [...] That's an innovative way of doing innovation, something that the rest of the world is struggling to understand.Finally we highlight the fact that for innovations to succeed, we have to \"think out of the box\" - both technically and commercially. The inertia that comes from dependence on existing designs and an unquestioned acceptance of the accepted wisdom can blind firms to the potential of new ideas. Again, as Kevin Wale observed when talking about General Motor's approach to the development of electric vehicles in China:We will have an advanced design center here for the same reason. It's hard to imagine doing advanced design without taking into account the influence of the largest and fastest-growing market in the world. So we're putting in a starting point where we will have the basis for future creativity in the country.In the end, the LSEV may not provide the answer to the needs of future generations for personal mobility. However, we show in this article that a vehicle starting life as farm vehicle and still not officially allowed on the roads can easily outstrip the sales of an alternative supported by the central government of the most populous state in the world and the second richest nation after the USA. Perhaps that alone should give us pause for thought.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The overarching theme of this article is the importance of innovations that are created within the emerging economies. More specifically, the article aims to focus on the development of various alternatives to vehicles powered by the internal combustion engine, new energy vehicles (NEVs), within China.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The broad strategic approach of two sectors within the NEV sector in China, the pure electric vehicle (EV) and the low-speed electric vehicle (LSEV) sectors, are compared using recent data and conclusions are drawn.\nFindings: - The EV sector is viewed by central government as a key sector for China's future industrial growth and is heavily supported. In contrast, the LSEV sector receives no support from central government and yet clearly outstrips the sales of EVs. The article argues that the latter's success is a reflection of the LSEV sector's focus on business model rather than technological innovation.\nPractical implications: - The article highlights the importance of monitoring innovations that come from within emerging economies and also illustrates the benefits that can come from commercially focused innovations rather than those based on technology.\nSocial implications: - Finding alternatives to vehicles powered by fossil fuels is one of the most important challenges facing the world today. This article looks at the search for one alternative and examines its implications.\nOriginality/value: - The article examines a business sector that is peculiarly Chinese and yet has potential implications far beyond China. It also contains recent sales figures and other data collected directly from sources in China.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Entrepreneurs adoption of information system innovation: The impact of individual perception and exogenous factors on entrepreneurs behavior
|
[
"Information systems",
"Management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Research shows the importance of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship for economic growth. Entrepreneurs play their part by contributing to economic performance by introducing innovations, facilitating technological progress, creating change, driving business expansion, improving wealth, and job creation (Wong et al., 2005). Entrepreneurs generally have higher achievement motivation, they are risk takers, therefore more inclined to accept changes and be more innovative (Steward et al., 1998). Peter Drucker (1985) considers innovation in technology as an aspect of entrepreneurship and believes that innovation and entrepreneurship are the main forces in maintaining the dynamics of organizations, economics, and communities. It is important to investigate entrepreneurs' IS adoption behavior since they often use IS or IT as source of opportunity for new venture creation or to increase job performance in their daily business activities.\n2. Background: For 25 years and more, information system researchers have focussed on understanding IS adoption behavior by individuals and organizations. Several IS adoption models have been developed and proposed to explain users' acceptance and use of information technology. Researchers used these IS adoption models to explain technology acceptance in different contexts such as internet advertising (Hanafizadeh et al., 2012), e-mail advertisement (Chang et al., 2013), mobile commerce (Min et al., 2012), mobile banking (Zhou, 2011), electronic business (Lin, 2013; Teoh et al., 2013; Hsu et al., 2013), computer games (Davis et al., 2013) enterprise blogs (Wu et al., 2013a), and e-learning (Cheng, 2012), 3G mobile communication (Wu et al., 2013b), web usability (Wu et al., 2013c), telecare adoption (Huang and Lee, 2013), acceptance of assistive technology (Nam et al., 2013), and multimedia-based learning systems (Lee and Ryu, 2014). Several researchers have investigated entrepreneurs' technology acceptance (e.g. Franquesa and Brandyberry, 2009; Spencer et al., 2012; Chao and Chandra, 2012; Gonzalez-Alvarez and Solis-Rodriguez, 2011) and suggested different factors which effect entrepreneurs' intention to use new technology such as attitude, ease of use, usefulness, facilitating condition, relative advantage, age, education, cost, subjective norm, motivation (Peltier and Zhao, 2012; Ramdani et al., 2009; Tan et al., 2009). However, most of these researchers consider small and medium size comapny (SME) owners as entrepreneurs, and did not differentiate entrepreneurs from SMEs owners.\n3. Model development: The clearest parallels between the two models (UTAUT and EPM) can be drawn by comparing the elements of their respective underlying theories. The UTAUT model considers technological and environmental factors in predicting intentional behavior, whereas the EPM considers individual characteristics toward intention and behavior. Both models are intentional and derived from the TPB. In the TPB, perceived behavioral control considers two points of view: as effort requirement perspective and individual's perception of the ease of completion of a task, which influence the individual's opinion of their ability to complete it (Bandura and Adams, 1977) and as a facilitating conditions (resource, technology) perspective, which is the perception that resources will be available to complete the task (Chan et al., 2010). Venkatesh et al. (2003), emphasized more on the facilitating conditions aspect in the UTAUT model (Compeau and Hinggins, 1995; Agarwal and Prasad, 2000) while Krueger and Brazeal (1994) emphasized more on the self-efficacy dimension (perceived feasibility). The EPM considers self-efficacy (perceived feasibility) as a direct and important determinant toward behavioral intention. Perceived feasibility in the EPM is related to the individual's skill and ability. In EPM, Krueger and Brazeal (1994) combined the attitude and subjective norm together, and measured the effect of these two factors in one construct perceived desirability (Ajzen, 1991; Krueger and Brazeal, 1994). The EPM focusses on the effect of precipitating events on behavioral intention to take action, and posited that this variable is able to capture the effect of external factors in the relationship between intentions and use behavior. Social influence adopts from the UTAUT and measure how important are others' (family, peers, culture, colleagues, and mentors) beliefs toward adoption and use of IS innovation. The volitional aspects of entrepreneurs behavior measure through propensity to act adopts from EPM. Performance expectancy relates to the benefit of using IS or the expected outcomes such as attain gains in job performance, while effort expectancy relates to the ease of using IS, such as user friendly features.\n4. Method: 4.1 Participants and procedure\n5. Discussion: The present research sets out to establish a model that is able to measure different dimensions of technology adoption and capture the effect of external factors on the relationship between intention and behavior, while filling the gap between intention and behavior. The TADU model was empirically tested and the results provided strong empirical support for the new model. The findings suggest that perceived desirability is the strongest factor toward intention to use IS innovations. This finding shows that in the beginning, entrepreneurs will consider the attractiveness of the new technology and their desire to use it. If it is unattractive, and they lack the desire to use it, they will most probably ignore it. Many useful technologies introduced to the market that failed could not command the attention of the consumers. Therefore, the critical factors when introducing technologies are related to its attractiveness to the target audiences. For example, if mobile banking allows entrepreneurs to access their bank transactions regularly and this improves the quality of their business or saves time and money, and results in entrepreneurs achieving personal satisfaction, then using mobile banking is perceived as attractive for entrepreneurs. The second strongest factor toward intention to use IS innovations by entrepreneurs is performance expectancy. Based on these findings it can be assumed that when entrepreneurs perceive that an IS innovation is useful and beneficial it will encourage them to be more interested in investing in the IS innovation, and so they would be more likely adopt the system in their daily business activities.\n6. Conclusions: This study proposes the integrative TADU model based on two existing models: UTAUT and EPM to explain IS adoption and use behavior by entrepreneurs. Combining these two models enables a coherent and consistent explanation for interpreting and understanding IS adoption behavior by entrepreneurs that possess both organizational and individual perceptions and attitude. The integrative TADU model has six core determinants toward IS adoption behavior of entrepreneurs: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, perceived desirability, perceived feasibility, and facilitating conditions, along with four moderators: gender, age, propensity to use, and precipitating events. The results demonstrated the importance of these factors in influencing intention to use and use behavior in the UTAUT model. TADU model was validated in the context of technology acceptance, and the results showed that the model has the ability to predict an entrepreneur's intention to use IS innovations. The integrated model is able to account for 84.4 percent of the variance in intention, which is impressive and relatively high. Overall, the findings of this study significantly enhance our understanding of entrepreneurs' technology adoption and use behavior, and the determinants that they employ when they want to use new technology.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore technology acceptance and use behavior of IS innovations by entrepreneurs. To measure the perception of IS innovations by entrepreneurs the authors review unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and the entrepreneurial potential model, empirically compare the two models, develop a new model that integrates elements from the two models, and then empirically validate the new model (technology adoption decision and use (TADU)) in a technology acceptance context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The data used to test the hypothesis are collected from 1,200 entrepreneurs in Malaysia. The research model was analyzed using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: The results indicate that perceived desirability and perceived feasibility have significant effects on entrepreneurs' intention to adopt and use innovations. Propensity to use is an important factor that has a significant effect on individual behavior. The precipitating events that happen in the time lag between intention and behavior will disrupt entrepreneurs' inertia and induce a change in their behavior, encouraging them to seek the best opportunity available.\nPractical implications: Understanding the individual, technological, and environmental factors that significantly affect IT adoption behavior can support policy makers in providing guidance on the adoption and usage of IT innovations by entrepreneurs.\nOriginality/value: This study proposes a TADU model with six core determinants of intention and usage - perceived desirability, perceived feasibility, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions and two new moderators, precipitating events and the propensity to act.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Energy disclosure law in New York City: Building energy performance benchmarking progress
|
[
"Benchmarking",
"Facilities management",
"Energy consumption",
"Building management",
"Sustainable buildings",
"Energy disclosure"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), commercial buildings consumed a total of 18 quadrillion British thermal units (BTUs) in 2015, including delivered energy and electricity-related losses. This is equivalent to 18.5 per cent of total energy use in the USA (US Energy Information Administration, 2016a). Over the past 20 years, the emphasis has been placed on increasing energy efficiency in buildings and related equipment and devices. Because of this charge, commercial buildings' end-use energy intensity, measured by energy consumption per square foot, has improved. In fact, in 2000, primary energy consumption totaled 250,300 BTUs per square foot (BTU/SF) but was decreased to 224,600 BTU/SF in 2010. Similarly, delivered energy consumption in 2000 was approximately119,700 BTU/SF but dropped to 107,700 BTU/SF in 2010 [US Department of Energy (DOE), 2012].\n2. Methods: This study uses secondary data derived from diverse sources: New York City's open data, LEED data obtained from the US Green Building Council (USGBC) and ENERGY STAR data from a federal agency's (Environmental Protection Agency) database. First, the authors acquired the NYC LL84 Benchmarking open data from the NYC Mayor's Office of Sustainability[1]. The data set shows the annual energy consumption of government and commercial buildings from 2010 to 2014. The second data used in this study are the Primary Land Use Tax Lot Output (PLUTO)[2], which the Department of City Planning of NYC published as an open access work. This data set provides basic building information (i.e. size, usage, year built, year altered, ownership and owner's name). Third, the LEED data acquired in April 2014 represent a list of LEED-certified buildings in NYC and their levels of LEED achievement (certified, silver, gold and platinum) from the US Green Building Council. The authors identified 340 buildings by matching their project names and addresses with those of buildings stored on the Green Building Information Gateway (GBIG)[3]. The directory of ENERGY STAR-certified buildings obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) database describes scores achieved between 0 and 100[4]. These ENERGY STAR scores reflect quartile of the building's energy performance compared with energy performance of similar buildings: for example, a score of 75 indicates that the building is performing better than 75 per cent of its peers and belongs into the top quartile.\n3. Results: 3.1 Data extraction and cleaning\n4. Discussion: This study provided the empirical evidence of energy consumption trends of commercial buildings, and adequately reveals that the EUIs of the relevant buildings affected by LL84 Benchmarking has been improved from 2011 to 2014. Concerning the analysis of EUIs of LEED-certified buildings, the EUI of certified buildings frequently falls in the similar range of the EUI of non-certified ones, as shown in this study's analysis model. Conversely, it is typically assumed that LEED-certified buildings will perform better than others, pertaining to energy consumption. The first possible reason for this phenomenon is that LEED certification is evaluated and awarded during the building design and construction phase - not based on actual energy consumption data. Thus, energy performance of a building might be greatly affected by several factors and variables that could occur after design and construction phases, including any change orders of design, the quality of construction, the quality of facility operation and maintenance, and the relationship of occupancy and energy use. For instance, the quality of facility operation and maintenance can affect the building energy consumption. Having a regular (preventative or predictive) maintenance program and conducting a building energy-audit can influence the building energy consumption by reducing deferred maintenance and repairs and implementing energy conservative measures based on the results of an energy audit. In other words, proper maintenance of the building system should be in place for facilities, regardless of their initial effort of achieving sustainability, to ensure the building's high energy efficiency throughout its life cycle. The occupancy and occupants' behavior are other possible reasons. Related factors are the operational hours of occupying businesses, the number of visitors, occupants' energy-mindful behaviors, such as turning off lights or air conditioning when not in use. The impact of occupants' behavior can be greater, especially when the building is not equipped with sensors and automated systems. Additionally, the energy simulation is not required for LEED-rating systems.\n5. Conclusion and policy implications: The results of this study indicate that the overall annual energy consumption of buildings that reported their benchmarking progress has improved each year over the four-year period. As expected, the energy consumption of ENERGY STAR-certified buildings was lower than non-certified buildings. Noticeably, LEED-certified buildings do not reveal much difference in energy consumption as compared to non-LEED-certified buildings. This study shows that LL84: Benchmarking displays the positive association of the building energy disclosure law and buildings' energy efficiency. Moreover, the outcomes of the analysis reveal that the law can be equally applied to LEED or non-LEED-certified buildings to improve their building energy efficiency. In fact, there was no significant difference in energy efficiency between LEED and non-LEED-certified buildings as possible reasons have been discussed in the previous section.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to primarily analyzing the state and pattern of current energy benchmarking progress on commercial buildings since the New York City's energy disclosure law, Local Law 84: Benchmarking has been implemented. It then compares the yearly benchmarking progress of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified and non-LEED-certified buildings as well as ENERGY STAR-certified and non-ENERGY STAR-certified.\nDesign/methodology/approach: For thorough analytics, the authors combined and examined four sources of data: New York City Local Law 84: Benchmarking, Primary Land Use Tax Lot Output, US Green Building Council and US Environmental Protection Agency. The data sets were combined using two primary keys: the Borough, Block, Lot (BBL) number and the building address. Four years of energy use intensity values were obtained and normalized by shrinking the range of deviance in weather.\nFindings: The findings indicate a significant improvement in the benchmarking progress when controlling building size, building type, year of construction or the most recent renovation and the presence of renovation. Interestingly, there is no significant difference in the energy benchmarking progress between LEED- and non-LEED-certified buildings. Possible reasons are explored and discussed.\nOriginality/value: From a methodological perspective, the study benefited from data disclosure as well as open data sources and used secondary data with a relatively large sample size. Many studies in the construction industry are based on the case-study approach, which may affect generalizability and causality of research findings. This unique approach illustrates the potential of secondary data analysis in the industry.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
IT sophistication, performance and progress towards formal electronic communication in the Hong Kong construction industry
|
[
"Hong Kong",
"Communications",
"Information management",
"Construction industry"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Background and context: The use of computer-based processes such as computer aided design (CAD), spreadsheets, word processing and accounting has become normal practice within the construction industry. Cost, efficiency and time considerations have driven the change to such computer-based tools. Decision making for these applications has changed from being \"whether\" to \"what system\" decisions. Similarly, although more recently, the industry has been adopting electronic document management (EDM) tools and computer-based communications technology. However, the use of such communications technology to date has largely been a result of the technology becoming available and overtaking the construction industry, which has been slow to make conscious business-driven decisions to reappraise and re-engineer its systems (France, 2002; Mitropoulos and Tatum, 2000), and its use is \"often informal in nature\" (Carter et al. 2002). The informal use of email can be conceptually described as \"written telephone calls\". Progress in hardware and software since the mid-1990s has resulted in computer-based tools for formal communications being now available to the construction industry. Formal communications can be conceptually described as \"for the record\", and are required for legal accountability, authentication and record purposes (Pena-Mora and Choudary, 2001).Such computer-based formal communication technology can also offer benefits in terms of efficiency, cost and time to the construction industry, Users of extranets in the USA and UK reported satisfaction with their use of project extranets, with 96 per cent saying that they would use them on their next project (Murphy, 2001). Alshawi and Ingirige (2001) report that the volume (1,500) and value (PS20 billion) of paying projects using extranet application service providers in the UK in 2001, together with some case studies on benefits from web-based communications, attest to the benefits in terms of both time and cost. They conclude that in order for the construction industry to successfully embrace the technology, it must address technology and process, people, procurement, legal issues and knowledge management.Informal and formal communications generally co-exist in all projects. In the construction industry the distinction is important due to the separation of design and construction, both in the entities (design consultants and construction contractors) and sequence (design - tender - construct). As early as 1966, the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations (1966) observed \"for three centuries the industry has been struggling to reconcile technical interdependence with organisational independence\". The separation of design and construction has resulted in a lack of project team integration and the development of complex contractual relationships, which typically involve huge exchanges of paper associated with contract documentation, quality assurance, contractual correspondence and the like. In a related study, a review of the EDM systems for two major Hong Kong infrastructure projects (Croker, 2003) revealed more than a quarter of a million documents were exchanged between the contractor and the other stake-holders for each project.Migration from paper-based communications to electronic transmission of complex formal transactions requires user maturity, an advanced stable technological infrastructure and the will to re-engineer business processes (Hong Kong Government Supplies Department, 2001). Notwithstanding the availability of technology, organisational issues are paramount to the success of an IT-based business process re-engineering project (Pena-Mora et al., 1999).In Hong Kong, the Construction Industry Review Committee report, Construct for Excellence, recommended, amongst other improvements in the construction industry:1. raising the IT literacy through training;2. increasing the level of adoption of IT for improving the industry's efficiency and cost-effectiveness; and3. adoption of a common platform for electronic communications (The Tang Report, 2001: recommendations 66, 67 and 69).This research examines the progress towards these improvements by examining the level of the industry's IT performance and sophistication rather than the industry's opinions as to the technology. Weill and Olson (1989) state that the mixed and inconclusive results of IT performance measurement reported in the literature could be attributed to the failure to study comprehensively the level of IT sophistication by the use of surrogates, and the reliance on piecemeal studies. Therefore, two existing research frameworks were utilised as a surrogate measure to investigate the industry's IT preparedness and sophistication.The first, the Health Check of Strategic Implementation of IT published by the Construct IT Centre of Excellence (Shafagi and Betts, 1997) addresses the strategic or systematic IT capability of construction companies - i.e. the relative level of IT preparedness. The Strategic Health Check comprises 28 questions divided into three classifications: competition and business; the role of IT; and, IT strategy.The second, the Refined IT Performance Measurement Survey developed by Stewart (2002) addresses employee's assessment of performance /satisfaction with the technical and human, social and organisational aspects of IT processes - i.e. performance of the current IT applications/tools being used in construction. It is comprised of 25 questions divided into five perspectives (Figure 1) being operational, benefits, user orientation, strategic competitiveness, and technology/system.\n2. Methodology: The research was undertaken using a three-part survey:1. classified the respondent and his /her employer's use of IT systems using closed questions, with an invitation to provide opinions on the topic;2. investigated the respondent's company's strategic use and management of IT using the Strategic Health Check; and3. investigated the respondent's assessment of performance of, and level of satisfaction with, current IT applications/ tools using the Refined IT Performance Measurement Survey.The primary survey frame was a database containing names of construction industry professionals from a wide variety of construction industry companies. A supplementary distribution to employees of client and consultant organisations was also undertaken to correct an imbalance in the database.\n3. Questionnaire results and analysis: The survey questionnaire was disseminated by post to the 498 construction industry professionals on the database and in soft copy as an email attachment to 27 consultant/client construction project professionals. After discounting letters of apology and questionnaires returned \"address unknown\" there were 175 positive responses from 510 recipients or 34.3 per cent. 105 of the 175 respondents responded to the invitation to provide opinions of factors or limitations that would influence a decision to implement formal electronic project communication tools.One interesting aspect of the mode of return of the responses is that it followed the mode of distribution. Of the 483 disseminated by mail (each with a stamped self-addressed envelope) and 152 responses, 135 were returned by mail; nine by fax; and only eight via the website. Of the 27 disseminated by email and 23 responses, only one was returned by mail and one by fax; two were returned by hand; 15 by email; and four via the website.3.1. Part A analysis: classification of respondents and their use of IT\n4. Discussion of major findings: 4.1. The state of the technology\n5. Conclusions: This research has confirmed that the Hong Kong construction industry's IT technical maturity and infrastructure continues to improve and its level of IT literacy, technological maturity and advanced technical infrastructure is equivalent to that which exists in Australia and the UK. However, there is room for improvement in Hong Kong (in a similar fashion to Australia) for continuing to raise IT literacy through training - a perspective that only scored \"Low-Adequate\" in both country's surveys.Respondents indicated that operational aspects of, and benefits from, IT were improved over their previous business processes; and, they were relatively satisfied with technological perspectives of their company's IT capabilities. The results indicate parity with the Australian industry, with little difference in technological maturity and advanced technical infrastructure between clients, consultants, contractors, and subcontractors (although smaller subcontractors may be lagging behind).However, the level of implementation of innovative IT-based formal communications processes in Hong Kong does not match that which exists in the UK, although some construction industry companies from each key stakeholder group are rated by their employees as being world class in their awareness of IT and its application. This implies that, whereas many members of the Hong Kong construction industry are technically capable of embracing innovative IT-based formal communications processes, other cultural or structural factors, such as the industry's resistance to change, the proportion of government projects and lack of incentive (and budget) at project level may be impeding its adoption. The specifics of these constraining factors and investigation of ways to overcome them is worthy of further research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The adoption of computer technology by the construction industry has been driven by the competitive advantages offered by the available technology. The continuing evolution of information technology (IT) in the construction industry has led to widespread e-mail use for informal project communications but, as yet, only limited use of IT for formal communications. This study aims to address this issue\nDesign/methodology/approach: - An industry survey was conducted to assess the improvement towards IT literacy and increased competitiveness through the use of IT in Hong Kong, by comparison with previous surveys in the UK, Australia and Hong Kong.\nFindings: - The research found that the Hong Kong construction industry's IT technical maturity and technical infrastructure are well advanced and remain at about the same level as Australia and the UK. Construction professionals commonly perceived benefits in migration to formal electronic communications.\nOriginality/value: - The perceived obstacles to the industry's adoption of formal IT-based communications were found to be additional cost and security/confidentiality concerns, but there are underlying obstacles in the industry's structure and lack of incentive (and budget) at project level.\n",
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] |
Teacher leadership: toward a new conceptual framework
|
[
"Conceptual framework",
"Teacher leadership",
"Leadership",
"Networks",
"School improvement",
"Professional community"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nTeacher leadership: developing a new conceptual framework: The research base on teacher leadership is notoriously weak. While there is no shortage of research studies on teacher leadership, existing studies do not currently add up in ways that lead to strong conclusions about what works when it comes to teacher leadership. This situation persists because \"teacher leadership\" is an inconsistently defined term.\nBackground: a community without consensus: Researchers of teacher leadership gather each year for a Teacher Leadership Congress during the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. This yearly convening was initiated when, at the 2012 conference, a roundtable presentation on teacher leadership spilled over into to an extended discussion about the lack of empirical research on teacher leadership, the lack of shared definitions or frameworks needed to create such research, and what might be done about it. Researchers who agreed with the concern committed to convening a community of researchers to tackle this problem.\nConceptual framework: toward distinctions that matter: As we pondered the question of how other professional communities have dealt with similar questions of conceptual variation, we were drawn to some thinking from an earlier time. Throughout the 1950s, many researchers focused their attention on \"attitude,\" something that seemed central to human behavior. At the time, \"attitude,\" much like teacher leadership today, was an umbrella term being used in different ways, which interfered with theory-building and knowledge development. Blumer (1955) offered a set of requirements to stimulate more productive thinking about attitude as a theoretical concept. He wrote:A satisfactory concept in empirical science must meet three simple requirements:(1) It must point clearly to the individual instances of the class of empirical objects to which it refers; (2) It must distinguish clearly this class of objects from other related classes of objects; and (3) It must enable the development of cumulative knowledge of the class of objects to which it refers. (p. 59)\nConceptualizing teacher leadership: We hypothesize that there are four key dimensions of the concept \"teacher leadership.\" They are the source of legitimacy, the support to accomplish the work, the objective of teachers' influence and the method of influence (see Table II). In research and in practice, when scholars point to a specific example of \"teacher leadership\" and/or attempt to distinguish it from other examples, they use terms that reference these four concepts. The sections that follow describe each dimension, illustrating ways that each varies in practice.\nMethod: Leadership is influence. What expectations or assumptions do researchers hold about the methods by which teachers influence others?\nDiscussion: Progress in research on teacher leadership is stymied by a lack of consensus and clarity about what teacher leadership is. In this paper, we propose four dimensions - legitimacy, support, objective and method - that allow researchers to \"point clearly\" to teacher leadership, \"distinguish clearly this class of objects from other classes of objects,\" and \"enable the development of cumulative knowledge\" about teacher leadership (Blumer, 1955, p. 59).\nSignificance: Teacher leadership is expanding as a topic of interest in the education community. Teachers imagine they might be able to make a difference beyond their own classrooms or have a true voice in shaping their profession. Principals hope to solicit help in managing the ever-increasing demands that seem to come at them from every direction: students, families, teachers, district leaders, the state and even society. District and state leaders expect the prospect of teacher leadership will help to attract strong candidates to the profession and help them want to stay. Some of these outcomes may be possible under certain conditions, but the ambiguity surrounding \"teacher leadership\" makes such progress difficult. The ambiguity undercuts the ability to apply past research to current questions, to build upon one another's work and begin to establish an empirical knowledge base capable of maximizing the impact of teacher leadership.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Conceptual ambiguity about the term \"teacher leadership\" has retarded development of useful research on this topic. The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework that researchers might utilize to clarify key assumptions embedded in their use of the term \"teacher leadership,\" enabling members of this research community to better understand and build upon each other's work and to develop a knowledge base on teacher leadership.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In 2016 a community of researchers convened in a conversation about their varied conceptions of teacher leadership. The authors analyzed documentation from this convening to identify key ways in which members' conceptions of teacher leadership diverged. They then drew upon the teacher-leader research literature and their own experiences with teacher-leader initiatives to propose a conceptual framework that would support researchers to define teacher leadership in ways that meet established criteria for an empirically-useful concept.\nFindings: Four dimensions of teacher leadership that should be referenced in an empirically-useful definition of teacher leadership are: legitimacy, support, objective and method. It is hypothesized that clarifying one's assumptions about each of these dimensions and providing descriptive evidence of how they are instantiated will address the conceptual ambiguity that currently stymies the accumulation of knowledge in this field.\nOriginality/value: This paper presents a framework that can provide a strong foundation for the development of a knowledge base on teacher leadership, which is needed to inform education leaders' efforts to maximize teachers' leadership influence as asset for improving teaching, learning and schools.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Debt financing decisions of SMEs in emerging markets: empirical evidence from Malaysia
|
[
"Debt financing",
"Information asymmetry",
"Access to finance",
"Small and medium enterprises (SMEs)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) make up 97 percent of total business establishments in Malaysia but contributed to only about 36.3 percent of the country's GDP in year 2015. The SME sector accounts for 65.5 percent of the total employment in the country but total labor productivity of SMEs grew by only 0.4 percent in year 2015 as compared to large firms (0.9 percent) (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2011). According to the Malaysia - World Bank Productivity and Investment Climate Survey, access to finance is among the key challenges faced by an SME in Malaysia (World Bank, 2009). Finance is crucial to an SME as it is not just a driver of a firm's growth but influences most of the other key challenges faced by an SME. Financing in the initial start-up stage is seen as a major barrier to SME entry and issues in financing persist even in the later stages of an SME's life cycle. A survey conducted by the SME Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp) on SMEs in Malaysia reports that 44.8 percent of the respondents cite difficulty in sustaining operations due to cash flow and liquidity problems. However, the survey by SME Corp also shows that demand for financing by SMEs from financial institutions has decreased to 36.3 percent in the first quarter of year 2016 despite the approval rate by financial institutions being well above 90 percent. It is this discrepancy between the need and demand for financing that motivates this study.\n2. Theoretical development and literature review: Modigliani and Miller's (1958) seminal theory of capital structure asserts that the capital structure of a firm is unimportant, assuming perfect capital markets, rational economic behavior, no taxes, transaction and bankruptcy costs, among others. Hence, the capital structure decision is irrelevant and does not affect shareholder value or wealth. The theory, however, has limited applicability to small firms (Chaganti et al., 1995) mainly due to the unrealistic assumptions of rational economic behavior and perfect market conditions (Romano et al., 2001). Subsequently, theories such as the agency theory (Jensen and Meckling, 1976), the trade-off theory (Harris and Raviv, 1990; Jensen and Meckling, 1976; Stulz, 1990) and the pecking order theory (Donaldson, 1961; Myers, 1984; Myers and Majluf, 1984) were developed and although Ang (1991) \"points out that the theory of finance was not developed with the small business in mind\" (Michaelas et al., 1999), these theories do provide some insights into the capital structure choice of both large and small firms.\n3. Data and methodology: Sampling method and procedures\n4. Data analysis and results: The results of the cross-tabulation analysis and the Mann-Whitney U test provide some idea of how these variables affect an SME's decision to apply for bank financing. Multivariate analysis is then carried out via the logistic regression analysis. However, correlation analysis is first carried out to ensure the absence of multicollinearity issues. Results of the correlation analysis are presented in Table VI. The highest correlation value is found to be 0.5063 between SIZE and LEGAL. Since all values are less than 0.8, no issue of multicollinearity is detected among the independent and control variables (Gujarati and Porter, 2009).\n5. Discussion of results: The results of both the logistic and SEM-PLS analyses show that LEGAL, FP and AF have significant positive influences on the decision of an SME to apply for debt financing. H3, H4 and H6 are therefore supported. FP and AF are found to have the largest effect size, f2, compared to the other variables. The control variable, TYPE, also has a significant positive influence on APPLY. The significant negative influence of TYPE on APPLY means that independent SMEs are more likely to apply for financing compared to those that are a branch/subsidiary of another larger firm. This is expected as branch/subsidiary SMEs tend to rely on their parent firm for financing instead of applying for financing themselves. On the other hand, CH has a significant negative influence on the decision to apply for debt financing. H5 is therefore also supported. AGE has a very weak influence (at 10 percent significance level) on the decision to apply for debt financing therefore there is weak support for the H1. SIZE is found to be insignificant, hence H2 is not supported. Table X presents the results of the hypothesis tests.\n6. Conclusion: The focus of this study is to examine the various factors that influence an SME's decision to apply for debt financing, specifically bank loans. To do this, data from 145 SMEs from Selangor and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur are used. Data are obtained through the use of survey questionnaires distributed to 456 SMEs. The findings from the survey show that an SME's financial performance, its access to finance and its legal form play a significant positive role in its decision to apply for debt financing. Private limited SMEs that perform well and are able to access to various financing options are more likely to apply for financing. However, there is also evidence of a significant negative influence of credit history on the decision to apply for financing, i.e. SMEs with unfavorable past credit records are more likely to apply for financing. The age of an SME has weak influence while its size is found to be insignificant in influencing its decision to apply for financing. The results imply the role of financial market imperfections such as adverse selection and information asymmetry in defining the market for bank loans.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the various factors that influence a small and medium enterprise's (SME) decision to apply for bank loans.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data from survey responses of 145 SMEs from Selangor and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur are used for this purpose. Exploratory factor analysis, logistic regression and SEM-PLS are used to analyze the data.\nFindings: The findings from the survey show that an SME's financial performance, its access to finance and its legal form play a significant positive role in its decision to apply for debt financing. Private limited SMEs that perform well and are able to access to various financing options are more likely to apply for financing. However, there is also evidence of a significant negative influence of credit history on the decision to apply for financing, as SMEs with a poor credit history are more likely to apply for financing. The age of an SME has weak influence while its size is found to be insignificant in influencing its decision to apply for financing.\nOriginality/value: The results imply the role of financial market imperfections such as adverse selection and information asymmetry in defining the SME's demand for debt financing. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of the debt financing decisions of SMEs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The impact of perceived service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction: An empirical study on public sector banks in India
|
[
"Corporate image",
"Banking industry",
"Customer satisfaction",
"Structural equation modelling (SEM)",
"Service quality dimensions",
"Indian public sectors banks (Indian PSBs)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the present era of globalization and digitalization, it is evident that the Indian banking sector is growing at a rapid pace. Due to this phenomenon, it has reached the landmark of close to 100 percent implementation of the core banking system while achieving the milestone of a high level of transaction (nearly 200 transactions) per day per ATM. This is all evident in day-to-day retail banking services rendered by a few banks in each category, which is close to the highest in the world, where it will soon become the world's third largest banking sector after China and USA by 2025 (Tripathi and Poddar, 2011).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Customer satisfaction\n3. Hypothesis development: 3.1 The relationship between perceived service quality dimensions and customer satisfaction\n4. Methodology: 4.1 Sample characteristics\n5. Data analysis and results: Before doing data analysis, an exploratory factor analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21.0 on the 23 variables to identify the underlying factors following the guidelines of Gerbing and Anderson (1988). For extracting variables, principle component analysis was employed, and varimax rotation with Kaiser Normalization was also applied. KMO value was found to be 0.897, which was more than the recommended value of 0.6 for sample adequacy. Bartlett's test of sphericity was also significant (p=0.001).\n6. Conclusion and implications: The present study holds a discussion on determining the dimensions of perceive service quality and investigation of the impact of such service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction in the Indian banking context with special reference of selected public sector banks in India. This research paper endeavors to satisfy the objective of research by empirically testing a large sample of the population in the NCR, in relation to their satisfaction level toward the quality of banking services rendered by selected public sector banks.\n7. Limitations and future research: While conducting this study, some limitations were found, suggesting some inputs in the possible direction for future research in the banking context.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In the present competitive scenario in the Indian banking industry, service quality has become one of the most important facets of interest to academic researchers. The purpose of this paper is to determine the dimensions of perceived service quality and investigate their impact on customer satisfaction in the Indian banking context, with special reference to selected public sector banks in India.\nDesign/methodology/approach: On the basis of the empirical study, the authors validate a measurement model using structural equation modeling for investigating the impact of perceived service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction. The study sample consists of 480 respondents in the National Capital Region (NCR) of India; the data were collected through a structured questionnaire utilizing a seven-point Likert scale while implementing a purposive sampling technique.\nFindings: The perceived service quality dimensions identified were tangibility, reliability, assurance, responsiveness, empathy, and image. The empirical findings revealed that \"responsiveness\" was found to be the most significant predictor of customer satisfaction. On the other hand, \"image\" (corporate image) has a positive but the least significant relationship with customer satisfaction followed by all other constructs. The exception is \"reliability,\" which is insignificantly related to customer satisfaction in Indian public sector banks.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study cannot be generalized in the context of Indian banking sectors, as it only focused on the public sector. The findings of this study suggest that the six dimensions of perceived service quality model are a suitable instrument for evaluating bank service quality for public banks in India. Therefore, bank managers can use this model to assess the bank service quality in the context of Indian public sector banks.\nOriginality/value: There is dearth of research focusing on corporate image as a dimension of perceived service quality and its effect on customer satisfaction in the Indian banking context. Furthermore, similar studies were rarely found in the Indian context, especially within the public banking sector. Hence, this paper attempts to accomplish the research gap by empirically testing the satisfaction level of a large sample of the population in NCR toward six dimensions of perceived service quality rendered by selected public sector banks in India.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The power of personal brand authenticity and identification: top celebrity players' contribution to loyalty toward football
|
[
"Human brand",
"Personal brand",
"Personal brand authenticity",
"Brand authenticity",
"Football",
"Brand identification",
"Brand loyalty",
"Behavioral loyalty",
"Attitudinal loyalty",
"Structural equation modeling (SEM)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the current era of fake news, illusions, manipulations and other artificial attributes of virtuality and reality, authenticity is highly appreciated and is becoming a crucial factor in accomplishing brand success (Audrezet et al., 2018; Mills and Robson, 2019). Although different definitions of authenticity have been proposed, the definition most commonly used states that authenticity involves being true to oneself (Rogers, 1959). Authenticity is the \"unobstructed operation of one's true, or core, self in one's daily enterprise\" (Kernis, 2003, p. 1). For individuals to be \"real,\" their behavior should be motivated by their thoughts and feelings (Moulard et al., 2016). Authenticity, particularly for an individual, is an essential component for bond creation because it encompasses in a single dimension all the facets of the individual. Moreover, authenticity drives dedication in terms of positive responses to a brand (Morhart et al., 2015), such as feeling love via identification. Beverland (2005, p. 461) stressed that brand authenticity \"serves consumers as a form of self-expression for brands that represent a genuine expression of inner personal truth\".\nConceptual framework and hypotheses development: Personal, human, and celebrity brand\nControl variables: Giulianotti (2002) suggested a different structural connection between four identified categories of spectators: supporters, followers, fans and flaneurs. He proposed these four categories of football consumers based on whether they adhere to the \"traditional\" approach to football, which is rooted in local, social relationships and associations or to the \"modern\" approach, which is visible in the total commodification of football. Further, he noted the \"hot\" form of loyalty (football as a way of life) and the \"cool\" loyalty style (football as a favorite entertainment). Giulianotti (2002) defined traditional/hot spectators as supporters who make a long-term personal and emotional investment in the football club. They may purchase shares in the club or buy expensive club gadgets; however, their outlay is underpinned by a conscious commitment to show solidarity and offer financial support to the club. The traditional/cool group of spectators (followers) supports clubs, players, managers and other football-linked people most often via the popular \"cool\" media. The modern/hot group are spectators (fans) of a football club or of specific players - particularly celebrities. These fans are \"hot\" in terms of their identification, but their relationship is more distant than that enjoyed by supporters. The strength of their identification with a club and its players is most readily authenticated through their consumption of related products. The identity of modern/cool consumers (flaneurs) with a club or players is reflected by a set of market-dominated virtual interactions or through other popular \"cool\" media. Based on this theory, loyalty to a particular club is not equal to loyalty to the general football discipline in a particular group of spectators and the personal brands of top players can strongly affect attitudes and behaviors.\nMethodology: Data collection was performed electronically via Facebook through sponsored advertisements that targeted respondents based in Poland who are interested in sports, particularly football, to participate in the study. The advertisements had a link to a Google Forms survey. Respondents who agreed to participate in the survey received an open qualification question, which ensured they had the necessary knowledge to complete the questionnaire. That is, they had to name their favorite football player. Data from respondents who did not provide a real football player's name were excluded. Interestingly, 84% of the football stars that the respondents named are from countries other than Poland. This convenient sampling method reduced the risk of a sample size that was too small and a sample that did not have the necessary knowledge to answer the required questions.\nResults: Table 3 presents a comparison of the results obtained for two models: Model A run with control variables (CVs) and Model B run without CVs (Aguinis and Vandenberg, 2014; Becker et al., 2016). In both cases, for both models, the general results of the hypotheses verification were similar and all hypotheses except H2 and H3 were supported. Figure 2 presents the results obtained for all spectators.\nDiscussion and implications: This study broadens the understanding of the influence of the personal brand authenticity of football stars on spectator loyalty to football. Although it is essential to determine the antecedents of authenticity in line with Moulard et al. (2016), the outcomes of authenticity are also significant, particularly from a managerial perspective. This study reveals that without identification, the authenticity of a football star does not contribute positively to behavioral loyalty. This important point merits further discussion. Beverland (2005) highlighted that brand authenticity requires managers to understate their overt marketing skills and instead locate their brands within communities and subcultures. The general finding of the present study is that personal brand identification is a strong mediator between personal brand authenticity and attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. This finding has interesting practical and theoretical implications, as outlined in the next section.\nLimitations and future research: Although this study provides insights into football celebrities' personal brand authenticity, it has some limitations. First, this empirical investigation involved people from one country only. Given that sports and football are perceived differently in different countries and cultures, it is worth extending the research beyond Poland. Second, different sports may have different criteria for increasing interest, attraction and loyalty among the public. Therefore, it is worth considering sports other than football to validate the results of this study. Third, the study model was purposefully designed to limit the variables to a reasonable number (i.e. brand authenticity, brand identification and brand loyalty). Although the mediation of brand identification is an interesting result, a better picture of the effects of brand authenticity could be gained by including more variables, such as perceived value and attitudes toward football players and clubs.\nConclusion: In summary, this study presented a model of relationships between the authenticity of clubs and top players' brands and attitudinal and behavioral loyalty toward football in general via the mediation of personal brand identification. The analysis of the presented mediations suggests that a clearer picture of the effects of brand authenticity could be gained by including other variables, such as perceived value and attitudes toward football players and clubs. Including these variables in the model would help obtain a comprehensive picture of the investigated relationships for the football industry. The authenticity of top football players' brands is important for the entire industry. The presented implications suggest that the ties between clubs and football players are complex and that extensive theoretical studies are required to understand the significance of personal brand authenticity. This study's key conclusion is that top players' authenticity is among the most crucial factors influencing loyalty in one of the most successful and profitable sports disciplines worldwide.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In the current era of fake news, illusions, manipulations and other artificial attributes of virtuality and reality, authenticity is a virtue that people highly appreciate. This study aims to examine the influence of the personal brand authenticity of top football players on loyalty to the football discipline in general, via the mediation of personal brand identification.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on data collected from a convenience sample of 562 respondents from Poland via an electronic survey and analyzed using the structural equation modeling method, this study explored, first, the influence of top football players' personal brand authenticity on consumers' identification with these football players, and second, how this identification may lead to enhancing loyalty to the football discipline. Finally, it verified how the loyalty effect (attitudinal and behavioral) varies across different categories of spectators.\nFindings: Personal brand identification with authentic football stars is a focal factor enabling the creation of loyalty (attitudinal and behavioral) to the whole discipline. Consumers' perceptions of the authenticity of the personal brands of football players play a role in increasing identification with these personal brands. This identification is essential in achieving loyalty to football as a sports discipline via football celebrities.\nPractical implications: Football players perceived as authentic are evaluated more positively, leading to consumer identification with these players, which, in turn, increases consumers' loyalty to football. Thus, the presence of authentic, skilled players is important for football, but the actual loyalty effect from authenticity can be achieved only by identification. Therefore, football requires exceptional, strong stars who reflect a set of desired personal values. Further research is needed to identify the desired set of values that leads to identification with football stars.\nOriginality/value: This study presents evidence that the personal brand authenticity of a football star is a driver of loyalty towards football discipline in general if the spectators' identification with this superstar occurs. Moreover, this study proves that loyalty to football driven by the personal brand authenticity of football stars differs between spectators' categories.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Criminal history and employment: an interdisciplinary literature synthesis
|
[
"Criminal history",
"Employment barriers",
"Employment post-release",
"Employment re-entry"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Alarmed by an array of statistics suggesting widespread employment discrimination against Americans with criminal records, advocates ranging from nonprofits such as the National Employment Law Project (Rodriguez and Avery, 2016) to conservative billionaires David and Charles Koch have argued that rejecting job applicants with criminal records poses significant risk to an already vulnerable population and further reduces an organization's access to talented workers (Holden, 2016). Echoing this point, sociological researchers Lundquist et al. (2018) have written that \"employers may thus be missing out on a large number of potentially high-quality workers\" (p. 1061). Management scholars Jones Young and Powell (2015) have called for more theory-driven research approaches on ex-offender employment, noting that these applicants \"continue to be consistently perceived negatively and [thus] require additional attention in the literature\" (p. 308). The crux of the matter is what economists Kim and Loury (2018) describe as the central feature characterizing the labor market for formerly incarcerated people: employers have traditionally chosen not to associate with those who will presumably return to crime.\nMethod: Literature search\nResults: Article characteristics\nDiscussion: The purpose of this review was to synthesize interdisciplinary researchers' conceptualizations of the impact of a criminal record on employment. In general, researchers, practitioners and individuals involved in or affected by the criminal justice system have experienced and found employment to be an essential component of community reentry (Denver et al., 2017). However, research addressing this phenomenon has been fragmented across multiple disciplines and therein approached based on varying perspectives and methodologies. Thus, we were particularly interested in synthesizing the interdisciplinary literature to determine how knowledge and insight have progressed with reference to employment for people with a criminal record. The insights from varying perspectives and spanning many disciplines enables an in-depth understanding of the complexities associated with employment after release, from the perspective of employers, applicants and employees with a criminal record. Findings pave the way for further research to follow.\nConclusion: From this synthesis of the interdisciplinary literature on employment for people with a criminal record, we find that though important steps have been made toward understanding the employment context for people who have been involved in the criminal justice system, there are many areas for continued work and expansion. In particular, by extending transdisciplinary research investigations beyond employer and applicant/employee, into the multifaceted perspectives of employment for those with a criminal record, we can work toward developing effective interventions and systemic changes that provide meaningful support for employers, employees and policy makers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of research conducted over the past ten years (2008-2018) that examines the relationship between criminal record and work in the USA. Furthermore, a research agenda is presented that may help to better inform future investigations of the relationships shared between these variables.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors review 58 peer-reviewed research articles identified in four electronic article databases: Business Source Premier, PsycINFO, ProQuest Sociology Collection and ProQuest Criminology Collection.\nFindings: Of the 58 articles fitting the final inclusion criteria, 37 evaluated employee specific related outcomes, whereas 24 took the perspective of the employer (including some overlap). Studies employed a variety of methodologies and techniques, with qualitative interviews, archival data and audit methods as the most prevalent. Few studies examined the relationships between criminal record and work in ways that demonstrated improved employment outcomes for both employer and the employed together.\nOriginality/value: This is one of the first papers to synthesize interdisciplinary literature related to criminal record and employment, including an assessment of the varying methodological treatments and perspectives used in research studies to assess this relationship. The authors believe the findings from this research effort will provide much needed research direction for investigators seeking to make contributions to improving employment outcomes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Learning during developing and implementing new bank offerings
|
[
"Financial services",
"Innovation",
"Learning",
"Research"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: During the past decade the bank sector has undergone, and it is still going through, major changes. Deregulation, increased internationalisation of banks, mergers and acquisitions, and the emergence of new technologies like the internet have contributed to dramatically harsher competition, pressures on profitability and the need for differentiation. These changes resulted in a major strategic turn during the early 1990s. Most banks moved from their initial concerns of operations, risk management and finance to a market orientation (Knights et al., 1993).In such an environment, banks need more than ever to adapt their offerings constantly to the changing needs of customers, to become more flexible, more efficient and more innovative. Recent surveys of the banking system (Roberts and Amit, 2003) have revealed that banks which have the ability to develop a constant flow of innovations are more profitable in the long term. To do so, the development of new offers becomes a crucial issue, and an efficient new service development process may constitute a core competency for banks that perform well. This issue becomes even more important given the fact that developing and implementing a new financial service is a complex activity, and one for which few management frameworks exist (Menor et al., 2002).In fact, several studies have tried to identify success and failure factors when introducing new financial services (Barras, 1990; Brentani, 1993; Cooper et al., 1994; Easingwood and Storey, 1995; Edgett, 1996; Edgett and Parkinson, 1994; Lopez and Roberts, 2002; Easingwood and Storey, 1999) but much less work has focused on the internal management process of new service development (Hart and Service, 1993; von Raesfeld Meijer et al., 1996). Concerning the latter, recent research has emphasised the importance of learning during the development process and its relevance in managing this process more effectively. A relationship between learning, new service project performance and organisational performance has been established, suggesting that managers should pay particular attention to fostering organisational learning during innovation projects (Lievens and Moenaert, 2000b; Stevens and Dimitriadis, 2002, 2004).Based on this background, the present article aims at an in-depth understanding of how the process of creating and implementing a new financial service is managed, and more particularly aims to identify learning activities that contribute to a more efficient new service development (NSD) process. The paper is structured as follows. The literature section reviews existing knowledge on the new service management process as well as learning issues related to NSD. Then, the methodology of the longitudinal case study is presented, followed by the results, analysing the steps, the management practices and the learning strategies observed during this process. The discussion section draws conclusions and recommendations for managing such NSDs, and finally limitations and opportunities for future research are suggested.\nLiterature review: Even though few investigations have focused on the development process itself, one of the major conclusions of previous research is that the way a firm organises the creation of new offers is clearly identified as a success factor. Choices such as who was involved, how the different departments coordinated their efforts and which development stages occurred seem to have a determining role in final success (Atuahene-Gima, 1996; Brentani, 1993; Cooper et al., 1994; Drew, 1995; Easingwood and Storey, 1995; Edgett, 1996; Edgett and Parkinson, 1994; Thwaites, 1992). These empirical observations provided insights in three broad themes:1. formal versus informal development process;2. the importance of inter-functional cooperation; and3. the impact of organisational aspects on the course of development.Formal versus informal process\nResearch methodology: Given the research objectives, the use of longitudinal inquiry was particularly suited for several reasons (Cohen and Manion, 1994). First, the longitudinal approach seems to be necessary in order to identify the main events of the innovation process while they happen, providing the sole way to avoid the \"ex post rationalisation\" phenomena. Second, longitudinal inquiry can integrate non-planned changes, capturing information on the nature of and reasons for the erratic course of innovation (Van de Ven and Yu Ting, 1996).Third, research on learning entails having a causal perspective on behaviour. The \"learning causal sequence\" may be described as follows: if something is learned at one moment of the process, behaviours will be modified at another point of the process. This temporal sequence necessitates observing behaviours of the same individual and organisation over a period of time (Cohen and Manion, 1994).In the present case, our investigations covered two-and-a-half years, starting just after the birth of the project. The project has since been launched on the market and is considered by the management of the company to be successful. Our investigations stopped three months after the launch stage.The company, the context and the new service project\nResults: In presenting the results of the case study, we will adopt the actors' perspective on the project. While the adoption of an ex post perspective by the researchers might have led to the description of a formal process, the analysis from the actors' point of view revealed a more confusing image of the process. The interviews revealed that the major problem that people have to deal with is the uncertainty of the decisions they have to take, the doubts and the ambiguity: \"how to choose an alternative when the consequences of this choice are hard to imagine?\" was the most uncomfortable question our respondents had to cope with all along the process.In fact, our first observation was that rather than having to manage a project through well-defined stages, the actors perceived a flow of issues and problems they would have to overcome in order to launch the new offer. This section reports on each of these issues, explicitly the way the actors of the development found solutions as well as the learning activities that took place during the handling of these issues.Identification of environmental changes\nDiscussion and managerial implications: The objective of this paper was to provide a detailed description of the development process and to identify learning actions that may contribute to its effectiveness. A first important finding is that the development process did not corresponded to any formal, well-defined and step-by-step process. This confirms the results of the body of literature reviewed earlier, suggesting that service innovation projects are rather informal processes.Instead of a sequence of planned stages of steps, managers experienced and managed the development of the new offer as sequence of problems, issues and questions to which they had to find solutions. Such a view has major implications for new service management in banks. The organisation should avoid the trap of forcing its development teams into rigid procedures, detailed planning, predefined organisational and hierarchy structures. This does not mean that the development process should remain loose, disorganised or uncontrolled. Our observations identified that decision-making and problem-solving activities are much more effective when learning actions and loops were allowed to happen. Table II summarises the actors of the NSD process, its steps and the key decision for each step as well as the main learning actions that occurred. These learning activities are trial and error, simulation, observation of other actors' experiments and behaviours, formal and informal discussions, cross-functional communication, representations and hypothesis building, transfer of previous experience, acquisition of competencies, making procedures explicit and transforming observations and tests into formal procedures.It is thus suggested that banks should encourage the occurrence of such actions by all possible means. For example, systematic reinterpretation of past events, defining guiding visions, opening up interpretations by choosing a specific vocabulary during the early stages of the process, opening up internal competition for the successful project managers, providing constant access to all the resources and competencies by keeping flexible teams, allowing the integration of new competencies if required, facilitating feedback loops by testing, prototyping and formalising experience and eventually adjusting the organisation according to the new delivery processes are a series of actions that should support the probability of success to a great extent.\nLimitations and suggestions for further research: As is inherent in case study research, the results observed in this study cannot be generalised. The context of the observations is very specific to the company and to the project. Consequently our findings should be considered as exploratory, needing to be confirmed in a larger context, using different methodologies and broadening the research framework.In terms of the research approach, understanding of the NSD process should be extended by replicating our method in more case studies. Since longitudinal research is very demanding in terms of time, effort and company participation, in-depth case studies for recently launched services, based on multiple interviews but concentrated during the post-launch period, would constitute an alternative method for easier data collection in order to validate the different steps and the learning activities of the NSD process.A further step in terms of methodology should be the development of an instrument for quantitative survey-based data collection. Currently very few attempts have been made to measure organisational learning through quantitative scales and questionnaires. For this purpose, measurements used in similar contexts, such as the impact of learning on the success of joint ventures (Lane et al., 2001) could be used. Also, for some specific aspects of learning, such as project learning and communication flows, quantitative scales have already been developed (Lievens et al., 2003). These quantitative approaches could provide grounds for further generalisation of our results.In terms of replication and extension of the research framework, future research should take into account variables that were not controlled in the present study. For instance, our investigation focused on a major project. It is possible that the strategic nature of the project has an influence on the process, the number of its stages the actors involved as well as the learning strategies adopted. In fact, there is already evidence that while there may be a basic frame of NSD process that is applicable across any project, different stages of the process appear more critical for success according to the degree of innovativeness of the project (Gounaris et al. 2003). Understanding the reasons of adoption of learning strategies according to the environments and nature of the project in terms of degree of innovativeness, strategic scope and degree of standardisation versus customisation of the new service could lead to further managerial recommendations.Furthermore, mechanisms of adoption or avoidance of learning procedures as well as factors related to resistance to change remain to be explored extensively. It has been observed that some decisions in the case reported here were taken on the basis of some \"guiding principles\" that clearly were not learning actions. In other cases, random choices occurred, raising the hypothesis of a contingent process resulting from external events. One reason for these choices is the perceived duration and cost of learning (March, 1991; March et al., 1991; Simon, 1991). Because each of the learning loops entails spending time in the experimentation of results and in the analysis of the outcomes, a rational decision on all the parts of development appears impossible. Due to time pressures, and also to the difficulty of exploring all possible options and their consequences, it should be noted that learning is in all cases partial, fragmented and incomplete.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Knowledge of the management issues for developing new bank offerings efficiently is limited. Furthermore, recent research suggests that organisational learning can contribute greatly to the success of innovation projects. The aims of this paper are to provide a detailed description of the development process of a new financial product and to identify learning actions that may contribute to its effectiveness.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Reports findings from a qualitative, longitudinal case study of a well-known French bank.\nFindings: - The results revealed an informal development process consisting of a sequence of issues to solve and decisions to make.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Though observations fit with the theoretical model, the findings cannot be generalized due to the use of a qualitative methodology. Thus, selecting a development project that brings variance to the scope and degree of innovativeness could enrich the observed learning mechanisms. Second, as services are very heterogeneous, further research should be done on the development processes of different new services, for example standardised versus customised. Third, mechanisms of adoption or avoidance of learning procedures remain to be explored extensively. Understanding the reasons of choice and adoption of learning strategies according to the environment and nature of the project could lead to further managerial recommendations.\nPractical implications: - Implications for banks to encourage learning during innovation are discussed and several opportunities for further research are suggested.\nOriginality/value: - An informal development process is revealed, consisting of a sequence of issues to solve and decisions to make. Multiple learning actions and strategies are identified that enhance process effectiveness and efficiency.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Developing superior value propositions: a strategic marketing imperative
|
[
"Case study",
"Strategic marketing",
"Value proposition",
"Core strategy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The value proposition concept is now recognized as having a key role in business strategy. Leading scholars such as Webster (2002) consider that the value proposition \"should be the firm's single most important organizing principle\" (p. 61). Kaplan and Norton (2001) states the value proposition is \"the essence of strategy\" and Hammonds (2001) argues that business strategy must start with a differentiated value proposition. Lehmann and Winer (2008) highlight how the value proposition represents a statement of the enterprise's core strategy.\nThe value proposition concept: We view the value proposition as an important part of the overall value creation process in customer management. The value creation process involves transforming the outputs of the strategy into programmes that both extract and deliver value. Payne and Frow (2005) identify three elements of the value creation process: determining what value the company provides to its customers; determining what value the company receives from its customers; and, by successfully engaging in this co-creation (e.g. Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Payne et al., 2008), maximizing the lifetime value of desirable customer segments. The value the customer receives from the organization draws on the concept of the benefits that enhance the customer offering, which can be integrated in the form of a value proposition (e.g. Lanning and Michaels, 1988).\nCase study selection: From our research we identified that there is little literature illustrating the important topic of how individual companies develop their customer value propositions. As a consequence, we undertook case study research to identify and provide examples of companies that have adopted formal methodologies for developing value propositions.\nBuilding value propositions at BT: a B2B case study: British Telecommunications plc (BT) is one of the world's leading telecommunications providers and one of the largest private sector companies in Europe. In 2012, the company employed over 90,000 people and had an annual turnover of PS20 billion. The BT \"Retail\" business unit focuses on both business and residential customers and has some 28 million customer lines. It has 5.7 million broadband customers, one million small and medium enterprise customers and nearly PS8 billion annual revenue.\nBuilding value propositions at Zurich financial services: a B2C case study: Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) is a leading provider of financial protection and wealth accumulation products and solutions. Zurich has over 60,000 employees serving some 35 million customers in more than 170 countries. The company has three main business segments: general insurance; global life and \"Farmers\" which manage the personal lines and small business insurance sold in the USA. Zurich reaches the majority of its retail customers through three main distribution channels: Zurich agents, independent financial advisers/brokers and banks. Managing customer relationships effectively across a diverse customer base and comprehensive product and service portfolio is a demanding and ongoing challenge for Zurich. In order to retain its high-market responsiveness, Zurich devised a methodology that focused on the design and delivery of superior customer value propositions.\nConclusions, limitations and future research: This paper contributes to the value proposition literature by developing case studies illustrating how two large and complex enterprises have adopted structured processes for value proposition development in the B2B and B2C sectors. This research appears to be the first case-based academic exploration of the formal processes by which large organizations develop value propositions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Scholars identify the value proposition as representing the essence of strategy and the firm's single most important organizing principle. However, research suggests less than 10 per cent of companies formally develop value propositions. The purpose of this paper is to undertake case study research investigating the process by which leading companies develop their value propositions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research identifies that the financial services and telecommunications vertical markets are viewed as the highly sophisticated industry sectors in terms of customer management. These industry sectors are selected for investigation. The paper develops case studies of two companies' approaches to developing value propositions in the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) sectors within these vertical markets.\nFindings: This paper contributes to the marketing literature by examining how two large and complex service enterprises have adopted structured processes for developing innovative value proposition within the B2B and B2C sectors. The authors argue that innovation in value proposition development represents a substantive opportunity for marketing to reassert its influence in the boardroom.\nPractical implications: This case study research provides guidelines of the processes by which enterprises can successfully develop innovative value propositions.\nOriginality/value: This research is considered to be the first case-based academic exploration of the formal processes by which large organizations develop value propositions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Exploring business growth and eco innovation in rural small firms
|
[
"Resources",
"Technology",
"Growth",
"Small- to medium-sized enterprises",
"Motivation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: European and the UK policymakers have emphasised the impacts of climate change and the need for small business response to this issue (DECC, 2010; European Commission, 2011). Due to increasing awareness of environmental issues and to the pressure of targets to reduce national carbon emissions, the demand for environmentally friendly business practices has grown. These eco innovation activities are expected to deliver \"lower consumption of natural resources, new sustainable energy generation methods and new eco operating practices and products\" (DECC, 2010; Gadenne et al., 2009; Gallup, 2011; McKeiver and Gadenne, 2005). Business - and in particular, small business - is predicted not only to deliver this agenda but also to create jobs and wealth in the process of safeguarding \"precious and traditional rural locations\" (European Commission, 2001a, b, 2011).\nDefining terms: Parker et al. (2009) suggest that there are many related terms used in both academic literature and policy documents to describe pro-environmental actions, which are undifferentiated as to their use and their meaning. These might be \"pro environmental behaviours\" (McKeiver and Gadenne, 2005), environmental-friendly practices (Gadenne et al., 2009), \"eco innovation\" (Gallup, 2011), \"green entrepreneurship\" (Dixon and Clifford, 2007; Gibbs and O'Neill, 2012; Scott Cato et al., 2008); or ecopreneurship (Isaak, 2002; Kirkwood and Walton, 2010; Rodgers, 2010). These terms also form part of the sustainability literature, which again is used indiscriminately and may cause confusion both in policy and other governmental documents (European Commission, 2001a, b, 2002, 2011; Hall et al., 2010).\nThe background for rural small firms to implement pro-environmental behaviour: Fundamental changes have occurred in the rural areas of the European Union, caused by \"agricultural policy reforms, the reform of the EU Structural Funds and the strengthening of rural development policies, international trade liberalisation, and the processes of globalisation, technological change and localisation\" Stathopoulou et al. (2004, p. 404). Not least of these changes is the growing importance of environmental issues over the last decade for governments, communities and businesses and the need to protect rural areas (European Commission, 2011). Environmental protection issues require economic development to be accompanied by protection of the earth's resources (Hall et al., 2010; European Commission, 2011).\nMethodology: Approach and method\nFindings: The findings are discussed in terms of: the rural location; the pro-environmental measures taken by each firm and how these fit definitions of eco innovation (European Commission, 2011) and of pro-environmental behaviours (McKeiver and Gadenne); why these measures had been adopted; and how they were contributing to growth.\nDiscussion: The aim of the study was to explore how these firms demonstrated eco innovation and how rurality was embedded in this process, from the perspectives of the owners within these firms. As part of this, we explored reasons for eco innovation implementation and views of how these eco innovations had contributed - or would contribute - to growth. Given the lack of research into how small firms engage with the pro-environmental agenda, this paper makes an important contribution in exploring reasons for doing so and in identifying business benefits that result. In each case, companies had developed new green products, processes and systems as defined in European Commission and the UK policies and described by McKeiver and Gadenne (2005). They placed importance on doing so and had changed business processes in order to embed these activities in their operations, making sense of environmental action through their own context as advocated by Unruh and Ettenson (2010).\nLimitations of the study: This is a study of eight atypical firms as part of a purposeful sample. In addition to their adoption of pro-environmental behaviours, they are atypical because they are larger than is the norm in rural areas (Warren-Smith and Jackson, 2004) and they are growth firms against a reported pattern of non-growth and potentially lifestyle businesses found in rural areas (Smith, 2008). They include five run by incomers, and with the other three firms having employees who were not born locally. Previous research suggests that they may be different in approaching marketing and in their growth and entrepreneurialism from other firms run by local owner-managers (Kalantaridis and Bika, 2006; Stone and Stubbs, 2007; Watts et al., 2006). For these reasons and with the usual caveats accompanying small-scale intensive qualitative research, these findings cannot be readily generalised. However, these eight cases provide good insights into how eco innovation can address both the environmental and the economic.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore eco innovation in rural small firms. It looks at the motivations of rural small business owners for eco innovation and the extent to which rurality is important. Owner-managers' perceptions of how eco innovation had, or would, contributed to growth in the future are also explored.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This is a qualitative study involving micro-level exploration of eight growth-oriented rural small firms and their implementation of eco innovation. These case studies involved semi-structured interviews, observation of practices in the firm and review of documentation and web-based materials.\nFindings: Within each of the case study businesses, eco innovation involved changing business processes to reduce waste and to reduce the amounts of raw materials consumed. Rurality was described as very important due to closeness to the impacts of climate change and firms' visibility within their local communities. Although none of the businesses identified growth as a motivating factor, each enjoyed economic benefits as a result of their pro-environmental behaviour.\nResearch limitations/implications: As a small-scale study of eight atypical firms, the findings cannot be readily generalised. Rather, they provide insight to how eco innovation can address both the environmental and the economic.\nPractical implications: The findings may be useful for those wishing to encourage pro-environmental behaviours and eco innovation among rural SMEs.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes to the currently limited literature on how and why SMEs are implementing pro-environmental practice, and also in relation to greener operational practice and business growth.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Corporate social responsibility practices and motivations in a peripheral country: two Portuguese illustrative cases
|
[
"Corporate social responsibility",
"Portugal",
"Institutional perspectives",
"Moral reasons",
"Resource based perspectives"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to \"company activities - voluntary by definition - demonstrating the inclusion of social and environmental concerns in business operations and in interactions with stakeholders\" (van Marrewijk, 2003, p. 102). It is related to complex issues such as environmental protection, health and safety at work, relations with local communities, human rights, corruption. One of the central questions is that of knowing whether a company should undertake certain activities or refrain from doing so because they are beneficial or harmful to society.\n2. Theoretical background: The motivations for engaging in CSR initiatives differ significantly (Aguilera et al., 2007; Bronn and Vidaver-Cohen, 2009; Pedersen and Neergaard, 2009; Portney, 2008). Some may simply believe that commitment to CSR is morally right, whereas others think of CSR as an instrument to improve the relationship with the stakeholders, to increase operational efficiency and reduce costs, or to obtain or increase reputation as a good corporate citizen (Pedersen and Neergaard, 2009).\n3. Methodology: In this study, a case study methodology was used to explore CSR practices and the underlying motivations in two Portuguese companies. This methodology is suited for exploratory research (Eisenhardt, 1989) and it offers advantages not found in more quantitative research tools (Yin, 2003). Qualitative data allows the researcher to explore more completely complex relationships which are difficult to capture using quantitative studies. Furthermore, whereas quantitative methods are convenient to study situations characterised by homogeneity of behaviours and routines, case studies are suited to analyse situations in which creativity and innovation prevail.\n4. Findings and discussion: 4.1 Main findings\n5. Concluding comments: This study is exploratory and descriptive and has as main goal providing insights on how companies exercise CSR in Portugal and what motivates them. Few studies on CSR practices and motivations in peripheral countries have been made. Thus, this paper may contribute with some useful insights to CSR literature.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to provide an illustrative picture of how large corporations in a peripheral country such as Portugal engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and discuss the motivations underlying these practices.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this study, a case study methodology was used to explore CSR practices and the underlying motivations in two Portuguese companies.\nFindings: The results obtained suggest that some specificity may be present in the way of defining corporate responsibility for society by Portuguese companies. The Portuguese companies analysed seem to display an historical preference for corporate paternalism. This suggests that moral reasons can motivate firms (and individuals within them) to engage in social responsibility activities.\nResearch limitations/implications: This work focuses on two specific case studies, but other cases might find diverse findings.\nOriginality/value: It adds to the scarce research on CSR by Portuguese companies by providing new empirical data. It contributes to the growing body of evidence which seems to suggest that cultural differences associated with different countries affect CSR dynamics.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The effect of transformer parameters on reliability assessment with the help of health index
|
[
"Reliability",
"Sensitivity",
"Mean time to failure",
"Gumbel–Hougaard copula",
"Transformer"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In a power supply system, the most critical equipment is transformer. The internal situation of transformer degrades with age and subsequently it fails to combat the system deviations such as short circuit faults or transient overvoltages. Phenomenal events, such as excess in voltages, short circuits in system and crisis loading, affect the insulation life expectancy of transformer to a high degree (Arshad et al., 2014). The continuous operation of power transformers throughout life depends on the long-standing life of the oil/paper insulation system (Wang et al., 2011). Within the transformer, the thermal, hydrolytic, oxidative, electrical and mechanical conditions contribute to the degradation of oil/paper insulation. When the combat strength of transformer corresponding to oil/paper is exceeded by operational stresses (parameters), then it results in the failure of the transformer (Jahromi et al., 2009). Due to various aging processes, there will be a natural decrease in the withstanding strength of a transformer over its life. Under the impact of health index (oil/paper insulation), aging may occur faster than normal (Arshad et al., 2014). Health index method is a main tool for the evaluation of a complex system such as transformer and it is very useful for representing the overall health of transformer (Jahromi et al., 2009). Further, it is based on numerous condition criteria which quantifies equipment condition related to the long-standing degradation factors accumulatively leading to an end-of-life of assets.\n2. Assumptions: Originally, the system (transformer) is in absolutely good state, i.e., all parameters are in a desirable condition.\n3. Mathematical models formulation: By probability consideration and continuity influence, the following difference-differential equations leading the performance of the system are obtained:(1)\n4. Solution of model: Taking Laplace transformation of Equations (1)-(65) and on further simplifications, one can obtain transition state probabilities of the system as:(66)\n5. Particular case: When repair follows exponential distribution, then:\n6. Reliability analysis of the transformer: Let the failure rates of the transformer corresponding to different parameters are lBDV=0.1, lMC=0.2, lIFT=0.3, lDF=0.4,\n7. MTTF of the transformer: MTTF of the transformer can be obtained by:\n8. Sensitivity analysis: The sensitivity of the network with respect to parameters e can be obtained by Se=[?]R/[?]e, where e=lBDV/lMC/lIFT/lFC/lO\n9. Conclusion: In the current study, different reliability measures have been evaluated for the complex system (transformer) using different probability states along with supplementary variable technique incorporating different types of failure with the help of Gumbel-Hougaard family of copula. The reliability measures obtained are state transition probabilities, reliability, MTTF and sensitivity with respect to various parameters with the help of the proposed method unlike done in the past.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study various reliability measures like reliability, mean time to failure (MTTF) and sensitivity of transformer including different parameters of insulating oil/paper as health index.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The reliability characteristics of transformer incorporating different parameters of insulating oil as well as paper have been evaluated using Markov process incorporating Gumbel-Hougaard copula, Laplace transforms and supplementary variable technique. The parameters taken into consideration are breakdown voltage (BDV) and moisture content (MC) of both insulating oil and paper, and other parameters considered are interfacial tension (IFT), dissipation factor (DF), degree of polymerization (DOP) and furanic content (FC) for insulating oil and paper, respectively. By probability consideration and continuity influence, difference-differential equations have been obtained for the considered model.\nFindings: Transition state probabilities, reliability, MTTF and sensitivity of the transformer corresponding to different parameters of insulating oil and paper have been evaluated with the help of aforementioned technique. Variations of reliability with respect to time along with the variations of MTTF and sensitivity have also been examined. Remarkable points during the study have also been pointed out.\nOriginality/value: Reliability characteristics of the transformer have been evaluated including two parameters: insulating oil and paper with the help of supplementary variable technique, considering two different types of repairs incorporating Gumbel-Hougaard family of copula unlike done earlier. Reliability, MTTF and sensitivity of transformer have been analyzed considering the parameters: BDV, MC, IFT and FC of insulating oil, and BDV, MC, DOP, DF of insulating paper.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Do we know what they know? Comparing US and French undergraduate students' knowledge of core business concepts
|
[
"Business education",
"Learning organization",
"Learning processes",
"Management training",
"Cross-cultural"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: With the increase in globalization in the corporate world, much academic research has focussed on the internationalization of higher education and its implementation. To better prepare students to develop the skills to operate in global and interconnected markets, educational institutions are becoming more and more internationally oriented. A few business schools have set up programs that require residence in multiple countries. Indeed, internationalization has been described as \"one of the most powerful substantive developments in the history of American education\" (Grouenning, 1997, p. 12) and it is also perceived as one \"of the laws of motion propelling institutions of higher learning\" (Kerr, 1990).\nLiterature review: The internationalization of business education\nThe study: Participants\nResults: Comparison of mind maps between French and American students with respect to content reveals differences that provide insights into their mental models and cognitive processes. American students deconstructed the problem at hand using knowledge and signposts from their coursework. In many ways, their analysis and diagnostic categories were consistent with the dissection of a biological organism; that is, the pieces of a business were identified and were then subdivided.\nDiscussion: Comparison of the results from the American and French undergraduate students revealed several salient differences which appear to be tied to both culture and pedagogy. To begin with, unlike American students who thought of a business in terms of the functional area labels that define a business curriculum (e.g. marketing), French students used a lexicon that was more oriented toward business processes. For example, finance was cast in terms of the process of capitalizing a business rather than as an area that one studies in business school. This is in keeping with typical French business culture where process and networking are very important in management (Lewis, 2010). Similarly, French students thought about marketing in terms of customers rather than in terms of the presence of a marketing function. Indeed, products and services were organized around the higher level concepts of customer relationships and customer loyalty, again in keeping with the networking and process concepts.\nConclusions: Our findings indicate that mind maps capture learning that includes not only fundamental business knowledge, but also how that knowledge is applied and inter-related within a specific cultural context. French students' focus on networks, relationships which are all important to the notion of a grande ecole (Bourdieu, 1989), and to a lesser degree, the quality of work life, emphasize the importance of culture in assessing student learning and in understanding management practice and how they will perform in the corporate world as young graduates.\nImplications for assessment and internationalization: This study suggests that mind maps are a potentially useful vehicle for expanding the assessment of the scope and content of learning and offer a new perspective. Several concerns have been expressed about what business students are learning, and what they are not learning. This general uneasiness in the USA has been distilled into more specific domain areas related to business students' intellectual development (Kilpatrick et al., 2008; Starkey and Tempest, 2009) and their readiness for management practice (Bennis and O'Toole, 2005; Mintzberg, 2004).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare knowledge of business concepts acquired at the end of undergraduate studies of management in France and the USA.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Mind maps were used to examine what knowledge students retained toward the end of their undergraduate studies in business and management. Data were collected from two groups of students, one in France and one in the USA and they analyzed on computer software.\nFindings: The results indicate that the learning process may be influenced not only by the structure and content of the program but also by the environment in which such content is assimilated. This study provides examples of how culture can influence the way we learn and represent core business knowledge.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research was based on a number of undergraduate students and cannot therefore be generalized to other subjects or other levels of studies at the present time.\nOriginality/value: The paper moves away from traditional manners of collecting data through questionnaires and surveys in order to study the impact of management education and what students learn at undergraduate level.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
How Indian home-grown businesses outsmart the MNCs
|
[
"Nationalism",
"India",
"Emerging economies",
"MNC",
"Middle class",
"Social laddering",
"Targeting"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Emerging economies are the innovation lab for upcoming business models of the globalized world economies. Undergoing a sea change in their structure, beliefs and outlook towards growth and empowerment, these markets are the new hub for experimental testing of various types of marketing strategies (Guillen and Garcia-Canal, 2013). In addition to providing fruitful grounds for established MNCs, emerging markets and transition economies have also established themselves as innovators' hotspots (Bruche, 2009).\nResearch framing: Research design and data structure\nFour layers of India's middle class: Based on insights from pertinent literature and evidence from psychological research, we propose these four levels of middle class as per their consumption pattern, lifestyle and behaviour. This distinction enables a more precise description of social level of consumer segments that Sridharan (2004) proposed in respect to income parameter of the Indian middle class. The levels proposed were-lower middle class, middle class and upper middle class. However, India has moved on for the past decade and currently its social ladder has become much wider with different sets of aspirations and attitude.\nCaselets: MNCs changed Indian mindset and attitude towards buying leading to market growth in various segments. Later, many home-grown companies realized there exists a gap between the actual need and superfluous satisfaction provided by the MNCs. The three home-grown companies are specially chosen for their revolutionary impact in bringing a deliberate change in perception and consumption pattern of Indian middle class as they have contributed much in terms of consumer empowerment, self-actualization and core satisfaction rather than needless meeting of customer need. The caselets are selected from different industries (retail, technology and FMCG) to understand a holistic view of the changing face of Indian middle class. The description of the caselets provides information on the business environment and forming of capabilities by the home-grown companies. Following the multiple case study procedure of Yin (2017) we aim to develop a stringent descriptive model as a building brick for theory development.\nInter-caselet analysis: For the inter-caselet analysis the theoretical lenses need to be unified. The striking common feature of all three caselets is vendors' cultivation of customer relationship in the context of target groups' lifestyle. Notably, lifestyles require a concretization by means of consumers' social-cultural affiliation (non-western, modernized, but reachable in the case of Big Bazaar), consumers' technical level (Micromax) or their spirituality and healthiness (Patanjali).\nDiscussion and conclusions: This paper focus on the ways of seizing opportunities emerging from growing middle class segments in emerging economies. Notably, the conceptualization of middle class goes beyond individual's abilities to spend money for modern products and services, but relates to their changed self-conceptualizations and self-worth on the individual level and the rising national pride resulting in increasing consumer ethnocentrism. Drawing upon the example of India we contribute a four level topology for systemizing the Indian middle class in terms of lifestyle, consumption pattern and aspirations. Rooting in three cases we identify strategies used by home-grown companies to win back MNC-nurtured Indian market by venturing into overlooked or misunderstood blue ocean terrains.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to focus on how home-grown Indian companies explored the potential of Indian middle class and realized an opportunity to seize the market gap not catered by MNCs in India. Across three distinct business contexts, the authors describe the companies' procedures of developing segment-specific offerings. Doing so, the authors outline novel strategies implemented by these companies to cater to specific needs of the segments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Seizing Bandura's (1986) framework that stresses on the role of cognitive, vicarious, self-reflective and self-regulatory processes, the authors develop a four-layered model of the Indian middle class consumers. Building upon this model, they took multiple case (three caselets) approach for illustrating the strategies of home-grown companies. The authors identify their potential to explore the unknown terrains of various market segments and rework with unique local solutions.\nFindings: The study highlights the power of home-grown companies over MNCs in terms of better market understanding and realistic offerings best suited to their needs. Across the divergent business contexts the companies' strategies have four features in common: customer targeting and developing; localization of business models, particularly services; relating the products to the Indian society; and ethnocentrism and pride.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study gives priority to a \"thick\" description of the proceedings without claiming causality. The authors limit this qualitative investigation to pinpointing congruence and contradictions to previous established results.\nPractical implications: A key implication of this paper is the relevance of linking firm's strategy to social-psychological development of customers in emerging economies component. This study provides critical insights for both managers and policymakers on the economic and social upswing as socially responsible and ethical practices are likely to gain public awareness.\nOriginality/value: The study's originality springs from understanding the domestic company's strategies when facing the pressure of (mainly Western) MNCs entering the emerging economies markets. While the latter takes advantage of economies of scale, country of origin effects and the powerful brands, the home-grown businesses are forced to develop divergent advantages and capabilities. Notably, earlier literature focused on changed demand pattern brought by MNCs in emerging economies and not on later part whereby, home-grown companies carve a space for themselves with specially designed improved products and innovative strategies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Repositioning the customer support services: the next frontier of competitive advantage
|
[
"Customer loyalty",
"Competitive advantage",
"After sales service",
"Customer centric",
"Customer support",
"Customer support service",
"Re-positioning",
"Service dominance logic",
"Aftersales",
"Customer centricity",
"Service dominant logic",
"Loyalty"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The purpose of this paper is to analyze and advocate that customer support or the aftersales service is a key differential advantage, which is hard to replicate by competition. Unfortunately, customer support has been a neglected area, often relegated to operations and considered a cost center (Sterling and Lambert, 1989; Sheth, 2007), when it truly a very strategic resource and can be a good revenue or a profit center.\n2. Review of the literature: In the era of empowered customers, firms are increasingly discovering the importance of CSS. This paper aims to provide further impetus to the transformation of customer service. This section reviews the existing academic landscape of customer support along with the theoretical concepts of SD logic, value creation and customer centricity.\n3. Repositioning the customer support services: Thus, drawing the theoretical foundations from the past literature, we propose the repositioning of customer service from administrative function to a strategic function. This shall enable firms to transform customer support to a profit center as explained in Figure 2.\n4. Implications, conclusion and future research: In the golden era of service, the after sales support and experiences generated through customer support are extremely vital to satisfy and retain customers. The priority system of the business world, often assigns the lowest status to customer support in terms of strategic importance, process innovation and employee status and development (Sheth, 2007). However, as detailed in the above sections, customer support which is the key interconnecting node between a firm and customers. This unique positioning widens opportunities to generate more value form the customer support for all the stakeholders. The host of advantages from superior customer support includes customer satisfaction, retention and sustainable competitive advantage. However, customer support need to be transposed from the present level to a strategic function equipped with revenue generation possibilities.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to analyze the present status of customer support services (CSS) and advocate the re-positioning of support services from an administrative cost center to a strategic profit center. Authors demonstrate how customer support or after sales services can be a source of competitive advantage and revenue generation for firms.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study adopts a conceptual approach grounded in theoretical foundations of service dominant logic, customer loyalty and customer centricity along with practical illustrations from the industry.\nFindings: Following the tenets of theory, review of existing research and analysis of the industry practices, the authors propose a new framework to enable the repositioning of customer service function. The key propositions include establishing customer support as separate business unit and insights center, introducing a new role of a C-level chief customer support officer to lead the customer support unit, adopting a customer-centric culture and process, enabling frontline IT support and investing in frontline employee skills development.\nResearch limitations/implications: Academics should examine the potential of customer support, where the strategic importance is low at present, leading to customer dissatisfaction. The new approach and positioning of customer support calls for a new direction for research in this area focusing on enablers, challenges and further implications. To succeed in this competitive era, firms should be conscious of the value of customer service and undertake concrete actions to generate value for all stakeholders.\nPractical implications: Industry can use the new framework and re-position CSS of the organizations. The CSS unit can be different from other business units in the organizations. The CSS would evolve and emerge from the live customer insights. CSS unit can be managed by the C level chief CSS officer. Customer-centric culture would be developed and front line processes can be made customer-oriented by the officer. Thus, this paper and framework would provide new customer-centric directions to the organizations for effective functioning.\nOriginality/value: This is the original piece that has emerged from the experience and expertise of the authors.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The futures of the University of Tehran using causal layered analysis
|
[
"Backcasting"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Higher education was defined as \"all types of studies, training, or training for research at the post-secondary level, provided by universities or other educational establishments that are approved as institutions of higher education by the competent state authorities\" UNESCO (1998), Mwangi (2017).\n2. Literature review: Because of the lack of studies related to future of higher education and universities in Iran, analysis of literature in this paper refers to documents produced by different sources, such as governments and their agencies, books and academic articles. The catalogues of the most important publishers of higher education books were searched. Then an internet search was undertaken of reports/strategies on the future of higher education and universities globally. Many researchers around the world have shown the current pushes of the future and rapid changes, which are affecting universities and higher education.\n3. Methodology: Our research question is about understanding the future of UT from stakeholders' perspectives, to consider multiple perspectives. For data richness and depth analysis, we introduced a CLA approach based on the studies by Inayatullah and Milojevic (2015) and Bishop and Dzidic (2014). We used four-phase data collection process according to Table (AIII) that included a literature review, interviews, CLA and expert panel. In the next section, we describe these four phases of research in detail.\n4. Findings: We reported the results of each layers of CLA. Typically, in the findings section, each layer will be reported independently with subheadings depicting the layer analysis. Quotations are selected from the transcripts of the interviews, then summarized and codified to support claims and examine the subthemes identified within the Layers. In the discussion, we show and report the reconstruction and deconstruction of the issue d in a novel way, as a reverse CLA order. At the litany level, as shown in Table AIV, the issue presented as the uncontested truth. Lacking depth and coherence can result in a sense of helplessness or apathy.\n5. Discussion: As in litany level, interviewees mentioned the low rank of the university and weaknesses in current position of UT. We investigated the rank of UT in different ranking systems. According to the university ranking system of \"Times Higher Education,\" the university performance table that judges across all core missions of the university (teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook), UT is weak in nearly all factors, which is shown in the Tables (AV) and (VI). This justifies the opinions of interviewees about the situation of the UT and its future challenges. It is clear that UT is not even in the top 100 best universities of Asia based on \"times higher education\" ranking.\n6. Validity and reliability of the analysis: It is important to know that the truthfulness and certainty of findings have painted an accurate picture of reality and that they are confirmed by the objective facts. The issue is primarily philosophical so this position is centered on the assertion that one person's (interviewee's) reality is not necessarily the same as anyone else's reality, although they may share some senses of reality. Some shared senses of reality may have primacy over individual senses. CLA is drawn from post-structuralism and via futures assertions and alternative theory of knowledge. The other side of this debate about validity and reliability is epistemological. According to Kelly (2006), the validity of each metaphor's meaning was indicated by comparing different views of stakeholders and interviewees with their own life. Each layer can provide a different perspective on an issue or another layer of interest to enrich the collective story. Trochim et al. (2015) determined four criteria of validity and reliability in qualitative research as credibility, transferability, dependability and conformability. To address these issues, credibility was improved in this study by collecting data from multiple sources. Furthermore, this study used different data collection methods. Transferability was enhanced by extensively describing the methodological approach taken for others potentially to follow. Interviews were chosen due to the extensive research survey evidence that when compared to face-to-face or telephone surveys, they often result in more truthful answers to sensitive questions (Ornstein, 2013). Conformability was accomplished by following a predetermined detailed methodological process and including respondent validation throughout the research. Interpretive procedures were developed using investigator triangulation where the interview transcripts were analyzed by research team. Causal layered analyses of each data set (primary data, secondary data and views of all groups were summarized and compiled into feedback summaries and were sent to experts for comments. This included documentation and overviews of the information resulting from the thematic analysis. As a result of the feedback process, no major changes were made to the analysis. Allocation of codes was revisited. With the expert panel, we debated codes to ensure reliability with the driving question being \"where does this fit best?\" Our team discussions helped to identify and overcome any inconsistencies in analysis and interpretation. We considered the validity and reliability of CLA process, which is different per levels.\n7. Conclusion: The CLA analysis suggests that due to traditional, old-fashioned and fundamental myths and metaphors in the context of UT, it is unlikely that emerging issues and international trends will change the higher education system at UT by 2025 completely. A hierarchical, collectivist and a restrained environment and society with a normative cultural orientation, preference for avoiding uncertainty, governmental and dependent structure will be reluctant to accept innovation and structural changes so quickly. We showed that new metaphors and new worldviews must be considered in the future vision of the university. The current UT system is mismatched to the needs of society and the affordances of technology in fostering a new scholarship based on open participatory practices. In this paper, we tried to warn policymakers of the UT to change these presumptions and reframe their visions and values by using future studies and foresight methods. The main practical implications are identified. First, the paper presents evidence from Iran's higher education ecosystem in UT as a symbol of higher education the country, which has drawn the attention of policymakers. These research findings could provide them with more information about the existing trends, and challenges, and consequently may lead to improving the higher education system. This research is among the very first studies on the future of universities and higher education in Iran, and investigates a variety of issues in different areas. Planning for the future of higher education in Iran needs more attention. Policymakers and governmental bodies could enforce required rules and regulations in this regard, based on old and out dated presumptions; beliefs and perceptions. Another advantage of studying this phenomenon is to identify the needs, requirements, formation criteria and possible scenarios. In this way, both researchers and policymakers might use the findings to study these issues and to devise appropriate policies.\n8. Limitations: There were limitations and restrictions in undertaking this study. We had limited access to the wide range of stakeholders. As UT is a large university with many faculties and departments, accessing a pool of experts and top policymakers inside and outside of university was difficult to achieve. There were also limits on accessing the internal enactments and documents of trustee board of the UT and the financial balance sheets of the university. One of the main limitations was the limited access to a large number of managers and deans who were too busy to be interviewed.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Higher education and universities have faced unprecedented and ubiquitous changes. The University of Tehran or \"UT,\" as the leading university in Iran, is not immune to these changes. The purposes of this study is to investigate the current situation and future of the UT and gain insights and possible responses to changes that suit its strengths and potential to progress in an increasingly competitive, complex environment with uncertainties. It identifies deep fundamental underpinnings of the issue and highlights them for policymakers to formulate strategies and future vision of the UT.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Causal layered analysis (CLA) was applied as a framework and the data collected from different sources such as literature reviews, content analysis of rules, regulations and master plans of the university and coded interviews of four different groups of university stakeholders were analyzed. The current system of UT, as well as hidden beliefs, that maintains traditional perceptions about university was mapped. Next, by applying a new recursive process and reverse CLA order, new CLA layers extracted through an expert panel, the layers of CLA based on new metaphors to envision future of UT were backcasted.\nFindings: The results from CLA layers including litany, system, worldview and metaphor about the current statue of UT show disinterest and inertia against changes, conservative, behind the times and traditional perceptions, and indicate that the UT system is mismatched to the needs of society and stakeholders in the future. The authors articulated alternative perspectives deconstructed from other worldviews so there are new narratives that reframe the issues at hand. The results show that to survive in this fast-paced revolution and competition in higher education, UT should develop scenarios and formulate new strategies.\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors had limited access to a wide range of stakeholders. As the UT is a very big university with so many faculties and departments, to access a pool of experts and top policymakers who were so busy and did not have time to interview inside and outside of university was very hard for the research team. The authors also had limitation to access the internal enactments and decisions of the trustee board of the UT and the financial balance sheets of the university.\nOriginality/value: In this paper, by mixing different methods of futures studies, the authors have shown how to move forward while understanding the perspectives of stakeholders about the future of UT by a new recursive process and reverse CLA order. A supplementary phase was added to improve CLA and to validate the method and results, which were ignored in previous studies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Health care performance and accountability
|
[
"Health services",
"Quality assurance",
"Performance management",
"Management accountability"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The growing interest in all aspects of health care performance both among those who provide care and among the public at large is finding expression in many different ways. The wider public debate is being conducted in highly charged and generally simplified terms in the press and elsewhere, though the proposition underlying the discussion is by now well known, if not always kept in view: infinite demand and finite resources require careful consideration of priorities.It is at the next stage of debate, when questions of means and ends are raised, that controversy begins. If the public concern is focused on service limits and shortages this is understandable; as is the oft-heard corollary that the solution lies in more resources. Consumers are well placed to see the simple connection between input and output, and in some instances that is indeed the only analysis necessary to understand a service shortfall.Health service workers, especially those at the sharper end of service delivery, also have a keen and of course more sophisticated appreciation of the adequacy of available resources. They have responded well, though perhaps with diminishing appetite, to calls for greater efficiency, usually expressed in terms of higher output for a given input, or in saving in one programme in order to pay for advance in another. It is partly reaction to the effects of resource shortfalls and the pressures of cost saving that have heightened interest in the quality of health care, and especially in the definition and measuring of outcome.This interest is reflected in many different initiatives to measure performance or to set standards. There is, though, an evident danger in this rich diversity of activity. It is that different views of what constitutes good performance or quality will lead to conflicting objectives and diverging policy aims. Management particularly needs to be aware of this danger and to take steps now to see that the potential value of this new awareness is not dissipated.Equally, there are strong reasons for ensuring consistency between performance and planning; a conjunction which is generally missing from current organisational models. These issues are discussed in the remainder of this article and an approach is proposed which could help to avoid such problems and reap the full value of the burgeoning interest in performance.\nPlanning and performance - the need for a unified approach: The National Health Service was primarily concerned with inputs for the first 30 years of its existence. Planning to replace a largely Victorian (or earlier) legacy of buildings to build up the skilled staffing and to provide equitable levels of and access to health care were the necessary preoccupations of the Service until the late 1970s.Concern for efficiency began to emerge in the 1960s as work study and operational research were applied to health service processes. Looking at outcomes has been until recently a more sporadic activity, featuring morbidity or mortality reviews for example, but not generally linked in any way to the management or overall assessment of the efficacy of health care.As interest in all aspects of health care performance begins to grow there is a need to ensure that all activity aimed at demonstrating the efficiency or effectiveness of the Service is brought into account at an appropriate level in building up the complete picture of health care delivery in a unit or health district. Management therefore needs to identify systems and channels that will ensure that planning and performance activity flow from common service policies and are directed at securing or supporting consistent and agreed service aims.Models of planning in the health service are generally represented as closed cycles where the plan begets feedback, is modified in consequence and the cycle is renewed. Performance activity appears to be developing according to a similar \"closed-loop\" model, or perhaps worse as a series of unrelated closed loops each representing one aspect of performance enquiry.Planning and performance are elements of an operational process which is better represented by a continuous wave (see Figure 1).The operational consequences and value of integrating the activities of planning and performance are demonstrated in the final section of this article.\nIn search of performance: The search for ways to improve the performance of health services has resulted in a number of initiatives most of which have been designed to respond to particular aspects of the operation and delivery of health care ranging from straight value for money surveys through cost saving programmes to the pursuit of indicators of efficiency and output.The Rayner Scrutiny programme selected specified subjects in each of which current practice was examined in detail and alternative, more cost effective, modes of operation proposed. The competitive tendering programmes have had a similar orientation, with the major benefit being seen as providing the required service at lower cost. There is though a more enduring benefit of both these programmes which has not been widely recognised. In order to propose changes to existing systems and procedures or to describe the required operation for competitive tenderers it is necessary to draw up a detailed specification of the task to be undertaken, the objective to be achieved and the standard to be met. What more specific mapping of the route to an efficient service could any manager wish for? Cost improvement programmes have similarly focused attention on doing more for the same (or less) money, but have also helped to encourage the understanding that it is necessary for redundant or ineffective services to give way to new.The construction of performance indicators has now reached the status of a cottage industry. As indicators proliferate in ever more ingenious combinations the need to give thought to the questions they can most usefully address becomes urgent. There is no doubt though that used appropriately, and preferably in combination with other analytical modes, they are a useful addition to the performance review diagnostic kit.\nThe quest for outcome - quality assurance: Moving the performance debate towards a concern for outcome has considerable attraction for most health care providers. It offers the opportunity of a client-centred approach, distanced from the narrow concern for cost savings. The theme has come to be represented by the term quality assurance, under which banner a great and growing variety of activity concerned with many aspects of and approaches to health care delivery is now taking place. In the Wessex Region the 1987 Regional Plan contained the Regional Health Authority's (RHA) first working definition of quality assurance:Quality Assurance is agreeing standards of care and service to be provided and assuring those standards by regular measurement of performance and initiating appropriate change where this is indicated.The first Wessex Regional Plan for Quality Assurance was published in July 1987. It offered an extended definition of the concept which took account of the resource constraints within which a service must operate and acknowledgement the importance of identifying the action required to remedy problems affecting the quality of service. Unlike the earlier definition it did not restrict the process to the production of service criteria and standards but recognised the possibility of a variety of approaches to evaluating health care.Quality assurance is a process which provides for the systematic evaluation of health care taking account of the views of the recipient of services in order to:*assess and demonstrate the output and outcomes of such services;*show they are being delivered within the resources available and meet agreed standards where these have been set; and*identify the action required to remedy problems affecting the quality of service.The first District Quality Assurance Plans in Wessex were completed by November 1987. They address, through programmes of different size and composition, the issues of effective health care activity. In most cases there is a declared wish to start assessing outcome, while recognising the difficulty in many cases of pinning down tangible criteria and measures of effectiveness.In most health authorities quality assurance managers have been appointed and there is no doubt that they have been the wellspring of the expanding interest in performance issues. But it is important to assert that performance, and especially a concern for quality, must be the direct responsibility of all involved in managing or delivering health care. This can best be achieved by an approach which recognises the many facets of good performance, all of which will need to be related if truly efficient and effective services are to be provided.\nAchieving coherence in planning and performance activity: There is thus a growing web of performance related initiatives, the products of which need to be drawn together, at an appropriate point, to provide a coherent overall picture of health service performance. The consistency of the relationship between this and planning decisions and directions needs also to be demonstrated in the same context.The problem is however that \"web\" is an inappropriate analogy for what in many places is becoming a tangled skein of activities. Management now needs to establish a framework within which all these approaches can be related and deployed in a more coherent, way to develop a consistent statement of what business we are in and how well we are doing in it. Excellence in performance - providing a service of high quality - lies in all of the aspects of service operation and delivery which these various techniques separately address.Following Donabedian three dimensions of a health care system are now generally identified, all of which need to be considered when evaluating performance. They are:1. Input (or structure). The resources of people, skills, money, buildings, equipment and organisation needed to provide a given service.2. Process. The systems and activities through which inputs are brought to bear operationally in the provision of care, leading to a measurable amount (or output) of health care provision.3. Outcome. The observed or measured effect of health care and treatment on individuals or populations.Most of the techniques or performance initiatives touched on above address issues of process with tentative forays in the direction of outcome. Input tends to be left on one side, perhaps on the basis that we have spent long enough thinking about it and indeed have a whole planning system devoted to its continued nourishment. Indeed one product of planning which tends to be forgotten once buildings are commissioned is the carefully detailed operational policies which have guided design and commissioning. These should be kept up-to-date as the definitive statement of the resource and organisational policy for the operation of the services to be provided in the facility - an essential prerequisite to the consideration of service standards for example.\nAn integrated planning and performance framework: The task of defining the way in which health care can be most efficiently and effectively delivered is the concern of all health care staff. It rests on the ability to clarify aims, to agree performance criteria and measures and, wherever possible and appropriate, to set up standards. Management's task is sometimes to define the steps to that goal and always to encourage and support work in this territory. Management also has the responsibility of ensuring the consistency and coherence of the many different activities that contribute to the aim of good health care.The framework set out in Table I identifies the elements of a complete planning and performance statement. It is not in itself an instrument for reviewing or measuring anything, but suggests a way by which general or departmental managers can relate all activity concerned with the scale, scope, efficiency and effectiveness of a health care service or function.As performance and quality assurance programmes multiply there will be an increasing need to draw together the many strands of this activity in a systematic way, not least to ensure that problems and needs identified through these processes are taken up by management and health authorities. Only if this happens will the present fashion for performance and the pursuit of quality have an enduring impact on health care.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of the paper is to examine health care performance and accountability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A strategic view of how quality assurance fits into other initiatives aimed at bringing about improvements in health care is offered in the paper.\nFindings: - The paper finds that the task of defining the way in which health care can be most efficiently and effectively delivered is the concern of all health care staff. Aims, should be clarified, performance criteria and measures agreed on and, wherever possible and appropriate standards set up. Management also has the responsibility of ensuring the consistency and coherence of the many different activities that contribute to the aim of good health care.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides useful information on the planning and performance of quality assurance in health care.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
An empirical investigation of manufacturing performance measures utilization: The perspectives of executives and financial analysts
|
[
"Performance measures",
"Information exchange",
"Manufacturing industries",
"Decision making",
"Financial analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Owing to the multifaceted nature of manufacturing performance measurement and measures, the nature and scope of the information flow between those who lead manufacturing organizations and those who evaluate the performance of these organizations are very critical. The effectiveness of this information flow is very sensitive to information availability, information cost and willingness to share performance-related information. Thus, when it comes to the participants in this information flow, it is natural to expect differences in behavior, perspectives and patterns of utilization. The spite these differences, the effectiveness of the manufacturing performance evaluation process is very much dependent on the willingness of management and external evaluators to understand the importance of information sharing.Against this backdrop, the objective of this study is to shed some light on the information flow between executives and financial analysts in the context of manufacturing performance measurement and evaluation. In the process, behaviors, perspectives and patterns of utilization for these two groups are analyzed in relation to the usage, value and availability of information for different manufacturing performance measures. To achieve the objectives of this study, data is collected from a sample of 79 Portuguese financial analysts and a sample of 92 Portuguese manufacturing executives. Responses from these two groups of participants related to 63 financial and non-financial performance measures are analyzed. The implications of this study to the nature and scope of information flow between executives and financial analysts are addressed.\nRelevant literature: Reviewing the recent literature concerning manufacturing performance measurement, measures and related implementation issues, two distinct themes emerge. The first theme is labeled as the \"universal\" theme. The second theme, on the other hand, is be labeled as the \"contingency\" theme. While these two themes are not intended to be definitive in nature, nevertheless, they provide a context in which one can begin to attempt to understand the current state of relevant literature.The first theme includes approaches to performance measurement and implementation methodologies which advocate transferability across organizational context and operating environments. The second theme includes approaches which stress the unique characteristics of organizations, functions, and/or business units, in relation to performance measurement and implementation methodologies. These unique characteristics are considered very important to the effective implementation of performance measurement systems and their related performance measures. Important approaches consistent with these two themes are reviewed next. In the process, the differences among these approaches in the context of performance measurement and related implementation issues are highlighted. For a more detailed review of the literature, the reader is referred to Gomes et al. (2004a).Consistent with approaches under the \"universal\" theme, the Strategic Measurement Analysis and Reporting Technique (SMART) is considered among the earliest approaches to advocate integrated performance measurement systems. The SMART, also known as the \"Performance Pyramid\" (Cross and Lynch, 1988-1989; Lynch and Cross, 1991), is noted for incorporating performance dimensions specified by the previous literature as being indispensable to the global performance measurement of organizations.The Balanced Scorecard (Kaplan and Norton, 1992, 1993) is noted for being extensively cited in the literature. At the time of its introduction, this approach to performance measurement was considered revolutionary. It presented an innovative multi-dimensional approach to performance measurement. Initially, the Balance Scorecard was positioned by its authors as a performance measurement system. Later, however, it was repositioned as a centralized management system used in association with the implementation of a strategic vision for the organization (Kaplan, 1994).Consistent with the \"universal\" theme to performance measurement, Keegan et al. (1989) presented the PMM-Performance Measurement Matrix approach, where performance measurement was based on four dimensions organized in a 2 by 2 matrix. This two-dimensional matrix used four cells: internal/cost; internal/non-cost; external/cost and external/non-cost. Also, consistent with the \"universal\" theme, Ghalayini et al. (1997) proposed the Integrated Dynamic Performance Measurement System approach. This approach was based on the integration of three main organizational dimensions, which included management, process improvement teams and factory shop floor.Some authors have commented on the fragile nature of the \"universal\" approaches (Brignall, 1992; Neely et al., 1995; McKenzie and Shilling, 1998; McCunn, 1998; Lipe and Salterio, 2000; Ahmed, 2002). As alternatives to the approaches of the universal theme, some authors offered specific and/or contingency-based approaches. Consistent with this segment of the literature Dixon et al. (1990) proposed the PMQ - Performance Measurement Questionnaire. This questionnaire was designed to evaluate the relationships between the performance measurement system, and the perceptions of organizational members with regard to critical success factors. Eccles and Pyburn (1992) suggested a methodology to aid managers in the design and implementation of performance measurement systems (PMS). The authors contended that one of the main reasons behind the apparent lack of success of PMSs implementation was the fact that managers had no experience in developing, consensual models of performance for their organizations. Crowther (1996) considered three dimensions, based on which performance should be analyzed and evaluated. These dimensions emphasized the reasons behind the need for performance evaluation, as well as the specific needs of different evaluators.Among the group of authors concerned with implementation issues, the contributions of the researchers at the Centre for Business Performance (CBP) of Cranfield University are noted. These researchers concluded that the problems related to the design of performance measurement systems were, mainly, related to three dimensions (Neely et al., 1995). These three dimensions included the performance measures individually, the performance measurement system, as complete system, and the relationships between the performance measurement system and the environment in which it operates.Waggoner et al. (1999), from the CBP, focused on the forces that influence the utilization of performance measurement systems in manufacturing organizations. The authors contended that PMSs were not static in nature. They maintained that these systems were constantly evolving overtime. Waggoner et al. (1999) identified four categories of forces that could influence the evolution and the transformation of performance measurement systems. These four categories are internal influences, external influences, process-related problems, and the issues related to organizational changes.Recent research from the Centre for Business Performance led the development of the performance prism (Neely et al., 2001, 2002). The performance prism is based on a multi-dimensional framework, which considered the stakeholders as the focal point of the performance measurement process. This approach to performance measurement, not only stresses stakeholders' satisfaction, rather it incorporate their contributions into the process of development of organizational capabilities.Some authors addressed performance measurement in the context of specific organizational problems faced by manufacturing organizations. In the process, they suggested specific methodologies and frameworks to address performance issues in relation to specific organizational problems (Klassen and Whybark, 1999; Mapes et al., 2000; Forza and Salvador, 2000; DSouza and Williams, 2000; Ahmad et al., 2004).Another group of authors chose to focus on specific approaches to manufacturing performance measurement, which were related to organizational change, specific projects, and/or functions and business units. In the process, they suggested specific methodologies and indicators to measure manufacturing performance in a context relevant to these specific concerns (Hagedoorn and Cloodt, 2003; Duberley et al., 2000; Chuenusa et al., 2004; Gunasekaran et al., 2004; Rafele, 2004).Based on this brief literature review and a more extensive literature review by Gomes et al. (2004b), it is concluded that while the approaches advocated under the derived two main themes tend to differ with regard to their views on the relevance of different organizational and environmental contexts, they tend to clearly point to the increasing importance of the non-financial aspects of manufacturing performance (Dempsey et al., 1997; Gomes et al., 2004a). As such, a broader perspective on manufacturing performance and its measurement is needed.\nMethodology: The research instrument was sent to 298 financial analysts, whose names and addresses were obtained from APAF-Associacao Portuguesa de Analistas Financeiros (the Portuguese Association of Financial Analysts). A total of 79 responses were received with 39 letters and e-mails explaining the reasons for not completing the instrument were received, resulting in a response rate of 30.15 percent. This response rate is considered high, when compared with similar recent international studies reported in the literature (Sohal et al., 2001; Najmi and Kehoe, 2001; De Toni and Tonchia, 2001; Bhatt, 2000; Carr et al., 2000).The same research instrument was also sent to executives of 1,111 Portuguese manufacturing firms, with 50 employees or more. For the purpose of this study, the database maintained by the governmental agency Instituto Nacional de Estatistica (Portuguese National Institute of Statistics) was judged to be the most appropriate. A total of 92 completed responses were received and 62 were returned with some reasons for unwillingness to participate in the study. The researches learned through telephone calls and follow-up letters that some of firms included in the database are no longer in business. While it is difficult to precisely determine the number of such firms, the researchers are led to believe that it represents a rather sizable portion of the database. No significant differences in terms of the characteristics of respondents relative to non-respondents were detected (a=0.05). Due to the unreliable nature of the database and the sensitivity of the information requested, the response rate was relatively low (10 percent). However, this response rate is consistent with reported studies from England and the USA (Valsamakis and Sprage, 2001; Bhatt, 2000). Both of these studies reported a response rate of about 10 percent.The research questionnaire solicited biographical information from the respondents. The data obtained from the financial analysts indicated that the majority of them were generalists, working for banks and financial institutions. Almost 60 percent of the responding financial analysts occupied high-level positions in their organizations. Executives were also asked to provide information about their organizations, which included numbers of employees, types of certification achieved, and the extent of existence of integrated performance measurement systems.Instrument\nResults: The participants in this study were Portuguese financial analysts and executives of Portuguese manufacturing organizations. Therefore, the first issue to be addressed was whether the perspectives of those two groups tended to differ in relations to the frequency of utilization, predictive value and availability of information regarding the non-financial performance measures. The model below was used to address this issue: Equation 7 Based on the regression results shown in Table I, it is concluded that significant differences existed between financial analysts and executives of manufacturing organizations with respect to the performance measures studied.Following the methodology proposed earlier, the relative use of the categories of measures and the existence of interactions between them was assessed using the model below: Equation 8 The regression results shown in Table II revealed that only two of the seven binary variables representing the categories of measures were selected by the stepwise regression procedure. They included process efficiency and human resources management. also, only two interaction terms associated with the predictive value variable, and two interaction terms associated with the ease of information acquisition variable were selected by the stepwise procedure.Based on an analysis of the interaction terms representative of each category, we can affirm that for the same predictive value and for the same ease of information acquisition, the financial analysts tended to use the measures of process efficiency, and human resource management to a lesser extent, relative to the financial measures. We can also affirm that the frequency of use of the product and process innovation measures is less sensitive to the increase in the predictive value, when compared to the financial measures. The results for the social responsibility measures suggested that financial analysts were, somewhat, suspicious of the integrity of this type of information. This is not surprising, since firms sometimes disclose such information only for the purpose of gaining favorable public opinion (Dempsey et al., 1997). Finally, it appeared that the frequency of use of the product quality and customer satisfaction measures was much more sensitive to the ease of information acquisition, in comparison to the predictive value. This confirmed the lack of sensitivity of the measures of this category to the predictive value, especially in light of a prohibitive cost of information acquisition.Comparative analysis\nConclusion: The objective of this investigation is to examine the role and nature of financial versus non-financial measures in the context of information availability on these measures, their extent of utilization and their perceived relevance. The results derived from multiple regression analysis and graphical analysis point to some important conclusions, which have both practical and research implications.In general, results tend to support the contention that the frequency of use of the performance measures is a function of their predictive values, and of the availability of information on these measures. More importantly, however, the results point to the significant differences, which exist between financial analysts and executives in terms of their perceptions regarding the utilization and value of the studied measures.In an attempt to gain insights as to the nature and scope of the differences between financial analysts and executives in relation to the performance measurement studied, these difference were examined in detail. Based on the regression results for the financial analysts and the comparative analysis for each measure for both participants, it is concluded that the financial analysts view information related to the process efficiency and human resources management categories negatively in comparasion to the financial information category. These results also lead us to conclude that even if executives of manufacturing companies were to release more information related to these measures, the financial analysts may not use them more frequently. The comparative analysis suggested that information disclose for the product quality and customer satisfaction measures by manufacturing organizations may lead to higher frequency of use on the part of the financial analysts.The results appear to suggest that information flow between the organization and its external stakeholders is the highest for those measures that are traditionally included in the financial category, or non-financial measures which their disclose is demanded by law.The result, in general, appears to point to the fact that the extent of information sharing on the part of the manufacturing organizations is selective in nature. In this context, manufacturing executives' perception that disclosing information regarding non-financial measure could compromise the competitive position of the organization will always restrict the flow of such information to outsiders. This is attributed to a confidentiality barrier, which exits between the organization and outsiders. Therefore, independently of the ease of information acquisition and/or the predictive value, there will be some information that will never be in the information flow between executives and financial analysts. In this context, the higher the predictive value of an internal non-financial measure, the wider this confidentiality barrier is. The results related to some of the measures of product quality and customer satisfaction are cases in point. For such measures, executives tend to impose high cost on disclosing information related to these measures Thus, making it very difficult for the financial analysts to obtain and use such measures. It seems, therefore, that information of the non-financial type, which is associated with the effectiveness and/or organizational competitiveness is restricted to managerial internal use only.In the final analysis, financial analysts may not be satisfied with the current information sharing practices of manufacturing organizations. Perhaps the confidentiality barrier, which exits in terms of information sharing between organizations and outsiders is making it difficult for non-financial information to find their way to the financial analysts. This no doubt leaves the financial analysts frustrated, as they attempt to assess the overall performance of manufacturing organizations. Thus, the challenge to future research is to devise innovative information sharing practices which reflect the competitive health of the organization, while at the same time narrow the confidentiality barrier. Such practices will be useful to those who manage manufacturing organizations and to those who evaluate them.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The objective of this study is to shed some light on the information flow between executives and financial analysts in the context of manufacturing performance measurement and evaluation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The predictive value, information availability and frequency of performance measures used by the sampled manufacturing organizations and financial analysts are compared using multiple regression analysis.\nFindings: - The findings of this study clearly underscore the increasing significance of non-financial and non-traditional performance measures. The importance of customer-based and quality-related measures is noted.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The sample used in this study is specific in nature. It consisted of Portuguese manufacturing organizations and Portuguese financial analysts. Thus, the results should be interpreted accordingly.\nPractical implications: - The findings of this study have clear implications for organizational information systems. Re-engineering of organizational information systems is called for toward closing the information gaps which exist in the context of organizational performance measurement.\nOriginality/value: - This study has both practical and theoretical value, as it empirically explores the practical implications of some important issues related to organizational performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Dynamic capabilities of logistics service providers: antecedents and performance implications
|
[
"Firm performance",
"Organizational learning",
"Dynamic capabilities",
"Supply chain orientation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Supply chain management today can involve a complex range of activities to facilitate the flow of goods and resources across organizations located in different parts of the world. The logistics service providers (LSPs) that perform these functions (e.g. transportation, sourcing, order fulfillment, information management, financing, etc.) need to adjust their service mix constantly to meet the requirements of upstream suppliers or shippers and downstream customers. Global and domestic markets for logistics services are continuously changing, so it is essential that LSPs develop the right processes and capabilities. LSP capabilities have impact beyond the firm as LSPs control activities upstream and downstream along the supply chain.\nTheory and hypotheses: Dynamic capabilities and logistics service providers\nResearch methods: Data collection\nAnalysis and results: Scale validation and assessment of the measurement model\nDiscussion: This research sets out to investigate two antecedents of DC and their impact on logistics firm performance. The two antecedents were OL and SCO. A basic proposition in this research is that OL and SCO are enablers of DC and they can lead to better firm performance.\nImplications for theory and management: This study has implications for both theory development and management practice. It contributes to the understanding of factors that give rise to the emergence of DC for supply chain management. The study attempted to explicate the nature of DC by clarifying its antecedents and its impact on firm performance. Two antecedents of DC - OL and SCO - were identified and their joint effects on DC were investigated.\nLimitations and future research: This study is not without limitations. First, the study did not objectively measure firm performance but relied on perceptual and self-reported data from senior management. However, the perceptual and self-reporting of data by senior management on firm performance are becoming more acceptable because of the difficulties of obtaining real financial and market data from various organizations. Subjective business performance has been found to have strong positive correlation with objective business performance (Vij and Bedi, 2016). Second, the data were collected using the same method (self-report) and therefore, relationships among variables might be inflated by common method variance. Although efforts were taken to reduce the threat of common method variance, it remains one of the limitations of this study. Third, the study is cross-sectional in nature and the findings based on the responses of 103 firms. The findings should not necessarily be interpreted as evidence of the underlying causal relationships but rather as supporting a prior causal scheme.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Dynamic capabilities (DC) have been linked to firm competitive advantage, but the ways in which firms can create and build these DC are still not clear. The purpose of this paper is to propose a model with organizational learning (OL) and supply chain orientation (SCO) as antecedents of dynamic logistics capabilities and firm performance as the outcome. The study tests this model on a sample of logistics service firms.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data collected from 103 logistics firms drawn from the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transportation of Hong Kong.\nFindings: Results show that OL directly enhances DC and indirectly through SCO. The relationship between OL and SCO is stronger than the relationship between OL and DC. DC are positively related to logistics firm performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study relied on perceptual and self-reported data from senior management. Relationships among variables may also be inflated by common method variance but efforts were taken to reduce this threat.\nPractical implications: Logistics firms should promote a learning culture in the organization. Organization learning enhances a firm's willingness to change and innovate. It also helps employees to gain a better understanding of clients' supply chains and possibilities. SCO helps the firm to direct its reconfiguration and renewal efforts where the returns are the highest.\nOriginality/value: There is scant empirical research on the antecedents of DC outside of manufacturing and knowledge-intensive services. The study focused on the logistics services industry. SCO, a necessary strategic orientation for firms in the supply chain, has not been empirically investigated in the previous research. This study addressed these gaps in the literature and contributes to the understanding of the factors giving rise to DC.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The context of experience
|
[
"Experience",
"Consumer culture theory",
"Service-dominant logic",
"Value co-creation",
"Value-in-context"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Increasingly, managers seek to enhance customer experiences by better understanding how value is created and realized through markets. This emphasis on market-related experience is a central focus in an emerging body of literature regarding collaboration in value creation - that is, value co-creation (e.g. Helkkula et al., 2012; Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004; Ramirez, 1999; Schau et al., 2009; Vargo and Lusch, 2008; Vargo et al., 2008). Although the study of experience has generally focussed on \"consumer\"[1] evaluations of market offerings (see e.g. Holbrook, 1999), the notion of value co-creation suggests that the evaluation of experience is dependent on varying views and collective forms of value (Penaloza and Mish, 2011), past and anticipated interactions (Helkkula et al., 2012), and broader social contexts through which value is derived (Chandler and Vargo, 2011; Edvardsson et al., 2011; Vargo et al., 2008). Thus, the consideration of dynamic interactions and the nature of the context of value creation (Askegaard and Linnet, 2011) are dominant concerns for those wanting to better understand and enhance market-related experiences.\nThe co-creation of experience: The discussion of jointly created value was reviewed by Ramirez (1999) and advanced by Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2002, 2004) to emphasize the experiential nature of value and customers' roles in the creation of market-related experiences. Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2002) argue, \"In a market forum, consumers define value as experiences and push companies to see value the same way\" (p. 5). The authors make an important shift from conceptualizing value as created by the firm, to the co-creation of experiences through the interaction between firms and customers, which are largely driven by customer needs and competences. Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2004, p. 7) further argue, \"High-quality interactions that enable an individual customer to co-create unique experiences with the company are the key to unlocking new sources of competitive advantage.\" Thus, the co-creation of experience is a central source of value creation for both customers and firms.\nExtending the context of experience: The intersection of CCT and S-D logic has the potential to provide deeper insights into the evaluation of experience, and co-creation of value, within complex social and cultural contexts (Akaka et al., 2013). Although CCT research provides a rich and elaborate understanding about cultural aspects of markets, an S-D logic, service-ecosystems approach extends these cultural views with a multi-level view of context that emphasizes the embeddedness of various levels - micro, meso and macro - of value (Penaloza and Mish, 2011) and interaction (Chandler and Vargo, 2011). These actions and interactions include social practices and processes (i.e. institutions) among a variety of actors that contribute to the co-creation of value and co-construction of markets (Edvardsson et al., 2011; Vargo and Lusch, 2011). Chandler and Vargo (2011) also articulate a meta-layer of analysis that enables researchers to consider relationships among micro-, meso- and macro-levels of interaction and how service ecosystems evolve and transform over time.\nFuture research directions: An extended view of experience (Helkkula et al., 2012) and articulation of the context that frames value co-creation (Chandler and Vargo, 2011) points toward the need to further investigate the social and cultural factors that frame value and value creation. This present research brings together two emerging and growing areas of research - CCT and S-D logic - and provides an integrative framework for considering multiple dimensions of social and cultural context through which experience is evaluated and value is created. This integration of CCT and S-D logic highlights how collaboration in value creation and heterogeneous viewpoints influence the ongoing (re)evaluation of any given experience.\nConclusion: This extended view of context - based on symbol systems and service ecosystems, multiplicity of structures and institutions, co-creation of value-in-cultural-context, and co-construction of context - suggests that value co-creation occurs at multiple levels of interaction, and value is evaluated and reevaluated through multiple viewpoints. Based on this, the micro-level of value, or evaluation of experience, is influenced by, but also influences, higher levels of value (i.e. values) that include multiple structures and institutions, sign systems and service ecosystems.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the social and cultural aspects of the context that frames service exchange to better understand how value and experience are evaluated.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors apply a conceptual approach to develop and propose a framework for deepening the understanding of the context of market-related experiences. The authors integrate two growing streams of research - consumer culture theory and service-dominant logic - that focus on phenomenological and experiential views on value and extend the context of experience with a culturally rich, service-ecosystems view of markets.\nFindings: The authors broaden the context of experience by applying a service-ecosystems perspective and identify four social and cultural factors that influence experience from this extended context - sign systems and service ecosystems; multiplicity of structure and institutions; value-in-cultural-context; and co-construction of context. Based on this, the authors point toward directions for future research.\nResearch limitations/implications: The proposed framework points researchers and managers toward an extended context that is reproduced through the co-creation of value and influences evaluations of experience. Empirical research is needed to provide evidence of the proposed framework and further extend the understanding of dynamic social and cultural contexts.\nPractical implications: The findings of this study provide a broader scope of context and identify additional social and cultural factors for managers to consider in their efforts to enhance customer experiences.\nOriginality/value: Traditional views of markets limit the context of experience to firm-customer encounters or consumer-centric practices and processes. This paper extends the context of experience to consider the practices and perspectives of multiple actors and various views on value.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Impact of technology management on corporate sustainability performance: The mediating role of TQM
|
[
"TQM",
"Performance",
"Corporate sustainability"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: One of the major issues in corporate management is how to perform and sustain firm business in the world market and thus to ensure its long-term success. The literature suggests that the success of organizations, today, goes through sustainability (Schaltegger, 2011). Sustainability field deals with appropriate response paradigms concerning to economical, social and environmental aspects in realization to products, services, processes, business and corporate performance models. The newly developed concept of corporate sustainability performance (CSP) has changed and widened the business perspective from managing merely economical-financial strategies to equally performing social, ecological and environmental responsibilities (Hubbard, 2009).\nLiterature review: Globalization and new technologies issues are shaping new challenges and risks for the organizations in the world. It has been asserted that, for the last few decades, the world development in business and social environment has gained new features due to three interacting processes (Vanagas and Zirgutiene, 2015). First is the rapid development of technologies that shaped new skills; second is the globalization that significantly unified environment and the third is the increased demands and wants of different stakeholders. The interaction of these three processes or dimensions can be capitalized if strategically aligned by managers according to the circumstances and needs of the business. The first interacting process can be unified with TM; the second one can be unified with sustainability performance and third can be catered through TQM, which typically ensures participation and satisfaction of all stakeholders.\nTechnology management: Technology refers to the theoretical and practical knowledge, skills and artifacts that can be used to develop products and services as well as their production and delivery systems. It is the application of knowledge, skills, abilities, tools, techniques, machines, materials, equipment, computers and softwares used to convert raw material into valuable goods and services (Qureshi and Jalbani, 2015). It has also been defined as \"the capability to make effective use of technical knowledge and skills, not only in an effort to improve and develop products and processes but also to improve existing technology and to generate new knowledge and skills in response to the competitive business environment\" (Jin and Von Zedtwitz, 2008). Managing technology entails managing the system that enables the acquisition, creation and utilization of resources and maintenance of the natural environment.\nTotal quality management: TQM is a philosophy and a strategy toward continuous change. Continuous improvement, breakthrough and standardization using TQM play a key role to increase competitiveness. Organizations are paying significant attention to TQM methods, tools and techniques in the global competitive environment. Although there is no concrete agreement on the factors that constitute TQM and still the factors are varying among different authors and researchers yet both theoretical and practical level of TQM frameworks have been developed.\nCorporate sustainability performance: Sustainability is an evolutionary concept that has been arisen as a consequence of adaptation to changing state of circumstances on earth (Muhamad et al., 2014). First time, sustainable development concept was introduced and defined by WCED (1987), as \"development that meets the needs of the present generation, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.\" It was fostered that the earning role of business units should not be run at the cost of environment and the nature.\nExamining the relationship between TQM, technology management and sustainability performance: Jorgensen (2008) has made the point that unsustainable products along the value chain impede desired satisfaction with regard to quality, safety, environment and health. This impediment can be reduced to a certain degree if organizations become more sustainable with a new holistic view on products and production processes while enlarging the understanding and awareness of the interests of all stakeholders.\nTQM and sustainability performance: TQM tenders systematic approach and techniques which increase organizational efficiency and effectiveness. TQM theory and practice is founded on the principles of ethics (Zairi and Peters, 2002). Business ethics are not just a philanthropic phenomenon; it provides fundamental base upon which communities are developed and company businesses are founded in the society. Concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is affiliated with ethical principles of quality management. TQM philosophy is consistent with both the instrumental and rightful ethical sides of corporate sustainability.\nTechnology management and sustainability performance: Kyriakou (2002) presented arguments related to technological progress and its influence on social and environmental sustainability of growth. He asserted that technical progress underlies both economic growth and means to deal with, or improve, environmental degradation (the optimistic view). On the contrary, there is different belief that historically, technical progress has been the cause of accelerated environmental degradation (the pessimistic view). The problem with this pessimistic argument is that it considers technological change as an exogenous whereas it should be viewed as endogenous. Technological options radically carry high environmental benefits and contribute toward the growth of social sustainability in a longer run.\nTQM and technology management: There are numerous studies that have determined the relationships or predictive correlations between TQM factors and performance measures. These include identification of success factors for TQM practices, examination of barriers or obstacles in adopting TQM techniques and identification of the relationship and effect of TQM on performance factors (Sebastianelli and Tamimi, 2003). But there is little literature available that investigates the interrelated and combined effect of TQM and TM on certain performance parameters. Prajogo and Sohal (2006) identified the impact of TQM and technology/R&D management on quality and innovation performance. Kuruppuarachchi and Perera (2010) studied the impact of the both practices on operations performance of 44 organizations in Sri Lanka. Brah and Lim (2006) carried the study of TQM and technology on the performance of logistics companies.\nResearch methodology: Proposed research framework\nResults and analysis: Descriptive analysis\nDiscussion and conclusions: Corporate sustainability is a business approach that creates long-term shareholder value by embracing opportunities and managing risks deriving from economic, environmental and social developments (Nicolaescu et al., 2015). It is emerging as a global strategic vision that should be addressed by adopting potent strategies, like TQM or TM, to meet the economical, social, environmental and technological challenges we face.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Corporate sustainability is an evolutionary strategic management concept that has now attained much attention both in literature and practice. In the present globalization and digital age, the competitive strengths of technology management (TM) and TQM practices are widely accepted but to what extent these strategies can interact and impact the sustainability performance is unknown. The purpose of this paper is to portray the significant role of TM and TQM in pursuing corporate sustainability performance (CSP) and to investigate their integrated relationship as a common framework.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This is a survey-based empirical research that has been carried out by means of development of a survey questionnaire and its distribution to multifaceted business organizations in a developing country. Random sampling technique was used for the data collection from companies registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). Response from 209 companies was found useful for analysis in the study. After confirming the questionnaire items for reliability and validity (content, criterion-related and construct validity) correlation, regression, factor analysis, path analysis and mediation analysis were performed through SPSS and AMOS to assess the composition and causal association of factors.\nFindings: Statistical results show that TQM does not only significantly impact CSP but also has an impact on each CSP dimension (economical, social and environmental sustainability performance), whereas TM has an insignificant direct effect on CSP and impacts economical sustainability dimension only. From nine hypotheses, two hypotheses are rejected suggesting that TM does not directly impact social and environmental sustainability. However, when mediation analysis was run by taking TQM as a mediator, the total effect of TM on CSP found significant suggesting that TQM significantly impacts the relationship.\nResearch limitations/implications: Paucity of response data can be a limitation for such empirical research. Due to practical limitations and risks in the data presentation of mixed cultural dimensions, the data was collected only from in country organizations. Moreover, respondents in the local country do not keenly participate in such surveys because of a gap between the industry and academia.\nPractical implications: The study attempts to examine the practice and performance levels of CSP, TQM and TM among multi industries, thereby, extending a better understanding of the prevailing situation with regards to these concepts in a developing country. Though the results of the study confine local inferences but the findings can be generalized to other part of the world if further research is carried out with more data.\nSocial implications: The study outcomes draw the attention of the country's executive leadership and the industrial boards toward the implementation of the most top-ranked agenda of sustainability performance in connection to quality and TM practices. One of the major findings reveals that local organizations are primarily more focused toward economical sustainability dimension, however, benefits of economical stability can be improvised to attain environmental and social sustainability performances with desired concentration on technology advancement and TQM culture and practice.\nOriginality/value: The study is unique in the prescribed scope which has been carried out in a developing country with focus on strategic concepts, and their interacted relationship, of CSP, TQM and TM in form of proposed research framework. This framework can be used or further investigated for validation, by practitioners and managers working to lead sustainability management in respective areas.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Computations of the signature reliability of the coherent system
|
[
"Complex system",
"Universal generating function",
"Expected lifetime",
"K-out-of-n system",
"Signature reliability",
"Tail signature"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Reliability is the essential performance parameter for any system to analyze the components performance. Reliability, sometimes called signature, depends on the probability of the failure component of the coherent system components. Many authors, such as Samaniego (1985), Navarro and Rychlik (2007), Mahmoudi and Asadi (2011) and Samaniego and Navarro (2016), analyzed the signature reliability of complex and k-out-of-n systems in previous and recent years. Signature is relevant in reliability economics, optimality criteria and optimal design of systems. Samaniego (1985) was the first to study the signature of the coherent system elements having independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) lifetime components. Samaniego (2007) provided the application in engineering and network fields for system signature and characterized the signature of the coherent system.\n2. Definitions: 2.1 Coherent systems\n3. Appraisal reliability for the k-out-of-n coherent system: Consider a k-out-of-n system with n number of components in which every component of the system is connected in a series system. The series system as shown in Figure 1 is working if every component of the system is working otherwise the system fails.\n4. Algorithm for evaluating the reliability of the k-out-of-n system: Step 1: compute u-function of the component in the form of:(8)\n5. Solution of the complex system with seven components: Consider a complex system with seven working components as shown in Figure 2.\n6. Solution of the 2-out-of-4 system: Consider a 2-out-of-4 system in which every component has three series elements as shown in Figure 3. The reliability function h(p) of the 2-out-of-4 system is expressed as:\n7. Conclusion: In this paper, we have shown that the considered systems are getting more reliable on the basis of obtained measures such as signature, expected lifetime, Barlow-Proschan index and expected cost rate. In both considered systems the expected lifetime is almost equal but expected cost is different. The result revealed that the Barlow-Proschan index for every element of the k-out-of-n coherent system is the same and different for the complex system. In this study, the signature reliability of the complex system is more than the k-out-of-n system and signature represents the range of working components in both the proposed model.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compute the signature reliability of the coherent systems.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The considered k-out-of-n coherent system consists of n number of elements connected in series. With the help of these systems, the authors have evaluated a mathematical structure using universal generating function.\nFindings: Using the universal generating function technique, the authors evaluate tail signature, Barlow-Proschan index, expected lifetime and expected cost.\nOriginality/value: In this paper, the authors have developed a coherent systems based on the universal generating function technique.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Competencies and human resource management: implications for organizational competitive advantage
|
[
"Competences",
"Human resource management",
"Human capital",
"Competitive strategy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: There is no doubt that part of an organization's knowledge resides in the people who form it. The employee's knowledge value depends on their potential to contribute to the achievement of an organizational competitive advantage. Recent research suggests that human capital attributes (including training, experience and skills) - and in particular the executives' human capital - have a clear impact on organizational results (Barney, 1991; Finkelstein and Hambrick, 1996; Huselid, 1995; Pennings et al., 1998; Pfeffer, 1998; Wright et al., 1995).Although the use of this knowledge is an important factor in the actual competitive environment, it is not enough to use the actual employees' knowledge basis. Thus, Wright et al. (1995) consider that \"despite the firm's resources and capacities have added some value in the past, changes in customers' demands, in the industry's structure or in technology may turn them into less valuable in the future\" (p. 51). Therefore it is important to manage employees, their knowledge and competences in such a way that the organization can build a long-term competitive advantage.This paper is structured in two sections. The first describes the importance of human resource management as a key strategic resource in today's competitive environment. The second section analyzes how SHRM can shape the human resource systems and practices to develop a dynamic capacity to respond to the market's competitive challenges, both in steady and dynamic environments. Finally, the paper summarizes conclusions and implications for human resource management in organizations.\n2. Human capital and individual competences: a resource-based analysis: More than any other theoretical perspective in the field of strategic management, the resource-based theory has drawn the attention of scholars and practitioners alike. This is particularly evident if variants of the theory, such as dynamic capabilities (Teece et al., 1997), the knowledge-based view (Kogut and Zander, 1992) and the relational view (Dyer and Singh, 1998) are included. While the attention includes that of critics (e.g. Priem and Butler, 2001; Bromiley and Fleming, 2002) as well as adherents, it is undoubtedly one of the most influential theories in the field. As testimony to this, consider the distribution of the Strategic Management Society best paper prize over the 12 years that it has been awarded. This prize is awarded annually to a paper, published at least five years earlier, for its deep influence on the field. Seven out of the 13 such prizes that have been awarded so far have gone to papers advancing the resource-based view. Moreover, according to a recent study of article impact, the two most highly cited articles published in the Strategic Management Journal during the 1990s were conceptual resource-based articles (Peteraf, 1993; Teece et al., 1997). The citation count of Barney's (1991) classic resource-based article is even higher, exceeding 5,224 as of January 2007 (Ordonez de Pablos et al., 2007).The influence of resource-based theory can be attributed to a number of factors. It concerns what is arguably the most central topic in the field of strategic management - why some firms outperform others. In addition, it addresses a number of other core topics, such as firm heterogeneity, growth, and diversification. It resonates with scholars of strategy due to its connection to familiar strategy concepts, such as distinctive competence. Yet it brings an unprecedented degree of rigor to these concepts by grounding them in economic approaches that have more recently gained acceptance in the field.The resource-based view of the firm (RBV) receives great attention in the strategic management literature. Its orientation towards internal analysis of the firm offers to human resource strategic management a valuable conceptual framework, through which to analyze the ways in which firms try to develop their human resources with the aim of transforming them in a sustained competitive advantage (Wright and McMahan, 1992).The idea that human resources can become a source of competitive advantage for the organization is not new (Huselid, 1995; Ordonez de Pablos, 2004; Pfeffer, 1998; Schuler and Jackson, 1987; Wright et al., 1995). It is generally accepted that firms can create a competitive advantage from human resources and their management practices. Effective human resource management will generate a higher capacity to attract and hold employees who are qualified and motivated for good performance, and also the benefits from having adequate and qualified employees are numerous. Some examples are higher profitability, less rotation, higher product quality, lower costs in manufacturing and a faster acceptation and implementation of the organizational strategy.Organizational resources lead to a sustained competitive advantage when they are valuable, rare, inimitable and have no substitute (see Table I; Barney, 1991). The first four criteria create a potential for competitive advantage, but if the firm wants to obtain this advantage over its rivals, then it will have to be organized to use these resources (Ulrich and Lake, 1990). Next, if we start from the assumption that individual skills are normally distributed, these criteria will be analyzed.In order to be a source of competitive advantage, human resources must create organizational value. Resources are valuable if they allow the organization to develop strategies that improve efficiency and efficacy (Barney, 1991). This criterion demands that both job demand and offer are heterogeneous - that is to say, organizations offer jobs that need different types of skills and individuals show differences in their skill types and levels. Thus, there is a variance in the value that individual contributions have for the firm, and therefore human resources can give value to the firm (Wright et al., 1995).Second, resources must be rare in order to form a source of competitive advantage. In the human resource management context, this characteristic depends on the job pool's heterogeneity (Wright et al., 1995). If types and levels of skills are not distributed in a normal way, then some firms will be able to get the talent they need, while others will not, whereby, ceteris paribus, this form of human capital means a source of sustained competitive advantage. Moreover, the rareness criterion is also connected with the concept of resource specificity and labor mobility (Williamson, 1985).Third, if a resource is to become a source of sustained competitive advantage, it must be inimitable. Firms can obtain human capital in the market, or by developing it internally. In the human resource management context, if a resource can be duplicated or imitated by another firm, then it is not a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Finally, for a resource to become a source of sustained competitive advantage, it must not have any substitutes. Human resources are one of the few organizational resources with the potential not to become obsolete and to be transferable to a variety of technologies, products and markets.\n3. Human-based competences and human resource management: some keys for the long term organizational competitive advantage: 3.1 Introduction\nMain conclusions and implications for strategic management: Human resource systems can favor the development and/or use of organizational competences, and simultaneously these systems may destroy organizational competences and/or constrain their development and display. However, the use of human resource systems that develop competences, although necessary for a firm to reach a competitive position, might not be enough to reach long-term sustained competitive advantage. Thus it is necessary that the human resource system is relatively difficult to transfer to other firms, causally ambiguous, or both.On the other hand, the specific features of certain human resource practices configurations, which are unique and ease the creation, transfer, and institutionalization of knowledge, must be researched. The use of configurational analysis - focused on advanced interactions among human resource practices, as well as in the non-linear effects that may appear among them - can contribute to the advancement of the field.Strategic management in general and human resource strategic management in particular are aware of the necessity to know how they can configure human resource management systems and practices, with the aim of developing a competitive advantage for the firm. This issue can be analyzed with the help of concepts such as internal fit, external fit, and organizational flexibility\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The paper seeks to analyze in depth the organizational requirements for the exploitation of human resource management towards increased organizational performance, and to provide a conceptual framework for the analysis of human resource management in learning organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper takes the form of an extensive literature review on human resource management (HRM), organizational learning and human capital.\nFindings: - The major contribution is the Requirements Framework for the Adoption of Technology Enhanced Learning and Semantic Web Technologies, which can guide strategies of effective competencies management in modern organizations. This framework initiates an interesting discussion of technological issues that go beyond the scope of this paper.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The Requirements Framework provides the basis for an extensive specification of knowledge management strategies. A follow-up publication will present the practical implications of the \"theoretical\" abstraction of framework and empirical evidence.\nPractical implications: - The paper is a very useful source of information and impartial advice for strategists, HRM managers, knowledge management officers and people interesting in exploiting human resource management systems in a knowledge-intensive organization.\nOriginality/value: - This paper fulfills an identified need to outline methods and technologies for integrated knowledge and learning and competencies management support in organizations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Executing large-scale processes in a blockchain
|
[
"Cryptography",
"Blockchain",
"Scalability",
"Transactions",
"Blockchain networks"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A blockchain broadcast network (Bozic et al., 2016; Croman et al., 2016; Nakamoto, 2008; Wood, 2014) is a mechanism for creating a distributed, tamper-proof, append-only ledger. Every participant in the broadcast network maintains a copy, or some representation, of the ledger. Ledger entries are made by consensus on the states of a process \"executed\" on the blockchain.\n2. Cryptographic protocols: Hash chain based protocols discussed in this section include Merkle (1987) hash trees, OMT (Ramkumar, 2014), hash accumulators (Bayer et al., 1993), hash calendar (Buldas and Saarepera, 2014) and the timed efficient stream loss-tolerant authentication (TESLA) broadcast authentication protocol (Perrig et al., 2000).\n3. Blockchain processes as an FSM: The FSM model of process\n4. A scalable blockchain platform: In the broad outline of a scalable blockchain platform in Figure 2 for executing any number of possibly unrelated large-scale processes, two separate ledgers are maintained - a TSL and a process ledger (PL). Blockchain broadcasts of two types, namely, transactions and TESLA MACs (which are signatures for transactions to be broadcast at a later time) are timestamped and entered in the TSL. In practice, a small number of portals may exist for users to submit broadcast packets for timestamping. Transactions in the TSL are then processed in a chronological order to create PL entries.\n5. Conclusions: Blockchain networks offer a universally trusted computing platform, which can be leveraged to replace (or, at the minimum, limit the role of) high-overhead infrastructures like banks, insurance and governments.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the blockchain as a trusted computing platform. Understanding the strengths and limitations of this platform is essential to execute large-scale real-world applications in blockchains.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper proposes several modifications to conventional blockchain networks to improve the scale and scope of applications.\nFindings: Simple modifications to cryptographic protocols for constructing blockchain ledgers, and digital signatures for authentication of transactions, are sufficient to realize a scalable blockchain platform.\nOriginality/value: The original contributions of this paper are concrete steps to overcome limitations of current blockchain networks.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Growing self-leaders: the role of motivating language
|
[
"Development strategies",
"Self-Leadership",
"Motivating language"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: As innovation and knowledge increasingly drive the world economy, organizations must respond with initiatives that encourage employee self-direction - specifically goals and their own processes to attain them. Self-leadership (Neck and Manz, 2012) addresses how people embrace such intrinsic goals and strategies. Despite the well-supported benefits of self-leadership (Neck and Houghton, 2006), most employees do not call upon these nascent abilities. Furthermore, even when employees do adopt them, their individual goals may be only personally beneficial, or even harmful to the organization. Fortunately, managers can effectively use talk to develop valuable employee self-leadership skills and align the aspirations toward organizationally relevant goals with motivating language (ML) (Mayfield et al., 2015).\nHow leader communication can grow self-leadership: While leaders cannot directly cause an increase in self-leadership - by definition self-leadership comes from within - ML nurtures employee self-leadership, then helps align that self-leadership toward organizational goals. For example, in terms of behavioral strategies, ML enhances employees' beliefs that desired goals are attainable. Such support increases employee self-efficacy in goal setting. Additionally, ML acts as a positive workplace cue and directs an employee's attention to organizational role models. Further implementation details are provided in Table I.\nAlignment of organizational and personal goals: In addition to fostering self-leadership strategies, ML helps to navigate these strategies toward organizational goals. As mentioned earlier, self-leadership behaviors encourage employees to achieve goals, but these aspirations are internally anchored and do not necessarily embrace organizational goals. To bridge this potential disconnect, ML helps link personal goals with organizational ones. Case-in-point, leaders can invite such congruence through clarifying links between organizational goals and the employee's personal goals. Meaning making language especially identifies shared goals. Leaders can also influence employees' goals through forging personal bonds (drawing strongly on empathetic language). These compassionate rapports elicit reciprocity which is expressed through support for organizational objectives. Relatedly, direction giving language facilitates such reciprocity through transparency and dispelling ambiguity. In brief, the preceding combinations of ML factors augment employee goal commitment.\nImplementation suggestions: We have already presented how leaders can encourage and channel employee self-leadership behaviors. Here, we offer suggestions for how an organization can develop a synergistic partnership between ML and self-leadership. To forge this relationship, an organization must first generate awareness by training managers in ML methods - specifically those that can enhance and channel employee self-leadership. Similarly, organizations can benefit from training employees in how to recognize and implement self-leadership behaviors. In tandem with these initiatives, an organization may need to address its reward system. The organization's reward system must be aligned with supporting employee self-leadership cognitions and attributes that will benefit employees and the organization. When encouraged to align with organizational goals, self-leadership both enhances employee self-esteem and the capabilities to meet today's competitive organizational demands. Furthermore, contingent reward systems must also recognize leaders using ML to nurture employee self-leadership. Finally, leaders must be sure that their everyday behaviors align with their talk, and the organization's culture must embrace and support all of these behaviors.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine how leader communication can help foster an employee's ability to set and achieve goals and align these goals with organizationally relevant purposes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To better understand this process, the authors use two well-supported theories - motivating language to provide a framework for understanding leader communication and self-leadership to examine employee goal setting.\nFindings: Examining these two theories together has resulted in a practical, theory-based guide for how managers can use leader communication to improve workplace results.\nOriginality/value: This paper offers researchers a new lens through which to view workplace practices in organizations driven by innovation and knowledge management, and a framework for managers and consultants to develop methods for inspiring and guiding workers toward improved organizational performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Mapping out devolution: an exploration of the realities of devolution
|
[
"Middle managers",
"Health services sector",
"Delegation",
"Organizational structures",
"Human resource strategies",
"Spain"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Few definitions in the HRM literature have reached as much consensus as the term \"devolution\". Indeed, the notion of personnel tasks being transferred to middle managers as the materialisation of the concept of devolution has not been challenged by researchers, even those from completely opposed traditions. For example, Guest (1987) and Legge (1978, 1995) are known for having radically different and contrasting views about HRM, but have never argued about what devolution consists of.However, there are many questions pending to be answered regarding what exactly is being devolved, whether it is just the implementation of tasks or the actual decision-making power regarding HRM issues, etc. In this sense, responsibilities such as the appraisal of a team's performance and the decisions taken as a consequence of that appraisal by a middle manager would both be considered as devolved. However, the former is a task that simply consists of implementing someone else's policy, whereas the latter involves a much higher degree of decision making. Are they the same phenomenon? Should any form of transfer of HR responsibility to middle managers be considered as the same degree of devolution?In any case, devolution is a phenomenon that has been defined from the perspective of HRM specialists, with little or no contribution from the other main agents involved in it, i.e. the middle managers.Therefore, this paper attempts to explore in more detail what is behind the commonly shared definition of devolution, by examining not only the actual tasks that are being devolved, but also by trying to establish different degrees of devolution according to a number of dimensions that will be suggested. This will be done by revising the devolution literature in the first part of the paper, and by analysis of a case study of a hospital in the second part. If devolution is to deliver all the results that the HRM and empowerment literatures advocate for it, it is important to understand what the responsibilities that are being allocated to middle managers are, so that we can provide them with the resources they need to carry out these acquired functions.\nLiterature review: This section outlines the contributions that have been made to date regarding the definition of devolution and what is devolved. It aims to fulfil two objectives:1. to define the main gap in this literature; and2. to provide us with a basis for comparison with the findings of our study.Definition and blurred limits\nObjectives: As seen from the review of the HRM literature, the devolution of personnel activities has been conceived as a general and unidimensional concept, with little further exploration of what is being devolved, how it is being devolved, and more importantly, how this is perceived by the actors involved. This lack of specifics indicates that there is more focus on the rhetoric of devolution than on its reality. However, as some studies suggest, the reality of devolution is not so simple and the transfer of HR functions to middle managers materialises in a great variety of forms, not only in terms of different HR areas or activities but also in terms of different degrees - tasks, knowledge and expertise, financial power and decision making power. The devolution of each of these dimensions may have a distinctive impact on middle managers' perceptions. Furthermore, many existing studies are mainly based on quantitative data and lack a detailed in-depth explanation of \"what\" is devolved (dimensions considered) and \"how\" devolution will impact middle managers' perceptions.In the present study, we attempt to achieve these objectives:* To go beyond the surface and the rhetoric in order to explore what exactly is being devolved, not just in terms of HR functions but also in terms of dimensions. Furthermore, to observe how the transfer of these dimensions affect middle managers' perceptions.* To revise the current, non-challenged definition of devolution by incorporating the different dimensions studied, as well as the perspective of middle managers. This is with a view to contributing to the objectivity and concretion of the concept of devolution.Indeed, the review of the literature also showed that the definition of devolution has been totally driven by personnel specialists, and in this sense it seems to incorporate their views exclusively. In this paper we include middle managers' views in the definition of the term by considering that personnel tasks and responsibilities may not just come from personnel specialists but also from other actors in the organisation. This responds to calls for more accounts that elicit middle managers' perspectives on devolution (Storey, 1992a, b).\nMethodology: Choice of method\nCase study description: In terms of the background of the organisation at the time the research was undertaken, Hospital A was a municipal public limited company (a mercantile society but with public capital) with 800 employees (680 core employees). It is a university hospital with a capacity of 274 beds.The management of the hospital was awarded to a private organisation (ManaG) in 1989. ManaG also centrally manages a total of 17 health-related organisations in a group, coordinating material and human resources to provide health services. Therefore, all the health organisations from this group (our case study organisation included) have a common and shared managerial structure. This is shown in ManaG's organisational chart, which includes three managerial areas (strategic planning, operations and resources) subordinated to a general director. However, each of the organisations of the group maintains its own legal status, and has its own director and its own structure apart from ManaG.The management of human resources is centralised in ManaG's HR-Labour Relations Department, but this department only performs administrative tasks (payroll, contracts, etc.) with no decision-making power at all.At the time the fieldwork was conducted, there was a change in the organisational structure consisting of a move towards a matrix structure that was more product-oriented, as this was required of them by the health policy-makers. This was accompanied by a process of decentralisation and devolution of responsibilities to middle managers. However, there was no explicit policy or any written document to formally recognise the process of devolution. The change was motivated in order to improve information sharing, to control costs through the arrangement of budgets by area instead of service, to increase efficiency (eliminating idle capacities), and also to make middle managers more responsible for what they do.The most direct effects of this change process for the middle managers' position are as follows: with the objective of transforming the hospital into a \"business of businesses\", the traditional position of the \"head of the unit\" would be transformed into that of \"product manager\" (each of them managing their own business). This change is an attempt to harmonise the values of managers and those of medical staff.At the time the fieldwork was conducted there were two labels for the same position: \"head of unit\" and \"unit's director\". The idea was for the unit's director to be the new product manager. The head of unit was a professional category, gained by knowledge and expertise, whereas the position of unit's director was a managerial position personally appointed by top management. The idea behind the position of unit's director was to solve the problem created by the fact that the head of unit was a highly qualified medical employee, but not necessarily the best person to manage the unit. In some services they have a different head of unit and unit's director because the head of the unit was not the best person to manage the unit and therefore another unit's director was imposed by the medical direction to manage the unit. Since stepping down from managing the unit was not voluntary, this process generated conflicts in some units. In other units, the positions of head of unit and unit's director were undertaken by the same person when there was no need to change the management structure.\nResults and analysis: The HR literature considers devolution as a desirable output. But desirable for whom? What is really devolved? Few researchers have taken an interest in analysing devolution in terms of taking into account what really is being devolved, not only in terms of HR activities but in terms of different types/levels of power and how the devolution (or lack of it) of these dimensions is perceived by the recipients. The exploration of these aspects is precisely the focus of our study.Initial analysis of the data focused on the extent to which middle managers were undertaking human resource management tasks and how the HR function was distributed among the different actors in our case study organisation. Next, data from the case study organisation were used to identify the different dimensions proposed for the measure of the degree of devolution. Subsequent analyses of middle managers' perceptions were used to inform a discussion about the different feelings and perceptions that result from the lack of devolution on each of the proposed dimensions. Direct quotations from the interviews are employed to illustrate the results of the analysis. Note that all quotations are translated from Catalan and Spanish.Agents in the HR function\nDiscussion and conclusions: From the results outlined above regarding the dimensions proposed for devolution, we can conclude that the case study organisation was practising a low degree of devolution in reality, even though the number of responsibilities transferred to middle managers initially made us think there was a high level of devolution. In the hospital analysed, we can talk about devolution in terms of tasks and responsibilities but not in terms of autonomy over the unit's resources. Autonomy is conceived by the hospital's middle managers as the financial power to take decisions and implement them. This lack of autonomy means more labour intensification without empowerment. This finding emphasises the importance of reflecting on the reality and the rhetoric of devolution.Furthermore, it is important to highlight the fact that middle managers did not differentiate between the tasks they carried out related to managing people and other management tasks, but instead they considered them together as one same aspect of their jobs. This can be interpreted in the sense that HRM tasks are not very different from other management tasks at the operational level, or else it means that the middle managers did not have enough knowledge about management to be able to differentiate HRM aspect of their work.The results indicate that it is worthwhile to break down the concept of devolution into dimensions (tasks and responsibilities, decision-making power, financial power and expertise power) and to specify what dimensions are devolved. This breakdown of devolution into dimensions has proven useful as a good indicator of the degree of devolution (according to the number of dimensions devolved). In the same way, it represents a good tool to differentiate between rhetoric programs of devolution (in the sense of empowerment) and real ones. If devolution is to be considered a desirable output for the organisation and in particular for its middle managers, the consideration of different dimensions of devolution may present some possibilities for improving its reality.This breakdown also facilitates the differentiation among the consequences that each dimension of devolution had on middle managers' perceptions (feelings of powerlessness, insecurity, loneliness, etc.). Therefore we can conclude that unpacking the concept of devolution into dimensions is of great value not only for the conceptual aspects related to the objectives of this paper but also for further research in this area. In sum, this level of analysis allows a better understanding of devolution.Another important outcome of the analysis of this case study is related to the fact that the HR tasks and responsibilities transferred to middle managers did not come from the human resources specialists (because they just had an administrative role), but from top management: the hospital's director and the nurses' director as well as from the CEO in ManaG (the managerial company running the management of all the hospitals in the group). This finding supports our initial idea that we should redefine devolution to include the transfer of tasks that, as in this case, have their origin not in HR specialists but in other actors undertaking the HR function.The second objective of this paper consisted of proposing a revised definition of devolution. The review of the literature and the analysis of the data obtained in the case study suggest that two new elements should be included in this definition: first, to contemplate the possibility of the origin of devolution in an agent other than personnel specialists, and second, to incorporate the dimensions proposed in this study to measure the term. From this, our proposal to revise the definition of the concept of devolution is:Devolution is the reallocation of personnel tasks or activities, and the related decision-making power, financial power and expertise power required to carry out these tasks, from other agents to line managers.In this sense, there may be different degrees of devolution according to the number of dimensions that have been devolved.We consider it worthwhile to redefine the concept of devolution not just as the reallocation of tasks formerly undertaken by the personnel specialists to line managers, but from whoever undertook these tasks before. Moreover, we criticise the fact that the concept of devolution (as well as the lines of research regarding this issue) has been traditionally defined from the personnel specialists' view, and therefore only considered the personnel specialists as the origin of this transfer.But if it is true that \"all managers are people managers\" (Whittaker, 1990) and that there are many agents involved in the HR function both inside and outside the organisation (Valverde, 2001), then it may be time to broaden the term to consider that the origin of the transfer in devolution should not just be personnel specialists but also other actors in the organisation who intervene in the personnel function. The case study which this paper is based on is an example of this: personnel specialists in this hospital just carry out administrative tasks. Therefore the origin of the transfer of responsibilities was the Medical Director and the Nurse Director.This paper has explored the usefulness of breaking down the concept of devolution into different dimensions. It has also provided a revised definition of devolution (incorporating these dimensions), and it has done so by taking into account the point of view of middle managers.\nLimitations and further studies: This study is restricted to one sector and to one case study. Therefore, it would not be prudent to generalise its findings. Even though the purpose of this study was not to generalise, and therefore this is not strictly a limitation, we suggest that more case study evidence be collected before moving to a theory-testing stage of work.A doubt arose in the analysis of the case consisting of whether to place the nurses' director and the medical doctor as members of top management or middle management. This means that we do not yet have of a totally clear definition of what a middle manager is and what common features can be used to define this term. Further work should be devoted to this matter.We also observed that the devolution of different dimensions was bringing about a response in the form of different perceptions towards devolution. Since this represented only a minor part of this study, we suggest that more studies should be carried out regarding the perceptions of middle managers of devolution. In particular, these should be in-depth in order to go beyond the existing but simplistic studies that quantitatively frame these perceptions as positive or negative.Finally, further theoretical development and testing should be carried out to examine the dimensions that we have suggested that make up devolution in more detail, in order to advance in the revision of the concept of devolution.\n",
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{
"content": "Purpose: - Few definitions in the HRM literature have reached as much consensus as the term \"devolution\". However, devolution is a phenomenon that has been defined from the perspective of HRM specialists, with little or no contribution from middle managers. This paper seeks to explore what is behind the commonly shared definition of devolution, by examining not only the actual tasks that are being devolved, but also by trying to establish different degrees of devolution according to a number of dimensions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - An approach that facilitated the exploration of the extent of devolution and impact on middle managers' perceptions was required. A qualitative approach was adopted. Specifically, a case study of a hospital in Spain was undertaken. The research methods included in-depth interviews, participant observation and internal documentation.\nFindings: - The findings emphasize the importance of reflecting on the reality and the rhetoric of devolution. The results indicate that it is worthwhile to break down the concept of devolution into dimensions (tasks and responsibilities, decision-making power, financial power and expertise power) and to specify what dimensions are devolved.\nPractical implications: - There is a clear difference between the rhetoric of devolution and what actually happens in practice. In order to distinguish between those organisations that go beyond the rhetoric of devolution, it is important to differentiate between the devolution of tasks and the devolution of decision-making power and autonomy in order to undertake these tasks. This differentiation facilitates the identification of those companies which display superficial levels of devolution and take steps to advance the process.\nOriginality/value: - This paper questions the traditional definition of devolution. It proposes a new definition of devolution based on the identification of various dimensions and incorporates the perspectives of all the actors involved in the process.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Strategic performance management system in uncertain business environment: An empirical study of the Indian oil industry
|
[
"Performance measurement",
"Performance management system",
"Strategic performance management",
"Business performance improvement",
"Performance management effectiveness",
"Strategic and IS flexibility"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The strategic performance management (SPM) is the process of measurement and management of an enterprise performance which describes the processes, methodologies, metrics and systems needed to measure and manage performance of the organization. It has evolved over a period of time from simple to strategically aligned multidimensional performance management. It is also known as enterprise performance management (EPM), business performance management (BPM) and corporate performance management (CPM). The key performance indicators (KPIs) help to measure the progress of the companies, business units, projects or individuals compared to their strategic goals and objectives. Different frameworks and models of SPM have been developed in last three decades, incorporating a variety of performance measures such as efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, quality, customer satisfaction, innovation and employee satisfaction in addition to financial to produce world-class enterprise performance; Six Sigma (1985), activity -based costing (ABC) (1988), total quality management (TQM), EFQM excellence model (1991), Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) (1987), balanced scorecard (BSC) (Kaplan and Norton, 1992, 1996) and performance prism (Neely and Adams, 2001). These models are not free from implementation issues and failures like other management tools and frameworks. Few studies have brought out the reasons for unsuccessful implementations and failures of BPM.\n2. Literature review: The performance management system (PMS) has been in use in many organizations for a long time. Traditional systems concentrated more on financial or productivity aspects. Latest generation of PMSs which came up in last 20 years are multi- dimensional and mainly focusing on strategic perspective. A strategic performance management system (SPMS) is a system having set of performance measures or KPIs to quantify the efficiency, productivity, quality and effectiveness of actions undertaken by the enterprise so as to monitor, control, manage and perform the activities. The information generated by the system must be accurate, relevant, timely and easily accessible for the persons who need them (Neely et al., 1995; Bourne et al., 2002, 2003). Alternate SPM models such as ABC (1988), TQM, Six Sigma (1985), MBNQA (1987), EFQM excellence model (1991), BSC (Kaplan and Norton, 1992, 1996) and performance prism (Neely and Adams, 2001) have been developed by various researchers and implemented across the world by hundreds of organizations from different industries and sectors. There are many success and many failed implementation across the globe. Few studies have been conducted to find out the reasons of success and failures, critical success factors and the effect of SPM implementation.\n3. Need for the study: SPM has grown from singular to multidimensional in recent years. Multiple dimensions and perspectives of thw measurement of financial, customer, vendor, employee, internal business process, strategic alignment (SA) and strategic monitoring have been incorporated. The implementation have resulted into organizational focus on improvement of business, customer satisfaction, productivity, employee satisfaction, culture, and company reputation, and alignment of operations with the strategy, but there are failures and implementation issues.\n4. Research methodology: The Indian oil sector is composed of both public (government-owned) and private companies. Private companies are new as they came up after the liberalization of oil sector in India allowing private sector participation. The unit of analysis is oil company and the sample is taken from the managers in the oil sector. The study is an empirical research based on survey method. The validated SPM model is presented with interpretation and implementation guidelines.\n5. Data collection and analysis: The Indian oil sector consists of 15 oil and gas companies including public and private. Since it was an issue of the performance of the organization, managers were not willing to share the data. Hence, opinions of the executives from oil companies were taken. The sample is taken from the managers in the oil sector while the unit of analysis is an oil company. The executives covered were senior, upper middle and lower middle managers from Indian oil companies. It was difficult to get a good questionnaire response from private sector oil company executives in comparison to public sector (government-owned companies) even after repeated follow-ups. The reason could be that private sector executives in India have less freedom in revealing the information and opinion. Overall, Indian oil industry executives have been found to be less cooperative to academia in giving data and opinion survey.\n6. Discussion and interpretation: The result of univariate analysis of independent/dependent macro variables of SPMS is presented in Table IV. The mean values, on the six-point scale, are in the range of 3.77-4.53, and standard deviation ranges from 0.80 to 1.18, which gives enough confidence in the mean values. Further, the univariate analysis of independent/dependent micro variables of SPMS is portrayed in Table V. The mean values are in the range of 3.42-4.71 and standard deviations around 1.0, which shows that the mean values are reliable and contributing to SPMS effectiveness. It implies that among independent micro variables, more emphasis is placed on vision and mission clarity, alignment with operational goals, resource allocation, impact of globalization/liberalization, in-house capability, external drivers, e-business impact, SPMS functionality, IT flexibility and quality of data in the organization under study. All the six dependent micro variables are measuring SPMS effectiveness in the organization, though more emphasis is on financial and customer perspectives.\n7. Implications of the findings: The research findings led to the achievement of research objectives to a marked extent, and based on this, some important recommendations have been made. It has been brought out clearly through the validated SPM model that SPMS is an integrated model encompassing SP, SI, SF, SPMS design, performance feedback and learning, IS flexibility and SPMS implementation issues, and these have a direct influence on SPMS effectiveness in driving the performance improvement of an enterprise. SPMS effectiveness has been measured on six dimensions: SA, strategic monitoring, financial, customer, business process and learning and growth perspectives. SPMS implementation issues and critical success factors have come out as driving predictors of SPMS effectiveness, and therefore, it should be given top priority in SPMS implementation so as to successfully measure and manage the performance of an enterprise. Implementation guidelines emanated out from the study are enumerated as follows:\n8. Limitations of the study: Any research work would have limitations due to limited resources, data availability and biasness of respondents and researcher. Some of the limitations of this study are:\n9. Conclusion: In the face of globalization and liberalization, there is turbulence and uncertainty in business environment. The importance of an effective and integrated strategic performance measurement and management system has increased manifold. The study recommended a validated integrated and comprehensive model of strategic performance measurement and management system to effectively measure and monitor enterprise performance. It provides feedback to the management for taking actions that drive performance improvement in the underlying organization. It has emerged from the study that the macro factors contributing to SPMS effectiveness are SP, SF, SI, SPMS design, IF, SPMS implementation issues and critical success factors, and performance feedback and learning. SPMS implementation issues have come out to be major drivers for SPMS effectiveness. The dimensions of measurement of effectiveness are SA, strategic monitoring, financial, customer, business process, and learning and growth perspectives. The recommended SPMS model can be useful for commercial organizations and practitioners to drive a breakthrough performance.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: Business performance management describes the processes, methodologies, metrics and systems needed to measure and manage the performance of an enterprise. Traditional performance management systems were based on financial and productivity measures but the alternate measures proposed in last more 25 years have strategic focus and incorporate variety of performance measures such as efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, quality, customer satisfaction, innovation and employee satisfaction in addition to financial. Globalization and modernization have created a business environment uncertain with associated risks which has necessitated the incorporation of various types of flexibilities such as strategic, technical, operational, information system (IS), etc. Critical success factors and implementation issues also need to be incorporated to succeed. The purpose of this paper is to present the strategic performance management system (SPMS) designed, incorporating flexibility and implementation issues, and its effectiveness empirically validated from Indian oil industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on literature review and gaps identified, a proposed model of enterprise performance management system incorporating flexibility, critical success factors and implementation issues was developed. Macro- and micro-level factors impacting the effectiveness of the model were identified, and hypotheses were developed and tested empirically from the survey study of Indian oil industry.\nFindings: The finding met, by and large, most of the research objectives. In total, 7 macro- and 11 micro-level factors came out from the study. The strategy planning, strategy implementation, strategic flexibility (SF), SPMS design, information system flexibility (IF) flexibility, implementation issues and critical success factors, and performance feedback and learning are the macro-level factors impacting the SPMS effectiveness in measuring and managing performance of an enterprise. The SPMS implementation issues have proved to be major driver of effectiveness.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research like many such researches had limited resources, data availability and bias of respondents. However, the model was statistically validated for its reliability and hypothesis testing. The research has added to literature on SPMS as integrated model incorporated SF, information flexibility and critical success factors. However, the effect of other types of flexibilities such as organizational, operational, HR, marketing, etc., and other stakeholders should also be studied in future research to broaden the findings.\nPractical implications: The validated SPMS has practical implications for academics and researchers. Strategic and IF, and critical success factors have been incorporated in the integrated model to take care of business uncertainties so that it is strategically aligned and facilitate in effective SPMS use and implementation.\nSocial implications: Though it has no direct social implication but, if adopted for social projects and not-for-profit organizations, it will have social benefits of efficient and effectiveness delivery of social projects and initiatives.\nOriginality/value: This is an original work carried out by the authors. The validated model along with interpretation is presented.\n",
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] |
Preventive maintenance planning using group technology: A case study at Arab Potash Company, Jordan
|
[
"Preventive maintenance",
"Group technology",
"Clustering algorithms",
"High component/machine variety",
"Business planning",
"Jordan"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The competitiveness power of any industry is affected directly or indirectly by the effectiveness of the maintenance strategy they use. Various multi-criteria decision-making approaches are used to assess the optimum maintenance strategy, i.e., analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal situation (TOPSIS) (Shyjith et al., 2008; Sharma et al., 2011). Having a preventive maintenance (PM) program reduces the major repairs, and abrupt stops in production, and thus helps to sustain a constant work flow. Scheduling and planning of the PM activities have been the interest of many researchers for a long period of time. Different algorithms and techniques were proposed to schedule PM activities. One of the models is based on mixed integer programming (Alardhi et al., 2007), other model integrates aggregate production and maintenance planning together (Sitompul and Aghezzaf, 2011). In other model, the system failure probability is integrated with the maintenance cost to determine the time interval between PM activities (Kardon and Fredendall, 2002). The common thread between all these models is improving the system performance by minimizing the cost, and enhancing the service level. Talukder and Knapp (2002) created a heuristic method to group equipment for the application of PM overhauls within a series system. However, models that address using similarity coefficient to group equipment for scheduling PM activities are rare and very limited in the literature.New platform to conduct planning of the PM actions by using clustering based on group technology concept to create PM virtual cells of equipment/machines is introduced (Kister and Hawkins, 2006; Cassady et al., 2005; Gross, 2002; Konteck and Stenerson, 2005). The cells developed are based on the type of failures the machines can encounter. Group technology is a philosophy that identifies and exploits the sameness among the attributes of a set of objects (Gupta and Seifoddini, 1990; Yin and Yasuda, 2006; Lie and Wu, 2005). One of the applications of group technology in manufacturing is cellular manufacturing, in which few machines, usually dissimilar in function, are grouped into a cell. Such cell should ideally be responsible for the processing of group of parts called part-family (parts with similar processing requirements). The idea is to process a family of components through a dedicated cell, thereby gaining the advantages of a mass production without the problem of batching (Groover, 2001; Hadiguna, 2005). Among the algorithms used to identify and form part-family associated with the machine cell formation is clustering algorithms based on similarity coefficient method, which is used to find the similarity between parts/machines, then group them into part-families/machine cells (Garbie et al., 2005, 2008; Islier, 2005; Li, 2007; Seifoddini, 1989). Pairwise similarity coefficients between machines/parts are calculated using specific similarity coefficient formula. These similarities are then organized into a matrix called the similarity coefficient matrix. This matrix is used as an input to one of the clustering algorithms, such as single linkage clustering to form part-families/machine cells (Garbie et al., 2004; Johnson and Wichern, 2001; Gupta, 1991; Vakharia and Wemmerlov, 1995).A dendrogram representing machine cells/part-families at different levels of similarity is created using the similarity coefficient matrix (Johnson and Wichern, 2001; Ramesburg, 2004). Then, based on management's decision, the number and the size of the cells are developed. McAuley (1972) was the first to apply Jaccard similarity coefficient to the cell-formation problem. Jaccard similarity coefficient between two machines is equal to the ratio of the number of parts visiting both machines to the number of parts visiting either of the two:Equation 1where SCij is the similarity coefficient between machines i and j; n the number of parts:Equation 2And:Equation 3Another and easier format to use Jaccard similarity coefficient between two machines can be expressed as follows:Equation 4where a is the number of parts visiting both machines; b the number of parts visiting machine i but not j; c the number of parts visiting machine j but not i.\n2. Background: An important prerequisite to the development of a maintenance program is the creation of a comprehensive list containing all components of the systems and equipment which are critical to production including safety and any other criteria which deemed important form the company's point of view (Campbell and Reyes-Picknell, 2006; Levitt, 2003; Swanson, 2001; Arab Potash Company (APC), 2012). The proposed failure similarity coefficient (FSCs) defines the relationship between pairs of equipment/machines with respect to their needs for PM based on the type of failures they encounter. The closer the relationship is, the higher the FSCs. The (FSCs) are determined using the failures - equipment/machines incidence matrix. Using McAuley's formula, the proposed FSCs for equipment/machines is as follows:Equation 5where: FSCij is the failure similarity coefficient between machines i and j; n the number of failure types:Equation 6And:Equation 7This case study will illustrate the implementation of the proposed PM approach on the equipment used by APC, located in Jordan (APC, 2012). Currently, The APC employs more than 2,000 personnel. It is ranked as one of the top ten companies worldwide by production volume of potash. The company has a capacity to produce up to 2.45 million tons per year. There are two kinds of Potash production processes: hot and cold leach. Due to privacy issues, a brief description of some of the equipment's used in the hot leach processes are listed in Table I, machine names will be replaced by machine code, as shown.The hot leach facility is used as an illustration example which can be extended to the rest of plant. The first step, is to construct the binary matrix representing machines/equipment and the type of failures they may encounter. Constructing a machine-failure chart means collecting all data on all machines and all possible failures the machines/equipment can encounter. However, in a case where failures and machines variability are extremely large, machine-failure chart cannot be easily built. In this case, the chart can be formed based on certain measures; the following procedure is proposed which will lower the number of the elements in the binary matrix representing machines/equipment and the type of failures they may encounter:(1) duplicated machines and machines with few variations in failure types can be represented by seed machines in the initial chart formation;(2) construct the initial virtual cells for seed machines using the similarity coefficient methodology based on the threshold value required by the maintenance department; and(3) the final virtual cells will be formed by joining the eliminated machines to their seed machines in the formed cells.The decision to assign seed machines to represent duplicated machines in the machine-failure matrix was applied with guidance from the engineers involved in the PM department. Total of 88 seed machines were formed to represent more than 300 machines requires PM. Table II represents seed machines to be grouped using the proposed methodology, while Table III shows a sample of the type of failures occurs to machines at the hot leach facility. Total of 72 types of failures were identified.Table IV represents a sample of the machine-failure matrix. In the matrix shown, there are 14 types of failure and 12 machines. The entry 1 indicates certain failure occurs to that machine, for example, failures number F12 and F13 occurs to machine 1.A representative section of the similarity coefficient matrix shown in Table V was developed using the original machine-failure and the following proposed FSCs:Equation 8where FSCij is the failure similarity coefficient between machines i and j; n the number of failure types:Equation 9And:Equation 10Using single linkage clustering, where, groups are formed from individual machines by merging nearest machines with the highest similarity together (Garbie et al., 2005). The dendrogram, shown in Figure 1 was developed using popular statistical software, Minitab (The Minitab Blog, 2012). Based on management decision, 15 virtual cells were created and shown in Table VI. The similarity level between those machines is 60 percent.Based on the developed virtual cells, the management can create a unique PM for each group. It is worth noting that cells A and G can be subdivided into smaller cells using the similarity coefficient concept in order to facilitate the implementations of the PM operations.Table VII, shows part of the final virtual cells after combining the original machines to their seed machines. The management can assign group of maintenance crew to conduct the operations on the created machines.\n3. Conclusions: The final grouped virtual machine cells formed by joining the temporarily eliminated machines to their seed machines only represent an initial step of the actual machine cells formation. The next step which considers cells flexibility plays more important role in the machine cells design, such as materials and parts availability to conduct the PM. Overall, the proposed virtual cells formation will work as an economical tool in too many ways, for example, it will help to optimize the inventory of the spare parts, and to create standard process plans for executing the preventive maintenance operations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop a preventive maintenance (PM) model that encounters the problems of traditional methods of conducting PM within high component/machine variety environments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A new platform to conduct planning of the PM actions by using clustering based on the Group Technology concept to create PM virtual cells of equipment/machines is introduced. A real case study at Arab Potash Company was used to illustrate the model. The component/machine variety that requires PM at the considered company is in thousands of items.\nFindings: - PM for high component/machine environments are not enough addressed in the literature. The concept of clustering and similarity coefficient was used and found very useful to model this situation.\nPractical implications: - The proposed procedure will assist maintenance managers/engineers in too many ways. It will help to optimize the inventory of the spare parts, and to create standard process plan for executing the preventive maintenance operation.\nOriginality/value: - This paper presents a new procedure to implement preventive maintenance in high component/machine environments using clustering technique concept. Models that address this concept are rare and very limited in the literature.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Harvesting tourists' ideas through an idea contest
|
[
"Creativity",
"Tourists",
"Open innovation",
"DMO",
"Idea contest"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The number of \"opening-up-movements\" in the tourism and hospitality industry has recently been labeled by Egger et al. (2016a, 2016b) as Open Tourism. This paradigm addresses the substantial challenges that firms face when they focus on innovating customer-centric experiences, while also integrating external knowledge into value processes. In the tourism and hospitality industry, there is a range of use cases that aim to harvest users' ideas to innovate and co-create products or services. For example, already in Sigala and Marinidis (2009), it was demonstrated how Sheraton efficiently used their website to gather user-generated content for the purpose of service and business process improvements. Other forms of extensive crowdsourcing activities by hotels have been employed to identify new branding approaches or invite users to submit their ideas (Marriot) to enhance the hotel experience (Garrigos-Simon et al., 2017; Galdon-Salvador et al., 2016; Menzel, 2016). Furthermore, specifically designed crowdsourcing websites, such as Innocentive, help hospitality firms to outsource solutions to a specific problem (e.g. laundry) to their users. In addition to hotels, service providers in the tourism and hospitality industry have also started to reach out to their users, among which the most profound example is Starbucks (Sigala, 2012). Sigala (2012) demonstrates that Starbucks' idea competition allowed the firm to collect new ideas in three categories (product, experience, involvement). Other individual players like airlines, spas and transportation companies are following the open movement too (Brooker and Joppe, 2013; Kreitmeir, 2016). Various case studies specifically related to destinations have also been presented in the existing literature.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 (Open) innovation - developments in the tourism and hospitality industry\n3. Theory development: Many successful innovations start from outside of the DMO, having been co-created by tourists who share their insights and a supportive industry. Individual tourists are able to contribute to the design of new experiences when working together with design experts (Hoarau, 2016). In other fields, we see that users who interact highly with a product can outperfrom internal employees' ideas on the dimensons of novelty, customer benefit and overall idea quality (Poetz and Schreier, 2012). Many studies use the Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT) to assess product quality and creativity coming from users (i.e. Kristensson et al., 2004; Hienerth, 2006; Magnusson, 2009; Blohm et al., 2011), which is based on four dimensions (novelty, relevance, feasibility and elaboration). For example, novelty refers to a new and original idea. Reis and Renzulli (2004) state that this dimension also indicates whether the submissions overcome established structures. A recent study by Doctor et al. (2016) shows that the quality of the ideas that were submitted by tourists included superficial answers or answers already known to the firms under investigation. Lee et al. (2017) postulates that if tourists perceive that they have the right resources to innovate, such as knowledge, experience and time, this also influences their intention to submit ideas as well as their willingness to help the DMO succeed in its innovation processes. Following the rationale of knowledge and experience, Goldsmith and Hofacker (1991), who introduced the concept of domain-specific innovativeness, state that users can be exceptionally innovative in their areas of interest, likely as a result of their expertise and/or personal experience. Lalicic and Dickinger (2017) recently demonstrated how users of a tourist-related mobile application tend to have high levels of domain-specific innovativeness as well as self-efficacy in terms of content creation and behavior in the mobile application environment, subsequently influencing overall creativity. The dimension of relevance refers to how useful the idea is and if the users are the capability to submit a solution (Gangi and Wasko, 2009), which also has to do with how important the product/service/experience is for the user. In tourism, the experiences are often perceived as life-changing moments (Bigne et al., 2009), which can, to some extent, explain the relatively high levels of intention among tourists to join open innovation calls run by DMOs (Tussyasiah et al., 2017). Thus, according to Lee et al. (2017), if destinations harvest ideas from users in the development of new tourist experiences, they will be able to provide services of greater relevance to users and, thus, also competitiveness. Blohm et al. (2011) refer to relevance as the idea's financial potential. The dimension of feasibility is related to whether the firm can develop the idea into a new product as well as whether if the idea aligns with the image and strategies of the firm (Kristensson et al., 2004). Finally, elaboration assesses the completeness of the submission (Franke and Shah, 2003; Blohm et al., 2011). Lee et al. (2017) stress the importance of this dimension for users who contribute to an open innovation call from DMOs, and in their study, users were keen on submitting ideas. We expect that in the case of a destination, users may have a clear understanding of what kind of innovation is needed, and how this would enhance the destination's success. Therefore, it is proposed that:\n4. Method: 4.1 Use case\n5. Results: 5.1 Descriptive results - participants' profiles and idea quality\n6. Discussion: 6.1 Conclusions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to demonstrate how destination management organizations can fruitfully harvest users' ideas by facilitating an online idea contest to enhance value creation and innovation processes. The structure of the idea quality, contest-related factors and user-related factors are investigated in relation to the overall quality of the ideas submitted by users.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 489 ideas were assessed based on the overall quality and effects of various factors. A structural model was tested to analyze the dimensions contributing to quality of the submissions that influence the overall idea quality. Furthermore, non-parametric tests were performed to reveal how specific user traits as well as contest-related traits relate to overall idea quality. Lastly, post-hoc analyses were performed to reveal if mean values differ among users who are grouped according to age, overall idea quality, place of residence and age at time of submission.\nFindings: The study demonstrates that novelty, feasibility, relevance and elaboration explain overall idea quality. Only the age of the idea submitter exhibits an impact on the level of idea quality, wherein younger users tend to submit higher quality ideas. The areas of innovation significantly differ depending on the users' place of residence and age. Moreover, none of the contest-related traits that were analyzed have an impact on the level of overall idea quality.\nPractical implications: Marketing managers and destination management organizations are given a set of recommendations on how to facilitate internet-based participation tools, such as idea contests, to collect high-quality input from various user segments and, subsequently, to feed their value creation and innovation processes.\nOriginality/value: Within the field of tourism, the open tourism paradigm is relatively new. New insights into the role of online tools, and how they can be leveraged to harvest users' ideas, as well as users' capabilities for enhancing tourism firms' value creation and innovation processes, are provided.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Demand-supply chain representation: A tool for economic organizing of industrial services
|
[
"Industrial services",
"Asset management",
"Supply and demand",
"Enterprise economics",
"Supply chain management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Economic organizing is the central issue addressed by the theory of the firm (Coase, 1988; Sanchez, 2003). Economic organizing deals with how firms organize tasks to be performed internally and by suppliers and service providers. Technological and organizational innovation and regulatory change continuously create opportunities for new and beneficial ways of organizing as well as threats to established ways of working (Callon et al., 2002). In industrial services, economic organization is changing as equipment user firms focus on their core competencies and outsource non-core activities such as maintenance (Hamel and Prahalad, 1990; Campbell, 1995). At the same time, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) operating in mature economies attempt to expand their revenue base by offering equipment users more comprehensive services to support, maintain, operate, and upgrade the equipment already in use (Wise and Baumgartner, 1999; Davies, 2004; Baines et al., 2007).Equipment users' outsourcing of maintenance tasks provides the opportunity for service business growth of OEMs. However, success requires operational and process level coordination. The OEM needs to prepare its service supply chain to correspond to the requirements of the equipment user (Cohen et al., 2006). At the same time, the user needs to be aware of the critical role of customer information inputs for the efficiency and productivity of service delivery (Sampson and Froehle, 2006). The intended contribution of this paper is to develop a representation scheme to support this interdependent economic organizing of equipment use and provision of industrial services.\nLiterature review: The operational challenge for economic organizing of industrial services is the availability and quality of information on the equipment in use (Ala-Risku, 2007). Information on the installed equipment is needed both as an input for the service delivery process of the OEM, and for the performance measurement and development of user operations. At the operational level, dispatching for service jobs requires matching the serviced equipment characteristics with capable service engineers and spare-parts (Blumberg, 1994; Lesaint et al., 2000). Regional differences in installed equipment need to be accounted for in planning for the engineer resources (Klimberg and van Bennekom, 1997; Blakeley et al., 2003), as well as in spare-parts distribution plans (Ghodrati and Kumar, 2005; Cohen et al., 2006). Keeping track of both the installed equipment and the services performed enables valuable product performance analyses that can be used to improve quality of current and future products and services (Goffin and New, 2001; Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003; Davies, 2004; Cavalieri et al., 2007).Sampson and Froehle (2006) observe that the customer is in a key position in the service delivery process as a supplier of critical performance information. On one hand, the quality of information provided by the customer is difficult to manage and providers of industrial services therefore strive to create delivery processes that are robust to handle a wide variety of low quality customer-supplied inputs. Interactions with customers are simplified and standardized to reduce the variation of customer-supplied inputs. On the other hand, improving the accuracy and reliability of equipment information can also bring substantial benefits. The need for service supply chain resources can be reduced with better information processing (Galbraith, 1972, 1973). For example, there is less need for manpower if preventive maintenance can be increased over repairs; customer-specific spare parts inventory locations can be reduced by pooling spare parts across many customers. To achieve these benefits, a service provider may instead of standardizing and simplifying inputs try to enrich the information provided by the customer. For example, the service provider can relate customer-supplied information inputs to information collected and stored by the provider about the installed base of equipment (Lehtonen and Ala-Risku, 2005). Thus, industrial service delivery processes can be organized more efficiently depending on the visibility of the equipment in use that an OEM has.Visibility-based segmentation of customer's would be a useful tool to support economic organizing of industrial services. A common approach to describe differences between how to operate with different customers is value stream or process segmentation (Lovelle, 2001; Wood, 2004). It is based on Porter's (1985, pp. 33-63) value chain and the business process engineering concept (Hammer, 1990; Davenport and Short, 1990). The difficulty with process-oriented approaches is the focus on the sequence of operations and participant responsibilities. Workflow representation fixes the sequences and if the sequence changes it needs to be handled as a separate process. In the case of service encounters, service blueprinting is widely used (Fliess and Kleinaltenkamp, 2004), but not as a basis for process segmentation. Workflow representation leads to a very large number of different representations that can be only used with difficulty as the basis for process-based segmentation.An alternative to sequential representations is object interaction representations (Petrie and Bussler, 2003). Object interaction differentiates between the organization of subsystems, i.e. the objects, and the different methods of interaction between subsystems. This type of representation can deal with different sequences of operations and interactions with different participants without the need for a large number of representations. However, pure interaction schemes are cognitively difficult to grasp, and therefore difficult to use as the basis for customer segmentation. Object interaction representation have primarily been developed and used in object-oriented programming (Gamma et al., 1995) and for distributed information management (Framling et al., 2007; Karkkainen et al., 2003).A possible solution is to use sequential workflow representation for describing the operations of different actors, and object interaction for describing the different ways of operating together. In service blueprinting, there is in addition to workflow also an element of object interaction. The customer, onstage contact employee, back stage, and support processes interact across the lines of interaction and visibility. However, the workflows and interactions of different actors are tightly coupled. For the purpose of economic organizing a representation scheme that clearly separates workflow and object interaction is the demand-supply chain representation (Holmstrom et al., 2000). The demand and supply chain are described as separate objects or subsystems. These are described using a sequential chain representation. Object interaction is represented between the demand and supply chains. The methods for object interaction are positioning of the \"order penetration\" and \"value offering\" points (Holmstrom et al., 2000).The demand-supply chain is a representation scheme originally developed to support economic organizing in the consumer goods supply chain (Smaros et al., 2000). Later, it has been used to support economic organizing in project delivery (Collin, 2003) and to identify missing supplier capabilities in spare parts delivery (Auramo et al., 2004). The objective of this paper is to conceptually develop the demand-supply chain representation so that it can be useful in a new context, to support economic organizing of industrial service operations.\nMethodology: The use of demand-supply chain representation for economic organizing of industrial services is presented as a design proposal. The proposal is presented according to Gregor and Jones' (2007) eight-point structure for a design theory as shown in Figure 1. Design theory is a structured way to describe a design proposal, its use, and its theoretical and empirical evaluation. The design theory structure is used to communicate the proposal to the reader and support adoption and evaluation. The structure does not reflect how the proposal has been developed.The use of demand-supply chain representation for economic organizing was developed by a group of supply chain researchers in close collaboration with executives from two global OEMs. The development draws on the application of the original demand-supply chain representation (Holmstrom et al., 2000; Hoover et al., 2001) by researchers and executives in different empirical settings (Smaros et al., 2000; Collin, 2003; Auramo et al., 2004; Collin et al., 2009).The first descriptive part of the paper focuses on what the tool is for and what are the proposed contexts of use. The descriptive part of the design theory presentation also defines the entities of interest and how the representation functions for describing alternative economic organization of industrial service operations. This descriptive part of the design theory presentation is important as the methodological starting point of the research is to change the context and goals for the demand-supply chain representation. The representation was originally developed and used to identify innovative ways of organizing in consumer goods manufacturing and retail supply chains (Holmstrom et al., 2000). Transferring a representation tool from one context to another can be defined as solution spotting (Goldenberg et al., 2001). In solution spotting it is important to explicitly define goals and context when considering an existing tool for a new problem (Holmstrom et al., 2009).The second part of the design theory presentation outlines, how to use the demand-supply chain representation to support economic organizing of industrial services. This part of the presentation draws on implementation examples that have directly influenced the design proposal. The motivations for why the demand-supply chain representation is proposed as a tool for economic organizing in industrial services is also articulated.The final part of the paper explains, how the proposed tool works by reference to the underlying theory of economic organizing (Sanchez, 2003). The theoretical underpinning and set of testable propositions on the tool and its use are presented, first, to help the reader evaluate the potential significance, and second, to guide future empirical research.\nDescription: Purpose and scope\nImplementation: Implementation process\nTheoretical implications: Justificatory knowledge\nConclusions: Representing the value offering and the service delivery in terms of the demand-supply chain helps an OEM and its customers to organize industrial services in alternative ways. Introducing the concept of demand visibility point and requirements penetration point helps describing different ways of economic organizing as interaction between demand and supply. The different ways of organizing do not require redefined workflow sequence, but can be described in terms of changes in the interaction.This way the proposed representation scheme potentially supports economic organizing that is operationally modular or nearly decomposable (Simon, 2002; Augier and Sarasvathy, 2004, p. 179; Frenken, 2006). The benefit of this is that individual relationships can be developed and improved without interfering with the internal chain organization of different parties. The significance of the proposed representation and segmentation needs to be verified in practice. If it works as intended, it opens up a way to improve the economic organizing of industrial service operations. It would support parallel improvements of alternative types of service operations, and ease the transfer of innovations between parallel customer-supplier relationships.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to propose demand-supply chain representation as a tool to support economic organizing between original equipment manufacturers going downstream and customers considering how to better outsource maintenance and asset management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper is a presentation of a representation tool using a design theory template.\nFindings: - The concept of demand visibility point and requirements penetration point can be used to describe different ways of economic organizing as interaction between demand and supply. The proposed representation scheme supports the identification of visibility-based changes in economic organization, such as vendor-managed inventory and reliability-based maintenance services.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper is conceptual and requires further empirical work.\nPractical implications: - The representation tool can be used both by practitioners engaged in outsourcing maintenance and practitioners involved in the development of industrial service offerings.\nOriginality/value: - The paper introduces demand-supply chain representation to development of industrial service offerings and outsourcing of maintenance activities.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Linking corporate entrepreneurship, expatriation and reverse knowledge transfers
|
[
"Entrepreneurs",
"New Zealand",
"Brazil",
"Strategy",
"International business",
"Expatriation",
"MNE entrepreneurial strategy",
"Subsidiary initiatives",
"Reverse knowledge transfers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Multinational enterprises (MNEs) encourage their subsidiaries to develop and transfer their unique knowledge and expertise back to the MNE as it is critical for the development of the MNE as a whole (Cantwell and Mudambi, 2005). For the MNE, the valuable and unique knowledge of subsidiary is a primary source of competitive advantage (Nair et al., 2018). These knowledge transfers also have implications for the subsidiaries, as they enable them to develop a bargaining power in the MNE, which can be further used to pursue their independent agenda in the MNE internal and external environments (Mudambi, Pedersen and Andersson, 2014; Mudambi, Piscitello and Rabbiosi, 2014). Subsidiaries gain centrality and a structural or resource dependency power in the MNE (Bouquet and Birkinshaw, 2008; Dorrenbacher and Gammelgaard, 2011), as well as they can become better enabled to pursue a rent-seeking behavior in the MNE network (Mudambi and Navarra, 2004). All these factors enable the subsidiary to better develop in terms of roles and capabilities.\nTheoretical background: It is now well established that among the various drivers of a firm's competitive advantage, corporate entrepreneurship is a major one (Ahsan and Fernhaber, 2018; Birkinshaw, 2014; Decreton et al., 2018; Stopford and Baden-Fuller, 1994). The concept of corporate entrepreneurship has evolved over the years with a predominant focus from internationalization of MNE activity across borders to seeking and tapping the opportunities in the international markets (Oviatt and Mcdougall, 2005; Reuber et al., 2018). From the perspective of MNE, corporate entrepreneurship can be seen as focused or dispersed where the former refers to an MNE entrepreneurial strategy focused at the headquarters level or at select units of the MNE, and the latter dispersed throughout the MNE network (Birkinshaw, 1997, 2014).\nConceptual development: MNE entrepreneurial strategy and subsidiary entrepreneurial initiatives\nData and methods: Survey data from MNE subsidiaries operating in two different economies, New Zealand (a small developed economy) and Brazil (a large emerging economy), are drawn upon. We follow this comparative approach based on the following observations. First, it is well established that emerging economy locations differ from advanced economies with regard to their location advantages, growth opportunities for the MNEs (Dunning, 2009; Mudambi, 2008), as well as the knowledge and capability development opportunities for the MNE subsidiaries (Ahsan and Fernhaber, 2018). Second, recent research suggests that emerging economy contexts provide sufficient (and unique) opportunities for the host MNEs with regard to new knowledge creation (Park and Vertinsky, 2016; Vlajcic et al., 2019), whereas conventional views have suggested that MNEs from developed economies were main sources of innovation, knowledge and technology to the lesser developed economies (Peng and Beamish, 2014). Research now suggests that MNEs from developed economies increasingly seek to make use of innovation systems from emerging economies for their product and process development and reverse knowledge transfers (Govindarajan and Ramamurti, 2011; Herrigel et al., 2013).\nResults: With regard to demographics of the New Zealand subsidiaries, there are 72 subsidiaries that age less than 10 years, 108 age 10-20 years and 249 age more than 20 years. There are 228 subsidiaries with less than 50 employees, 175 between 50 and 500 employees and 26 have more than 500 employees. There are 187 manufacturing subsidiaries, 237 services subsidiaries and 5 primary industry subsidiaries. With regard to demographics of the Brazil subsidiaries, there are 35 subsidiaries that age less than 10 years, 47 age 10-20 years and 82 age more than 20 years. There are 125 subsidiaries with less than 50 employees, 21 have between 50 and 500 employees and 18 have more than 500 employees. There are 124 manufacturing subsidiaries, 36 services subsidiaries and 4 primary industry subsidiaries. So, with regard to age and size, the subsidiaries of the two samples share somewhat similar demographics; however, New Zealand sample has a relatively higher share of services subsidiaries and the Brazilian sample a higher share of manufacturing subsidiaries.\nDiscussion, implications and limitations: This study examined the determinants of subsidiary reverse knowledge transfers and the role of expatriates using a cross-country comparative approach, taking evidence from a small developed economy New Zealand and a large emerging economy Brazil. The study has a number of contributions.\nConclusion: This study broadly has four findings: an encouraging MNE entrepreneurial strategy leads to subsidiary initiatives; subsidiary initiatives lead to reverse knowledge transfers; the relationship between subsidiary initiative and their reverse knowledge transfers is partly moderated by the extent to which MNE controls the subsidiary via expatriate; and subsidiary initiatives mediate the relationship between MNE entrepreneurial strategy and reverse knowledge transfers. Based on these, two further conclusions can be drawn: the relationship between MNE entrepreneurial strategy and reverse knowledge transfers is heterogenous and contingent upon the context; and the moderating role of expatriation in the relationship between subsidiary initiatives and reverse knowledge transfers is heterogenous and contingent upon the context. The overall conclusion is that the influence of MNE entrepreneurial strategy and expatriation on reverse knowledge transfers can be explained by contingencies such as the subsidiary host country and the heterogenous HQ-subsidiary relationships.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Multinational enterprises (MNEs) encourage their subsidiaries to develop and transfer their unique knowledge and expertise back to the MNE as it is critical for the development of the MNE as a whole. However, what underlies the subsidiary ability to create such specialized knowledge that can be transferred to the MNE is less clear. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of MNE entrepreneurial strategy, subsidiary initiatives and expatriation on reverse knowledge transfers in a cross-country comparative context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data are gathered through surveys from 429 foreign subsidiaries operating in New Zealand and 164 subsidiaries in Brazil, and these are analyzed using variance-based structural equation modeling.\nFindings: Subsidiary initiatives partially mediate the relationship between MNE entrepreneurial strategy and reverse knowledge transfers in case of subsidiaries operating in Brazil, but they fully mediate in case of New Zealand. Furthermore, expatriation, in case of the latter, has a negative interaction in the relationship between subsidiary initiative and reverse knowledge transfers, but, in case of the former, it has no moderating role. Overall, the results suggest that the influence of MNE entrepreneurial strategy and expatriation on reverse knowledge transfers can be explained by contingencies such as the subsidiary host economy and the heterogenous HQ-subsidiary relationships.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes to literature by identifying some contingencies with regard to the occurrence of reverse knowledge transfers. It addresses some research calls with regard to examining reverse knowledge transfers and the role of expatriation across different empirical contexts.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Condition monitoring and e-maintenance solution of railway wheels
|
[
"Out-of-roundness",
"E-Maintenance",
"Prognostic health management",
"Wheel flats",
"Wheel profiles"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The maintenance trend in the railway industries emerged from the basic policy of \"fail and fix\" and then progressed through the policy of \"predict and prevent\" to the condition monitoring policy. The current trend is towards a focus on more and more challenging concerns, such as data integration, mining and analysis, and decision support. This trend is being driven by an increasing demand for cost-effectiveness, greater capacity and enhanced safety, as well as by the multi-stakeholder structure of the railway industries. A great deal of reorganisation and changes are taking place in railway maintenance, even though the fundamental objective of achieving excellence remains unchanged. The main concern of all physical asset management, including railway infrastructure management, is balancing performance, risk, costs and other inputs (Jardine and Tsang, 2006). In relation to this, a wheel condition monitoring system in a prognostic health management (PHM) plan will obviously add to costs in the short term. On the other hand, the system will decrease the operational risk, enhance performance and in the long term contribute to cost reduction.\n2. Background: Wheel failures are highly safety related and the wheel rail interface have a large economic impact for the operator as well as for the infrastructure manager (Ulianov, 2013; Patra, 2007). Wheels with larger vertical forces appear most frequently during the cold season, (Berggren, 2003). High vertical forces from wheels are detected in WDDs. Many of the wheel failures cause traffic disturbances; for example, around 1,200 h of delay are attributed to wheel failures in the Swedish network. Table I shows the train delays for 2013 divided up according to the three large causes, track, S&C and wheels. Two of these capacity consumers are the responsibility of the infrastructure manager and one is the responsibility of the rolling stock operators. Furthermore, the socioeconomic costs due to wheel failures on the track are very high.\n3. Condition monitoring systems: In the railway transport system, there are different condition monitoring systems in operation. They are often divided into two categories, on-board systems and wayside systems. The on-board systems measure the track and the wayside systems measure the rolling stock in most of the cases. Another classification based on the organisation's approach to maintenance involves a division into reactive and proactive systems, which has been mentioned earlier (Lagneback, 2007).\n4. Case study: This chapter presents a case study of wheel defects that occurred in the Swedish railway network on the two track sections of the Swedish Iron Ore Line described earlier (see Figure 3). Wheel defects constitute a capacity-consuming failure mode for at least two reasons; first they directly cause traffic stoppages due to the speed limitation required after the detection of defect wheels and in case of inspection of the track from the alarmed detector to the detector before the alarm, and second they result in abnormal deterioration of the rail, fasteners and other track components. The data analysed cover 1,509 wheel defect incidents. The types of warnings and alarms used in this case study are the same as those used by the infrastructure manager (see Table II), and they represent three levels: warnings, low alarms and high alarms. The total number of trains passing both detectors for the year 2011 was around 21,000 and the total number of passing wheelsets was 1,923,097. The data come from two different measurement stations, the station at Krokvik in the northern loop of the Iron Ore Line and the station at Sunderbyn in the southern loop of the Iron Ore Line.\n5. Combination of the wheel defect detector and wheel profile measurement: Combining the data from the WPMS and the wheel defect detector will result in increased information on and knowledge of the condition of the rolling stock and provide a more holistic view of the status of the wheel. For instance, if the status of a wheel passing through the profile measurement equipment is bad but has not exceeded the alarm limit, and the same wheel also has some OOR defects under the alarm limit, this represents two different pieces of information. This information combined can show a totally new picture of the wheel status. These two defects together can exacerbate the impact of the wheel on the track more than a wheel with an alarm from only one system. The knowledge derived from the combined use of the WDDs and WPMS can be used as a basis for decision making by the infrastructure manager and the rolling stock operator. This knowledge will be facilitated by a good e-maintenance solution which functions as a useful tool for the integration and management of data from different sources for effective maintenance decisions and actions.\n6. Conclusions: There are many advantages to be gained from good condition monitoring of the rolling stock, and both the infrastructure manager and the operator can benefit from this:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the failure-driven capacity consumption of wheels on the track, to determine whether there are some relations to vehicle wheel configurations that show a larger amount of failures, and to ascertain the influence of the temperature and the travelling direction of the train on the number of events. This information can be used to develop prognostic health management so that more track capacity can be gained without modifications, re-building or re-investments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper presents a study of 1,509 warning and alarm events concerning train wheels. The data come from the infrastructure manager's wheel defect detectors and wheel profile measurement system. These data have been analysed and processed to find patterns and connections to different vehicles, travelling directions and temperatures.\nFindings: Lower temperatures increase the probability of wheels having high vertical forces. Trains with different wheel configurations show different results. With high vertical forces, the probability of wheel failures at axles 6 and 7 is high for locomotives with two bogies and three axles in each bogie (2x3). All these findings can be used to develop the maintenance, monitoring and inspection principles for wheels.\nPractical implications: The inspection of wheels to detect failures needs to be more frequent on days and in seasons with lower temperatures. The wheel inspection should be performed more frequently at axles 6 and 7 for locomotives with a 2x3 wheel configuration. The inspection and monitoring of wheels need to be carried out more carefully for trains travelling south, to avoid a large amount of wheels with high force levels rolling in the southern direction.\nOriginality/value: The analysis carried out in this paper identifies important factors that correlate with the high occurrence of wheel defects. It also proposes a conceptual e-maintenance model for the combination of wheel condition monitoring data from different system. The value of this study is the provision of information to support prognostic and health management system to support proactive maintenance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Drivers of firms' growth: a case study of software firms in Islamabad/Rawalpindi regions
|
[
"Management",
"Knowledge-based systems"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the literature, researchers have investigated two different views on the role of small and medium enterprises in developing countries. First, there is view that SMEs have a positive impact on an economy, for example, SMEs provide jobs, reduce the poverty level and make significant contribution to national income (Moktan, 2007). In comparison, some researchers (Beck et al., 2005) state that SMEs provides poor quality jobs, are not innovative and that their financial constraints may affect their performance. These two different arguments from the literature motivated this research study to investigate the following research questions: Why are SMEs less productive? What are the drivers of firm growth? What type of resources can make SMEs more productive? To answer these questions this research paper is informed by an extensive literature survey and an empirical analysis using factor and regression analysis.\n2. Literature review: 2.1. Firm characteristics\n3. Research methodology: A field survey was undertaken in two regions of Pakistan i.e. Islamabad and Rawalpindi district during April-May, 2011. In total, 150 firms were randomly selected from the list of 200 firms for face-to-face interviews of owner-managers using structured questionnaire[1]. Firms were contacted through emails and phone calls for appointment and only 69 firms responded (46 per cent) for interviews. Of the total, 65 firms were interviewed in Islamabad and the remaining four in Rawalpindi. Further, eight firms refused to provide only financial information.\n4. Conclusion: The literature survey in this study identified the drivers of firm's growth by looking into resource based view of firm. This study examined that these software firms had slow progress in terms of labour productivity due to sunk costs. The negative relationship firm undertaking R\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the drivers of firm's growth such as research and development (R\nDesign/methodology/approach: Survey analysis, using cross section data analysis.\nFindings: This study found that firm size, access to finance, internationalisation (exporting and outward FDI), business improvement methods and knowledge management have a positive impact on the firm's labour productivity growth. In comparison, firm undertaking R\nResearch limitations/implications: Additionally, suggestions for future research would be to investigate the relationship between drivers of firm growth and innovation performance. The survey analysis could be extended to other parts of country such as Karachi and Lahore for resolving causality.\nOriginality/value: First, this paper fills an important gap in the literature by determining the drivers of firm's growth. Second, this study analysed the Pakistani software industry at micro level by investigating the firm's knowledge-based assets and their significant association with labour productivity growth.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Stock market drivers of retail investors' sentiment - facets and new evidences from India
|
[
"Investor sentiment index",
"Investors’ sentiment",
"Stock market drivers",
"Multiple regression model"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The empirical literature has extensively examined retail investor sentiment across disciplines, contexts and countries. There are three most critical issues to be researched on these lines:\n2. Literature review and hypotheses developed: 2.1 Stock market factors and retail investors' sentiment\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Sample and data collection\n4. Empirical results: 4.1 Correlations results\n5. Discussions and conclusion: On an overall basis, we report that IPO activities/issues and information certainty, trading volume and momentum and institutional investors' investment activities market drivers significantly and positively impact retail investors. However, only IPO activities/issues and information certainty influences both high- and low-sentiment investors. Our results are in line with Baker and Wurgler (2007), Jiang et al. (2005) and Zhang (2006). We thereby can conclude that the information certainty in regard to IPO issues and pricing mechanisms associated with it drive Indian retail investors most. It might also be because of the fact that retail investors want to earn high first day returns. However, intriguingly trading volume and momentum results contradict for the high-sentiment investors with that of our overall findings. Thereby, we can conclude that although overall we report results in line with Baker and Stein (2004) and Wang (2001), but, interestingly high-sentiment Indian investors show a negative influence of trading volume and momentum. This further prompts us to conclude that Indian investors are much more rational in line with Chui et al. (2010). In addition, we can substantiate that in line with Chakrabarti (2001) and Dash and Mahakud (2012) we did find that institutional investors' investment activities is a strong market driver for retail investors in India. This captures the herding impact (in line with Barberis et al., 2005; and Kumar and Lee, 2006) in Indian market. On the contrary, institutional investors' investment activities and market technical factors only impact high- and low-sentiment investors respectively. These help us to justify that the above mentioned herding impact is only true for high-sentiment investors and not for all, and also market technical (other than volume and momentum) only influence low-sentiment investors which contradict with earlier study results of Dash and Mahakud (2012). It is intriguing to report that nature of the stock markets show conflicting results for high- (negative significant) and low- (positive significant) sentiment investors in line with earlier contradictory results from Connolly et al. (2007), Longin and Solnik (2001) and Odean (1998).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The determinants of investors' sentiment based on secondary stock market proxies in many empirical studies are reported. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study undertakes investor sentiment drivers developed from primary survey measures by constructing an investor sentiment index (ISI) in relation to market drivers to date. This study aims to fill this research gap by first developing the ISI for the Indian retail investors and then examining which of the stock market drivers impacts such sentiment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The ISI is constructed using the mean scores of eight statements as formulated based on popular direct investor sentiment surveys undertaken across the world. Then, we use the multiple regression approach overall and for top 33.33% (high-sentiment) and bottom 33.33% (low-sentiment) investors based on the responses of 576 respondents on 18 statements (proxying eight study hypotheses) collected in 2016. Moreover, the demography-based classification based investors' sentiment is examined to make our results more robust and in-depth.\nFindings: On an overall basis, the IPO activities/issues and information certainty, trading volume and momentum and institutional investors' investment activities market drivers significantly and positively impact retail investors is examined. However, only IPO activities/issues and information certainty influences both high- and low-sentiment investors. It is intriguing to report that nature of the stock markets show conflicting results for high- (negative significant) and low- (positive significant) sentiment investors.\nOriginality/value: The construction of the ISI from primary survey measure is for the first time in Indian context in relation to investigating the stock market drivers influential to retail investors' sentiment. In addition, hypothesized market drivers are also unique, each representing different fundamental and technical characteristics associated with the Indian market.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Reflections on a Socratic approach to engagement
|
[
"Engagement",
"Coaching",
"Action inquiry",
"Facilitation",
"Reflection in action",
"Socratic dialogue"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Engagement and participation are interlocking processes at the heart of proactive co-creation. This paper relates to students, and asks how involvement in the learning process can be enhanced to make students active co-creators in their learning, developing their capability for proactive change. The narrative covers a ten-week MBA course (coaching and mentoring), with ten students. But the results also have implications for management training generally.\nPersonal, organisational and academic contexts: Before becoming a university lecturer a key issue in my corporate practice was how to satisfy students/delegates and the client sponsor. Client satisfaction would lead to repeat business. I developed practical exercises with high relevance balanced with \"bullet point\" presentations to encourage involvement and commitment. My sessions were interactive, but still content-oriented and I still tended to see myself as the expert. Looking back, I could have done more in terms of facilitating the active participation of \"trainees\" in their own learning.\nMethodology: My approach is an action research approach called action inquiry - \"a way of simultaneously conducting action and inquiry as a disciplined leadership practice that increases the wider effectiveness of our actions\" (Torbert, 2004). It is linked to \"Reflection-in-action\", the ability to think about what you are doing whilst you are doing it. This involves asking ourselves what we notice and recognise, as well as the criteria we are using to make judgements. It is important to challenge our own assumptions and sometimes look at the world through the eyes of others. This needs to go beyond reflection, and include data collection with a view to transformation. Then there is more analysis, leading to more transformative action, and so it goes on.\nStory and outcomes: Sample sessions\nReflection and recommendations: My main conclusion is that by doing research \"with them\" rather than \"on them\" helps to develop critical reasoning skills and self-managed co-creation. However, this requires a level of dialogue in the group which needs to be facilitated in stages, as that dialogue goes through a series of stages (see Isaacs, 1993).\nConclusion: My research project has led me to the view that engagement for the future involves a different \"felt sense\". It is more than wanting to be involved. The complex problems of today can only be solved through social collaboration, sharing knowledge and assumptions and co-creating together. This requires groups to go through a development process.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to enhance involvement in the learning process in order that students are active co-creators in their learning, developing their capability for proactive change.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Action inquiry (Torbert, 2004). This involves simultaneously conducting action and inquiry in a systematic way.\nFindings: Engagement is a \"contact sport\" in which complex problems can only be solved by the development of social collaboration where the authors are able to share knowledge and assumptions and co-create together. This requires that groups go through a development process.\nResearch limitations/implications: The main limitation is the bias and social influence of the tutor/trainer in the process of developing deeper dialogue. Research needs to explore how the \"leader\" is able to limit their own bias whilst facilitating development through the stages of dialogue development.\nPractical implications: Most training and teaching assumes that the teacher/trainer has expertise to pass on. This implies that they have the answer to problems being explored. Increasingly the authors need to facilitate the collective creativity of groups to solve complex problems for which the facilitator does not have the answer. This requires a different mindset and \"felt-sense\".\nSocial implications: To solve complex problems the authors need to develop collective communication capacities, and shift from a focus on personal ego to thinking together in a spirit of learning and inquiry.\nOriginality/value: To date there has been little reported that helps facilitators in education and training practically to develop the facilitative and design skills to create learning spaces where groups think together in a non-defensive and generative way. This paper is a step in that direction.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Facility location for a closed-loop distribution network: a hybrid approach
|
[
"Online retail",
"Reverse logistics",
"Product returns",
"Closed-loop supply chains",
"Facility location problem",
"Mathematical modelling"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The increased cost of distribution and reverse logistics (RLs) activities are making the location decision of where to site storage and service facilities a strategic decision (Pishvaee et al., 2010). Supply chain (SC) management must answer the facility location problem (FLP) in order to serve customers' requirements efficiently with reduced delivery cost and time (Harris et al., 2014). Location decisions are determined by several factors such as geographical restrictions, financial constraints and capacity issues related to storage and distribution. Increasingly in online retail, organizations must offer fast and cost-effective forward and return services; and therefore product returns are emerging as an additional factor in the location decision. Most distribution centres (DCs) or warehouses are located at a convenient location with proximity to a production plant or transportation infrastructure (Nilsson and Smirnov, 2016). Due to constant changes in SC network design, facility location decisions need to be reviewed over time (Melo et al., 2009). It has been observed that facilities are often not re-located even when the scale and scope of the operations has grown exponentially (Weterings, 2014).\n2. The FLP: The structure of a physical distribution network is aligned with the flow of material between different locations with intermediate switching points being used for the most cost and time efficient transportation (Cetiner et al., 2010). Such a transportation network is referred as a hub and spoke system. In such a system, the nodes, i.e. the points of origin and destination are connected via one central or multiple regional hubs, called switching points. Spokes represent the direct links between hubs and nodes. Hubs are built to provide switching, transhipment and sorting operations in order to smooth the product flow and gain benefit from economies of scale (Sheffi, 2013). A hub and spoke system significantly reduces the number of transportation linkages by consolidating the collection process, line haul journey and final delivery to customers journey (Yaman, 2011). Following the emergence of \"third party logistics providers\", operations research is re-addressing the hub location decisions in SC networks (Arabzad et al., 2015). The recent trend of building collaborations and alliances through SC strategies (e.g. VMI, agility, etc.) makes the strategic location of hubs a crucial decision in the firm's long-term planning. Important decision factors such as operational cost, demand, distance and availability (or feasibility) of locations influence the efficiency and effectiveness of the whole SC network (Creazza et al., 2012; Hadas and Laor, 2013).\n3. RLs and product returns: In the academic literature RLs is also referred to as reversed logistics, return logistics, retro logistics and reverse distribution. Reuse, repair, recycle, remanufacture, refurbish and cannibalizations are different kinds of RLs activities (Rogers et al., 2012). Product returns can be divided in three categories: manufacturing returns, distribution returns and customer returns (Souza, 2013). CLSCs incorporate RL activities to reduce resource consumption and waste (Kim et al., 2014). Economic features, government regulations and customer pressure are three influences on RL (Melo et al., 2009). Several developed nations have put in place strict regulations and policies on products and services that impact society and the environment (Xu et al., 2013; Gunasekaran and Spalanzani, 2012). Although government regulations and policies differ across nations (Mollenkopf et al., 2010); all SC networks face pressure from ever rising environmental standards. Where environmental standards are most rigorously applied, government legislation forces a manufacturer to take on an extended responsibility for any social and environmental issues associated with their product. The \"extended producer responsibility\" concept has evolved out of government interventions, RL, sustainability and interaction between manufacturers (Sheu and Gao, 2014; Pires et al., 2015). Customer's environmental consciousness is becoming another driving force for RL (Kumar and Putnam, 2008). In addition to government legislation, growing consumer awareness of high levels of carbon emissions in the atmosphere has encouraged firms to publically appear to comply with the government imposed legislations and to be associated with \"green\" practices and products (Guarnieri et al., 2015). The size of the firm also dictates the implementation of reverse flow operations (Min and Galle, 2001). Large-sized organizations have a significantly higher rate of returns than small or medium-sized organizations. Where a business is virtual, RL is critical, as online businesses encounter higher product returns than traditional brick-and-mortar businesses (Ramanathan, 2011). It is evident that a robust CLSC network is necessary for handling such increased product returns.\n4. Research methodology: The research adopts a quantitative approach to the facility location decision for a closed-loop distribution network. Table I outlines a general comparison of different optimization models that can be used to solve the FLP. Each method has specific characteristics associated with it that aid the choice of an appropriate methodology, based on objectives and constraints. We use a mixed infinite set approach to calculate a series of alternative locations. Linear programming is applied for optimizing the result in terms of costs by using the COG. COG is an infinite set approach that uses the weighted mean centre function to minimize transportation costs in FLP.\n5. Problem statement and model formulation: We develop a single objective function, focusing on minimizing costs for both forward and reverse material flows in a CLSC. This section proposes the framework and the settings required in order to develop and formulate the hybrid model. DC activities are becoming increasingly complex taking on a broad range of additional activities such as after-sales replacement, returns and other handling activities. DCs are also referred to as CCs, when their purpose is to handle and process returned goods. Based on the above understanding, we distinguish between the following two types of material flows in our model:\n6. Model solution and simulation results: Using the base data of locations and demand and supply volumes, Table V shows the group of candidates calculated by our modified COG model.\n7. Analysis of results: 7.1 Analysis of mixed-method simulation model\n8. Conclusion: It is evident that online shopping is generating increasing product returns and hence significantly influencing the strategic decision of facility location. The study has proposed an approach to optimize the facilities location decision-making problem by considering forward as well as reverses logistics flow. The paper develops a contemporary model that can take into account multiple factors while making the appropriate decision for performance on sustainability. Sustainable facility location modelling is important to understand the trade-off between the pillars of sustainability (Xifeng et al., 2013). The sustainable facility location is environmentally conscious as it minimizes the total distance covered in a CLSC network, thus supporting reductions in carbon emission. In addition, that the total costs of operations and transportation are reduced shows that the solution is cost effective. Furthermore, as the model can incorporate variable return rates, it can provide improved levels of customer service. The research utilizes a mixed-method modelling approach by combining the COG and MILP approaches to the problem. The main advantage of the proposed hybrid model is its flexibility through incorporating different return rates in the RLs scenario to replicate a real world returns scenario. The study contributes to the modelling and the practices of FLP by combining two established analytical techniques to construct an optimal solution. The research validates the critical need to take into account reverse flow in the uncertain and competitive environments of retail distribution. RL will have a growing influence on profitability (Petersen and Kumar, 2015) through product return policies. Specifically, the research offers an avenue whereby flexible return policies supported with robust CLSC networks could enhance the profitability of the organization.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to find a sustainable facility location solution for a closed-loop distribution network in the uncertain environment created by of high levels of product returns from online retailing coupled with growing pressure to reduce carbon emissions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A case study approach attempts to optimize the distribution centre (DC) location decision for single and double hub scenarios. A hybrid approach combining centre of gravity and mixed integer programming is established for the un-capacitated multiple allocation facility location problem. Empirical data from a major national UK retail distributor network is used to validate the model.\nFindings: The paper develops a contemporary model that can take into account multiple factors (e.g. operational and transportation costs and supply chain (SC) risks) while improving performance on environmental sustainability.\nPractical implications: Based on varying product return rates, SC managers can decide whether to choose a single or a double hub solution to meet their needs. The study recommends a two hub facility location approach to mitigate emergent SC risks and disruptions.\nOriginality/value: A two-stage hybrid approach outlines a unique technique to generate candidate locations under twenty-first century conditions for new DCs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
User participation and stakeholder involvement in health care innovation - does it matter?
|
[
"Focus group interviews",
"Coordination",
"Local health and care services",
"Telecare and telehealth technology",
"User participation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Users, defined as patients or service recipients, are expected to become increasingly involved in the process of introducing new technologies in health and care services. Recent Norwegian innovation policy takes user participation and stakeholder involvement into consideration (White Paper No. 47, 2008-2009). This paper discusses user involvement in an early phase of a project to introduce a new comprehensive platform of telecare and telehealth technology for the elderly in one local authority in Norway. We address the research question: how can (potential) users contribute to innovations related to the introduction of telecare and telehealth technology? The project we focus on, eSenior, has been concerned with how both present and future users, their relatives and other stakeholders might become involved in the process of deciding what the needs are and selecting technological solutions to meet them.\n2. Theoretical approach: Our research question, i.e. how potential users can contribute to innovations related to the introduction of telecare and telehealth technology, needs further elaboration in terms of different perspectives on users' involvement in the process of selection, procurement and implementation in local contexts. In the following we expand on two areas, i.e. different perspectives on user involvement in innovation and stakeholder involvement, respectively.\n3. Design and methods: 3.1. Research design and research question\n4. Findings: The input from the older seniors was comprehensive, but two general themes stand out as the most important: safety, particularly personal alarms, and the importance of social relations as a platform for coping and well-being. In this regard, they took a positive approach to technology which would allow them to be more mobile and get in touch with somebody if something happens. Regarding adaptation to new technology and the use of aids, they would like better access to information and training. Many expressed reservations about having to use new technologies, especially communications technologies more advanced than cell phones. However, they did acknowledge the great opportunities offered by functional streamlining of homes and personal alarms with extended functions. The following quotations[1] may illustrate this point:\n5. Discussion: Focus group interviews represent a form of user involvement in innovation processes that we characterized as \"direct involvement mapping unacknowledged needs\" in the Rosted-scheme (Rosted, 2008). In the case of the eSenior project the focus groups were designed to expand the knowledge base that would inform the selection and design of telecare and telehealth solutions. This represents a direct involvement of users in an innovation process where the needs are acknowledged by the respondents, but this will be but one of several factors influencing the choice of specific solutions (Rosted, 2008). Furthermore, in Norwegian, as well as other European, health and care services it is in general regarded as important to attend to user involvement and participation in treatment and care. Here, the involvement through focus group interviews may give the project itself certain legitimacy. Likewise, firms can take a normative perspective when involving users - as \"the right way to treat stakeholders\" (Harrison et al., 2002, p. 61).\n6. Concluding remarks: This paper has discussed how users can contribute to innovations related to the introduction of telecare and telehealth technology. The actual pilot schemes have not yet been carried out, which constitutes a limitation of this study. We have no definite knowledge of how the different stakeholder groups will be involved when technologies are tested in elder seniors' homes other than that they are intended to be involved in some way or another. Still, we would argue that one important aspect of the focus group strategy in general and in the present case in particular is that it enables the users to be more informed in the next steps of the innovation journey. Here, a selected group of elderly people will be given the opportunity to try out a package of telecare and telehealth technology developed in the eSenior project. Furthermore, focus groups are important with respect to mapping the users' - patients' and client groups' - needs before deciding which telecare and telehealth technologies to select. The strategy can thus be an instrument for the local authorities to carry out user centred innovation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss how and to what extent users can become involved in the process of selecting and implementing telecare and telehealth technologies in local health care services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The discussion is based on data from a project in one local authority in Norway. About 100 persons have participated in focus group interviews where issues regarding new telecare and telehealth technologies for the elderly were discussed. The focus groups involved different groups of product users and stakeholder groups, i.e. \"older senior users\" (over 65 years), \"younger senior users\" (55-65 years), relatives, health care professionals and general practitioners (GPs).\nFindings: Different user groups have different stakes in the technology. It is difficult to involve \"older senior users\" in the selection process due to their lack of information about potential solutions, while \"younger senior users\" are more informed and positive towards the introduction of telecare and telehealth technologies. The results also indicate that professionals are ambiguous towards new technologies; on the one hand they expect services to be better, but on the other they are concerned about ethical and working life issues that have not been fully explored as yet.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides an understanding of how different groups of product users and stakeholder groups relate to and can be involved in an expanded implementation process of telecare and telehealth technology which allow older people to remain in their homes for longer.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The challenge of unfilled requests in document supply: the experience in South Africa
|
[
"Interlending",
"Document delivery",
"Benchmarking",
"Performance measures"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Unfilled document supply requests reflect negatively on libraries that strive to render a reliable service to their own users as well as to other libraries. When trying to find reasons for unfilled requests and poor service delivery, we found little or no published research. A study was undertaken to establish the reasons for unfilled requests within a specific group of academic libraries within South Africa.The document supply world stands on the verge of a completely new era, based on the internet and supported by new technology and initiatives, it is envisaged that changes in the near future will be just as drastic as that of moving from a paper-based system in the early 1990s to an electronic system.\nTechnology in South African libraries and interlending departments: The larger academic institutions in South Africa are already taking the first steps on this new road. The race to be part of this hi-tech era is picking up in South Africa. Electronic databases and knowledge of the internet have already changed the method used by South African researchers to obtain information. A total 85 per cent of researchers use the internet first, whilst only 1 per cent consults the library catalogue first (Baker, 2007).Libraries currently invest in large numbers of e-journals and e-books and together with digitisation of library material is another step in the direction of becoming virtual libraries. Clients are becoming accustomed to placing unmediated document supply requests. Ariel software is used to ship articles, and on receipt, requesting libraries e-mail the articles to their clients with the undertaking that copyright restrictions are observed in the process. Some libraries are currently supplying URLs to other libraries to access theses that have been digitised. Payments for document supply items are handled through an electronic IFM (Interlending Fee Management System) and management information is retrieved from the electronic document supply system.South Africa is a blend of first and third world development. Less than 10 per cent of South Africans have access to the internet (Baker, 2007). There are many libraries in South Africa which function exclusively in the paper era, although we will soon have a few smart virtual libraries. The majority of South African libraries will still use the current interlending system for the foreseeable future, thus in the South African context it is still relevant to discuss unfilled requests.\nUnfilled document supply requests - research project: The South African Library and Information Trust (SALIT) (2005) funded a research project that focused on the reasons for unfilled requests. This was a research project identified by the GAELIC consortium, (Gauteng and Environment Libraries Consortium), one of five consortia in South Africa for tertiary institutions. This initiative was in response to concerns about unsatisfactory fill rates within the Gaelic consortium. In the past there have been speculations on the reasons for low fill rates, but they have not been verified.The goal of the research project on unfilled document supply requests was to:* investigate the reasons for the non-supply of documents;* determine the accuracy of statistical data on the ReQuest system used for document supply in South Africa;* suggest remedial actions to address the problems identified;* determine the training needs of document supply workers; and* organize a workshop where problems could be addressed.Methodology\nImpact on staff: The research team found that in larger GAELIC libraries, where document supply sections are manned by fulltime staff, the performance of staff was substantially better than in the smaller libraries. Document supply tasks at smaller libraries were often not prioritised and were performed by less experienced staff.The following have an impact on service delivery:* Attitude. Motivated and committed staff using their initiative will ensure peak performance.* Training. Structured and in-house training is imperative and combined with experience, will have a positive impact on service delivery.* Capacity. Stressed and overworked staff do not work as accurately and as dedicatedly as expected. High levels of service are difficult to maintain with insufficient staff numbers during peak periods.\nDocument supply fill rate: The fill rate represents the percentage of filled requests and is a measure of the quality of work.Requesting fill rate\nGrouping of libraries and unfilled requests: The question was raised if there was a relationship between library size and the number of unfilled requests.In order to benchmark libraries and to reach conclusions, libraries were grouped according to the number of requests they have handled during the three-month period.Library size\nGrouping libraries according to fill rate: Grouping libraries according to the number of unfilled requests did not produce a definite pattern.It was encouraging to note that 67 per cent of the libraries that were investigated had less than 30 per cent unfilled requests. These 26 Libraries with less than 30 per cent unfilled requests placed 80% of all the new requests in the three-month period. Some of the smaller branch libraries were among the better performing libraries.The 14 better performing libraries, having less than 50 per cent unfilled requests, and which supplied 64 per cent of all documents have had the least expired requests.\nReasons for unfilled requests: Data retrieved from the ReQuest system gave us a break down of the reasons for unfilled requests on both the requesting and supplying sides. The project team analysed a sample of unfilled requests of each GAELIC library in order to detect problems that needed to be addressed. The research team identified few major problems, but smaller mistakes were picked up at most of the libraries, indicating that refresher training courses or workshops would be beneficial.Currently supplying libraries have a choice of 23 possible reasons on the ReQuest system for unfilled requests. These reasons are in line with the international list of reasons, but the research team determined that South African interlending staff often did not understand the meaning of the given reasons and where it should be used. It was found that the wrong reason was often chosen, such as using \"Not Owned\" where the reason should have been \"Lacking\". Supplying staff also often used \"Other\" in cases where there were suitable and more correct reasons to choose from. Some reasons on the list of possible reasons were never used. It is recommended that the list of reasons should be adapted to South African needs.The following four reasons were the most frequently used in 64 per cent of the analysed transactions (see Table II).Not owned\nUnfilled requests and turn-around time: The research team investigated the relationship between unfilled requests and turn- around time. Surprisingly the research team were unable to find a definite correlation.Requesting point of view\nIssues to be addressed in order to enhance document supply services: Service provider\nConclusion: The reasons for unfilled requests have mainly been speculative, but research confirmed that the assumptions being made proved to be correct; namely that training, motivation, commitment and experience are the keys to service excellence.It is crucial that libraries regularly update SACat, and other shared catalogues such as WorldCat. Library management must address the shortage of books. Stricter ruling regarding overdue books will make books more available.Accurate and efficient shelving of returned books must be attended to, as well as regular shelf reading and training of library staff responsible for packing the library shelves.Although the percentage of unfilled requests on the supplying side is important and must be addressed, it is more important to look at a library's fill rate on the requesting side. Libraries should try to enhance this percentage and if it can be combined with cost effective document supply and a fast turn-around time, will result in an excellent performance.\nPostscript: As a result of the findings of the study workshops were held to address the issues raised both within the Gaelic consortium environment and within the larger South African environment. It was felt that the findings were not necessarily unique to our university libraries and would be of benefit to the South African Interlending community as a whole.A script for an Industrial theatre production was written in conjunction with Heidi Visser and staff of the University of Pretoria. At a Gaelic meeting and a subsequent LIASA (Library and Information Association of South Africa) conference, the document supply staff of the University of Pretoria portrayed the roles in which the difference between a library which took pride in its work as opposed to one in which the staff was disinterested were evident to the audience. The message was well received within the communities that were privy to the Industrial theatre.Some members of the research team visited the libraries, which took part in the research and met with the interlending staff and their management. The report was discussed, as well as the individual results of the specific library visited. In most cases management was eager to enhance problem areas in order to improve the functioning of their document supply departments. As a direct result of the investigation, we created a code of Best Practice for Document Supply. The code was circulated it to all South African Libraries, via our ILL List serve. (See appendix A for Current Code of Best Practice for Document Supply)The question may be asked \"Did it make a difference?\" Yes it did, but it is evident that in-house training is an ongoing saga, as the interlending staff turnover in certain institutions is relatively high, and newcomers need to be equipped with the necessary skills. Just when you think you are getting somewhere, a new set of people need to be shown the routines!\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This study attempts to determine the reasons for unfilled requests within the Gaelic library consortium in South Africa.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Management information retrieved from the ReQuest document supply system for the participating libraries formed the base point of the research. Data included the number of requests placed and filled, and reasons for unfilled requests. The data were analysed, and fill rates calculated. In-depth research into the unfilled requests was carried out, which enabled one to suggest remedial measures for such requests. Indicators to measure library performance were identified.\nFindings: - Previous reasons for unfilled requests have been mainly speculative; research, however, confirmed that the hypothesis proved to be correct; namely that the fill rate of requests is determined by the quality of work, the quantity of items requested, and effectiveness of staff within service units, along with sufficient staff capacity and their levels of experience.\nPractical implications: - The results of this study enable document supply staff to take remedial actions within their institutions. Supplying and requesting fill rates differ. In practice, the request fill rate is the more important. Librarians looking to improve client satisfaction and expectations should focus on this aspect of document supply.\nOriginality/value: - The recommendations are a useful checklist for document supply librarians internationally - not just in South Africa - who wish to improve their service to users.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Performance analysis and improvement of a typical telephone response system of VA hospitals: A discrete event simulation study
|
[
"Resource sharing",
"Centralization and decentralization",
"Discrete event simulation",
"System performance",
"Telephone response system",
"VA hospitals"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Telephone systems are an integral part of many businesses, carrying a significant role. They are also fascinating socio-technical systems in which the behaviors of customers and employees are closely intertwined with physical performance measures (Gans et al., 2003). The telephone response system in a hospital is, without doubt, the frontline of healthcare delivery. It often provides services related to appointment booking/cancellation, education, medical renewal, billing and financial business. The operation performance of a hospital telephone system significantly affects the healthcare delivery efficiency, resource management, and patient satisfaction for the hospital.\n2. Telephone operations in a VA medical center: 2.1. Phone menu structure\n3. Simulation modeling of current operation: 3.1. Model framework\n4. Scenario analysis: 4.1. Two resource sharing schemes\n5. Conclusions: In this research, we analyze a typical VA hospital telephone system with the focus on improving the system performance and the patient satisfaction in handling the calls related to appointment scheduling and medication renewal. Instead of hiring more staff to the main dedicated unit (i.e. the TAS line), we propose resource sharing for all the units whose functions share commonalities. Two resource sharing schemes are proposed. In the first scheme, the resources in the TAS line and primary care clinics are pooled together. In the second scheme, the resources in certain specialty clinics are further pooled for appointment scheduling and medication renewal. We develop a simulation model to investigate the effectiveness of resource sharing schemes.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Telephone response system is the frontline of hospital operations. The purpose of this paper is to analyze a representative telephone response system of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, address the existing inefficiency issues such as long call waiting time, and improve system resilience to changes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Resource sharing schemes are proposed to improve the system performance in answering calls related to appointment booking and medication renewal. Discrete event simulation is adopted to model the current system and the resource sharing schemes.\nFindings: The resource sharing schemes dramatically improve system performance reflected by the decrease of call waiting time and queue, as well as the extreme high utilization of agents in a key unit. Compared with the less desired alternative of hiring additional employees to mitigate the performance issues, the resource sharing schemes perform at par or even better. Sharing more resource during the peak hours can further balance the agent workload.\nPractical implications: The resource sharing schemes could alleviate staffing shortage, long waiting time, and high-abandonment rate in the bottle-beck unit of the system, and lead to better utilization of scarce resources on the hospital floor. The concept reflects localized centralization efforts in traditionally highly decentralized telephone operations in hospital systems.\nOriginality/value: This research provides a structured approach to analyze the operations of a VA telephone response system. The developed simulation model is validated, and this provides a valuable tool for management to analyze the complicated telephone operations of the telephone systems of other VA and non-VA hospitals. Resource sharing constitutes a cost-effective solution for improving system performance and resilience.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Applicant, rater, and job factors related to weight-based bias
|
[
"Selection",
"Ethnicity",
"Conscientiousness",
"Nurturing job demands",
"Overweight",
"Weight-based bias"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The National Institute of Health (NIH, 2010) estimates that 68 percent of all adults in the US are overweight or obese. Individuals who are overweight are increasingly experiencing weight-based bias in organizations (Yale Rudd Center, 2008). For example, results of recent surveys showed that relative to those of normal weight, individuals who were overweight, were 12 times more likely, obese individuals were 37 times more likely, and extremely obese individuals were 100 times more likely, to report unfair discrimination in the employment process (Roehling et al., 2007). In addition, a review of the literature suggested that weight discrimination is evident at most stages of the employment process including selection, placement, compensation, promotion, and discharge (Roehling, 1999). Furthermore, research revealed that compared to their normal weight counterparts, overweight individuals often receive lower salary levels (Roehling, 1999), and are more likely to be assigned to undesirable jobs (Bellizzi and Hasty, 2000).\nTheoretical bases for weight-based bias: Surprisingly, most research on weight-based bias in organizations has not been predicated on any theoretical framework. Therefore, the present study was framed on the Model of the Treatment of Persons with Disabilities presented by Stone and Colella (1996), which is in part based on a model of stigmas in organizations (Stone et al., 1992).\nMethod: Study design\nResults: The results for the manipulation checks, hypotheses, and supplementary analyses are presented below. Given the large number of statistical tests conducted, a more stringent Type I error rate of 0.001 was used for all supplementary analyses. The results of the manipulation checks showed that participants perceived the manipulations as intended (see Appendix 5 for results).\nDiscussion: Results of the study provide support for several of the hypotheses tested. First, they show that overweight applicants are rated as more suitable for jobs, and more likely to be recommended for hire when they are high as opposed to low in conscientiousness. Second, they indicate that Hispanics are more likely to recommend overweight applicants for hire than Anglos. Third, they reveal that Hispanics are more likely than Anglos to rate overweight applicants with high than low conscientiousness as more suitable for jobs, and recommend them for jobs with high than low nurturing demands. Finally, the results indicate that two stereotypes (i.e. attractiveness and health) may mediate relations between weight, and the criteria of suitability and hiring recommendation. These findings have a number of important implications for future theory, research, practice, and society as a whole.\nConclusion: In summary, our study assessed a number of factors that may be related to weight-based bias. It is our hope that the results of the study can be used to decrease biases against overweight individuals and increase the extent to which they have the opportunity to have a satisfying work life. Also, the findings may help organizations solve the problems associated with the shortage of talented employees, and enable them to hire individuals with the skills needed to compete in the marketplace.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The aim of this paper was to assess the main and interactive effects of job applicant conscientiousness, and nurturing job demands on ratings of overweight female applicants on job suitability and a hiring recommendation. It also examined relations between rater ethnicity and ratings of the job suitability of normal and overweight applicants.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study used a 2x2x2 experimental design and data from 400 individuals (201 Anglos and 199 Hispanics) with hiring experience to test the study's hypotheses. Participants were randomly assigned to conditions, and asked to review a resume and picture of a normal or overweight applicant. Then, they were asked to rate the applicant's job suitability and make a hiring recommendation.\nFindings: The results revealed that: overweight female applicants were rated as more suitable for jobs and more likely to be recommended for hire when they had high rather than low conscientiousness; Hispanics were more likely to recommend overweight applicants for hire than Anglos; and there was a three-way interaction among applicant weight, rater ethnicity, and nurturing job demands for the hiring recommendation criterion.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study was conducted in a simulated hiring context. Thus, research is needed to determine if the results generalize to actual work settings.\nPractical implications: The results suggest that organizations should provide decision makers with detailed information about applicants' conscientiousness, and the nurturing demands of jobs. When these types of information are presented, raters are less likely to display weight-based bias.\nOriginality/value: Previous research on weight-based bias was not based on a theoretical model, but the present study used a theoretical framework to guide the development of hypotheses (Stone and Colella, 1996; Stone et al., 1992). In addition, it is the first study to examine the effects of overweight applicant conscientiousness and stereotype-job fit on ratings of job suitability, and differences between Hispanic and Anglo views of overweight applicants.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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She's homely, beautiful and then, hardworking! Critiquing the representation of women leaders and managers in the Nigerian press
|
[
"Women",
"Managers",
"Representation",
"Leaders",
"Nigerian press"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The ability of women to acquire and retain leadership positions, as well as the propensity for women to seek those positions, has been adversely affected by narrow, and often negative, media portrayals [...] (Heinz Forum, 2012).\nWither the women? In search of women in Nigerian and African news: The ways in which women are represented in news media send important messages to the viewing, listening, and reading publics about women's place, women's role, and women's lives (Byerly and Ross, 2006, p. 40).\n",
"role": "user"
},
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"content": "Purpose: There are assumptions in gender-related media research that increased female status would be accompanied by more and better representation of women. There are also expectations that an increase in the number of women working in the news media will increase the positive representation of women. The aim of this paper is to critique the representation of women leaders and managers in the Nigerian press to assess the extent to which these factors have influenced the representation of women in the West African country.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using two methods, qualitative content analysis and interview, this chapter critiques the representation of women leaders and managers in Nigerian Guardian Life and Vanguard Allure (over a period of six months - the last half of 2014) to determine the way women in leadership and management are constructed by checking for frames on stereotypes, gender roles and trivialisation themes. The editors of the two publications are then interviewed to consider the philosophies behind the coverage patterns and assess their knowledge and awareness of the implications of the coverage patterns on the status of women in the sub-Saharan African country.\nFindings: It was discovered that the Nigerian press are focusing on re-enforcing traditional gender roles and norms rather than challenging them, and women in leadership and management in the country do not apply sufficient agency in challenging the status quo.\nResearch limitations/implications: Even though information derived from this study cannot be said to represent the realities in all of Africa, it surely provides a good context within which issues about media representation of women in leadership and management in Africa can be better understood to assess how the cultures on the continent's various countries affect the realities of the lives of women.\nOriginality/value: The bulk of feminist research is situated in the North. Not much feminist research is being done in the South, and there appears to be an inadequate engagement with the available few in the literature. This chapter bridges the gap by presenting much needed information about gender, media and organisation in Nigeria; a highly populous multi-ethnic and multi-cultural sub-Saharan African country. Even though information derived from this study cannot be said to represent the realities in all of Africa, it will surely provide a good context within which issues about media, gender and organisation in Africa can be better appreciated.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Social media-based customer service and firm reputation
|
[
"Social media",
"Customer service",
"Reputation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Service encounter refers to the customer contact points at which customers meet and interact with the service provider (Roth and Menor, 2003, p. 148). It is an essential focus of service operations research (Johnston, 2005). Customer service (CS), which influences the overall evaluation of the customer experience, is mostly conducted through these contact points (Chase et al., 2006). In the traditional offline CS channels, a firm interacted with customers directly through face-to-face encounters and nonpublic mediated communication channels (such as telephone or email). In such cases, customers had limited ability to observe and influence other customers' perceptions and relationships with a firm (Gallaugher and Ransbotham, 2010).The emergence of social media has greatly enriched the traditional customer-firm interaction. Social media [1] is regarded as an extension of traditional word-of-mouth (WOM) communication (Mangold and Faulds, 2009). The manner of CS encounters has been expanded from \"one-to-one\" direct contact to \"many-to-many\" Internet-based interactions. Unlike the traditional CS channels where customer contact is restricted, social media enables collecting a greater volume of information involving all customers through various platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Weibo and other online communities. Utilizing social media for CS purposes has become a strategic choice for many firms to increase competitiveness.In adopting such social media-based CS channels, firms use their own or third party channels to conduct services including collecting customer feedback, troubleshooting customer issues, handling customer requests and facilitating the sharing of consumption experiences among customers. For example, Anthem created an online community forum for customers to post their health care questions and addressed their concerns by initiating conversations on the forum (PR Newswire, 2010); Amazon took advantage of Twitter to improve the customer experience, generating brand awareness and reinforcing sales (M2 PressWIRE, 2012) and Dell launched its social media \"listening center\" to engage customers and build Dell's brand image by increasing social responsiveness (Hindustan Times, 2015). Details on these cases are presented in appendix Figure A1. Through social media platforms, customers can easily access product information and issues of concern, enabling firms to better understand customers' needs. In addition, the mobility and connectivity of social media platforms empower CS through timely and effective communication.The merits of firms' social media usage have been documented. For example, adopting social media for collaboration can foster creativity (Greenhow et al., 2011). Social media initiatives can increase firm's operational efficiency and innovativeness (Lam et al., 2016). Social media adoption can facilitate customer relationship management and brand communication (Mills and Plangger, 2015). However, no empirical study to date examines the relationship between social media-based CS and firm reputation. In the information age, an increasing number of firms are adopting social media to build brand identity and raise brand awareness. Reputation is an indicator of a firm's ability to fulfill customer needs during the CS process (Walsh and Beatty, 2007). Because the aims of CS are to satisfy customers' needs, wants and aspirations, using social media for CS thus may enhance firm reputation.Despite the merits of utilizing social media, adoption is a challenging task for many firms. Mutual trust between service provider and customer is more difficult to establish through social media (Constantinides et al., 2008). In addition, given that information can be widely and instantly disseminated through social media, customer complaints to firms are difficult to control (Gallaugher and Ransbotham, 2010). Therefore, it is essential to conduct empirical research to investigate the relationship between social media-based CS and firm reputation.This study draws on resource dependence theory (RDT) to develop a link between social media-based CS and firm reputation. As valuable sources for a firm to obtain resources, customer requests, enquiries and even complaints enable firms to identify neglected problems concerning existing products and services. Customer feedback and suggestions can provide direction for new product and service development, allowing adaptation to ever-changing market demands (Finch, 1999). This study regards firms' social media-based CS as a kind of resource-transforming process, which utilizes the collected customer information for firm's reputation building.This research also proposes boundary factors that may affect the relationship between social media-based CS and firm reputation. Considering the social media context where the service process is influenced by many uncertain or uncontrollable factors, moderator selection is based on whether this could facilitate the transforming process by mitigating the influence of uncertain and uncontrollable elements. Specifically, we examine the roles of firm absorptive capacity, ISO 9000 quality management system and training for management and employees to facilitate the resource-transforming process in social media adoption. Absorptive capacity represents a firm's learning ability to transfer the knowledge gained from external sources to generate outputs (Tsai, 2001). ISO 9000 certification indicates that a firm has a systematic quality management system to control operational processes (Tan et al., 2003). Training for management and employees can improve the service provider's capability to deal with the uncertainty and complexity that emerges from social media-based CS (Chen et al., 2004b).To test the postulated hypotheses, this study collected objective secondary data from five resources as follows: Factiva, COMPUSTAT, Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies (WMAC), Thomson Reuters Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), and American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). By collecting longitudinal data from 2007 to 2016, the results indicate that social media-based CS improves a firm's reputation. In addition, the positive relationship is reinforced when a firm has a high absorptive capacity level, an ISO 9000 quality management system and offers periodic training for management and employees. Our study supplements current empirical study of CS in the social media context from the perspective of operations management (OM). It also draws attention to the contextual factors that mitigate the potential risks on using social media platforms for CS.\n2. Theoretical background and hypothesis development: 2.1 Social media usage in operations\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Sample and data collection\n4. Results: Table 3 presents descriptive statistics and correlations for the variables. The maximum variance inflation factor for all variables (for hypothesis testing) is 3.89 (2.77), which suggests that multicollinearity is not a serious concern (Hair et al., 2010). Table 1 presents the GMM analysis results to examine the baseline hypothesis (H1). Model 1 included all the control variables and the direct effects of the moderator. Model 2 included the variable for social media-based CS, the coefficient of which is significantly positive (coefficient = 0.016, p < 0.01). As Figure 1 indicates, in moving the number of social media-based CS from 2 (around the mean) to 5 (around one standard deviation above the mean), the WMAC score increases by 0.048. Thus, H1 is supported. Previous literature has showed that a unit increase in a firm's WMAC score increases market value by US$2,051.59m to US$2,615.24m (Black et al., 2000; Smith et al., 2010). Thus, one additional social media channel for the sample firms is estimated to gain the firm market value of US$32.83m-US$41.84m.Table 3 examines H2-H4 by adding interaction terms between social media-based CS and the moderators into model 2 of Table 1. Specifically, in model 1 of Table 2, the coefficient of social media-based CS x R&D intensity is significantly positive (coefficient = 0.495, p < 0.01). As Panel A of Figure 2 indicates, in moving R&D intensity from its mean (0.013) to one standard deviation above (0.045), the effect (slope) of social media-based CS initiatives on firm reputation increases by 0.016. The change of the slope is 100.71% of the direct effect of social media-based CS (0.016 in model 2 of Table 1). Thus, H2 is supported.In Model 2 of Table 2, the coefficient of social media-based CS x ISO 9000 is significantly positive (coefficient = 0.012, p < 0.05). As panel B of Figure 2 indicates, the slope of social media-based CS on firm reputation is 0.012 higher in firms with ISO 9000 certification compared with firms without this. The change of slope is 78.95% of the direct effect of social media-based CS. Thus, H3 is supported.In Model 3 of Table 2, the coefficient of social media-based CS x management training is significantly positive (coefficient = 0.056, p < 0.01). As Panel C of Figure 2 indicates, the slope of social media-based CS on firm reputation is 0.056 higher in firms with management training policies compared with firms without these. The change of slope is 358.07% of the direct effect of social media-based CS. In addition, the coefficient of social media-based CS x employee skill training is significantly positive (coefficient = 0.058, p < 0.01) in Model 4. As Panel D of Figure 2 indicates, the slope of social media-based CS on firm reputation is 0.058 higher in firms with employee skill training policies compared with firms without these. The change of slope is 366.87% of the direct effect of social media-based CS. Thus, H4 is supported.\n5. Conclusion and discussion: CS through traditional offline channels has limitations: limited accessibility, slow responses and restricted information sharing. The literature suggests that conducting social media-based CS can overcome the drawbacks of traditional CS channels and help firms achieve better business outcomes (Mangold and Faulds, 2009). However, the literature also highlights the risk of utilizing social media for CS (Gillin, 2009). This study began by investigating the relationship between social media adoption for CS and firm reputation. By sampling 115 firms and collecting data from five databases over 2007-2016, it was found that firms with increased use of social media-based CS have a higher reputation.In addition, it was found that the effect of social media adoption was contingent on the firm's efforts in absorptive capacity, ISO 9000 certification and training for management and employees. Specifically, the results demonstrate that firms with additional social media-based CS channels achieved a more positive reputation when they (1) had a higher level of absorptive capacity, (2) possessed an ISO 9000 quality management system and (3) provided periodic training for managers and employees. This section discusses how these findings contribute to OM theory and the implications for operational managers. 5.1 Theoretical contributions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study investigates the effects of using social media for customer service on firms' reputation building. In addition, this study explores the role of absorptive capacity, ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 9,000 implementation and periodic training for management and employees in the relationship between social media-based customer service and firm reputation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study sampled 115 US-listed firms and collected secondary data from five databases as follows: Factiva, Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies (WMAC), Standard & Poor's COMPUSTAT, American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) and Thomson Reuters' Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). This study developed a panel dataset of these 115 firms from 2007 to 2016 and conducted dynamic panel data analyses to examine the hypotheses.\nFindings: This study finds that a higher number of social media channels used for customer service is associated with a higher reputation score for a firm. In addition, the positive relationship is reinforced when a firm has a high absorptive capacity level, an ISO 9000 quality management system and offers periodic training for management and employees.\nOriginality/value: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the relationship between social media-based customer service and firm reputation. This study also explores the boundary factors in terms of firm absorptive capacity, ISO 9000 quality management systems and training for management and employees.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Capital structure determinants: an empirical study of French companies in the wine industry
|
[
"Wines",
"Capital structure",
"Gearing",
"France"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The access to financing and its cost is a fundamental dimension of international competition in the wine industry. From the supply side of financial resources, the cost of capital reduction is the principal financial lever of value creation by the companies. With regard to their use, the financing of new projects of investment is essential to ensure their long-term survival in a sector which is the subject of an accelerated globalization (innovation, rationalization, etc.). However, the financing of French wine companies meets important obstacles and suffers from many handicaps in comparison with their competitors of the New World. The financial structure of the companies is indeed a distinctive factor between the wines of Old and the New World (Saulpic and Tanguy, 2002). Relatively small family companies of the traditional producer countries face the multinationals of the New World which have access to the various financial resources offered by capital markets and banks. This easier access to the financial resources is a considerable source of competitive advantage for the wine companies of the New World.In this context, the main objective of the paper is to explain the leverage of French companies in the wine industry. Few empirical studies have been done specifically on the agricultural sector and none (to the best of our knowledge) on the wine industry. So, it seems to us interesting to investigate if traditional explanations of capital structure apply to the wine industry companies and if there is specific determinants of capital structure in this industry. Moreover, empirical studies do not lead to a consensus with regard to the significant determinants of capital structure and there is no agreement on which theory is best supported by empirical data, so our study will feed the debate.The paper is organized as follow. First section makes a short presentation of the different theories of capital structure and of the associated determinants of capital structure that will be used in the empirical study. Second section presents the sample and methods. Third section is devoted to the results. The final section concludes.\nTheoretical discussion and empirical determinants: In this empirical paper, we will only make a brief review of the different theories of capital structure. The objective is to better explain the choice of the various empirical determinants of capital structure and theirs links to the different theories. Then, we will describe in more depth each empirical determinant that will be used in the empirical study.Theories of capital structure\nSample, variables and methods: The sample is first presented then the various leverage ratio followed by the quantitative and qualitative capital determinants variables. The section ends with a description of the methodology.Sample\nResults: To profit from the largest sample as possible we conduct two different empirical studies, the first one with only the year 2003 (named \"2003 sample\") for which we have the largest number of companies (410) with complete data, the second one (named \"2000-2003\" sample) with all the companies with complete data for all the four years 2000-2003 (303 companies). So in the studies using the first sample we cannot compute the measures of risk and growth. Table II and Table III present descriptive statistics of the various leverage ratios and their evolution for the two samples. All ratios are rather stable in time (see last column, F test and the associated probability). Evolutions are not always similar for the two samples. Long-term debt decreases relatively to equities and total liabilities relatively to assets. Short-term debt decreases during three years and then increases. Results are different for long-term debt and financial debt relatively to assets in the two samples: the ratios increase in the first sample but decrease in the second. These very preliminary results are not in favour of TOT because they show that, in spite of a changing general economic environment (crisis of the French wine sector), debt ratios are stable. One possible reason is that companies in the sample are not publicly traded and thus undergo very high transaction cost on equity issue[3]. As in DTOT, target debt ratios are changing but transaction costs are so high that actual debt ratios do not converge to them.Traditional quantitative determinants\nSummary and conclusion: The paper investigates the significant determinant of capital structure of a sample of French companies in the wine industry. Our main results are:* negative impact of profitability, cash, asset turn over, age and non-debt tax shield (on short-term debt only);* positive impact of past growth and tangibility; and* no significant impact of size and risk.These results are more in favour of the POT of capital structure which is often the case for sample of small medium companies (SMEs). This result is also supported by the findings of the financial deficit approach.We also find a \"legal structure effect\"; the debt structure of cooperatives is different from other companies, the presence of a \"sector effect\" and weak evidence for the positive impact of reputation on leverage.We conclude that, concerning the determinants of capital structure, the French wine industry is very similar to other industries.\nNotes: 1. Fama an French (2005) although they find that firms issue equity too often to be consistent with POT, advocate in their conclusion that researchers should not regard the two theories as competing but as \"stable mates, with each having elements of truth\".2. Following Lemmon and Zender (2002), for young firms, new issues of equity track the financial deficit fairly well.3. I would like to thank the anonymous referee for clarifying this point.4. Following Declerck (2005), Champagne concentration ratio is far below the 40 per cent threshold for a top-four-firm concentration ratio considered (Declerck and Sherrick, 1993) as a limit for perfect competition in the food industry.5. This result can be seen as an illustration of the debate between those who defend the existence of a positive correlation between competitive intensity and leverage (Brander and Lewis, 1986, 1988; Maksimovic, 1988) while others reach the opposite (Poitevin, 1989; Bolton and Scharfstein, 1990; Dasgupta and Titman, 1998).Opens in a new window.Table I\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explain the leverage of French wine companies (410 companies) in the wine industry during the period 2000-2004.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Different classical capital structure theories are reviewed (trade-off theory (TOT), pecking order theory (POT) and dynamic TOT) in order to formulate testable propositions concerning the determinants of debt levels of the French wine companies. A number of regression models (classical and panel techniques) are developed to test the static theory of trade-off against the POT.\nFindings: - The results suggest that POT seems to better explain leverage of French wine companies. Significant differences in debt ratio were found between cooperatives and other legal structures. Debt ratios are also different between sub-sectors (wholesalers, wine growers, wine makers, etc.).\nPractical implications: - Cost of capital is one of the pillars of competitive advantage (or disadvantage) of companies. With the objective to minimize the cost of capital, it seems very important to know the potential determinants of an optimal capital structure.\nOriginality/value: - This is a first study of capital structure determinants in the French wine industry which contributes to the current debate between competitive capital structure theories.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Formation of management thought in Russia and early USSR from the 1800s to the 1920s: Heroes and their creations
|
[
"History",
"Management",
"Management thought"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The purpose of this paper is to locate Soviet management thought (SMT), which helped shape the behavior of one of the world's most significant economic and military powers for most of the twentieth century, within the broader traditions of Russian management thought and the history of management thought (HMT) more generally. The paper will emphasize a number of key points. First, the dynamism that characterized Russian management thought in the early 1920s - a dynamism that was to be curtailed by the rise of Stalinism and its associated purges - reflected three main factors. First, it built on a long tradition of pre-revolutionary Russian management; a tradition that was associated with attempts to reform Russian society and modernize its economy. Second, it was influenced by ideas drawn from the West, most particularly those associated with \"Scientific Management\" and Frederick Taylor; ideas that became the basis for the main management theoretical framework in the early Soviet Union - the scientific organization of labor (SOL). This movement sought to not only revitalize the Soviet economy but also improve the intellectual and social capacity of individual workers. The third factor that impacted upon SMT in the early 1920s was clearly Marxism, the Bolsheviks seizure of power under Lenin, and the resultant Civil War with its devastating human and economic consequences. It is the argument of this paper, however, that Russian management thought in the early 1920s was not simply a variety of Marxism. Rather, it represented a genuine movement of inquiry, synthesis and adaptation; a period of innovation curtailed by the rise of anti-theoretical forces more concerned with immediate production.\nThe origins of Soviet management thought: Let us briefly dwell on some of the most important reasons and/or factors of the origin of SMT in the second decade of the twentieth century, which were manifest in the nineteenth century. Among them were social, economic, political, legal, cultural and scientific factors (both in Russia and in other countries), as well as personal factors, more precisely the ideological characteristics of the authors whose ideas and concepts shaped understandings of management. The beginning of the early SMT was also influenced by a number of specific historical and intellectual precedents. These included the repeated attempts to reform the Tsarist public administration, including the attempted coup d'etat at December 14, 1825 (the so-called Decembrist uprising by junior and mid-ranking officers in St Petersburg); more than 60 years of preparation for the abolition of serfdom; the educational activities of the Free Economic Society and the creation of new scientific and technical societies; the organization and holding of All-Russian Trade and Industry Congresses; the distribution in Russia of works by Russian and foreign researchers and practitioners on production management; and the publication of teaching aids and training in the field of public administration and business management in Russian universities and commercial schools. If we look at the studies of Russian scientists during the nineteenth century in the areas of history, law, management, sociology, political economy and politics, we also find that there are chapters and whole sections containing historical analysis of the development of management thought. All this took place in the context of a developing economy, shaped in large part by the interaction of the state bureaucracy with the activities of large entrepreneurs and industrial groups. Among those most interested in applying and developing new management ideas were representatives of family business dynasties, some of whom boasted of nearly 200 years of experience. Prominent among these families were the Prohorovi, Demidovs, Mamontovi, Morozovi, Guchkovi, Maltsovi and Ryabushinskie dynasties, as well as individual businessmen such as Samuil Polyakov, Vasily A. Kokorev, Ivan D. Sytin and many others (History., 2000; Barishnkov, 2006; Smetanin, 2016).\nVladimir Lenin and Soviet management thought: The main contribution to the development and organization of research on the management of socialist production was made by Vladimir I. Lenin. Lenin (1870-1924) was a major theoretician of Marxism, the main organizer and leader of the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia, a Soviet political and state figure. Over his life, he published more than 10,000 works of various kinds (monographs, articles, letters, etc.) on various topics: philosophical, political, social and managerial works that under the Soviet Union were published in the form of Collected Works in 55 volumes (Lenin, 1873/1924). Among his most significant works in relation to management were articles about the scientific management system of Frederick Taylor. Significantly, one of the main factors spurring both theoretical and practical interest in management in pre-revolutionary Russia were Frederick Taylor's two works - Shop Management (Taylor, 1903), published in 1903, and a few years later, the treatise The Principles of Scientific Management (Taylor, 1911). These works served as an impetus to the formation in Russia of the \"Taylorist Movement\".\nAlexander Bogdanov (Malinovsky) in history of management thought: In the 1920s, the sciences that form the theoretical basis of production management were actively developed. In particular, the doctor, founder and director of the Blood Transfusion Institute (1926), philosopher and economist Bogdanov-Malinovsky (1873/1928) made a significant contribution to the general theory of the organization, his ideas acting as a precursor to the fields of cybernetics and general system theory. Bogdanov-Malinovsky - Malinovsky being his real name and Bogdanov his \"revolutionary\" name - was a bright representative of the organizational and technological approach to management. \"Any task\", he noted, \"can and should be regarded as organizational\".\nConclusion: The article examined various sources and factors that were behind the formation of Russian management thought in the early twentieth century. The first of these is expressed in the ideas of scientists and management practitioners who received education and experience in the management theories and practices of the nineteenth century. The second is the pre-revolutionary and revolutionary ferment that characterized Russia in the early twentieth century. The most noted outcome of the resultant synthesis was the movement that became known as the SOL; a movement that represented the fusion of Scientific Management concepts derived from Frederick Taylor with domestic Russian ideas and concepts .Although influenced by Marxism, this movement was initially distinct from it, opening up a dynamic and innovative period in Russian management thought; a period that was to be curtailed by the rise of Stalinism from the mid-1920.\n",
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},
{
"content": "Purpose: During the first quarter of the twentieth century in Russia rapidly developed management thought, generated by many reasons, including socio-economic and political transformations, the results of scientific and practical activities of domestic and foreign experts in management. The purpose of this paper is, first, to acquaint readers with some of factors of the development of the history of Russian Management Thought in nineteenth century and at the beginning of twentieth century and, second, to present the most striking results of the formation of the History of Soviet Management Thought (SMT) in post-revolutionary Russia in the form of the movement of the so-called \"The scientific organization of labor\" (SOL), including \"The scientific organization of managerial labor\" (or SOML).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The review and causal analysis of the process of formation of the SMT and historiography of the SMT, a brief description of the institutions of SOL and SOMT and a comparative analysis of little-known works of some Russian authors on management topics of nineteenth century are chosen as research methods.\nFindings: The paper emphasizes the action of objective historical inertia (or \"non-Markoviness\") of the process of development of managerial thought, manifested, on the one hand, in the stable action of some management paradigms but, on the other hand, in identifying paradigmatic anomalies, in identifying the need for constant development of managerial thought, in the development of sought-after ideas and concepts of management, and even in the institutionalization of applied scientific research in the field of management throughout the country (in the form of SOL and SOML).\nOriginality/value: The paper attempts to attract the attention of researchers to the little-known Russian and Soviet authors and their little-known works in the field of management thought.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Competency-oriented education for sustainable development: Lessons from five courses on energy poverty
|
[
"Higher education for sustainable development",
"Competency development",
"Energy poverty",
"Problem- and project-based learning",
"Wicked-sustainability problems"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Planners are dealing with \"wicked problems\" and do not have the right to be wrong (Rittel and Webber, 1992). Particularly in times of rapid change, they are confronted with a multitude of tasks and conflicting interests, frequently also with a lack of resources and staff, with fuzzy guidelines and unclear political coalitions that are not always particularly helpful when it comes to equitable problem solutions. Planning schools need to prepare planners for acting and communicating responsibly in these increasingly complex and complicated environments. The political target of sustainable development is one of the manifold complex and ambivalent issues that planners are dealing with (McDonald, 1996). This needs to be translated into planning education. While current sustainability science and the discourse on higher education for sustainable development (HESD) exhibit an increasing interplay (Mochizuki and Yarime, 2016), evaluations of the outcomes of sustainability-oriented courses in planning are still rare. Obviously, the outcomes are hard to measure.\n2. Energy poverty and sustainable development in higher education: This section surveys the literature on HESD to derive a set of criteria that allow the assessment of specific teaching measures. In the general debate about higher education, there is a growing tendency toward emphasising competency-oriented learning and teaching approaches (Tuning, 2006; Blomke and Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia., 2013). Besides discipline-oriented and methodical competencies, there are general competencies that are supposed to be developed at universities. These key competencies represent a qualitative extension of the disciplinary competencies, e.g. the key competence to work in heterogeneous groups. They are an important foundation for students' confident and professional actions - especially in complex and unfamiliar situations (Weinert, 2001).\n3. Presentation of case studies: Faced with the criteria mentioned above, many planning educators may recognise that most already have an ideal teaching format at their hands to fulfil these criteria. For example, planning studio courses (Nemeth and Long., 2015) or study projects offer an optimal teaching and learning environment for sustainability topics in general and with difficult or even contradictory sustainability targets in particular. But learning from other disciplines, we can see that other teaching formats can also be used for this purpose.\n4. Reflection and discussion: From the general criteria for HESD introduced above, we developed a simple rating scale from \"1 = not applicable\" to \"5 = fully applicable\" to assess the courses introduced in the previous chapter. Table III summarises the assessment; details are discussed below.\n5. Conclusion: To enable a broad societal and political dialogue about sustainable development and how to deal with different and often conflicting aims in these processes, HESD has to be capacity-oriented. We have used the example of \"energy poverty\" as a wicked and complex phenomenon to reflect on the potential of courses at university level for supporting capacity building to address the challenges of sustainable development.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Energy poverty can be seen as a relatively new, but typical sustainability problem in which various dimensions (ecology, society and economy) are interlinked and in part conflict with each other. Moreover, the variety of involved stakeholders (planners, tenants, housing companies, private landlords, energy consultants, etc.) represents conflicting aims for solving this problem. This paper aims to present a systematic linkage between higher education for sustainable development (HESD) and education about energy poverty yet.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative comparative case study approach with a similar didactic approach is used.\nFindings: Based on the literature about HESD and an overall model in general didactics, ten criteria were identified and used for an overall reflection about similar courses dealing with the topic of energy poverty. The criteria covered the learning goals, the didactical approaches and the institutional support in the forms of organisation in the courses.\nResearch limitations/implications: There was no competency measurement of the students in the described courses.\nPractical implications: There was no evaluation of the development of students' key competencies for sustainability. However, the reflections of students and teachers revealed a positive development regarding the students' learning process, especially because they worked on a real-world sustainability problem: energy poverty.\nOriginality/value: This contribution describes how university courses on energy poverty were designed and implemented at five German universities. Against the background of general criteria for HESD, it reflects on the experiences that the use of this concept evoked. Through a comparison of the five courses against these criteria, the paper outlines strengths and weaknesses of the approach and closes with recommendations and requirements for designing further courses.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Beyond gambling: mediating roles of brand experience and attitude
|
[
"Experiential marketing",
"Brand experience",
"Behavioral intention",
"Brand attitude",
"Brand reputation",
"Integrated resort brand"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The gaming industry has dramatically changed over the past 25 years. More and more customers have used the integrated resort to obtain both gaming and non-gaming travel services. Integrated resorts began in Las Vegas, developed fully in Singapore, and then spread throughout the world. An integrated resort refers to multi-purpose resorts with the casino as the foundation along with various facilities including a hotel, convention, exhibition facilities, concert hall, shopping centers, theme parks, museums and leisure sports facilities (Park and Park, 2014). Integrated resort-based destinations have become popular because gaming service providers can expand their business from limiting base of slot machines and table games to the non-gaming tourism market. Supported by the increased number of integrated resort customers, various integrated resort brands have emerged in the market. In particular, after the Singaporean government liberalized integrated resort operations, thereby creating sustainable economic growth, many cities in America, Asia and Europe have also developed integrated resorts to boost national economic competitiveness in the tourism sector.\n2. Conceptual background and hypotheses development: 2.1 Integrated resort\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Data collection\n4. Discussion: 4.1 Summary of findings\n5. Limitations future research: Although this paper revealed interesting findings, the study has several limitations and suggestions for future research. First, the use of the US sample may be a limitation to the generalizability of this study's findings. Studies on brand marketing and management have illustrated the differences between Western and Eastern customers' attitude toward brand value, brand equity, brand relationship and brand extension (Monga and John, 2007; Zhang et al., 2014). These elements are likely to affect customers' perception of brand experiences, and thus, cross-cultural studies are recommended to validate and explore fully the effects of brand experience on customers' attitude toward an integrated resort brand. Second, a longitudinal study that can capture the temporal dynamics of perception change, which affects the determinants of behavior intention toward the integrated resort brand, is proposed. For instance, resort managers can use membership card data to measure actual behavior and to compare the information with customers' verbal responses. Primary customers tend to carry their membership card wherever and whenever they go. With the longitudinal study, the actual behavior of loyal customers can be traced at different times to investigate whether their intention has been translated into behavior. Third, one of the important components of the tourism industry is interpersonal interaction between employees and customers. Employees are internal customers; thus, brand management should focus on creating brand quality by delivering positive brand experiences. As the service profit chain model (Sasser et al., 1997) suggests, satisfying the needs of employees is essential to providing better performance to customers. Therefore, the present model should be expanded to include the effects of employees' perception of brand experience and its relationship with customers' attitude and behavior. Finally, the cognition-affect-behavior paradigm approach, which views emotion as the central link of the consumption process, can be considered to understand the role of cognition and emotion in customer behavior (Oliver, 1999). Taking this approach will provide useful insights for understating how customers' emotions affect their responses toward an integrated resort brand.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of customers' perception of the integrated resort by focusing on brand-related variables, namely, brand reputation, brand experience, brand attitude, and behavioral intention. Integrated resorts have become popular in the tourism industry. However, despite the popularity of integrated resorts, little is known about how the integrated resort brand contributes to customer attitude.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A descriptive online survey was carried out with customers who had experience using the integrated resort. This study used the regression analysis and process macro to test hypothesized relationships among variables.\nFindings: These results demonstrate that brand reputation increases customers' perception of brand experience and brand attitude; brand experience, brand attitude and brand reputation affect behavioral intention toward the integrated resort brand; and brand experience and attitude plays a fully mediating role in the relationship between brand reputation and behavioral intention. These results suggest that customers' perception associated with the integrated resort brand name is likely to generate a favorable experience and attitude, which, in turn, develops customers' revisit intention.\nResearch limitations/implications: A theoretical implication is that the pleasant brand experience and attitude emphasize the significance of the brand reputation in the formation of behavioral intention toward the integrated resort brand. Another theoretical implication is that integrated resort brand reputation might not be a strong indicator of the behavioral loyalty. It is worth conducting additional research on joint effects of brand reputation and customers' type (e.g. recreational gamblers, problem gamblers, business travelers and family travelers).\nPractical implications: The findings offer additional insights into managers on the integrated resort brand concept. This research provides opportunities for managers to identify rational/emotional linkages in differentiating, distinguishing and positioning integrated resort.\nOriginality/value: Although both brand experience and brand attitude have received past research attention, no researchers have studied them in an integrated resort setting. The main contribution of this research lies in testing the direct and indirect and fills a major gap in the integrated resort literature and research in stressing the need to consider about brand management.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Do stereotypes about older workers change? A panel study on changing attitudes of managers
|
[
"Employee productivity",
"Stereotypes",
"Attitudes",
"Older workers",
"Employers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Stereotypes and ageist attitudes are a serious impediment to the prospects of older workers seeking employment in today's labor markets: perceived discrimination based on age is one of the most widespread forms of discrimination in Europe (Eurobarometer, 2015). Of an extensive list of possible character traits that a candidate can possess, being \"old\" (55 years and older) is what puts a candidate most strongly at a disadvantage according to European citizens. Of course, actual discrimination is hard to discern or detect - the economic literature on discrimination shows that in theory one can view employer decisions as either based on dislikes and \"tastes\" as Becker (1957) describes, or based on statistical discrimination (Phelps, 1972; Arrow, 1973). The latter concept is a form of discrimination where employers use the group identity in their assessment of productivity of individuals (belonging to a minority group) because employee's productivity is imperfectly observed[1]. In actual practice, it is difficult to detect whether stereotypical views toward older workers are accurate or not, as these may be a mix of dislikes and imperfect observation. What makes the case of discrimination of older workers even harder is that the signals about the productive value of older workers are bound to be imperfect, as human capital investments are expected to generate a greater dispersion over the life course in unobserved investments among older workers (Heckman et al., 2006; Neumark et al., 2019).\nAttitudes about older workers: People's perceptions enable them to process and organize information as effectively as possible. Hilton and Von Hippel (1996) describe stereotypes as: \"Beliefs about the characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of members of certain groups [...] and beliefs about how and why these attributes go together\" (p. 240). This definition refers to groups of people. Individuals within a group tend to overestimate the similarities and underestimate the differences between themselves and members of the same group (Linville et al., 1989; Verkuyten and Nekuee, 1999). Processes of stereotyping are described from different social psychological perspectives. The cognitive functional approach postulates that people's capacity to take in and digest information is limited. In mental terms, activating categorical and stereotypical information is easier than forming opinions about others on the basis of one's own impressions. Social identity theory posits that people compare themselves with other individuals or groups in an effort to distinguish themselves favorably from those groups. These stereotypical perceptions may be the result of socialization processes and may also serve as an ego protection function. People tend to be more inclined to attribute positive characteristics to members of their own group (in-group bias) and more negative characteristics to members of other groups (out-group bias) (Lalonde and Gardner, 1989; Tajfel and Turner, 1979). It is well established in the academic literature (see Harris et al., 2017; Rupp et al., 2006; Zacher et al., 2019) that stereotypical views on older workers exist. Employers and employees have perceptions of how certain age groups function within organizations and what their comparative advantages are. The current body of research has shown that older workers are viewed as having both positive and negative attributes compared to younger age groups. Positive characteristics attributed to older employees include experience, loyalty to the organization, reliability and interpersonal skills, whereas skills such as the acceptance of and the ability to use new technologies and the adjustment to organizational changes are attributed primarily to younger workforce members (Van Dalen et al., 2010). What is not empirically well established is whether age stereotypes among individual employers change over time and, if so, what triggers these changes. There is an extensive (experimental) social psychological literature on stereotype change related to this type of work (cf. Weber and Crocker, 1983; Richards and Hewstone, 2001; Koenig and Eagly, 2014). The comparative advantage of this particular research current is that by using an experimental setup in which researchers manipulate, e.g., information or roles, they can assess why stereotypes sometimes change. However, the evidence so far shows that these stereotypes often remain fixed. Experimental designs often have limited ecological validity, and individuals generally are not followed long enough to register changes in stereotypes.\nData and methods: Data\nResults: The assessment by managers of the skills of older workers of 50 years and older for both times of observation (2010 and 2013) is depicted in Figure 1.\nConclusions and discussion: The use of stereotypes and discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age is perceived to be widespread (James et al., 2013; Griffin et al., 2016). Trying to change this state of affairs is not only in the interest of older workers seeking work or who are willing to keep on working, but may also very well be in the interest of organizations that \"write off\" too easily or too fast the human capital embodied in older workers. The scholarly literature on the stereotypical managers' views on older workers shows a mix of positive and negative views (cf. Harris et al., 2017). Older workers are perceived to have strong so-called \"soft skills\" like loyalty to the organization, reliability and interpersonal skills, but are generally negativity stereotyped on so-called \"hard skills\" such as the acceptance of and the ability to use new technologies and the adjustment to organizational changes and willingness to learn new skills or knowledge. The current paper contributes to the literature by providing a dynamic perspective on managerial stereotypes of older workers. We measured stereotypical views about older workers with a three-year interval among a sample of Dutch managers, and examined whether these views changed and what factors might explain the change. This type of research helps to expand the research base on ageism, because most research in this field - as noted by Harris et al. (2017, p. e12) - is based on cross-sectional data sets and lacks a longitudinal study design.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to see whether attitudes toward older workers by managers change over time and what might explain development over time.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A unique panel study of Dutch managers is used to track the development of their attitudes toward older workers over time (2010-2013) by focusing on a set of qualities of older workers aged 50 and older. A conditional change model is used to explain the variation in changes by focusing on characteristics of the manager (age, education, gender, tenure and contact with older workers) and of the firm (composition staff, type of work and sector, size).\nFindings: Managers have significantly adjusted their views on the so-called \"soft skills\" of older workers, like reliability and loyalty. Attitudes toward \"hard skills\" - like physical stamina, new tech skills and willingness to train - have not changed. Important drivers behind these changes are the age of the manager - the older the manager, the more likely a positive change in attitude toward older workers can be observed - and the change in the quality of contact with older workers. A deterioration of the managers' relationship with older workers tends to correspond with a decline in their assessment of soft and hard skills.\nSocial implications: Attitudes are not very susceptible to change but this study shows that a significant change can be expected simply from the fact that managers age: older managers tend to have a more positive assessment of the hard and soft skills of older workers than young managers.\nOriginality/value: This paper offers novel insights into the question whether stereotypes of managers change over time.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Empirical analysis of the relationship between Six Sigma management activities and corporate competitiveness: Focusing on Samsung Group in Korea
|
[
"Six Sigma management activities",
"Corporate competitiveness",
"Total quality management",
"Structural equation model",
"Modelling",
"Samsung Group",
"Competitive strategy",
"South Korea"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: A data-driven method that focuses on the customer and leads a company to attain the highest level of quality, Six Sigma is a useful management philosophy and problem-solving methodology (Islam, 2004; Weiner, 2004; Rowlands, 2003). Six Sigma helps decision makers to get ideas and systematic solutions for problems in the globalized marketplace such as GE. The benefits of Six Sigma management activities have exerted an effect on cultures, operating systems, and profits of global companies. Thus, Six Sigma has been widely recognized today as a process improvement methodology that can cut costs and eliminate defects from manufacturing processes (Byrne, 2003; Pande et al., 2000).Companies that have applied Six Sigma activities for years are known to have obtained varying levels of success through innovative activities, such as financial outcomes that result from cost reduction through process improvement. In addition, it has been reported that intangible outcomes that are difficult to evaluate in a quantitative way, such as customer and employee satisfaction, are also obtained (Elliott, 2003). Companies have used Six Sigma to drive culture transformation, spur top-line business growth, and deploy global business strategies (Smith and Blakeslee, 2002; Kumar et al., 2008). Also, Six Sigma gives priority to preventive measures that remove the root cause of the defects rather than searching for defects after they occur (Rowlands, 2003). In addition, Six Sigma provides a common language for organizations that are trying to form a sustainable culture of improvement (Blakeslee Jr, 1999). Six Sigma is also a systematic change management process that uses data to measure and analyze the deviation of a certain process from its goals. Standardization of the measurement process can be achieved; Six Sigma also provides the knowledge and technology needed to make the necessary changes (Xagoraris, 2003).While Six Sigma has made a big impact on industry, the academic community has lagged in its understanding of this methodology (Linderman et al., 2003). Major companies in Korea have applied Six Sigma to improve corporate competitiveness, but still it is hard to find detailed empirical studies on how Six Sigma activities affect process innovation, quality improvement, and corporate competitiveness. The studies that have analyzed the results of Six Sigma business activities were mostly focused on case studies. Therefore, a strict statistical and empirical analysis is now required.Companies that apply Six Sigma management activities also need an objective measurement of the effects of those activities on their corporate competitiveness. However, to accomplish these goals, factors that can empirically verify Six Sigma management activities must be developed, and a systematical research model that shows how those factors affect corporate competitiveness must be created. The previous research models for effective analysis of Six Sigma management activities consisted of four factors: information utilization, communication, training, and policy (Lee and Choi, 2006). However, to properly apply Six Sigma management activities, which are entrepreneurial and innovative, factors other than those of the previously presented research models must be considered. Also, developing research models which consider the characteristics of the factors seems to be significant. Considering these requirements, we propose the following research goals for this study.First, a research model for proving the effect of Six Sigma management activities is suggested. Second, we propose proper factors that will make Six Sigma management activities statistically significant. Third, by setting a structural equation model among the appropriate factors, we will empirically analyze the effects of Six Sigma management activities on corporate competitiveness and, based on empirical analysis results, we will establish the practical significance of Six Sigma management activities. In summary, our research model consists of four sections. The first section consists of preliminary preparation or fundamental infrastructure factors, such as measuring CEO's will, communication, training, and policy. The second section consists of three substantial implementing and operating factors, which are information utilization, standardization, and promotion. These factors will affect the third section, process innovation and quality improvement, which will finally influence corporate competitiveness.Due to the paucity of previous research in this area, it was difficult to conduct research about Six Sigma. As Six Sigma is closely related to total quality management (TQM) (Hackman and Wageman, 1995; Flynn et al., 1995; Henderson and Evans, 2000; Ettinger and Kooy, 2003), we used factors from the TQM performance measurement as the basic data to structure Six Sigma factors. Six Sigma has been packaged as an organizational improvement product. Its packaging, however, embraces what the successful TQM companies have been doing all along and what those who failed in their TQM initiatives forget or chose not to do. As a result, it is gaining fast acceptance as the new improvement fad - the replacement for TQM (McManus, 1999).\n2 Previous research: 2.1 Six Sigma management activities\n3 Research hypothesis and research model: As demonstrated by the previous research described above, Six Sigma management activity is the most proper methodology for business issues such as quality improvement, customer focus, and process innovation (Rowlands, 2003). Six Sigma management activities demand organizational change related to the way of working and business processes that form a culture for members to accept change (Blakeslee Jr, 1999). Establishment of a major strategy as a preliminary infrastructure is effective for implementing Six Sigma management. Pande et al. (2000) prescribed this as Six Sigma management preparation and adaptation, which includes the readiness of the management to commence and guide Six Sigma management activities, training for Six Sigma, and the complete preparation of the driving force such as BB.Information utilizations and standardization are of use under circumstances when the infrastructure for Six Sigma management activities is set up (Breyfogle et al., 2001; Hackman and Wageman, 1995). After the problem is solved through Six Sigma project implementation, reinforcement of promotion for Six Sigma results is required for dissemination. In most organizations, top management participates actively in the result promotion activities for successful implementation of Six Sigma management activities (Heuring, 2004; Gale, 2003).Therefore, in this study, we have set the following hypotheses to determine if preliminary infrastructural factors, such as CEO's will, communication, training, and policy have valid effects on information utilization, standardization, promotion, and process innovation, and quality improvement:H1-1. The CEO's will will exert positive effects on systematical information management, under Six Sigma management activities.H1-2. The CEO's will will exert positive effects on standardization and objective index management, under Six Sigma management activities.H1-3. The CEO's will will exert positive effects on improvement reflection and promotion, under Six Sigma management activities.H2-1. Fluent communication will exert positive effects on systematical information management, under Six Sigma management activities.H2-2. Fluent communication will exert positive effects on standardization and objective index management, under Six Sigma management activities.H2-3. Fluent communication will exert positive effects on improvement reflection and promotion, under Six Sigma management activities.H3-1. Training will exert positive effects on systematic information management, under Six Sigma management activities.H3-2. Training will exert positive effects on standardization and objective index management, under Six Sigma management activities.H3-3. Training will exert positive effects on improvement reflection and promotion, under Six Sigma management activities.H4-1. Policy will exert positive effects on systematic information management, under Six Sigma management activities.H4-2. Policy will exert positive effects on standardization and objective index management, under Six Sigma management activities.H4-3. Policy will exert positive effects on improvement reflection and promotion, under Six Sigma management activities.Six Sigma management contributes to quantifying changes of critical results, by focusing on process innovation (Ettinger and Kooy, 2003). Therefore, Six Sigma is the appropriate approach for companies as they set goals aimed at accomplishing near-perfect quality through process innovation or the adoption of new techniques (Frank, 2003). Since Six Sigma is a typical quality innovation method, Heuring (2004) stated that it applies data and statistics to meet customer's requests and solve their problems. In addition, Six Sigma activities produce quality improvement and cost savings for the company (Jones, 2004).Six Sigma management activities pursue variation minimization, which can be obtained through process standardization. Six Sigma provides common language for sustaining process improvement (Blakeslee Jr, 1999). As Six Sigma management activities provide sustained monitoring of the maintenance of improvements and sustainable assessment of the core process, maintaining a fixed level of quality is possible (Jones, 2004). Therefore, we have set the following hypotheses:H5-1. Systematic information management will exert positive effects on corporate process innovation, under Six Sigma management activities.H5-2. Systematic information management will exert positive effects on corporate quality improvement, under Six Sigma management activities.H6-1. Standardization and objective index management will exert positive effects on corporate process innovation, under Six Sigma management activities.H6-2. Standardization and objective index management will exert positive effects on corporate quality improvement, under Six Sigma management activities.H7-1. Improvement reflection and promotion will exert positive effects on corporate process innovation, under Six Sigma management activities.H7-2. Improvement reflection and promotion will exert positive effects on corporate quality improvement, under Six Sigma management activities.Conventionally, a variety of quality management methodologies have been introduced: for instance, TQM and Quality Circle for gradual improvements and Six Sigma and Reengineering for radical improvements (Benedetto, 2003). In innovative methods such as Six Sigma and Reengineering, it is generally understood that the process is the core factor in determining quality. As Six Sigma requires companies to understand the requirements of their customers, it is important for companies to focus on external activities even while they focus on internal process improvements. Through these activities, companies can make rapid progress in quality and competitiveness (Blakeslee Jr, 1999). In conclusion, Six Sigma management activities affect process innovation and quality improvement, thereby raising competitiveness. Hence, the following hypotheses are postulated:H8. Corporate process innovation obtained through Six Sigma management activities will exert positive effects on quality improvement.H9. Corporate process innovation obtained through Six Sigma management activities will exert positive effects on reinforcing corporate competitiveness.H10. Corporate quality improvements obtained through Six Sigma management activities will exert positive effects on reinforcing corporate competitiveness.From the hypotheses cited above, this study presents the research model, as shown in Figure 1.As previously explained in the hypotheses, the research model in Figure 1 consists of four sections. The first section consists of preliminary preparation or fundamental infrastructure factors, such as measuring CEO's will, communication, training, and policy. The second section consists of three substantial implementing and operating factors, which are information utilization, standardization, and promotion. These factors will affect the third section, process innovation and quality improvement, which will finally influence the corporate competitiveness.\n4 Empirical analysis: 4.1 Operational definition of variables and data-collecting process\n5 Concluding remarks: In this study, through a rigorous survey of Six Sigma-related operations, we have tried to verify how Six Sigma management activities influence the improvement of corporate competitiveness. For this purpose, a research model was proposed in which a set of the valid relationships among the relevant variables were hypothesized. For the sake of empirical analyses, we determined seven constructs for measuring Six Sigma management activities: information utilization, standardization, promotion, CEO's will, communication, training, and policy.Six Sigma management activities were classified in two categories: the preliminary preparation activities (CEO's will, communication, training, policy) and substantial Six Sigma activities (information utilization, standardization, promotion), and the effect of preliminary preparation activities on substantial Six Sigma management activities was empirically analyzed. The causal relations were confirmed through analysis results. These constructs were used to confirm that Six Sigma management activities exert positive effects on corporate competitiveness through process innovation which, in turn, leads to quality improvement. This shows results identical to the preliminary research carried out by Lee and Choi (2006).This research has some limitations on data. The survey data were collected at the individual level, such as GB, BB, MBB, and limited to the affiliated companies of Samsung Group. Therefore, to obtain more meaningful results, we would collect the data at the corporate level and expand the pool of subjects.Further research issues remain as follows. First, a sophisticated framework for diagnosing hidden problems and evaluating the level of Six Sigma management is needed. It is well known that the companies practicing Six Sigma for years are in need of such framework in order to justify their efforts and prepare future strategy about Six Sigma management. The proposed research model could be used for such future studies. Second, the research model needs to be advanced into considering specific characteristics about the industry to which the target companies belong. If this research issue is resolved, practitioners can detect their own unique Six Sigma management strategy more easily and effectively. Third, longitudinal studies should be performed to analyze the difference of Six Sigma management performance from the introductory stage to the mature stage.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This study proposes a research model to test whether Six Sigma-based management activities improve corporate competitiveness in Samsung Group.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper's model was validated and its hypotheses tested using structural equation model analysis.\nFindings: - Empirical results showed that Six Sigma activities do indeed contribute to revitalized process management, improved quality, and, finally, lead to corporate competitiveness.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The survey data were collected at the individual level, such as GB, BB, MBB, and limited to the affiliated companies of Samsung Group. To obtain more meaningful results, data would be collected at the corporate level and the pool of subjects expanded. However, this paper shows that the four fundamental factors (CEO's will, Communication, Training, and Policy) as well as three substantial factors (Information Utilization, Standardization, and Promotion) are meaningful activities influencing the success of Six Sigma management significantly.\nOriginality/value: - The main contribution of this paper lies in the establishment of a causal relationship among Six Sigma activities, process innovation, quality improvement, and company competitiveness, as well as in the proposed managerial implications for Six Sigma projects.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Performance of Islamic banks: Do the frequency of Shari'ah supervisory board meetings and independence matter?
|
[
"Sharīʿah governance",
"Sharīʿah supervisory board independence",
"Sharīʿah supervisory board frequency of meetings",
"Performance",
"Islamic banking"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Despite the dire necessity of a proper corporate governance system, Islamic banks (IBs) have the responsibility to ensure compliance with the Shari'ah (Islamic law) principles in their operations and practices. In conventional finance, the term \"governance\" normally refers to corporate governance; yet in Islamic finance \"governance\" could also refer to Shari'ah governance. This means that IBs need to conform to both regulatory and Shari'ah requirements depending on the type of bank (window, subsidiaries or standalone). Shari'ah governance, which is exclusive to Islamic banks, can be defined as the processes and frameworks that assure compliance of business operations with the Shari'ah so as to build the confidence of stakeholders and contribute to the financial stability and performance of the banks (Ismail et al., 2016). This study refers to this unique system of governance implemented by IBs as the dual governance model.\nLiterature review: Islamic banking is perceived as an alternative to conventional banking and has been attracting the attention of many researchers and investors in the last decades. The existing framework of Islamic banking is implemented differently across countries with diverse practices and models of Shari'ah governance. For example, while some countries prefer greater involvement of the regulatory authorities (e.g. Malaysia), others prefer only slight intervention (e.g. the GCC countries) (Hasan, 2011). Shari'ah governance guidelines are issued by three main organizations: the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). Kasim et al. (2013) undertook a comparative analysis of the three guidelines, and this study provides a summary of their analysis in Table I. Additionally, this study referred to the Shari'ah governance guidelines (AAOIFI, 2018; IFSB, 2009; BNM, 2010) for additional information on the various principles.\nShari'ah supervisory boards and performance: Shari'ah compliance is the foundation of Islamic banking and finance. There are several studies that have been undertaken on Shari'ah governance across countries (Grais and Pellegrini, 2006; Hasan, 2011; Alam et al., 2019). These studies mostly focused on the diverse governance practices implemented by the different countries. One of the main standards of Shari'ah governance is the appointment and composition of Shari'ah supervisory boards (SSBs). Based on Abdullah (1997), an SSB is an independent panel of Shari'ah scholars that have extensive knowledge and experience in Islamic financial laws. Due to their qualifications, these scholars have both supervisory and consultative roles. Their supervisory roles include approving new products and services, auditing financial statements and issuing fatwas (legal pronouncements). On the other hand, their consultative roles include providing Shari'ah-compliant solutions, calculating zakat (mandatory charity) and conducting workshops to educate the management in Islamic law (Nathan, 2010).\nResearch methodology: Sample selection\nData analysis: Descriptive statistics\nConclusion and recommendations: The SSB is one of the most important Shari'ah governance mechanisms used by IBs to ensure compliance with Islamic laws and principles. This addition to the governance structure; i.e. the conventional BODs of IBs, provides a unique perspective on the performance of IBs. Being an independent panel, shareholders are required to appoint Shari'ah scholars with vast knowledge and experience in the Shari'ah principles as they will have both consultative and supervisory responsibilities. SSB independence contributes to the effectiveness of Shari'ah supervision, and failure to maintain independence may prove that IBs are Shari'ah non-compliant in the eyes of customers, thus increasing deposit withdrawals and investment cancellations and negatively affecting performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the composition of Shari'ah supervisory boards (independence and frequency of meetings) and the performance of Islamic banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study developed a multiple linear regression model, and data were collected from the annual reports of 48 standalone Islamic banks listed in the GCC countries covering the period between 2013 and 2017.\nFindings: The results showed a statistically significant and negative relationship between the composition of the Shari'ah supervisory boards and the performance of Islamic banks.\nResearch limitations/implications: As the current study used only one indicator, that is Return on Assets to measure performance, it is recommended to expand the framework of this study, through the addition of market-based performance indicators such as Tobin's Q.\nPractical implications: This study recommends the GCC countries to follow a more proactive Shari'ah governance model to strengthen their frameworks from both regulatory and non-regulatory aspects.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the Shari'ah governance and Islamic banking literature relating to the GCC countries as previous studies gave no attention to the composition of Shari'ah supervisory boards.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Barriers to health care access for Latino immigrants in the USA
|
[
"Health and medicine",
"Insurance",
"South America",
"Mexico",
"United States of America",
"Immigrants"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: According to the US Census Bureau (2000), the Latino population increased by 57.9 percent since 1990. In 2000, Latinos comprise 12.5 percent of the overall population of the USA, and are the fastest growing minority group, among which the Mexican-origin population makes up about 66 percent.Border States have the highest concentration of Mexican-origin people within their overall Latino population because they contain significant points of entry. The largest Latino populations (more than one million) are concentrated in California, Texas, Illinois, Florida and Arizona. Of these, Arizona has the highest percentage of Latinos of Mexican-origin (82.2 percent). Table I shows the percent of Latinos in southwestern states.According to Burkholder and a report by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (2000), Mexicans come to Arizona for work. Compared to other immigrants they tend to be younger, have lower education, lower wages, larger families, lower rates of citizenship, and have lived less time in the USA. Undocumented immigrants are a small yet important group within the immigrant population. Currently, there are an estimated 5 million undocumented immigrants in the USA, with half of them being from Mexico. The largest portion of the undocumented population is located in the Southwest. In 1998, it was estimated that about 20 percent of immigrants in the country were undocumented immigrants (Kaiser commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, 2000) (Figure 1).Since the establishment of an Office of Minority Health, following the creation of a Task Force on Black and Minority Health in 1984, considerable funds have been devoted to further studies with the aim of reducing health disparities among racial and ethnic groups, however, those disparities still persist (Weinick and Krauss, 2000; Weinick et al., 2000).\nImpact of immigration on the USA: Immigrants play a vital role in US society, contributing both to the economy and diversity of the country (Blanton and Hudmar, 2001). A panel commissioned by the National Research Council found that immigrants benefit the nation's economy (Blanton and Hudmar, 2001). Immigrants contribute as much as $10 billion to the economy each year (Humphreys, 2002). Economic projections suggest that Latinos will account for 9.4 percent ($926.1 billion) of all the US buying power in 2007, an increment of 55 percent from 5.2 percent ($223 billion) in 1990 (Humphreys, 2002). Immigrants pay $80,000 more in taxes than they use in government services over their lifetimes; each year they pay more than $90 billion in taxes and only receive $5 billion in welfare (Humphreys, 2002). In addition, the Social Security Administration estimated that undocumented workers paid over $20 billion in social security taxes from 1990 to 1998 and most likely will never receive any benefits (Humphreys, 2002). Most importantly, they fill low-wage jobs that keep domestic industry competitive; most of these jobs would hardly be done by any American. Despite their important role, immigrants (non-citizens) disproportionately lack health insurance coverage and receive fewer health care services than citizens, as shown in Figure 2.Lack of insurance puts a burden on the nation's economy, as untreated health problems grow more severe, eventually requiring more expensive hospital and specialty care. These costs are often absorbed by public entities (Humphreys, 2002). Additional costs to society accrue when people are unable to work or contribute to society because of illness.The fact that many undocumented workers are employed in low-wage sectors of the US economy has direct implications for their access to adequate health care and insurance. Most are employed in sectors that offer no health insurance to employees, thus they have no access to health care except for emergency services, and most avoid seeking heath care, for fear of deportation. In addition to these problems, state governments that are cutting budgets and debating who pay what (states versus federal governments), increases the problems of this segment of the population. It is clear that the government cannot handle the costs of the uninsured, and even more, the uninsured undocumented immigrants. These immigrants, documented or not, work hard and keep many industries going. These companies, small or large, should be responsible for providing some kind of health insurance coverage to their workers.Even though Latinos are the largest minority group in the USA, statistics that provide accurate data on the health of Latino Americans are lacking. According to the Center for Health Services Research and Policy (2003) at George Washington University, absence of baseline data against which to measure progress in health status, lack of Spanish language instruments in health surveys, and considering the multiracial/multiethnical origin, and heterogeneity of Latino population has led to a misleading picture of the mortality, health status, and health problems of Latinos in the USA. In general, Latinos are less likely to receive preventive, screening, and basic medical care, thus developing chronic conditions which, in turn, are more costly to the system. For example, Latino adults have higher rates of deaths due to diabetes mellitus, chronic liver disease, and cirrhosis (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, 2002).De la Torre and Estrada (2001) suggest that the concentration of Mexican-Americans in the border region has unique health implications. First, the rapid population growth on both sides of the USA-Mexico border has placed great pressure on the limited public health infrastructure of this area. As a result, border residents are at greater risk of exposure to infectious diseases as well as to environmental hazards. Second, they are politically isolated from their respective federal governments. Therefore, they have limited ability to influence reallocation of resources to this region.The data also show that, when compared to the overall population, the proportion of persons who have a specific source of ongoing care and a usual primary care provider is lower among Latino than the overall population (78 vs 86 and 64 vs 77 percent, respectively) (National Academy of Sciences, 2002). This paper discusses the most important factors that prevent immigrants from accessing health care, among which are socioeconomic and cultural influences, discrimination, lack of health insurance, difficulty understanding how the system works, as well as difficulties inherent with public programs and the safety net.\nBarriers to health care access: Sociocultural basis of health and disease\nOther barriers to health care access: Many immigrants experience additional barriers, among them the most reported one was the rising cost of medicine compared to the declining family income and wages.Cultural differences\nConclusions and recommendations: Unmet health needs describe the extent to which existing health problems go unaddressed. The presence of unmet health needs can indicate barriers to care such as, limited availability of providers, or other problems necessitating health policy interventions (Newacheck et al., 2000).Comprehensive and culturally competent service, as well as high quality medical care can make the difference in improving the access of Latinos to medical care, thus the importance of diversity in the health care setting, as expressed by diverse groups, among them the Committee on Pediatric Work Force from the American Academy of Pediatrics (2000).As research has highlighted (Hampers and McNulty, 2002; Kravitz et al., 2000; Flores, 2002), both Latino patients and health care providers would benefit from culturally and linguistically competent services. Benefits of culturally and linguistically competent care and health education are summarized in Table II.One of the Healthy People 2010 objectives is increasing under-represented minorities in the health professions. This can be achieved by encouraging the incorporation of principles of cultural competence into all aspects of education and training, providing quality education for minority students, and attracting minority faculty (Marwick, 2000; Friederich, 2000). By beginning the transformation of organizational attitudes toward Latino patients and early training of staff, a health care institution increases the likelihood of becoming the provider of choice when the Latino market share matures. As the Latino population becomes more established in the USA, it will evolve into a more prosperous middle class with a more attractive payer mix (Stevenson, 2002). Culturally, competent care would achieve a trusting relationship that helps adherence and greater understanding of treatment by Latino patients (Brach, 2000).Tailored public health interventions that address the health needs of Latino immigrants in the USA need to be based on reliable data and statistics in order to effectively place resources, and to track achievements and flaws. It is important then, that provider institutions keep and track data of their services by racial/ethnic groups, including Latinos.Outreach efforts and participation of the Latino communities in planning and tailoring programs to assess their health needs and expectations of health care is vital to overcome the barriers and to target services and programs to their specific needs. Providers should aim to maximize patient satisfaction and provide services on a timely basis, in a friendly and personal manner, no matter how difficult the cultural and language barriers (HRSA Center for Health Services Financing and Managed Care and the HHS Office of Minority Health, 2003).Making more user-friendly the requirements to access health care by modifying the web of legal barriers and restrictions is also necessary. Some recommendations to expand Medicaid access among citizens and non-citizens include simplifying application procedures, improving and establishing systematic outreach and education about who is eligible for Medicaid, and addressing cultural and linguistic barriers to accessing Medicaid and health care services (Feinberg et al., 2002). In August 2000, guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services required that entities receiving Federal funds, including Medicaid and SCHIP, provide assistance for persons with limited English skills. This assistance may help to facilitate health care coverage and access for immigrants (Frates and Saint-Germain, 2004; Lessard, 2004; Martinez et al., 2004; Frates and Torres, 2004).Some communities have made innovative attempts to improve services for immigrants. For example, Medicaid managed care contracts in New York, added requirements for language accessibility; improving access to preventive services for hard to reach people; developing a small insurance network for low-income immigrants; community service organizations partnering with health clinics or hospitals to improve outreach and translation services are some examples of these efforts. Other states, like Rhode Island, New Jersey, and California, cover all the eligible for Medicaid populations, independent of immigration status. Arizona is looking into the feasibility of implementing an employer-sponsored insurance pilot program. The Arizona Medicaid program aims to reduce the uninsured by 2 percent.It is well known that it is less expensive to provide preventive and primary care, than to treat full blown diseases and complications, in the emergency room. There is some point in the system where the poor, the uninsured, and documented and undocumented immigrants will access the web, and that is the point where the system can break down and collapse. Providing more financial support to safety net providers that carry the burden of the increasing amount of uninsured is important, but it is also important to adopt policies that ensure that immigrants that come to this country to work, regardless of their immigration status, are provided with health insurance by the employer.As Latinos are the largest minority group in the USA, it will become increasingly difficult for administrators to argue that resources should not be redistributed in a manner that responds to the needs of this growing taxpaying constituency.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Latinos comprise 12.5 percent of the overall population in the USA, and are the fastest-growing minority, among which the Mexican-origin population makes up about 66 percent. Undocumented Latino immigrants are a small, yet important group within the immigrant population. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature and discuss the most important factors that prevent immigrants from accessing health care.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Literature review was conducted from the library database. A total of 50 items of literature related to the subject were reviewed.\nFindings: - Border states have the highest concentration of Mexican-origin people. The concentration of immigrants in the border has unique health and economic implications due to the vital role they have in US society, contributing both to the economy and diversity of the USA. Despite their important role, they disproportionately lack health insurance, and receive fewer health care services than US-born citizens. This lack of insurance puts a burden on the nation's economy, and their health status deteriorates as they become more prone to chronic health conditions, and their complications due to lack of primary medical attention.\nOriginality/value: - Tailored public health interventions that address the health needs of Latino immigrants in the USA need to be based on reliable data and statistics in order to effectively place resources, and to track achievements and flaws.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Impact of performance appraisal justice on employee engagement: a study of Indian professionals
|
[
"Performance appraisal",
"Procedural justice",
"Distributive justice",
"Informational justice",
"Employee engagement",
"Indian context",
"Performance management",
"India"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Performance appraisal (PA) is one of the most important human resource management (HRM) practices in organizations as it yields critical decisions integral to various human resource actions and outcomes (Jawahar, 2007; Murphy and Cleveland, 1995; Steensma and Visser, 2007). Implementation of PA systems remains one of the greatest challenges of effective HRM (Taylor et al., 1995). While a good PA system is expected to provide valuable information to an employee about his/her performance and progress at work, appraisal reliability and validity continue to remain a major concern for organizations and also PAs are often met with substantial resistance (Banks and Murphy, 1985; Cleveland et al., 1989; Taylor et al., 1995).PA has broad implications for attitudes and behaviors in organizations (Erdogan, 2002). Reactions to appraisal and the appraisal process are believed to significantly influence the effectiveness and the overall viability of appraisal systems (Jawahar, 2007). Of late, employee engagement has received increased attention from researchers as an important determinant of employee performance (Gruman and Saks, 2011). The construct has become popular among consulting firms and has been found to positively influence an individual performance as well as organizational performance, productivity, retention, financial performance and even shareholder return (e.g. Bates, 2004; Baumruk, 2004; Gruman and Saks, 2011; Harter et al., 2002; Richman, 2006; Rich et al., 2010; Robinson, 2006; Welbourne, 2007). Given the importance of employee engagement to organizations, a key issue is how to promote the engagement of employees (May et al., 2004). As has been explained in the next section, engagement researchers (e.g. Kahn, 1990; Hallberg and Schaufeli, 2006) contend that engagement is conceptually distinct from traditional variables like commitment, motivation and therefore the factors that produce engagement may be different from those that produce these variables (Macey and Schneider, 2008).The notion of \"fairness\" has been identified as one of the most important aspects of employees' responses to PA sessions (Bretz et al., 1992; Erdogan, 2002). Perceptions of PA justice can lead to satisfaction with performance ratings, PA system, rater and appraisal feedback (Cawley et al., 1998; Jawahar, 2007; Korsgaard and Roberson, 1995; Thurston and McNall, 2010) and to individuals' feelings of instrumental control over the appraisal process thereby enhancing their sense of psychological safety, self-worth and group standing (Kahn, 1990; Taylor et al., 1995). Little is known about the potential impact of PA justice on employee engagement (Moliner et al., 2008) and presents a significant research gap in justice, performance management and engagement literatures. Though there exist few studies that have explored the impact of justice perceptions on employee engagement, most of these have been conducted in a developed economy context. The focus of the present study is to test the impact of PA justice on employee engagement in India, an emerging economy.With the liberalization of the Indian economy and opening of its markets to foreign firms, India has become an extremely important contributor to the world economy and the global order. According to a World Bank report, it is likely that by 2025 emerging economies - such as Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and the Russian Federation - will be major contributors to global growth, alongside the advanced economies (World Bank, 2011). During the past two decades India has increased its share of global GDP from 3 to 7 percent (Harris, 2005; Olarreaga et al., 2007). Indian and multinational corporations based in India are playing an increasingly prominent role in global business and cross-border investment. The best Indian companies like the Tata Group, Bharti Airtel, ArcelorMittal and Infosys have become global competitors even expanding abroad through numerous acquisitions. India is currently the tenth largest economy in terms of GDP and one of the world's largest trading economy (Olarreaga et al., 2007).Along with its strong economic potential, India is distinct from other countries in terms of its culture (high-power distance, strong long-term orientation, low uncertainty avoidance, medium collectivist orientation and medium masculinity) (Hofstede, 2001). People's perceptions of fairness in organizations requires considering the prevailing cultural standards in which those organizations operate. Markus and Kitayama (1991) suggested that in different cultures people have either independent or interdependent self-construals. The difference between interdependent and independent self-construals is the extent to which people see themselves as connected to vs distinct from others. In individualistic cultures like North America, the emphasis is more on independent self-construal. In contrast in collectivist cultures, such as India and China, the emphasis is on interdependent self-construal. Consequently, North Americans can be expected to be more sensitive to injustice as it may compromise the expression of their uniqueness and hamper achievement of personal goals (Li and Cropanzano, 2009). In collectivist cultures, where the focus may be more on maintaining interpersonal harmony, people would be willing to tolerate greater amounts of injustice. This suggests that people may have different perceptions of fairness because they belong to different national cultures and have internalized different norms and values (Greenberg, 2001; Skarlicki, 2001).Taking into account the dominant social norms and values, adopting HRM practices suitable for a national context is crucial for achieving desired performance (Bjorkman and Budhwar, 2007; Singh, 2009). Liberalization has drastically changed the Indian industrial context by providing new opportunities and challenges. The increasing presence of multinationals has made it necessary to pay more attention to the issue of integrating traditional and western management practices (Sinha and Kanungo, 1997).The present study contributes to justice, PA and engagement literatures in three important ways. First, through a confirmatory test of PA justice, we provide an understanding of PA justice and its constituent dimensions. Second, we test the relationship between PA justice and engagement. Finally, being embedded in the Indian cultural context, the study adds to the limited set of studies that have assessed engagement and PA in this context.\nLiterature review and hypotheses: This section presents a review of PA justice and engagement literature and integrates the two, thereby, developing the rationale for the research hypotheses.PA justice\nMethod: Sample\nResults: Common method variance\nDiscussion: The study tests the relationship between PA justice perceptions and engagement. Employees who perceive distributive and informational justice during PA process are more likely to be engaged in their work and exhibit greater well-being. The two justice dimensions were found to significantly predict engagement irrespective of the manner in which it is conceptualized. This strongly suggests that employee perceptions of these two justices play an important role in deciding his/her engagement at workplace.The research illuminates the nature of the behavioral contributions made by employees to their organizations as a function of their justice perceptions. More specifically, employees who perceive procedural justice during PA session show greater absorption, employees who perceive distributive PA justice exhibit greater dedication and vigor. Employees who perceive informational justice are more physically, cognitively and behaviorally engaged in their work. Also, they are more likely to show greater overall motivation and commitment to their job, feel excited and take pride in their work, search for new ways of doing things, and try to go an \"extra mile\" in order to do their job well.The results of the study show that distributive justice and informational justice take precedence over procedural justice. Employees who feel that they have been given fair ratings also tend to believe that the procedures followed are fair and just. When an employee feels that the outcomes (salary hike, rewards, etc.) commensurate with the effort put in, he/she reciprocates it with greater vigor, dedication and is more engaged (physically, cognitively and emotionally) in his/her job. Thus, distributive justice is more important than procedural justice during PAs. Due-process appraisal system consists of three important characteristics: adequate notice - requires organizations and their agents to publish, distribute, and explain performance standards to employees, to discuss how and why such standards must be met, and to provide for regular and timely feedback on performance; fair hearing - requires a formal review meeting in which an employee is informed of a tentative assessment of his/her performance and how it was derived by his or her manager; and judgment based on evidence - requires the organization and its agents to apply performance standards consistently across employees, without yielding to external pressure, corruption or personal prejudice (Folger et al., 1992). Informational PA justice is an essential component of employee's due process and determines the amount of information and the truthfulness of the information that gets shared with the employees. The informational aspect of justice increases individuals' perceptions of instrumental control over the appraisal process and enhances their sense of self-worth and group standing (Taylor et al., 1995). Employees who perceive that they have been communicated the necessary and needed information during the PA process tend to exhibit greater engagement at their work.Contributions to practice\nConclusion: The study contributes to HRM, justice and engagement literature by testing the relationship between PA justice and employee engagement in the Indian context. Psychometrically valid scales for PA justice, engagement and test of relationships between them have been provided. The validated scales provided here can be further used by researchers in their studies on engagement and justice in the Indian context. A positive and significant relationship between justice perceptions and engagement has been established. Distributive justice and informational justice dimensions have been found to have stronger impact on employee well-being, health and reported levels of burnout. To the best of our knowledge, such a study is the first of its kind to be undertaken in the Indian context. Results from this study have strong implications for mangers and provide seeds for future research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Performance appraisal is one of the most important human resource management practices as it yields critical decisions integral to various human resource actions and outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between perceptions of performance appraisal fairness and employee engagement in the Indian business context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study was conducted in two parts. The first part explored the relationship between justice perceptions and a one-dimensional conceptualization of engagement. The second part explored the relationship between justice perceptions and a three-dimensional conceptualization of engagement. The relationships between justice perceptions and engagement were analyzed using zero-order correlations and hierarchical regression analysis.\nFindings: - The study findings suggest a significant positive association between distributive and informational justice dimensions and employee engagement. Distributive justice and informational justice dimensions were found to have a stronger impact on employee engagement conceptualized as antipode of burnout.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research was cross-sectional and so any inferences regarding causality are limited. All responses on engagement and justice scales are from self-report measures and it is likely that method variance inflated the relationships among these variables.\nPractical implications: - Psychometrically valid scales for performance appraisal justice and engagement were developed and tests of relationships between them have been established. The study suggests that distributive and informational justice perceptions during a performance appraisal session lead to enhanced engagement among employees.\nOriginality/value: - The study tests the relationship between performance appraisal justice and employee engagement in the Indian context. A significant positive relationship between some performance appraisal justice dimensions and engagement has been established. To the best of the authors' knowledge, such a study is the first of its kind undertaken in the Indian context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Decisional factors driving organic food consumption: Generation of consumer purchase intentions
|
[
"Organic foods",
"Trust",
"Purchase intentions",
"Perceived knowledge",
"Revealed information",
"Subjective norm"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Health and environmental effects of pesticides, genetically modified organisms, and other non-natural substances used to increase agricultural production have stimulated consumer and marketer interest in organic foods. The organic market has recently increased considerably, and is widely regarded as one of the biggest growth markets in the food industry (Hughner et al., 2007). Organic foods are generally perceived as more nutritious, as well as healthier, safer, and more environmentally friendly. Previous studies indicated that consumers are more likely to pay a premium for the superior quality and taste of organic foods, as well as their certified \"safeness\" (Chen and Lobo, 2012). Given the rapid and accelerating demand for and sales of organic foods, understanding the critical factors that influence consumer organic food purchasing behaviour is essential for organic product producers, suppliers, marketing specialists, policy makers, and green restaurateurs to implement successful marketing strategies.\n2. Literature review: 2.1. Theoretical foundation\n3. Method: 3.1. Data collection\n4. Results: 4.1. Measurement model\n5. Discussion: This study proposes and examines a conceptual model to understand how revealed organic labeling information and perceived organic knowledge, together with subjective norm, influence consumer intentions to purchase organic foods through consumer trust and attitudes. The findings of this study support that trust and attitudes play the mediating roles linking revealed information and perceived knowledge with organic food purchase intentions. More specifically, trust, serving as the antecedent of attitudes, significantly mediates the relationships between revealed information, perceived knowledge, and organic food purchase intentions. This result is consistent with previous studies, indicating that better organic labeling information and related knowledge perceived by consumers have critical effects on consumer trust in organic foods, which in turn will influence their attitudes and intentions to purchase organic foods (e.g. Janssen and Hamm, 2012; Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006; Von Alvesleben, 1997; Zakowska-Biemans, 2011). Additionally, the current study confirms that subjective norm has a significant impact on organic food purchase intentions, reinforcing the influence of social norms and supporting the application of the TPB (e.g. Dean et al., 2008; Ha, 1998; Howard et al., 1988; Saba and Messina, 2003). However, perceived knowledge does not directly influence consumer attitudes towards organic foods, but through the mediator of trust, to affect organic buying decisions. This reflects that higher levels of knowledge regarding organic foods cannot directly lead to more positive attitudes. Instead, the increase of organic knowledge can effectively reduce consumer uncertainty and create trust in organic foods, and then ultimately increases consumer attitudes and intentions of buying organic foods. This finding may be explained by those of previous studies (e.g. Chen, 2008; Hughner et al., 2007; O'Fallon et al., 2007; Pieniak et al., 2010), showing that knowledge can generate positive attitudes towards organic foods only when trust can be firmly built. Thus, this result confirms the essential role of trust in the process of consumer organic buying intentions. If consumers perceive their knowledge levels cannot help them increase understanding and trust in organic foods, they are not likely to transform their attitudes into positive ones that can further influence organic food buying decisions.\n6. Limitations and future research directions: Although this study has several implications for ways to improve organic food consumption, it still has some limitations that need to be fixed. Since the research data were collected in Taiwan, future studies focused on samples from other countries could be valuable in conducting a cross-cultural comparison. For example, future studies could examine how organic food labels, cultural variables, and other factors influence consumer decisions to buy organic foods. Moreover, the collected data were mainly obtained from consumers of selected food outlets, and thus may not fully reflect the demographics of the target population. Therefore, future research may use a better sampling technique (e.g. stratified random sampling) to expend the sample size to be more representative.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how information revealed on organic food labels and perceived organic knowledge drive consumer trust and attitudes towards organic foods, which in turn together with subjective norm eventually influence subsequent purchase intentions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The questionnaire surveys were administered to customers at four urban large-scale supermarkets and three health food stores at three major cities in Taiwan. In total, 693 valid questionnaires were obtained, yielding a response rate of 81.5 per cent.\nFindings: Trust, serving as the antecedent of attitudes, significantly mediates the relationships between revealing information, perceived knowledge, and organic purchase intentions. Additionally, both attitudes towards organic foods and subjective norm significantly influence consumer organic food choices. However, the impact of perceived organic knowledge on consumer attitudes has been found to be insignificant, indicating that the increase in perceived knowledge cannot create positive attitudes towards organic foods. Thus, a focus on how to use knowledge to enhance consumer trust in organic foods is suggested as an effective marketing strategy for the organic food industry.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research findings support that trust and attitudes play the mediating roles linking revealed information and perceived knowledge with organic food purchase intentions. This result is consistent with previous studies, indicating that better organic labeling information and related knowledge perceived by consumers have critical effects on consumer trust in organic foods, which in turn will influence their attitudes and intentions to purchase organic foods. However, this study also found that perceived knowledge can generate positive attitudes only when trust can be firmly built. This confirms the essential role of trust in the process of consumer organic buying intentions.\nPractical implications: First, providing credible labeling information by displaying how organic agricultural products are grown, processed, and handled, and the percentage of organic ingredients in a product is crucial to stimulate consumer trust and positive attitudes. Second, enhancing consumer trust by providing correct knowledge and credible information through diversified channels (e.g. TV, newspapers, magazines, web sites) to improve consumer organic knowledge has become the most important task for the government, organic food sectors, certifiers, and research institutions to develop positive attitudes towards organic foods. Finally, organic food sectors and marketers could use a word-of-mouth strategy and focus on promoting the benefits and accessibility of organic foods to the general public to raise the common acceptance of organic foods.\nSocial implications: Organic labeling has been considered an effective measure to help consumers obtain valid and trustworthy information in the organic food market, particularly for those with limited knowledge. Therefore, the government agencies not only need to take the responsibility to set regulations for organic food/agricultural products, but also need to set labeling requirements for these products. Based on these labeling requirements, the organic certifying agents can certify organic food/agricultural products by offering organic labels that contain clear information and represent quality to consumers.\nOriginality/value: This study incorporates critical factors based on related theories, including the antecedents and the outcome variables of consumer trust, to develop a more comprehensive model for better understanding of consumer organic choice behaviour. The research findings have provided implications and additional contributions to the existing theories as well as developed effective strategies for the development of the organic food market.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Ethical performance evaluation (EPE) in business practices: framework and case illustrations
|
[
"Ethics",
"Business ethics",
"Performance monitoring",
"Performance appraisal"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A set of principal parameters influences the ethical performance evaluation (EPE) of business practices in the marketplace and society. Svensson and Wood (2003, 2004) identify five parameters: time, context, gap, outcome, and consequence. Ethical values and principles in the marketplace and society are dependent upon them. In the first place, ethical values and principles may be seen as a function of time. The time parameter in the business and societal environment affects what are considered to be acceptable and unacceptable business practices. In literature, ethical values and principles are a function of time even if such a view is not usually spelled out explicitly (Orwig, 2002; Kilcullen and Kooistra,1999; Feldman, 1998; Pava, 1998; Giacalone and Knouse, 1997; Yamaji, 1997; and McDonald and Zepp, 1989).In the second place, ethical values and principles may also be seen as a function of context. The current contextual situation and the contextual evolution in the business and societal environment also affect what are considered to be acceptable and unacceptable business practices in the marketplace and society. Various studies across countries have been performed and have stressed the context of the situation (Jakubowski et al., 2002; Hood and Logsdon, 2002; Bucar et al., 2003; Fisher et al., 2001; Seitz, 2001; Peppas and Peppas, 2000; Singhapakdi et al., 1999; Fernandez-Fernandez, 1999; Vinten, 1998; and Sen, 1997). In sum, as time moves on, contexts evolve and as a consequence the ethical values and principles of groups and individuals change.In the third place, the evaluation of ethical values and principles may be seen as a function of gap, outcome and consequences. Svensson and Wood (2004) address these parameters, where the gap underpins the outcome of EPE that in turn leads to consequences (i.e. either positive or negative ones) for the corporation in the marketplace and society. In conjunction, these parameters create a fundament for a managerial framework, and also contribute to describe the dynamics of ethical values and principles of business practices in the marketplace and society. EPE may be seen as a function of these parameters, therefore, the objective of this paper is to describe a managerial framework of EPE. It is underpinned by a selection of brief case illustrations.\nEthical performance evaluation: In this section, a managerial framework and case illustrations of EPE are described. The managerial framework consists of two principal parts. One describes and discusses different zones of EPE. The other focuses on a number of interconnected parameters that complement the EPE in real life business situations. A selection of case illustrations is used to underpin and highlight the universal applicability of the introduced managerial framework.Managerial framework\nEmpirical illustrations: The managerial framework of EPE described in the previous section is underpinned by case illustrations in this section. These four cases illustrate the influence that the parameters of \"time\" and \"context\" have on the zones of EPE, that is, whether the business practices of corporations are acceptable, unacceptable or ambiguous. Two of the cases illustrate corporations that have been unsuccessful in their EPE efforts and have got a negative EPE in their business practices and two of the cases illustrate corporations that have been successful in the way that they have addressed ethical issues in the marketplace. These cases show the importance of not being a step behind the dynamics of ethical values and principles in the marketplace and society.EPE of Tylenol\nConcluding thoughts: A number of conclusions may be drawn from the introduced framework of EPE in business practices, and the case illustrations, provided in the previous sections:* First, the EPE of business practices is not only dependent upon the ethical values and the principles of today, but those of tomorrow may be equally, or even more, crucial. This means that yesterday's and today's business practices may be seen as acceptable, but tomorrow they may be judged as unacceptable as society's values evolve.* Second, the EPE of business practices is dependent upon the surrounding context and its specific ethical values and principles. This means that, what is acceptable business practices in one particular context may be unacceptable in another one. The specific context of business practices is also dependent upon the evolution of time and its impact on ethical values and principles. Business history is full of stories where a practice in one jurisdiction is unacceptable in another.* Third, the EPE of business practices is dependent upon the gap between different perceptions of ethical values and principles. For example, it may be the internal gap between the perceptions of management and employees, or the external gap between the perceptions of the corporation's and the external others' perception of the corporation's business practices. This means that, what appears to be acceptable business practices, according to one view, may be perceived to be unacceptable according to another view. These gaps are also dependent upon the evolution of the time and context parameters in the business and the societal environments.* Fourth, the EPE of business practices is dependent upon if the outcome of the corporation's ethical values and principles are proactive or reactive in relation to the reigning ethical values and principles in the marketplace and society. This means that, what is perceived as acceptable or unacceptable business practices may be ahead or behind the views of others in different contexts and that it may change over time.* Finally, the EPE of business practices is dependent upon the potential and eventual consequences of ethical values and principles. This means that, the internal weaknesses of what is perceived as acceptable in business practices may turn into external threats and that the internal strengths in business practices may turn into external opportunities in the marketplace and society. In summary, the ultimate consequences are dependent upon the outcomes, the gaps, the context and the time parameters of EPE in business practices.Accordingly, the decision as to whether business practices are ethical or unethical is - relatively speaking - easy to determine from a narrow perspective or point of view, however, the decision whether business practices are ethical or unethical becomes complicated as the perspective is widened and deepened. The introduced managerial framework of EPE provides a generic foundation and structure to examine the acceptability versus unacceptability of business practices.Most important, the EPE of business practices explicitly addresses the impact of time on ethical values and principles in any context on the potential and eventual gaps, outcomes and consequences in business practices. The EPE may also be used in non-business areas whenever found applicable and convenient to use. In consequence, tomorrow determines the acceptability of today and yesterday. It must be remembered that tomorrow will soon become today and then yesterday, yet the actions taken by corporations will stand to be judged in perpetuity. Ethical values and principles have a \"best-before-date\" that is not indefinite or forever.\nSuggestion for further research: An important area for further research is how to deal with the durability and variability of ethical values and principles in business practices in the marketplace and society. The key may be a stronger emphasis on longitudinal research efforts that may explore them over time and as contexts evolve. It may be used by either using qualitative or quantitative methods depending upon the depth of data that needs to be collected and the analysis required. Ethical values and principles are connected and re-connected over time and across contexts in one way or another. They have a past, a current status and a future.The only way that we can \"objectively\" evaluate past ethical values and principles is through the use of ethical values and principles at the time and in respect to the context at hand. Research tends to fail when considering the longitudinal and evolutionary dimensions in the exploration of ethical values and principles in business practices. There is too much focus upon on-the-spot-accounts in the past and in current research efforts.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - A set of principal parameters (i.e. time, context, gap, outcome, and consequence) influences the ethical performance evaluation (EPE) of business practices in the marketplace and society. The purpose of this paper is to describe a managerial framework of EPE based upon these parameters.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Case illustrations are used to underpin the introduced managerial framework of EPE.\nFindings: - The EPE of business practices is not only dependent upon the ethical values and principles of today, but those principles of tomorrow may be equally, or even more, crucial. The EPE of business practices is also dependent upon the surrounding context and its specific ethical values and principles. Furthermore, it is dependent upon the gap between different perceptions of ethical values and principles and if the outcome of the corporation's ethical values and principles are proactive or reactive in relation to the reigning ethical values and principles in the marketplace and society. Finally, it is also dependent upon the potential and eventual consequences of ethical values and principles.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The only way that we can \"objectively\" evaluate past ethical values and principles is through the use of ethical values and principles at the time and in respect to the context at hand. Research tends to fail when considering the longitudinal and evolutionary dimensions in the exploration of ethical values and principles in business practices. There is too much focus upon on-the-spot-accounts in the past and in current research efforts. An important area for further research is how to deal with the durability and variability of ethical values and principles in business practices in the marketplace and society. The key may be a stronger emphasis on longitudinal research efforts that may explore them over time and as contexts evolve. Ethical values and principles are connected and re-connected over time and across contexts in one way or another. They have a past, a current status and a future.\nPractical implications: - The decision as to whether business practices are ethical or unethical is - relatively speaking - easy to determine from a narrow perspective, however, the decision whether business practices are ethical or unethical becomes complicated as the perspective is widened and deepened. An introduced managerial framework of EPE provides a generic foundation and structure to examine the acceptability versus unacceptability of business practices.\nOriginality/value: - The paper introduces a managerial framework of EPE, followed by case illustrations. It addresses the impact of time on ethical values and principles in any context on the potential and eventual gaps, outcomes and consequences in business practices. The managerial framework of EPE may also be used in non-business areas whenever found applicable and convenient to use.\n",
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Industrial relations in Italy in the twenty-first century
|
[
"Italy",
"Concertation",
"Industrial and employment relations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Italy's industrial relations in the twenty-first century appear to be characterized by ambivalent features. On the one hand, \"collective autonomy\" is a traditional source of strength for both trade unions and employers' organization. On the other hand, Italy features a time-long engagement with a \"pluralistic-competitive\" model, which is characterized by the prevalence of a contractual - in some cases explicitly \"conflictual\" - nature (Cella and Treu, 2009). In addition, the system retains low legislative regulation and weak institutionalization as a residue of the past (see Regalia and Regini, 1998). Specifically, it lacks legislative regulation in its \"supporting structures,\" as, for example, the representativeness of trade unions and employers, the nature and effects of collective bargaining, and the forms of workers' representation at workplaces. The result is a rather ambivalent portrait, where the collective autonomy assigned to trade unions and employers is exercised within a context characterized by some \"fragility\" factors, such as the low legislative regulation, weak institutionalization and a too small and little generalized \"collaborative\" participatory orientation as far as industrial relations are concerned. This is particularly evident in the private sector, whereas in the public sector a clear (legal) regulation of the structure and actors of collective bargaining, and of the forms of workers' representation at workplace level, has existed since the mid-1990s.\n2. Setting the scene: industrial relations actors and organizational structures: Italy's interest representation system appears remarkably fragmented in comparative perspective, and organizations are divided both on functional and political lines. The most important employer association is Confindustria. This organization represents all kinds of enterprise interests. However - also due to a weighted system of voting - the interests of large enterprises predominate (Vatta, 2007).\n3. Developments in Italy's industrial relations: from the Second World War to 1980s: The trajectory of Italy's industrial relations after the Second World War was linked to the evolution of the political system as a whole. In 1944, union groups of different ideological orientations (Communists, Socialists, Catholics and others), joined ranks and established a unitary union confederation, the Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro (CGIL). The unions' organizational structures were reconstituted almost from scratch and were populated by party personnel who often lacked specific union experience (Romagnoli and Treu, 1981; Turone, 1992).\n4. Centralized bargaining and social concertation in 1990s: 4.1 Developments at national level\n5. Industrial relations on-the-move: trends in Italy's twenty-first century: 5.1 From the instability to the eclipse of social concertation?\n6. Concluding remarks: The paper illustrates that in Italy's twenty-first century, and despite their activism, trade unions encounter difficulty in sharing a \"synthesis\" of the current transformations with the other major institutions, such as the state and the employers' associations. This may explain why the relationships between trade unions, the employers and the state in Italy are currently unable to lead to any strong progress. It also indicates why some argue about the weakening of the traditional \"collective autonomy\" of Italy's social parties.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the developments which have characterized Italy's industrial relations from post-war Fordism to neo-liberal hegemony and recent crisis, with a particular focus on the major changes occurred in the twenty-first century, especially those concerning concertative (tripartite) policy making between the government, the employers' organizations and the trade unions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is a conceptual paper which analysis of main development trends.\nFindings: Italy's industrial relations in the twenty-first century are characterized by ambivalent features which are the heritage of the past. These are summarized as follows: \"collective autonomy\" as a classical source of strength for trade unions and employers' organization, on the one hand. On the other hand, a low level of legislative regulation and weak institutionalization, accompanied by little engagement in a generalized \"participative-collaborative\" model. Due to the instability in the socio-political setting in the twenty-first century, unions and employers encounter growing difficulties to affirm their common points of view and to build up stable institutions that could support cooperation between them. The result is a clear reversal of the assumptions that had formed the classical backdrop of the paradigm of Italy's \"political exchange.\" This paradigm has long influenced the way in which the relationships between employers, trade unions and the state were conceived, especially during 1990s and, to some extent, during 2000s, that is the development of concertative (tripartite) policy making. However, since the end of 2000s, and particularly from 2010s onwards national governments have stated their intention to act independently of the choices made by the unions (and partially the employers). The outcome is the eclipse of concertation. The paper explores how the relationships among the main institutional actors such as the trade unions (and among the unions themselves), the employers, and the state and how politics have evolved, within a dynamic socio-political and economic context. These are the essential factors needed to understand Italy's industrial relations in the twenty-first century.\nOriginality/value: It shows that understanding the relationship among the main institutional actors such as the trade unions (and among the unions themselves), the employers and the state and their politics is essential to understand the change occurred in contemporary Italy's industrial relations.\n",
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Service creativity reinforcement and firm performance: The roles of innovation intensity and contexts
|
[
"Service innovation",
"KIBS",
"Organizational size",
"Creativity reinforcement",
"Innovation intensity",
"Service creativity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In response to intense competition and rapid market shifts, many service firms are pursuing innovation so as to gain a competitive advantage by encouraging employee creativity (Dul and Ceylan, 2011; Ettlie and Rosenthal, 2012). Employee creativity is referred to as the ability to generate novel ideas and their potential usefulness by other members of an organization (Amabile and Mueller, 2008). Academic studies that have been conducted in the manufacturing industry assessed the value of creativity of organizational members to determine its effect on firm performance (Gong et al., 2013; Weinzimmer et al., 2011). Surprisingly, extant research did not focus its attention on this issue within a service context. However, service businesses are now playing an increasingly important role in economic development (Park and Shin, 2012), and the role of employee creativity reinforcement has been emphasized by service firms that have a service innovation approach (Ferraz and de Melo Santos, 2016; Giannopoulou et al., 2014; Hon and Lui, 2016; Melton and Hartline, 2013). As a result, additional research is needed to further advance the literature by examining the relationship between service creativity reinforcement (SCR) and firm performance within the context of a service business.\n2. Theoretical background and development of hypotheses: The theoretical framework for this study is grounded on a contingent resource-based view of the firm using a resource management perspective (Sirmon et al., 2007). A contingent resource-based view integrates the resource-based view of a firm and contingency theory (Brush and Artz, 1999). The resource-based view proposes that service firms may achieve competitive advantage by bundling their resources (Barney, 1991). However, this resource-based view fails to explain how firms transform their resources into value (Priem and Butler, 2001); hence, this study has incorporated the resource management perspective (Sirmon et al., 2007) to elaborate on this link. The resource management perspective asserts that firms should structure and bundle their resources so as to build their capabilities and to leverage these capabilities for the purpose of creating and maintaining value for their customers and owners (Sirmon et al., 2007). Based on the contingent resource-based view and resource management perspective, this study proposes that there is a relationship between SCR and firm performance. In this study, the mechanisms of SCR are the processes involved in bundling resources and leveraging capabilities.\n3. Methods: 3.1 The sample and data\n4. Analyses and results: 4.1 Results\n5. Discussion and implications: 5.1 Discussion\n6. Limitations and future directions: This study has found some interesting results by using a sample of service organizations derived from a comprehensive survey; however, it has several limitations. First, the specific nature of the sample limits the extent to which the results can be generalized. The sample was drawn from the TTIS, making findings unique to Taiwan's service sector. Additional research is required to examine whether the findings are similar across different samples and/or settings. Second, all SCR methods are dichotomous measures instead of extent measures in the TTIS. The degree of use for each of these practices is not fully reflected in the measurement of the SCR variable. This may explain the small explanatory power of SCR in regard to the variance of sales growth and innovation performance when underestimating the contribution of SCR to firm performance. However, under such circumstances, the positive connection between SCR and firm performance is still apparent. Thus, it is expected that the positive connection will be greater with improved measurement of the SCR construct. Third, using TTIS survey data excluded other variables that could have been examined (Revilla and Rodriguez-Prado, 2018). For example, variables such as organizational culture (Martins and Martins, 2002), or the \"ba\" (an enabling context in which knowledge is created through employees' engagement and interactions with the environment) could also have been tested (Nonaka et al., 2000; Von Krogh et al., 2012). In addition, collective organizational engagement (Barrick et al., 2015) could be a critical factor between SCR and firm performance and needs to be studied in future research. Finally, although this study controls for industry type, innovation intensity and firm size, when accounting for the variance in sales growth, it did not include other potential covariates, such as leadership (Clapham, 2000) and the firm's age (Majumdar, 1997). This limitation may reduce the explanatory power of the model. However, the dummy variables representing different industry types may capture part of the influence of the potential factors, diluting such a concern.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: Many service firms have adopted creativity reinforcement mechanisms to manage employee-based service creativity so as to pursue their performance growth. However, its impact on firm performance has rarely been investigated in the extant research. The purpose of this paper is to satisfy this knowledge gap through an examination of how service creativity reinforcement (SCR) affects a firm's performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two samples were used to test the hypotheses. The first sample included a total of 4,381 service firms and was analyzed by using a traditional moderated regression method in relation to sales growth as the outcome variable. Due to a number of missing values, the second sample was reduced to 1,481 service firms. This sample was analyzed by using a moderated fractional regression method and the outcome variable was innovation performance. Furthermore, a multi-valued treatment approach with the augmented inverse-propensity weighted estimator was adopted to assess the performance effect that was associated with each of the SCR mechanisms.\nFindings: Statistical analyses suggested that SCR positively affected both the firm's performance and its innovation performance. Specifically, the stronger performance effects of SCR were associated with firms that had high innovation intensity, were small service firms and were part of the knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) sector. The results also found that brainstorming sessions, a multi-disciplinary team approach, task rotation and non-financial incentives had greater performance effects than other mechanisms, especially for firms in the KIBS sector that had high innovation intensity. In addition, the results indicated that team-level mechanisms were more effective in developing highly innovative services than were individual-level mechanisms.\nOriginality/value: This study has contributed to the service literature by developing a contingency framework for SCR. This study has also advanced service research through the presentation of contextual effects associated with each mechanism of SCR.\n",
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A study of the supermarket industry and its growing logistics capabilities
|
[
"Supermarkets",
"Consumer behaviour",
"Logistics data processing",
"Retailing",
"Labelling",
"Food industry"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Intense competition and market saturation are forcing supermarkets to access new revenue streams worldwide. Supermarkets are expanding their array of products through mass customization, developing private label lines, embracing internet and home delivery services, and increasing focus on customer loyalty programs (Agnese, 2003; Blisard et al., 2002). All of these trends create new challenges for logistics systems operations. Major supermarket chains such as Tesco (Tesco-Company Information, 2002), ASDA and Sainsburys in Europe, Fleming, Kroger, Supervalu and Safeway in the USA and Jusco in Japan are striving for increased efficiencies through greater use of technology in all areas of logistics which will be key to growth and improvement in this industry.The study reviews the following three major business issues of strategic value in retailing and distribution for the worldwide supermarket industry. It does so by identifying commonalities and differences in the supermarket industry in three contrasting developed economies, North America, the European Union and Japan, along with the emerging Asian economy of India:* To respond to market and operational challenges, supermarket chains around the globe are implementing efficient consumer response (ECR) standards to increase efficiency and reduce costs throughout the supermarket supply chain.* ECR implementation is becoming central to shaping logistical trends in the supermarket industry.* Diverse markets in the supermarket industry create a need to customize various operating strategies.To limit the scope, the analysis will be confined to mainly a few countries (USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Denmark and Japan) from developed economies and only one country (India) from emerging Asian economy. The scope of the study is limited to the countries mentioned as there is massive intra-regional variation (retailing environments, formats, etc.) for instance, UK differs dramatically to Greece. This multi-economy market perspective provides a number of industry insights when analyzing the supermarket industry.The study begins with an overview of the state of the supermarket industry world wide followed by a review of major industry trends. Trends include: expanded service requirements; mass customization; customer loyalty and private labeling; delivery options and challenges faced by diverse markets. This analysis is followed by an overview of ECR as it applies to logistics and the necessary supporting logistics system structure. Reverse logistics and electronic point of sale (POS) data collection and management of supply chain by third-party logistics (3PLs) and fourth-party logistics (4PLs) providers are also factored in the supermarket industry analysis. Finally, the study provides analysis on the logistics challenges and opportunities for supermarkets in the areas of transportation and storage technologies and the potential to exploit breakthrough technologies. Various issues and business questions described later are also addressed when closely scrutinizing the supermarket industry in different economies chosen for the study.\nState of industry: There are a number of factors, external and internal, that impact the supermarket industry. External factors include decreased population growth in established markets, trends in gross domestic product (GDP), inflation, and shifts in demographics. Internal factors impacting the industry include market saturation, limited market growth and competition.In recent years, the customer base in much of the world has been declining or stabilizing and market demographics have shifted considerably (Agnese, 2003). The rate of population growth has decreased across the board worldwide over the past 30 years. In low-income countries it declined from 2.0 percent in 2000 to 1.9 percent in 2003 then to 1.8 percent 2004 and finally 1.8 percent in 2005. In middle income countries population growth remained stable at 0.9 percent in 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2005. In high-income countries it declined from 0.8 percent in 2000 to 0.7 percent in 2003, 0.7 percent in 2004, and 0.7 percent in 2005 (World Development Indicators Database, April 2006, www.worldbank.org), Today's woman bears, on average, less than three children down from five in the 1960s (World Bank, 2003). This trend is expected to continue until at least 2010 (World Bank, 2003).Not only is the population growing more slowly, but it is also changing. Many world citizens today are wealthier, older, more educated and more ethnically diverse. Changing demographics affect tastes and expectations, which in turn affect per capita food spending. According to Standard & Poor's Industry analysis, for example, older more educated consumers demand healthier food choices like fruits, vegetables and fish. Table I, which compares the supermarkets in the USA, Canada, Europe, Japan and India by denoting whether particular issues are present in an economy by marking a check mark. Note, as income has increased in all five countries, consumers expect improved quality and convenience (Table I). Their higher incomes also allow them to eat out more often, making restaurants viable competitors for today's grocery retailers.The world economy is also struggling. Annual GDP has been stagnant the past five years in countries of all income levels. During 2000-2005, annual GDP was between $0.85 and 1.4 trillion for low. In low-income countries; $5.2-8.1 trillion for middle income countries; and $25.7-35.5 trillion for high-income countries (World Development Indicators Database, April 2006, www.worldbank.org). There has also been little or no inflation growth in high-income countries (Progressive Grocer, Bureau of Labor Statistics). The grocery industry is fairly recession- proof as everyone needs to eat. The pace of economic growth, however, can still impact supermarkets' sales and margins as consumers become more diligent in seeking the best price and service available (see Japan in Table I).The supermarket industry is well saturated as a result of urbanization and many existing supermarkets in residential neighborhoods. The industries within the USA, Canada, Europe and Japan are highly mature (Table I). Growth opportunities, which traditionally came from opening new stores, are now found mainly in same store growth, complimentary markets and acquisitions. Saturation has given rise to intense competition and required many grocers to address new types of competitive threats (restaurants, home shopping delivery, etc.) and rethink their traditional business model (Stadler, 2002).Standard & Poor's classifies supermarkets into four categories based on size and breadth of product:1. Conventional. Traditional mom and pop stores prevalent in the US market.2. Limited/warehouse and hard discounters. Offering under 1,500 items, usually 200-800 square feet, low price and service.3. Superstore combo. Minimum of 30,000 sq. ft., maximum of 40 percent non-food items.4. Supercenters and hypercenters. Minimum of 75,000 sq. ft., average 55 percent allocated to non-food items.The top 25 global food retailers as ranked by Supermarket News in 2005 lists a range of retailers; Wal-Mart (USA) at No. 1 with 6,380 stores and $312 billion in annual sales, Carrefour (France) at No. 2 with 12,179 stores and $92.6 billion in sales, Tesco (UK) at No. 3 with 2,365 stores and $69.6 billion in sales, Metro Group (Germany) at No. 4 with 2,458 stores and $69.6 billion in sales, Kroger (USA) at No. 5 with 3,726 stores and $60.6 billion in sales, Ahold (The Netherlands) at No. 6 with 6,422 stores and $55.3 billion in sales, Costco (USA) at No. 7 with 460 stores and $52.9 billion in sales, Rene Zentrale (Germany) at No. 8 with 11,242 stores and $51.8 billion in sales, AEON (Japan) at No. 15 with 10,132 stores and $40.2 billion in sales, Coles Meyer (Australia) at No. 24 with 2,775 and $28.0 billion in sales, and Delhaize (Belgium) at No. 25 with 2,637 stores and $23.1 billion in sales (Supermarket News, 2003). When grouped by parent country, the USA and Germany dominate the market with 6 food retailers each in the top 25 followed by France with 5. Other countries include Japan, UK, and Australia at 2 each, rounded out by The Netherlands, Belgium, and Canada with 1 a piece. Average annual sales per location are largest in US stores $26.3 million per location, followed by Europe with $13.7 million per location, and Japan with $5.2 million per location. A comparison of the top five retailers by geographic area illustrates the US trend towards fewer, large square footage stores; Kroger ($20 million in annual sales per location), Albertsons ($15 million), Safeway ($20 million), Supervalue ($20 million), and Fleming ($25 million). Conversely, in Japan, where land is scarce, there are a large number of locations, but they are much smaller in square footage; Ito-Yokado ($1 million in annual sales per location), Daiei ($2 million), and Jusco ($12 million). Store sizes in Europe fall somewhere between what is seen in the USA and Japan, with a blend of both large and small retailers; Carrefour ($5 million in annual sales per location), Ahold ($5 million), Metro ($15 million), Tesco ($35 million), and Rewe ($3 million) (Supermarket News, 2003). Supermarket management and industry analysts use both qualitative and quantitative performance metrics to measure a retailer's success (Table II).\nIndustry trends: Market saturation, extreme competition and shifts in demographics teamed with the recent economic slump restrict players in the supermarket industry to limited external market growth. In an attempt to deal with diverse markets (the first major business issue), supermarket retailers are forced to customize various operating strategies - expanding the array of services and products, increasing loyalty of profitable customers, generating profits through private labeling, and reaching customers through new delivery methods like internet shopping and home delivery.Expanded service requirements\nEffects on operations and logistics: In order to respond the market and operational challenges (the second major business issue), supermarkets must increase customer focus. To achieve profitability while meeting this need, operations and logistics managers must significantly improve efficiency, logistics, procurement and cost control. The following sections describe how supermarkets are achieving this through ECR systems and supporting logistics structures. After a brief history and overview of ECR, we describe how retailers are improving efficiency and reducing costs in the supporting logistics structure and through the supply chain. We then discuss reverse logistics, improvements in transportation and storage technology, and the resulting data management requirements these systems require to operate effectively. Finally, we touch on the potential benefits of some breakthrough technologies to the industry.Efficient consumer response (ECR) and logistics systems structure\nLogistics challenges and opportunities for supermarkets: Despite the dramatic efficiency improvements, ECR has a long way to go, even for the most successful chains. Sainsbury, Tesco, and most other large chains boast a 99 percent availability rate. When compared to other industries that measure failures in parts per million, supermarket fulfillment rates are not as good as they should be (Jones, 2001). In the ECR Journal, author Daniel T. Jones compares supermarket performance to that of the automobile manufacturer, Nissan. Nissan experiences approximately 150 failures per 1,000,000 parts. Assume that an average purchase is 40 items per week. If Nissan were a grocery store, the probability that a customer would get all 40 items every week after four months of shopping would be about 93 percent. For a grocery store, the chances would be 19 percent at the highest. If the grocery store did not carry the desired products, that number would drop to near zero. The context of this study was internet shopping, in which customers do not have a choice of picking another product to replace the out-of-stock item, but the theory is relevant across the industry. Selective customers experience stock-outs of specific items much more often than they should.Supermarkets are trying to deal with this gap in part by hiring logistics experts from outside the industry. Demand for category managers is up 240 percent, and distribution/logistics positions up 90 percent (Springer, 2000). Although supermarket chains do not pay as well as some other industries, they are optimistic that they will be able to fill critical positions with people qualified to take ECR and other initiatives to the next level (Stephens and Wright, 2002).We describe below the advancements made in the supermarkets industry in the areas of transportation and storage technologies and the opportunities to introduce possible breakthrough technologies.Transportation and storage technologies\nConclusion: Analysis of the supermarket industry across selected countries in developed and developing economies has shown the need for grocery retailers to become increasingly more creative and efficient in the face of intense competition, limited market growth, unique market situations, economic conditions, and shifting demographics. Research has shown that regardless of the geographic location, a grocery shopper's focus is on value, convenience, variety and a better shopping experience. In order to become more creative and efficient and thus access new revenue streams, supermarkets must utilize emerging technologies. The challenge to operations and logistics managers is to put customer needs before operational concerns through the implementation of higher ECR standards. In order to be successful, supermarket chains will have to rely on 3PLs and 4PLs to manage logistics and supply chain information. In addition, it is imperative for supermarket chains to be aware of local buying habits within individual markets. Costs throughout the supply chains could be reduced through reverse logistics systems and advancements in transportation and storage technologies, and also by investing heavily in breakthrough technologies such as RFID, storage technology, self-checkout, and online shopping, etc. Effective use of technology and enhanced logistics systems will enable supermarkets to explore new sources of revenues by increasing the likelihood of success in adding services, expanding product lines, creating loyalty, and developing new delivery options through internet shopping. Developing countries, like India, will continue to grow at a rapid rate as infrastructure improvements are made. In addition, as markets in these countries become more mature, there will be less fragmentation. Developed countries will continue to witness fierce competition and price wars in their highly mature markets. Supermarkets that continually implement cost savings or revenue generating technologies and also cater to changing consumer tastes are bound to win and keep precious market share.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to analyze and identify commonalities and differences between the supermarket industry and its logistics capabilities in developed economies such as North America, the European Union and Japan, as well as the emerging Asian economy of India.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A qualitative analysis, based on data, other pertinent information gathered from reports on various economies within the supermarket industry and personal interactions with a few supermarket chains managers, is used to derive various insights of strategic value in retailing and distribution. Major industry practices and logistics trends are examined and answers are sought to important business questions.\nFindings: - The results of analysis show that the supermarket industry is customizing operating strategies. Efficient consumer response (ECR) standards are becoming a common method used to increase the supermarket supply chain efficiencies that are driving logistics trends within the industry. The trends include expanded service requirements, mass customization, customer loyalty and private labeling, delivery options and increased challenges in diverse markets. Reverse logistics, electronic point of sale data collection and management of supply chain by third- and fourth-party logistics providers are also becoming increasingly important for the supermarket industry.\nPractical implications: - Advancements in transportation and storage technologies, including breakthrough technologies to improve supermarket operation to the level of leading automobile manufacturers, present increased challenges and opportunities to the supermarket industry. In addition, changing consumer tastes offer companies in developed countries as well as developing countries like India, the chance to garner increased revenues. It is imperative for supermarkets to heed changing buying habits, particularly in developed countries, which have highly mature/competitive markets. Although supermarkets within developed and developing countries may face different challenges, consumers everywhere still focus on value, convenience, variety and a better shopping experience.\nOriginality/value: - This paper provides increased understanding of the strategic retailing and distribution issues present in the supermarket industry and examines a number of significant business questions pertaining to logistical trends. A unique juxtaposition of the supermarket industry within developed and developing economies provides various insights into the commonalities and differences within various countries studied.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Moderating effect of hedonism on store environment-impulse buying nexus
|
[
"Perceived store environment",
"Impulse buying behavior",
"Shopping enjoyment",
"Hedonic shopping motives"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the retail context, consumers' impulse buying is a well-researched phenomenon. Several authors have made efforts to identify and examine the antecedents or predictors of impulse buying. More specifically, considerable academic studies have explored the retail store environment as fundamental cause of impulse buying along with individual characteristics and situational factors (Sivakumaran and Sharma, 2015; Saad and Metawie, 2015; Bhatti and Latif, 2014; Jhawar and Kushwaha, 2018; Parsad et al., 2017; Atulkar and Kesari, 2018b; Boutsouki, 2019; Barros Ludmila Bandeira, 2019). Although the store environment-impulse buying nexus is well documented, the influence of consumer motivations on this nexus is still underexplored. Consequently, we argue that while doing shopping in retail stores, consumers' shopping motivations, i.e. hedonic motivations may impact their impulse buying in relation to store environment. Hence, this study tries to explore and analyze the moderating effect of consumer shopping motivations on store environment-impulse buying nexus. Second, most studies have tested individual elements of store environment (e.g. Ambient and design factors) with impulse buying while ignoring the holistic influence of store environment (Selema and Makgosa, 2018; de Villiers et al., 2018; Morrison et al., 2011). Therefore, this study also aims at covering this gap by examining the holistic influence of store environment on impulse buying by including lighting, store design, layout, cleanliness, scent and employees. Third, it has been noted that studies have incorporated impulse buying tendency and urge to buy as important mediators among the relationship between store environment and impulse buying (Parsad et al., 2017; Bellini et al., 2017). But little focus has been given on the mediating role of situational driven emotional states like pleasure, arousal and shopping enjoyment. Hence, another objective of this study is to examine how the store environment drives emotional states of customers which further enable them to involve in impulse buying. Finally, the concept of store environment has gained little focus in the emerging markets; majority focus has been given to developed countries. One of the reasons may include that the structure of large retailers is in its earlier stages in emerging economies (Barki et al., 2016). Therefore, it has also become essential to examine the role of store environment in shaping consumer behaviors in these economies. In order to cover this gap, this study tries to test the theoretical model in the context of Pakistan. The retailing industry of Pakistan is in progressive phase. According to Mangi (2017), retailing has shown strong growth in 2017 with an improvement in the economy's strength.The present study contributes in the following ways. First, this paper may contribute to stimulus-organism-response (SOR) mechanism by introducing the mediating effect of pleasure, arousal and shopping enjoyment on the relationship between perceived store environment and impulse buying behavior. Previously, studies have examined the impulse buying tendency and urge to buy as important mediators among the store environment and impulse buying behavior (Mohan et al., 2013; Saad and Metawie, 2015) while less focus has been given on situational driven emotions among this link (Iyer et al., 2019). It may lead to theoretical inconsistencies in the literature covering SOR framework and impulse buying. Therefore, this study contributes to SOR framework by including store environment as \"stimulus\", arousal, pleasure and shopping enjoyment as \"organism\", and impulse buying as \"response\". Second, most of the existing studies have examined the individual elements of store environment in relation to impulse buying (Selema and Makgosa, 2018; de Villiers et al., 2018), however, the holistic effect these factors on impulse buying remain unexplored. Hence, this study adds value to the literature of impulse buying by assessing the combined effect of elements of store environment in relation to impulse buying. Third, this paper proposes hedonic shopping motives as important moderator while examining the relationship between store environment and impulse buying. The role of customers' shopping motivations cannot be ignored as these motivations influence customers' emotions and decisions while doing shopping (Chang et al., 2011). Therefore, this study has made a pioneering effort by examining how hedonic orientations of customers influence the link between store environment and customers' emotional state. Forth, mostly studies have examined the link between store environment and impulse buying in developed economies while research remains sparse in emerging economies. Hence, this study has examined the store environment-impulse buying link in emerging economies. This exploration allows us to determine the differences between developed and emerging economies in relation to store environment-impulse buying link. Emerging markets constitute a very large proportion of the global population. Hence, it is important to understand the behavior of customers in an emerging market context. Fourth, the study could help the local and international retail companies in developing and managing the store environment particularly in the emerging countries where store management is a relatively new concept.\n2. Conceptual framework and hypothesis development: The relationship between the store environment and impulse buying behavior has been investigated based on SOR model (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974). In SOR model, the environment as a stimulus impacts the emotions of the customers that further lead to approach-avoidance behaviors. In other words, it explains the impact of physical environment on customers' behavior. 2.1 Store environment\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Participants, sampling design and procedure\n4. Data analysis and results: 4.1 Descriptive statistics\n5. Discussion of findings: In this study, the store environment is measured in terms of five factors, namely lighting, scent, cleanliness, design and layout and employees. According to the averages of each dimension of the perceived store environment given in Table 2, customers have a positive perception of the employees, lighting, design, layout, scent and cleanliness. These results support the findings of previous studies such as Dabholkar et al. (1996) and Mirabi and Samiey (2015). This study extends the findings of previous studies by introducing the mediating role played by shopping enjoyment along with pleasure and arousal. The results confirm the presence of a positive and significant influence of store atmospherics on pleasure, arousal and shopping enjoyment (confirming H1, H2 and 3). The results are supported by previous studies that study the relationship between perceived store environment and customers' pleasure and arousal (Mohan et al., 2013; Xu, 2007). The empirical results also confirm the findings of studies that show that the store environment is positively related to shopping enjoyment (Hart et al., 2007; Saad and Metawie, 2015). The findings linked to H4, show that customers' pleasure is positively associated with impulse buying supported by previous studies (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974; Xu, 2007; Mattila and Wirtz, 2008; Mohan et al., 2013). The customers who feel pleasure within the store can involve in exploration of different racks that can lead to impulse buying. The results related to H5 show that arousal has no influence on impulse buying. Results related to H6 show that shopping enjoyment in a retail store is positively related to impulse buying behavior and it is supported by previous studies (Mattila and Wirtz, 2008; Mohan et al., 2013; Saad and Metawie, 2015).To investigate the mediation of pleasure, arousal and shopping enjoyment, three structural models were estimated using SEM. The findings of the first and second models provide evidence that customers' pleasure and arousal during shopping fully mediate the relationship between perceived store environment and impulse buying. These findings support the results obtained in Mehrabian and Russell (1974), Xu (2007) and Graa et al. (2014). Results related to the third model confirm the full mediation of shopping enjoyment among the relationship between perceived store environment and impulse buying. This result is also supported by Saad and Metawie (2015). In addition, the findings suggest that the relationship between perceived store environment and shopping enjoyment is moderated by hedonic shopping motives. This result is also supported by previous studies (Arnold and Reynolds, 2003; Hart et al., 2007). When customers are high on hedonic motives or have motives to enjoy shopping activities than store environment has a great impact on the customers' emotions. Figure 3 shows that the customers who take store atmospherics more positively and have a high level of shopping motive may have a greater level of shopping enjoyment. 5.1 Theoretical implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Although the store environment-impulse buying nexus is well documented, the influence of consumer motivations on this nexus is still underexplored. Consequently, this paper aims at explaining the mediating effect of emotional states and the moderating effect of hedonic shopping motives on the relationship between store atmospherics and impulse buying behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Primary data from 437 customers were generated through a questionnaire developed for this study. Respondents were accessed using mall-intercept technique. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was done to empirically estimate the model.\nFindings: Results indicate that pleasure and shopping enjoyment mediate the effect of store atmospherics on the impulse purchase behavior. The findings also show that hedonic shopping motives moderate the relationship between the store atmospherics and impulse purchase.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes by introducing the moderating role played by the hedonic shopping motives on the relationship between store atmospherics and impulse purchase. In addition, it introduces that shopping enjoyment and pleasure mediate the effect of perceived store atmospherics on impulse purchase.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Public reporting on food safety incidents in China: intention and its determinants
|
[
"Food safety",
"Structural equation model",
"Influencing factors",
"Expanded theory of planned behaviour",
"Public reporting intention"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Food safety is a global problem and an issue of substantial concern in agri-businesses and the food industry (Luning et al., 2015). Countries around the world attach great importance to food safety (De Krom, 2009; Stanciu, 2015; Mohammad, 2016). Meanwhile, recurring food safety incidents have raised public concern regarding food quality and safety in China (Yin et al., 2017). Food safety co-regulation is a more transparent and effective method of uniting social force to participate in governance (Vos, 2000), and it has been promoted in many developed countries and regions (Marian et al., 2007; Pei et al., 2011; Rouviere and Caswell, 2012).\n2. Background: Public's food safety reporting refers that citizens, corporations as well as other organisations report to food administration departments about alleged violations of food and safety related to producers, operators and other subjects in the production and operation of food (Yin et al., 2017). The Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China implemented in 2015, clearly defines co-regulation as the best method for food safety governance, and puts forward to build and consolidate the food safety reporting system which is widely participated by the public. The law points out that any organisation or individual has the right to report food safety violations. Food administration departments should strengthen the guidance and coordination of food reporting management, strengthen publicity, implement the reward system, encourage and support the public to report food violations.\n3. Research hypotheses and variable settings: 3.1 Theoretical basis\n4. Sample data: The survey was conducted in Shandong province, which is located in the Eastern coastal area of China. Two reasons were considered for conducting the investigation in Shandong province. First, the economic development levels of the Eastern, Central and Western regions of Shandong province vary widely. Such differences represent the imbalanced economic development in China (Yin et al., 2017). Second, Shandong is China's food industry and agricultural province, and food and agricultural output values are ranked first in the country. In March 2016, we conducted a pre-research of 100 residents in Rizhao City, Shandong Province. Reliability and validity of the questionnaire were analysed. Then, inappropriate questionnaire items were eliminated or adjusted to form the final questionnaire. From July to August, 2016, an improved questionnaire was used to carry out formal research in 17 cities of Shandong Province. To ensure authenticity and validity of the questionnaire, the survey was conducted by 50 postgraduates and undergraduate students from urban and rural areas of Shandong Province. Prior to formal research, professional training for all investigators was conducted. The survey was performed by trained investigators through a one-on-one, face-to-face direct interview. Additionally, to ensure randomness of the survey, interviewers should select the third person that came into sight as the respondent in the survey process, thereby avoiding the subjective influence of interviewers on the selection of respondents (Wu et al., 2014). A total of 700 questionnaires (about 40 in each city) were issued and the final recovery of valid questionnaires was 642. The effective rate was 91.71 per cent.\n5. Empirical model and analysis results: 5.1 Model selection\n6. Conclusions and policy recommendations: Taking 642 residents from 17 cities in Shandong Province as an example, and based on extended TPB and applied SEM as the analysis tool, this study analysed the influence mechanism of public food safety reporting behaviour in China. Results show that the TPB can be applied into the food safety reporting area and it expands the application field of the TPB. Four conclusions and corresponding policy recommendations arise from this research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the factors that influence food safety reporting intention and behaviour of the public.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data used in this study came from a questionnaire survey conducted in Shandong Province, China. The 642 qualified samples were analysed through structural equation model based on the expanded theory of planned behaviour to study public food safety reporting behaviour and its influencing factors.\nFindings: Results indicated that participation attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control (PBC) and moral norm had significantly positive effects on public reporting intention, which had a direct effect on behaviour. Among subjective norm, descriptive norm had a more significant influence on the intention to report than injunctive norm. PBC indirectly affected reporting behaviour through participation intention, and directly affected participation behaviour. Socio-demographic variables had significant influence on participation attitude, injunctive norm and PBC, whereas these variables had no influence on descriptive norm and moral norm.\nOriginality/value: This research is of academic value and of value to policy makers. To promote public participation in food safety reporting, the government should consider influencing factors of food safety reporting.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Tolerating and managing extreme speech on social media
|
[
"Social networks",
"Abusive speech",
"Extreme speech",
"Internet censorship",
"Racism and sexism"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Emboldened by the unscripted and often racist and sexist campaign of Donald Trump, members of the self-labeled \"alt right\" have taken to sites like Facebook and Twitter to express hateful messages and attack individuals who are non-white or female, or who express liberal political opinions. In response to this caustic rhetoric, politicians, pundits and the public have called upon the social media platforms that facilitate user-generated content (UGC) to do something to curb the proliferation of extreme speech. Such platforms include \"sites and services that host public expression, store it on and serve it up from the cloud, organize access to it through search and recommendation, or install it onto mobile devices\" (Gillespie, 2017, p. 254), a definition that includes sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. However, when platforms have taken remedial actions such as banning alt right sympathizers from using their services, they have received criticism for censoring speech that would otherwise be legally protected (particularly in the USA), despite the fact that these companies have no legal obligation to act as public forums and publish every bit of UGC on their platforms.\n2. Theoretical background: This study takes the perspective that melding theories and methods from the disciplines of mass communication and law enhances \"a thorough understanding of the concept and practice of freedom of expression\" (Cohen and Gleason, 1990, p. 110). It seeks to address freedom of expression not merely as an abstract concept defined by normative theory, but rather as a lived experience that reflects and shapes the civic values of our democracy (Gillmor and Dennis, 1981). To that end, this literature review examines how traditional First Amendment theories justify legal tolerance toward extreme speech in US society, and it synthesizes those theories with work by social scientists to study the attitudes and behaviors of US citizens toward extreme speech. This synthesis is designed to direct the focus of the paper on the issue of how social media users tolerate and manage extreme speech online.\n3. Research questions: Based on the scholarship reviewed above, this study seeks to address the following research questions:\n4. Method: The present study relies on qualitative methods to answer these research questions. This approach is based on Lambe's (2002) suggestion that understanding the free expression schemas of the average person might best be achieved through the use of qualitative interviews or focus groups (Lambe and Reineke, 2009). This study seeks to answer Lambe's call by using focus groups.\n5. Findings: 5.1 Opinions on freedom of expression on social media platforms\n6. Discussion: The findings of this study must be viewed within the context of how users \"rhetorically shape\" (Gillespie, 2007, p. 75) the nature of social media platforms and their role in facilitating free expression. Except for a few outliers, participants generally expressed intolerance for extreme speech on social media platforms. Participants defined extreme speech in terms of its potential to undermine the ability of platforms to facilitate good speech, as well as its ability to inconvenience users through its polluting presence in this networked space. This suggests that participants conceive of social media platforms (particularly mainstream ones like Facebook and Twitter) as spaces for public discourse that are distinct from traditional offline public forums - not merely in terms of the physical differences between the two contexts, but in terms of the norms that govern public discourse within them. Meanwhile, the prevailing trend across all four groups was support for the idea that social networking platforms can empower individuals to bring about change or facilitate individual self-realization through free expression (Emerson, 1963, p. 879).\n7. Conclusion, limitations and implications: The opinions of these focus group participants do not necessarily represent a snapshot of American public opinion on the issues of extreme speech and the ways in which social media platforms regulate that speech. The findings of this study must be tempered by the fact that participants across all four groups were relatively young, well-educated and politically liberal. Also, although homogeneity is a recommended feature of focus groups (Brennen, 2013, p. 60), homogeneity does not guarantee that participants' answers are more valid or truthful than if the groups were heterogeneous, as \"the social contexts of focus groups - [such as] the larger social structures within which the [group] discussion takes place - affect the data that are generated\" (Hollander 2004, p. 604). Although it is possible that group homogeneity led participants in this study to respond to questions less truthfully, this risk was deemed smaller than the risk of alienating participants in a heterogeneous setting. To compensate for these limitations, outlying opinions that could reasonably be perceived as having greater weight in society at large were reported here as such.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study seeks to understand the opinions of internet users toward extreme speech on social media platforms and their willingness to censor such speech. The purpose of this paper is to examine how norms of freedom of expression are changing in an online communication environment dominated by these platforms.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Four focus groups were conducted in this study. Participants needed to use at least one social media platform daily. Groups were homogeneous in terms of race and gender: African-American females, African-American males, white females and white males.\nFindings: Participants in general did not report a strong willingness to censor extreme speech on social media platforms. Rather, they expressed apathy and cynicism toward both their own and social media companies' ability to combat extreme speech and make online discourse more positive. Female participants tended to value the overall health of public discourse and protection of more vulnerable social media users on social media platforms. African-American female participants called for platforms to recognize a special duty to protect minority users, whom they saw as responsible for the platforms' success.\nResearch limitations/implications: Focus groups are useful for providing exploratory rather than generalizable data. However, by increasing the understanding of how individuals define extreme speech on social media, these data can reveal how individuals rhetorically shape the social media platforms and interpret their role in democratic discourse.\nOriginality/value: This research takes the rich field of studying tolerance toward extreme speech to new territory: the online realm where public discourse (and especially extreme discourse) is hosted more and more.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Assessing the intentions to use internet banking: The role of perceived risk and trust as mediating factors
|
[
"Services quality",
"Trust",
"Structural equation modelling",
"Perceived risk",
"Internet banking",
"Behavioural intentions to use"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Banking services are important in everyday life. But many banks nowadays are experiencing operational difficulties due to changing technologies and the changing demands of their customers. As a result, banks have to adjust their strategies to meet the current economic conditions and to efficiently manage risk. Additionally, they have to respond to customers' demand for convenience by making banking transactions possible through a one-stop service. Many banks have developed internet-based service models to ease customer transactions. The use of the internet in banking services has been considered a financial innovation, since its primary objective is to improve the quality of services and to benefit customers. It also helps a bank reduce costs, as less face-to-face contact with the customer is required. In turn, customers can enjoy the ease of use, convenience, and fast service of an online banking system. The problem of \"ATM Skimming\", which makes customers concerned about the safety of their transactions when using an automated teller machine, makes online banking a more appealing alternative (Kuisma et al., 2007). The expansion of internet use in many countries and actual internet banking usage is rapidly rising (Nasri and Charfeddine, 2012), even though customers feel concerned about its security, such as the pitfalls of password changes (Kuisma et al., 2007). Thus, banks are trying to find innovative ways to secure transactions that will convince customers to trust and continue to use their services.\nLiterature review: This study focuses on service quality, perceived risk and trust as explanatory and predictive variables for attitude and behavioural intentions in adopting the use of internet banking. The research model is proposed to address this issue (see Figure 1). All variables hypothesised in this study and the nature of their expected relationships with behavioural intentions to use (or continuing to use) internet banking are discussed in the following sections.\nResearch methodology: Population, sampling and data collection\nData analysis and results: The statistical analyses carried out were frequency and descriptive analyses focusing on average, percentage, variance and testing normality of distribution for assessing unidimensionality; the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the convergent validity or average variance extracted (AVE), discriminant validity and structural equation modelling (SEM) were used to test the established hypotheses. SEM is a confirmatory method providing a comprehensive means for assessing and modifying theoretical models (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988).\nDiscussion and implications: The empirical analysis demonstrated several major findings. Interpretations based on these findings and implications are discussed as follows.\nConclusion: The purpose of this research is to study the relationship among service quality, perceived risk, trust and behavioural intentions to use internet banking in Thailand. The results from the analysis indicated that service quality has a direct influence on perceived risk and trust. Moreover, service quality has an indirect influence towards behavioural intentions to use internet banking through perceived risk and trust as mediators. In addition, perceived risk and trust has a direct influence on behavioural intentions to use internet banking at 0.001 level of significance\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among five dimensions of service quality towards the overall behavioural intentions to use internet banking in Thailand and explain the indirect effects between service quality and behavioural intentions to use internet banking using perceived risk and trust as the mediating variables.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A multi-stage sampling procedure was performed to select the 505 respondents for this study. The participants were selected based on their experiences using internet banking in Thailand. The data obtained from the participants was analysed using a structural equation modelling approach.\nFindings: The results show that service quality, perceived risk and trust influence behavioural intentions to use internet banking. This study primarily aims to find out whether perceived risk and trust worked as a mediator variable between service quality and behavioural intentions to use internet banking. The study will be useful for the developers of internet banking, when they are implementing and developing a system that is in accordance with the needs and lifestyles of the potential users; and CEOs, to create strategies and relevant policies to achieve competitive advantage.\nOriginality/value: Literature has focused on understanding service quality dimensions that influence the behavioural intentions to use internet banking. By expanding on the previous research in internet banking, this paper empirically examines the overall direct and indirect influences between service quality, perceived risk, trust and behavioural intentions.\n",
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PEER 1 takes its employees just as they are: Web firm encourages staff to bring their whole identity to the workplace
|
[
"Empowerment",
"Training",
"Communication",
"Human resource management",
"Rewards",
"Teamwork"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A company that builds the solutions that enable businesses to thrive online has a vision to be the most human company on the web.\nFostering people through growth: The company is committed to fostering people and growth, at work and beyond - recognizing that engagement and excitement outside of work will translate to job performance. Personal growth is as important as professional. \"We see the value in supporting learning that helps employees to develop as full people through formal and informal programs,\" Sheila Bouman explained.First, all employees are entitled to $3,500 annually for education. \"While it does not have to be directly related to someone's job, he or she has to be excited about it,\" she continued. \"In addition, people leaders are encouraged to discuss topics important to managers and share best practices through monthly webinars. Staff share knowledge with others through lunch and learns, with topics ranging from social media to protecting your data online at home and at work.\"To learn more about the different aspects of the business as a whole, employees can do an exchange with team members in other offices to experience a different work environment and city.A formal mentorship program is in place for leaders, designed to develop the soft side of leadership. Mentors are matched based on each director's personal-development plans and executives who may have faced the same challenges in their own careers.\"We are looking at how this can be cascaded throughout the entire organization,\" said Sheila Bouman. \"Leaders meet quarterly to practise having high-impact conversations that will strengthen team and individual performance and engagement.\"The company offers technical-training courses by external and internal experts, supported by a library that provides staff with easy access to the knowledge and information they need.\nCelebrating a job well done: Rewards and recognition are used not just to celebrate results, but also to recognize the behaviors that lead to those results. \"For example, meeting sales targets is great and necessary for a publicly-traded company, but those targets would not have been met if it wasn't for exceptional customer service and teamwork,\" Sheila Bouman explained.\"We use various programs to make it easy for staff and leaders to recognize each other. Sometimes recognition is given electronically through 'shout-out e-mails' but as much as possible it takes place through face-to-face, real-time channels.\"Just as the company strives to communicate in a human manner, every effort is made to recognize people for hard work and efforts in person, in front of peers and colleagues.\"All-hands meetings provide the perfect venue to celebrate a job well done. Often it is a peer recognizing another by providing a bottle of champagne, or one team thanking another with a box of chocolates or something fun,\" said Sheila Bouman.The company is implementing a formal internet-based peer-recognition program that will allow staff to recognize good work done by colleagues by awarding points that can be redeemed for what is most meaningful to the person being recognized. This process creates transparency around celebration of the behaviors and results that are important to success.\nHigh-impact conversations: PEER 1 Hosting launched a formal, company-wide leadership strategy created by staff from all levels of the organization. The objective was to develop a compelling leadership vision that would establish a strong leadership team to uphold company values, build high-performance teams through the selection and development of talent, and to achieve the company's vision and goals. Expected leadership behaviors are clearly mapped to each of the company's core values, and leaders are held accountable for consistently demonstrating these.Leaders meet quarterly to practise having high-impact conversations that will strengthen team and individual performance and engagement. Performance objectives are defined and communicated at a company, division and team level.\nAlignment at all levels: Recognizing the value of communication between a manager and his or her team, HR team members (known as people partners) are in place to provide managers with ongoing coaching around improving dialog and engagement with individuals and with their teams through regular meetings, performance feedback, recognition and strong relationships.\"Face-to-face communication is the preferred way for the company to reach employees,\" said Sheila Bouman. \"However, when it comes to communication there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The company recognizes the unique needs and interests of different people working in various geographic locations. Teams are encouraged to find the regular communication channels that work best for them, whether that is a monthly all-hands meeting or a 15-minute huddle on Monday mornings.\"An executive-engagement lead has been appointed in each office, responsible to work with staff and managers to keep people feeling connected to goals, progress, values and each other. \"Not only does this contribute to a social atmosphere in the company and foster alignment at all levels, it also ensures there is a go-to executive sponsor for staff in all locations, regardless of reporting lines,\" said Sheila Bouman.The company also uses e-mail and an intranet site to communicate announcements or updates on larger projects.\"Our vision and values are the foundation for our culture, and for everything else the company does,\" she concluded. \"It is the driving force behind all that we do. Creating a human experience for our people in turn allows them to create a human experience for customers; in business, this ultimately translates into sales, revenue, growth and a greater opportunity for us to help our global customers to focus on the possibilities of the internet.\"The 500-employee company was a 2012 winner of a Great Place to Work award.\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest editor, wrote this article.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to describe the human resource management practices at PEER 1 Hosting, which offers its clients data centers, network pipelines, hosting configurations and specialized internet services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper presents an interview with the company's chief people and performance officer, which covers the firm's recruitment, training, recognition, reward, empowerment and communication policies.\nFindings: - The paper highlights the company's focus on its people - who are they are and not simply what they do.\nPractical implications: - The paper recognizes that creating a human experience for its people in turn allows them to create a human experience for customers, which ultimately translates in to sales, revenue, growth and a greater opportunity for the firm to help its customers to focus on the possibilities of the internet.\nSocial implications: - The paper reveals that the company is committed to fostering people and growth, at work and beyond, recognizing that engagement and excitement outside of work will translate into job performance.\nOriginality/value: - The paper describes the experiences of a company that takes its people 100 percent as they are - from how they dress to where they want to go personally and professionally. It explains how the company is dedicated to protecting a person's whole identity and encourages him or her to bring that to work.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Does intra-firm diffusion of innovation lead to inter-firm relationship benefits? The cases of innovation providers and adopters
|
[
"Innovation",
"Relationship",
"Intra-firm diffusion",
"Participation comprehensiveness",
"Provider’s support"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: With increasing concerns in maximizing the \"benefits\" of an innovation, accommodating purchased innovations into an organizational system has been getting more attention in industrial markets. This phenomenon is caused by the fact that while a significant portion of firm expenditure accounts for procuring business innovations, only a few firms successfully obtain cost advantages or operational efficiencies from this investment (Morris, 1992). Many firms hardly realize any marginal returns from their innovation purchases with the main reason being their failure to attain a sufficient level of organization-wide diffusion and thus full-scale utilization of the purchased innovation (Swanson and Ramiller, 1997). In relation to this, innovation providers are recognizing the need to rethink their functional role in the traditional adopter-provider relationship (Kim and Srivastava, 1998; Lin and Chang, 2012). The competitive landscape today no longer allows providers to supply just the product aspect of the innovation to adopters. On top of that, it requires the providers to bundle in a long-term business solution for adopters to ensure that \"the new product has been used extensively and satisfactorily among the adopting firm's employees\" (Barabba and Zaltman, 1991). More specifically, a product (or innovation) needs to be digested or absorbed into an adopting firm, the phenomenon which is called as \"intra-firm diffusion of innovation\", and a detailed examination into the level of intra-firm diffusion in its entirety is well warranted (Ren et al., 2010).\nConceptual development and hypotheses: Intra-firm diffusion of innovation\nMethod: Data collection\nResults: Scale-reliability and convergent and discriminant validity\nDiscussion: Discussion of empirical findings\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to fill the void of previous research in organizational innovation. The understanding of the factors that affect intra-firm diffusion of innovations, which include the proactive management support and participation comprehensiveness from the adopting firm, as well as the provider's support of innovation utilization has been advanced. In addition, the extent to which the consequent intra-firm diffusion affects both the adopter's and provider's benefits has been explored based on their relationship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A mail questionnaire on the organizational purchase and utilization of customer relationship management (CRM)-type database systems was developed for collecting data. A random sample of 480 firms from the Hong Kong Chambers of Commerce Directory was obtained. From the initial phone calls, 343 firms currently using a CRM-type database system were identified, and the questionnaires were mailed to the managers of these firms. In total, 163 responses were finally returned with usable data, for a response rate of 47.5 per cent.\nFindings: The current study focuses on the causes and the effects associated with successful diffusion and utilization of innovation within a firm. Using data from business-to-business markets, the results find that the two parties involved benefit when both proactively participate in the intra-firm diffusion process; that is, benefits are created for the adopter via improvement in efficiency; and for the provider via establishment of a long-term relationship and switching costs.\nResearch limitations/implications: First, any moderating impact of the adopting firm's technological capabilities was not analyzed. Second, the research results were obtained from a sample of software product innovations (especially database management system). Even though it could be assumed that these results can also be applicable to other types of innovations (e.g. process innovations), empirical tests of our framework based on different innovation typologies are still warranted.\nPractical implications: First, for an innovation-adopting firm, we have shown that a wide use of purchased innovations among the organizational members is at least as important as the adoption of new innovations. Second, we have included the participation comprehensiveness of adoption decision, arguing that the organizational decision-making process is also crucial to stimulating intra-firm diffusion. Finally, and more importantly, our study calls attention to the provider's role in expediting intra-firm diffusion.\nOriginality/value: First, we have suggested an analytic framework for intra-firm diffusion of an innovation and also provided its empirical support. Particularly, the current study has focused on the subsequent effects of intra-firm diffusion on both the adopter's and the provider's benefits. Second, we have examined further impact of the comprehensive participation of adoption decision on spreading innovation information, which subsequently stimulates the innovation's intra-firm diffusion.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Proposing a conceptual framework for customer identity and access management: A qualitative approach
|
[
"Iran",
"Identity management",
"Customer relationship management (CRM)",
"Identity and access management (IAM)",
"Customer identity and access management (CIAM)",
"Information and communication technology (ICT)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Identity is defined as \"one or more attributes which are applicable to this particular subject or object.\" A customer or user can hold many different identities and each identity can be devoted to many of his/her attributes. Identity management enables individuals to take control of their personal data when it is needed to share with other third parties and therefore supports their privacy (Tatli and Lucks, 2009). Digital identity is a core tool with which a person can access the services (Clare Sullivan, 2016). Identity is the most important part of any security-aware system. It allows users, services, servers and any other entities to be identified and recognized by other systems and parties (Al morsy et al., 2016). Identity and access management (IAM) is a security principle that helps the right people to access the right resources at the right time for the determined reason. IAM considers the influential and critical need to ensure appropriate access to resources across increasingly dynamic technologies and to meet different compliance needs. IAM is a crucial principle for any kind of enterprises. Enterprises which are attempting to develop IAM capabilities can reduce and manage identity management costs and become significantly agile in preparing new business initiatives and adapt to changes more easily (Gartner, 2017). The main concern of IAM relates to the verification of an entity's identity and devoting the correct level of access for the resources which are stored and protected in the cloud environment (Sharma et al., 2016). IAM is the combined disciplines of identity management and access management. Identity management is the discipline of managing identities and the associated user accounts in different systems. Access management is the discipline of managing access to information, a fundamental part of any information security strategy. Identity management is composed of three types of fundamental entities, namely, user, identity provider (IdP) and service provider (SP). IdP is the core element to perform identity management functions and is applied for establishing a trust relationship between SP and user. Moreover, SP is responsible to provide for application services. In reality, when a user requests service from SP, SP sends this query to IdP for user authentication. Then if the user is authenticated by IdP, SP provides for the user the requested service successfully (Chen et al., 2011). On the whole, the three key factors which determine the success or failure of the enterprise IAM deployment are as follows:\n2. Customer identity and access management: As today's hyper-connected customers use mobile apps to transact business online, as well as use self-service Web portals, kiosks and connected devices, they expect a secure and exciting experience. Now customer and customer identity (Gilbert, 2014) is one of the most critical issues that play a vital role in providing a consistent, unified experience across these channels. But managing customer identities to ensure that their experience is not clunky or insecure is important. When IAM cross mind, there is a huge difference between customers and employees. Unlike employees, customers are able and can switch to a competitor easily if they realize that their expectations are not met. CIAM solutions have some benefits which cannot be addressed by traditional IAM solutions. Security, ideal customer experiences and the ability to support digital services across multiple channels with sufficient scalability and performance are some of them. Understanding the opportunities of implementing CIAM may seem like a daunting task (Ping Identity, 2017). Reed and Forehand (2016) propose six processes for consumer identity in their framework. These processes are shown in Figure 2 and are as follows:\n3. Identity and access management vs. customer identity and access management: IAM includes the processes which are used to manage access to different resources. This is possible by verifying the identity of an entity, after verification of identity the access is granted at the proper level according to the policy of protected resource (Sharma et al., 2016). IAM is a critical part of an enterprise IT infrastructure. It is a cross-functional process consisting of traditional security modules which help to protect against unauthorized access to information resources and can be systemic and benefit more from dynamics to increase efficiency and effectiveness. Proper functioning of IAM is critical as it proves and monitors which users can access what kind of data and determines whether that access is authorized or not (Bradford M, et al., 2014).\n4. Requirements and features of customer identity and access management solutions: CIAM requires capabilities that are entirely different from traditional workforce identity management. In addition to the larger number of customer identities compared to employees and partners, ensuring on the criteria such as, availability, security and privacy and regulatory compliance are more complex in customer use cases, particularly in omni channel digital business. CIAM is a critical strategic tool for helping marketing and business leaders boost bottom line by delivering personalized customer experiences across multiple channels, apps and devices. Many organizations are limited by build-it-yourself and legacy workforce IAM systems that cannot handle the scale and complexity of CIAM. That is why IT leaders are looking at purpose-built CIAM solutions that can support digital business initiatives, such as launching new customer-facing apps, personalizing offers and services, improving data security and capturing and adhering to customer privacy and communication preferences. When it comes to customer, IAM usability is not the only consideration - although it may be the most important issue. This list is not intended to be comprehensive, but these are the seven primary requirements of CIAM:\n5. Research methodology: 5.1 Design\n6. Findings and analysis: The main themes of overall interviews are customer identity management (data Collection and aggregation and also customer profile management are identified themes), customer access management (services access policies and services access facilities are themes identified for this main theme), IT (operation, integration of customer data and IT supportive policies are themes for this main theme) and business management (CRM and business enforcements are themes in this section).\n7. Discussion: In this research, customer identity management was identified as one of the most important factors of CIAM framework. Customer identity management comprises all of the technologies that have evolved in enterprises, and in most cases takes advantage of them in line with the business ecosystem. CIAM puts customers at the center of the enterprise and getting access to applications, live data, and synchronizing and aggregating data across disparate sources is possible by using it. CIAM introduces a new generation of customer management (IAM cloud, 2017). Data collection and aggregation are the most important pillars of customer identity management. Data aggregation from multiple sources such as user profile, multiple account records, third-party databases and marketing systems into a single repository is a critical task in organizations (Ping Identity, 2015). As the customer's identity data is the heart of a CIAM solution, it is managed through customer profile management. It also includes data provided by customers through the registration and preference management process. Preference management should be customizable in a way that allows the IAM team to determine the shape and make sense of the workflows, and the gathered and stored data within the customer profile (Ping Identity, 2016). Profile management is focused on managing the life cycle of the user's identity data and includes capabilities such as creation, validation, augmentation, maintenance, usage and end of life (Forrester, 2015). Customer identity proofing is one of the sub-themes of customer profile management. National Institutes of Standards and Technologies (NIST) declares identity proofing is used to establish the uniqueness and validity of an individual's identity to facilitate the provision of entitlement or service and may rely upon various factors such as, identity documents, biographic information, biometric information and knowledge of personally relevant information or events. With the increased ability of malicious actors to gain access to data that was once considered private, the efficacy of proofing methods that rely on private data declines (NIST, 2015). This is important for fraud prevention purposes and is often triggered at the time of account creation. CIAM offerings should deliver integration with identity-proofing and assurance services to reduce fraud during account sign-up, but they also need to provide it in a nonintrusive manner (Forrester, 2015). The diversity of tools and channels to make a relationship with users is considered in this theme, too. Karen Renaud, et al. (2007) suggest that as more and more critically confidential information is managed electronically by distributed information systems, efforts to gain unauthorized access to that information become more prevalent. Accordingly, Al-Fairuz and Renaud (2009) argue that multi-channel authentication can meet different needs, depending on the business type and security levels required. Email applications, as an example, might require multi-channel authentication to be applied as the primary authentication level.\n8. Conclusion and suggestion for further research: Despite the fact that there are many different meanings applicable to customer identity, we consider it as a broad and vast spectrum of customer attributes or information in cyberspace (including previous, present or predicting the future behaviors or experiences of customers) in which organizations can access them to optimize delivering goods and service to them.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Customer identity and access management (CIAM) is a sub-genre of traditional identity and access management (IAM) that has emerged in the past few years to meet evolving business requirements. CIAM focuses on the connectivity with the customer when accessing any type of systems, on-premises and in the cloud, from registration to track. The purpose of this study is to introduce different dimensions of CIAM toward exploiting them in organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on a thorough review of the relevant literature and semi-structured interview with six experts in the field of digital IAM the necessary data were gathered. Then through the use of content analysis technique, analytic codes and also categories and sub-categories of the data were generated.\nFindings: Results indicate that four categories, namely, customer identity management, customer access management and information technology and business management are the most important factors affecting the identification of CIAM dimensions.\nOriginality/value: Organizations could avail of the proposed conceptual model toward identification and offering customized products and services solutions to their customers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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The effect of corporate social responsibility performance on financial performance: the case of food industry
|
[
"Corporate social responsibility",
"Financial performance",
"Environmental performance",
"Transparency"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Since the role of societies' needs and expectations play a significant role in companies' decisions, the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has attracted the interest of the academic community, investors and other organizational bodies (Manrique and Marti-Ballester, 2017). The term CSR directs companies' initiatives toward social good which is not required by the law, it is considered a strategic choice of companies, and it has very close relationship with the concept of sustainability (i.e. Hegde and Mishra, 2019). As the concept of society is very broadly defined, the stakeholder's approach is employed in order to present companies that should not only increase their shareholder values but also their stakeholders (Donaldson and Preston, 1995).The CSR and financial performance relationship is a puzzling issue to be studied, given the conflicting result derived in prior empirical studies (Margolis and Walsh, 2003). To be more specific, based on meta-analysis studies, the relationship between CSR and financial performance is found positive and yet, the most common one among other types (Orlitzky and Benjamin, 2001; Orlitzky et al., 2003; Margolis et al., 2007). Furthermore, Galant and Cadez (2017) stated that the positive relationship between CSR and financial performance is the most common among the other types.This study examines the effect of CSR performance on financial performance in the food sector. Sectoral characteristics formulate the CSR application because companies have different societal and environmental impacts (Griffin and Mahon, 1997), and the intensity level of competition may affect the focal relationship between CSR and financial performance (McWilliams and Siegel, 2000). Endrikat et al. (2014) underlined the significance of investigating individual sectors, while his study examined the CSR-financial performance relationship in the food sector.The study contributes to the existing literature in the following ways. To start with, three potential CSR performance aspects are considered in order to investigate the effect on financial performance. In particular, the total environmental index, the transparency level and the application of quality principles are considered as proxies of environmental, social and governance performance, respectively. Moreover, Thomson Reuter's data stream indicators have been used as proxies of CSR performance surpassing the subjectivity concerns of prior studies in the construction model of measuring CSR performance. In addition, the financial performance is defined both in composite aggregate index and specific financial performance measure. Furthermore, the study focuses on the food sector which is distinguished by specific features and the limitless attention that has been paid with respect to CSR and financial performance. Data of a six-year period are adopted contrary to the majority of studies focused on a few years of corporate data and based on international sample of food companies. Finally, the results of the study entail implications for companies' stakeholders such as investors or shareholders, managers and policymakers, providing valuable information so as to comprehend the role of CSR performance on financial performance. For instance, as a stand-alone, CSR reports facilitate investors to monitor and assess those companies that take into account social issues in their operations, so that the manager could develop a stand-alone disclosure in order to attract socially responsible investors and increase the financial performance. In addition, the positive effect of transparency on the financial performance reveals that corporate managers do not operate in an opportunistic way. In addition, the efforts of companies to reduce the environmental impact act as proactive initiatives and strategies in order to save environmental expenses leading to increased financial performance.The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 outlines the existing literature, and the hypotheses development is in Section 3. Section 4 describes the methodological steps taken, while the results of the study are provided in Section 5. In Section 6, there is a discussion of the Results section, and finally, Section 7 presents the conclusions along with the limitations of the study and suggestions for further research.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Corporate social responsibility and the food sector\n3. Hypotheses development: This section intends to develop the hypotheses of the impact of explanatory variable on the financial performance. A total of three main hypotheses are analyzed below: environmental performance, transparency level and quality principles as proxies of environmental, governance and social performance, respectively. 3.1 Environmental performance\n4. The research methodology: 4.1 The research sample\n5. Results: First of all, for all the variables employed in the present study, the descriptive statistics provided in Table 2 is calculated. For instance, the mean of both environmental and economic scores calculated by Thomson Reuter's data stream are 63.3 and 65.8 out of 100, respectively. The scores could be characterized as satisfactory by considering the fact that CSR initiatives are not mandatory. Furthermore, the majority of the firms seem to recognize the importance of CSR dissemination information by providing stand-alone sustainability disclosure, reaching 0.8 mean score. However, food firms of the sample do not seem to be implementing quality principles extensively, such as Six Sigma, Lean manufacturing, Lean Sigma and TQM as the mean score reaches only 0.4.The next step in our analysis involves the estimation of correlation matrix in order to eliminate bias problems in the model estimation. As Table 3 depicts, there is no multicollinearity among the variables as Pearson's correlation coefficients do not exceed the value 0.8 or 0.9 (Gujarati, 1988).According to the results derived, Table 4 presents the estimation results using the full sample of 45 firms for a six-year time period. Dependent variables in the two models used as proxy for financial performance are the economic score as well as the operating income, respectively.All the independent variables are found statistically significant; therefore, different aspects of social responsibility in food firms seem to have a significant impact on food firms' financial performance.The proposed models reveal that the environmental performance variable is significantly positive on aggregate financial measure at 1% level, consistent with Al-Tuwaijri et al. (2004), Iwata and Okada (2011) and Manrique and Marti-Ballester (2017), whilst the coefficient of the environmental performance indicates a significantly negative variable on operating income at 1% level. In addition, findings validate that stand-alone sustainable disclosure has a positive and a statistically significant impact on aggregate and single financial measures at 1% and 5% levels, respectively, consistent with Schadewitz and Niskala (2010), Griffin and Sun (2013) and Kumar and Firoz (2018). Moreover, the quality principles variable is positively associated with the aggregate and single financial performance measures and statistically significant at 10% and 1% levels, respectively, consistent with Shenaway et al. (2007), Shafer and Moeller (2012), Singh et al. (2018) and Albuhisi et al. (2018). Regarding the control variable, the results indicate that the board size is significantly positive on aggregate financial measure at 5% level and negative on single financial measure at 1% level.It is worth mentioning that the operating income due to its greater values was limited with the consideration in its logarithmic form, while the methodology employed was the EGLS panel.\n6. Discussion of results: According to the results, the responsible environmental, social and governance initiatives are the main determinants of financial performance (Endrikat et al., 2014).Results concerning the economic score revealed that environmental initiatives taken in business operations are tied with financial benefits exceeding their implementation cost (Manrique and Marti-Ballester, 2017). Therefore, a firm's effort to reduce environmental impact can be a profitable investment and not a cost imposed by a government or other local authorities (Wagner, 2002). In addition, the results confirm that the cost issue of this investment may be outsourced by improved financial performance via superior environmental performance (Ambec and Lanoie, 2008), given that the environmental pollution is a form of economic waste (Porter and van der Linde, 1995).On the one hand, the results are significant for food firms' managers because they may apply Thomson Reuter's environmental criteria in order to achieve higher levels of environmental performance reducing environmental impacts, such as water usage and innovative consumer products via product formulation or food qualities (Earle, 1997). On the other hand, investors tend to include in their portfolios' firms that incorporate environmental concerns in their business operations. In addition, investors have at their disposal aggregate environmental and financial measures in order to decide whether to invest or not.The results provide an insight for governmental and organizational policymakers promoting environmental responsibilities of food companies focusing on financial and nonfinancial targets. Furthermore, policymakers should incorporate practices to diffuse the results and the value of CSR measures to the investors and to the consumers for their own benefit.In terms of theory, the results are consistent with instrumental stakeholder theory and natural resource-based view which interpret the decision of managers toward environmental prevention and environmental performance (Jones, 1995).However, environmental performance does not have the same effect on operating income. Environmental initiatives that companies' integrate in their business procedures' cost cannot be transferred in food product prices, thus negatively affecting operating income, consistent with trade-off and value-destroying theories. Although operating income is not directly associated with the production cost, it seems that environmental initiatives increase the operating expenses leading to lower levels of operating income. Thus, it is revealed that environmental performance has a different effect on aggregate and single financial measures.By disseminating CSR information via stand-alone disclosure, firms illustrate that they consider the society's concerns into their operation so as to operate in accordance with legitimacy theory. Thus, disclosure initiatives toward legitimacy imply that firms operate within the bounds and norms of their respective societies positively assessed by market. In addition, managers should decide if they will follow external disclosure standards, such as Global Reporting Initiative or they will disseminate information according to their perceptions aiming to increase the effectiveness of CSR report. Furthermore, a stand-alone report intends to increase the transparency level which is desirable from stakeholders such as customers, while firms' report is an important tool for monitoring and assessing CSR performance. The positive effect of transparency on financial performance is important for investors because the stand-alone report reduces the monitoring cost paid by investors in order to assure that managers do not operate in an opportunistic way. Finally, public authorities should support companies to disseminate a stand-alone CSR report by providing laws and legislative reforms and organizing seminars and programs via institutional bodies to strengthen the relations between society and companies toward sustainability.Managers are able to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the implementation of quality principles in order to attract the investors' interest as food companies' initiatives are considered an important aspect for their decision-making (Kong, 2019).The vertical and/or horizontal organizational structure that quality principles require reveals a new concept of relations for both internal and external stakeholders based on a long-term partnership agreement (Antony et al., 2005). Therefore, the managers should develop and maintain an improved policy including seminars and training programs for employees in order to integrate them in business operations effectively and efficiently. An important issue for managers is to inform customers for the implementation of quality principles for quality food products as a means for acquiring reputation, customers' satisfaction and loyalty, increasing market share, product prices and therefore, a higher level of financial performance (Corredor and Goni, 2011).\n7. Conclusions: The results revealed that higher levels of environmental performance have a positive effect on aggregate financial performance, a result that is consistent with natural resource-based view and instrumental theory. Firms that uptake environmental initiatives in respect to resource reduction, emission reduction and product innovation in their core strategies being able to acquire competitive advantages, increase the financial performance. Furthermore, the establishment of the relationship with stakeholder regarding environmental concerns could lead to viable financial performance. Thus, the financial benefits exceed the cost of environmental protection. In addition, the results attract the interest of investors aiming to incorporate in their portfolios' companies that consider environmental considerations in their decisions.Furthermore, the findings of the present work confirm that financial performance is positively affected by the implementation of quality principles compatible to food industry, such as TQM, Six Sigma and Lean. The adoption of quality principles in a firm's operation can be a signal for the investors that these companies are taking into account internal and external processes leading to higher financial performance. Managers should be able to handle the new structure of the company as quality principles' tools demand both vertical and horizontal reorganization.Finally, the publication of a stand-alone CSR report is an important factor of financial performance. By increasing the transparency level, companies reveal that they operate in accordance with the societies' norm, which is considered a step to the right direction by market. In addition, managers should decide if they will adopt an external CSR disclosure or not so as to expand disclosure effectiveness. Finally, a stand-alone CSR report has important implications both for the customers and investors as the transparency level is an important communication tool for their decisions.To synopsize, companies that integrate environmental, social and governance initiatives in business operations achieve a higher level of financial performance, confirming the instrumental stakeholder theory of value creation. This implies that companies that fulfill stakeholders' expectations under the prevailing conditions toward CSR may achieve better financial performance.There are certain limitations that need to be stated and addressed in the future. First of all, the sample of the study refers to international sample of food companies revealing generalized results. Future studies could consider specific countries in order to produce homogeneous results. Despite the six-year investigation period, future studies should incorporate a longer period and a larger sample in order to provide less robust results. In addition, the sample of the study is focused on large-size companies as listed in stock market neglecting small and medium-sized companies. Furthermore, the transparency level should incorporate not only the stand-alone reports but also other communication tools, such as food packages which are considered the most effective tool for the food sector. Finally, alternate statistical methodological approaches regarding economic and environmental aggregate indices should be employed in order to ascertain the validity of the results such as logit and probit regressions or the generalized least squares method.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The present study examines the impact of the different dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance on the financial performance of food companies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: As proxies for the financial performance, two different indices are employed: a single index, namely, operating income and an aggregate financial index, namely, economic score. The CSR performance based on Thomson Reuter's data stream methodology involves three distinct aspects of the CSR concept: environmental, social and governance for the time spanning 2012-2017.\nFindings: Findings based on estimated generalized least squares (EGLS) indicate that the higher level of environmental performance (as described by an aggregate environmental index), the publishing of a stand-alone sustainable report and the implementation of quality principles, such as Total Quality Management (TQM), Lean and Six Sigma positively affect the financial performance.\nOriginality/value: The results provide useful implications to stakeholders, mainly to corporate managers and investors for uptaking initiatives aiming toward the eco-efficiency of the food company.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Multimarket competition and innovation in industrial markets: Spain and Colombia in comparative perspective
|
[
"Innovation",
"Automotive components industry",
"Aggressiveness",
"Market contingencies",
"Multimarket competition"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The globalization process, coupled with technological changes, has increased the current competitive intensity in every kind of market (Adomako et al., 2017). Product innovation and market diversification have been two mechanisms used by managers to improve their firms' position while reducing risks during competition (Wu, 2013). However, these mechanisms have increased the number of companies competing simultaneously across several markets (Arie et al., 2017; Jayachandran et al., 1999; Yu and Cannella, 2013). This phenomenon is known as multimarket competition (Arie et al., 2017; Karnani and Wernerfelt, 1985), and it has associated a theoretical corpus to investigate dynamics and strategy during competition (Chen and Miller, 2012).\nLiterature review: The high diversification of products and geographic markets have favored the concurrence and competition of the same firms in multiple markets, in other words, firms having multimarket contact (Yu and Cannella, 2013). This prevalent trend in many industries has led to the emergence of multimarket competition theory. This theory focuses on studying those situations where firms simultaneously compete against each other in more than one market (Jayachandran et al., 1999; Kang et al., 2010; Karnani and Wernerfelt, 1985). Its roots arise from sociology and industrial organization economics (Haveman and Nonnemaker, 2000) and it has become a central area of research in competitive strategy during past years (Chen and Miller, 2012; Dash, 2017). Indeed, multimarket competition helps understanding competitive dynamics and how rivals respond to actions (Gomez et al., 2017). The next paragraphs provide detailed insights on key concepts of multimarket competition, like aggressiveness, mutual forbearance, market concentration and also its relationship to innovation, an understudied research field on multimarket competition (Anand et al., 2009). These concepts help better in comprehending the consequences and implications of competition at the firm and market level.\nResearch questions: The multimarket theory considers that those actors that meet in multiple markets are less aggressive towards each other than those that meet in one or few markets (Edwards, 1955; Chuang and Thomson, 2017). Therefore, those competitive actions that could damage both firms reducing benefits, such as price war, may deter rivals to initiate threatening activities (Chellappa et al., 2010). As the competitive actions reflect the individual-firm competitive behavior, the observation of these moves is a way to understand decision-taking during competition in markets with different contingencies (Yu and Cannella, 2013; Gomez et al., 2017).\nMethodology: Research approach\nAnalysis of results: General analysis based on grounded theory\nDiscussion: This section discuss the differences identified in companies belonging to the same strategic group in two markets with different contingencies such as Colombia and Spain. In the first place, market concentration and aggressiveness are addressed and, later, innovation.\nConclusions: This work studies an almost uncover issue in multimarket competition literature such as innovation, and it looks at it in two markets with different contingencies. The findings show that multi-market competition is a natural consequence for those firms looking for combating the market aggressiveness. This relief comes from two main areas, innovation and the development of new business and diversification. Thus, innovation can be considered in terms of technological innovation within the sector or in terms of diversification towards other sectors. The first group of firms would be led by those with greater resources and those in countries with a more developed industry, while the second group is composed of firms with fewer resources and more difficulties for a direct dialogue with the client, because of a lower business development. The development of new businesses is associated, mainly, not only to periods of crisis, in which the entry into different markets has been considered a lifesaving table for certain companies, but also to the difficulties to develop and contribute in the automotive sector.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Multimarket competition is an area of competitive dynamics focused on studying situations where firms compete against each other simultaneously in more than one market. The intensity of competition depends on the aggressiveness and the market contingencies, influencing the competitive strategies. Particularly, the purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of multimarket competition and market contingencies on innovation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An exploratory qualitative approach using the Grounded Theory is applied with conceptual purposes. The data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and additional observations with senior strategies and decision-makers. The paper follows an extensive narrative to understand decision-taking processes on competitive strategy with the support of analytical software. The paper was performed in the automotive components industry making seats in two different countries to acknowledge the influence of market contingencies.\nFindings: The results suggest that multimarket competition does not reduce the level of aggressiveness, but it offers a background that favors opportunities for companies and new business in circumstances of crisis associated to innovation. Depending on the market contingencies, strategies can foster a higher technological innovation, in those cases of high development in the industry, or diversification, when the development is lower.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to enrich multimarket competition theory with the study of innovation strategies in different market conditions, a topic not much explored in multimarket literature. Additionally, it suggests implications for managers attending to different market contingencies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Brief self-efficacy interventions to increase healthy dietary behaviours: evidence from two randomized controlled trials
|
[
"Brief intervention",
"Healthy dietary behaviour",
"Fruit and vegetable intake",
"Self-efficacy",
"Randomized controlled trial"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: According to global estimates of the World Health Organization (2003), worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975. In 2016, 39% of adults aged 18 years and over were overweight and 13% were obese (Obesity and overweight, 2018). This is largely caused by current eating habits, which often consist of too many unhealthy and energy-dense products and too few healthy products. A joint WHO and FAO [1] report (2003) recommends a daily intake of at least 400 g of fruits and vegetables. However, fruit and vegetable intake is often below recommendations in most affluent countries. Furthermore, most individuals eat too much salt (Hendriksen et al., 2014), saturated fat (Eilander et al., 2015) and calories (Crino et al., 2015). These unhealthy eating habits increase the prevalence of diet-related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. Therefore, it is important that a shift in dietary behaviours occurs.Correlational research (Annesi, 2011; Guillaumie et al. 2010; Fernandez et al., 2015; Storm et al., 2017) and experimental field studies (e.g. Luszczynska et al., 2007; Kreausukon et al., 2012; Luszczynska et al., 2016) have shown that self-efficacy, the conviction that one can successfully execute a behaviour required to produce certain outcomes (Bandura, 1977), often plays an important role in the performance of healthy dietary behaviours. Over the years, self-efficacy has successfully been used to target a broad range of health topics, such as fruit and vegetable intake. However, the way self-efficacy is currently being targeted is often rather intensive and requires much effort from a participant (Prestwich et al., 2014). For example, Kreausukon et al. (2012) targeted self-efficacy with lectures and a psychological programme, and Luszczynska et al. (2016) and Guillaumie et al. (2012) implemented sessions with group and/or face-to-face components. This is not surprising, since self-efficacy originates from clinical psychology (Bandura, 1977), where behavioural techniques to target self-efficacy often include direct contact between a professional and a patient (Bandura, 1977).Nevertheless, such intensive interventions require relatively much resources, both for the professional executing the intervention and for the person who is targeted with the intervention. Resources are often scarce. A recent systematic review suggests that in general, brief interventions, which are limited in the number and length of contact moments, can also be effective and improve short-term dietary behaviours (Whatnall et al., 2018). Furthermore, Whatnall et al. (2018) argue that brief interventions can have certain advantages over more intensive interventions when it comes to effectiveness, reach and engagement. For instance, brief interventions are cost-effective due to reduced time and expertise requirements compared with more intensive interventions. Moreover, people might be more inclined to participate in a brief intervention, because it requires limited effort from participants in terms of time and commitment.However, there is limited evidence for the effectiveness of brief self-efficacy interventions on dietary behaviours; Whatnall et al. (2018) report merely a few studies that use self-efficacy techniques as a brief behavioural intervention to target dietary behaviours. Even though there is little evidence, these few studies do show potential for brief self-efficacy interventions. For instance, Luszczynska et al. (2007) delivered a successful self-efficacy intervention through sending an individually tailored email with information about self-efficacy, feedback with personal results and multiple self-efficacy techniques. Furthermore, Kellar and Abraham (2005) tested a brief intervention that employed persuasive communication targeting self-efficacy, along with other mechanisms. Their intervention did not influence self-efficacy, but did influence intentions, anticipated regret and self-reported fruit and vegetable intake (Kellar and Abraham, 2005). This paper aims to add to this knowledge by examining brief interventions that exclusively focus on self-efficacy techniques, rather than also considering other mechanisms. The current paper will contribute to the understanding of the concept self-efficacy and its range of possibilities in influencing behaviour. Moreover, exploring the potential of brief self-efficacy interventions could promote the use and implementation of self-efficacy strategies and increase healthy dietary behaviours on a larger scale.H1. A brief self-efficacy intervention can promote healthy dietary behavioursH2. Self-efficacy positively mediates the effect of a brief self-efficacy intervention on healthy dietary behavioursThe present studies\nStudy 1 [2]: Study 1 aimed to test whether a brief offline multi-component self-efficacy intervention can influence fruit and vegetable intake. Multiple self-efficacy techniques were integrated on a flyer and sent to participants' homes. The outcome variable of the first study was fruit and vegetable intake, for it is below national recommendations (Brink et al., 2016), associated with better health and prevention of diseases (Guillaumie et al., 2012), and self-efficacy has been linked to fruit and vegetable intake in previous studies (e.g. Kreausukon et al., 2012; Luszczynska et al., 2016).Method\nStudy 2 [6]: Study 2 aimed to test whether a brief online single-component self-efficacy intervention can influence healthy dietary behaviour in the form of compliance with a plan to decrease either salt intake or fat intake or caloric intake. The self-efficacy technique was selected based on the meta-analysis from Prestwich et al. (2014) and aims to target performance accomplishments. It is a technique that can be effective without combining it with other techniques (Prestwich et al., 2014). To capture a broad range of healthy dietary behaviours, the outcome variable of study 2 focussed on decreasing unhealthy eating habits. Areas that can be improved on and that are familiar to most consumers are decreasing salt intake (Hendriksen et al., 2014), decreasing saturated fat intake (Eilander et al., 2015) and decreasing caloric intake (Crino et al., 2015). All participants made a diet plan focussing on one of these three areas and as an outcome variable we measure compliance to this diet plan.Method\nGeneral discussion: The aim of the current studies was to gain more insight into the effects of brief self-efficacy interventions on dietary behaviours and whether self-efficacy is the underlying mechanism that drives these effects. Brief interventions can be more cost-effective due to reduced time and expertise required for implementation compared with longer, multi-session interventions. Also, brief interventions have the potential to reach a larger and more diverse population, because they require less effort from participants in terms of time and commitment (Whatnall et al., 2018). In study 1, we found that a brief multi-component self-efficacy intervention, implemented at home, marginally significantly increased VI (bot not FI) compared to a control group. However, evidence for a positive mediation effect was absent, suggesting that self-efficacy was not necessarily the underlying mechanism for the effect on VI. In study 2, we found that a brief single-component self-efficacy intervention, implemented online, did not have a direct effect on healthy dietary behaviour in the form of reported compliance to eat healthier, but did indirectly increase the reported compliance through a mediation effect of dietary self-efficacy.These findings bring forth multiple new insights concerning the concept of self-efficacy, brief interventions and mediation effects in field studies. Our results extend insights that in general brief interventions can affect dietary behaviours (Whatnall et al., 2018). Our studies showed that a brief intervention specifically targeted towards people's self-efficacy can directly increase VI and indirectly improve compliance to a diet plan to eat more healthily. We do not find an increase in FI, possibly because the brief intervention predominantly focussed on VI, as the intervention included a main meal recipe that contained vegetables, but not fruits.A second aim was to gain more insight into the underlying mechanisms by which brief self-efficacy interventions influenced our outcomes, because this gives valuable information on the potential of interventions (O'Rourke and MacKinnon, 2018). Moreover, studying mediation is especially valuable when a concept is difficult to manipulate (Spencer et al., 2005), which seems to be the case with self-efficacy, as self-efficacy interventions show inconsistent results concerning the mediation of dietary self-efficacy. For instance, Luszczynska et al. (2007), Kreausukon et al. (2012) and Luszczynska et al. (2016) do find a mediation effect of dietary self-efficacy, while Guillaumie et al. (2012), Pedersen et al. (2016) and Keller et al. (2018) do not. In our studies we also find inconsistent mediation effects, namely that dietary self-efficacy does not - or negatively in the case of self-efficacy with regard to eating vegetables during a meal - mediate the effect of a multi-component brief self-efficacy intervention on fruit and vegetable intake, while it does fully mediate a single-component brief self-efficacy intervention on compliance with a diet plan.These studies provide more insight into the sensitivity of self-efficacy as a concept in brief dietary interventions and show that a different manipulation of self-efficacy can lead to different outcomes. For instance, we find that manipulating multiple self-efficacy techniques within a brief intervention is more effective to influence healthy dietary behaviours compared to manipulating one self-efficacy technique, which is line with the findings of Prestwich et al. (2014). This makes sense, as applying multiple techniques makes it likely that other mechanisms, besides self-efficacy, are (also) influenced that could have a positive effect on dietary behaviours. For example, in study 1, participants' self-identity could have been influenced by giving them a feeling of being someone who eats fruit and vegetables. Self-identity as a healthy eater is found to be a direct driver of health behaviour (Strachan and Brawley, 2009; Carfora et al., 2016). Strachan and Brawley (2009) suggest that self-efficacy is an important factor for individuals to attain identity-behaviour congruence. The brief intervention was possibly helpful in matching one's identity with one's behaviour. Moreover, the brief self-efficacy intervention in study 1 could also have influenced attitudes. Information on the healthiness of fruit and vegetables could have created a more positive attitude towards fruits and vegetables. This in turn could have influenced intentions and behaviour following the theory of planned behaviour (TPB; Ajzen, 1991). Future research can test these potential other mechanisms that could also have been affected by our multi-component intervention.Thus, the direct effect found in study 1 could be explained by other unmeasured mechanisms, besides self-efficacy, that were triggered by the brief intervention. That self-efficacy did not increase as result of the intervention can be explained by the fact that self-efficacy is a concept that is difficult to manipulate, as evidenced by the previously mentioned inconsistent findings regarding mediational effects of self-efficacy. Moreover, the effect of a self-efficacy intervention strongly depends on the self-efficacy technique that is used (Prestwich et al., 2014), and the extent to which dietary self-efficacy is influenced can differ between individuals (Keller et al., 2018). Part of the findings of study 1 even suggest that self-efficacy (regarding eating vegetables during a meal) negatively mediates the effect of the intervention on VI. An explanation can be that participating in a dietary study can negatively influence self-efficacy as it can be an unpleasant reminder about failure to perform a challenging task (Pedersen et al., 2016). Moreover, when testing an indirect effect, it remains possible that variables other than the independent variable influence both the mediator (self-efficacy) and the outcome variable, even though the independent variable is randomized (Loeys et al., 2015).Limitations and future research\nConclusion: Our studies provide first insights into the potential of brief self-efficacy interventions in improving dietary patterns. This can help practitioners apply less intensive and more cost-effective techniques to improve healthy dietary behaviours on a broad scale. Moreover, our findings provide insight into the concept self-efficacy. Indication that self-efficacy can be influenced through brief techniques shows that it might not only be a concept that can be trained together with a professional but that it can also be activated from a distance without face-to-face contact.Our findings also indicate that using multiple self-efficacy techniques in a brief intervention can have more impact on healthy dietary behaviours than using a single technique. Thus, when the aim is to reach impact in society, a multi-component approach can be the solution. However, using multiple techniques can give an unclear picture of the underlying mechanisms. Thus, when the goal is to gain more insight into these mechanisms, a single-component approach would be a better fit.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: Self-efficacy has often been found to play a significant role in healthy dietary behaviours. However, self-efficacy interventions most often consist of intensive interventions. The authors aim to provide more insight into the effect of brief self-efficacy interventions on healthy dietary behaviours.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In the present article, two randomized controlled trials are described. In study 1, a brief self-efficacy intervention with multiple self-efficacy techniques integrated on a flyer is tested, and in study 2, an online brief self-efficacy intervention with a single self-efficacy technique is tested.\nFindings: The results show that a brief self-efficacy intervention can directly increase vegetable intake and indirectly improve compliance to a diet plan to eat healthier.\nOriginality/value: These findings suggest that self-efficacy interventions do not always have to be intensive to change dietary behaviours and that brief self-efficacy interventions can also lead to more healthy dietary behaviours.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Leadership message helps Sharks to bite back: Change-management experts work at Rugby Union club
|
[
"Sports",
"Change management",
"Performance management",
"Leadership"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: English Rugby Union team Sale Sharks is rising through the ranks after change-management expert SFL shared its tips for on- and off-pitch performance.\nBuilding a leadership message: \"Working with experts in change management helped the entire club to develop its strategic direction by building a leadership message,\" he explained.The leadership message is used as a constant guide to track progress. It states that the Sharks' shared vision is to be champions - an aim that is achievable by sticking together, having courage and integrity, fostering a winning mentality, and combining humility and high performance:* Sticking together is defined as supporting each other, making unified decisions and seeking to understand each other and situations.* Courage and integrity are fostered by trying to do the right thing, deal honestly, avoid politics and a blame culture, talk straight, give and take, and always offer constructive feedback.* The route to a winning mentality is through passion, ambition, creativeness and a willingness to put in hard graft.* Humility, in the context of the leadership message, is seen as having no egos, and showing respect to oneself and others. \"Everyone is an employee,\" said Nathan Bombrys.* High performance is shown through leading and setting the standard, great sporting experience, living the code of conduct and achieving profitable growth.\"Following the working and behavior patterns will lead to success for the team, supporters, sponsors, the community and shareholders,\" said Nathan Bombrys.\nThe club's aims for the future: By complying with SFL's targets, Sale Sharks aims, over the next five years, to win the Guinness Premiership twice and the Heineken Cup. It hopes to have a team of world-class players, at least ten of whom will be home-grown.Through profitable growth, the club aims to improve its facilities in the next two years and be a great place to work and develop. There will be an annual membership event that will keep the supporters in touch with the players and will help to foster pride in the club's success. SFL itself sponsors two Sharks players - Sebastien Chabal and Rudi Kiel.The immediate aims are to win the European Challenge Cup and to secure a Heineken Cup place for next season.\"We want Rugby fans in north-west England to view the Sharks as their club,\" said Nathan Bombrys. \"This will be achieved through involving the community in various activities we have planned.\"The club also hopes to achieve year-on-year growth, generating cash and profit that can be reinvested.\"We had never undergone such a program and we believe it is unique for a change-management firm to take a business like this and apply principles of practice,\" said Nathan Bombrys. \"It has helped us to focus on what we want to achieve both on and off the pitch and has promoted a strong message to be champions.\"It has brought a real buzz and charge to the players and staff. We are having a much better season as everyone is working together with the shared focus on becoming champions.\"John Fay commented: \"Sale Sharks want to be champions so we identified how this could be achieved, through working together and sharing a winning mentality. This kind of attitude and dedication are helping the team on and off the field and has also spilled out into the supporters, sponsors, shareholders and community. We want to build on the Sale Sharks experience for all.\"Sharks is continuing to work with SFL - whose clients include Littlewoods Shop Direct Group, Lloyds TSB, LaFarge, Superdrug, Zurich, Lloyds Pharmacy and the Royal Air Force - to develop and strengthen the progression plan and build better links with the community and supporters.\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest editor, wrote this article.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to examine how change-management specialist SFL is improving the performance, on and off the pitch, of English Rugby Union club Sale Sharks.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Details the leadership message that is helping to achieve success for the team, supporters, sponsors, the community and shareholders.\nFindings: - Stresses the importance of sticking together, having courage and integrity, fostering a winning mentality, and combining humility and high performance.\nPractical implications: - Highlights the links between success on and off the field.\nOriginality/value: - Describes how change-management and leadership principles are being applied in a sporting context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Knowledge transfer in a start-up craft brewery
|
[
"Knowledge transfer in start-ups",
"SME start-ups",
"SME development",
"SME business processes",
"Craft beer"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Through a case study of Birra Flea, an Italian Craft Brewery founded by entrepreneur Matteo Minelli, we explore the changing role of entrepreneurs in the knowledge transfer (KT) process during the start-up and development phases of an SME. Birra Flea is an interesting business that is constantly growing. Due to an advantageous connection between one of the authors and Minelli, Minelli's role is analysed with a particular focus on his ability to engage other people in the process of establishing the brewery.\nLiterature review: This literature review explores how small enterprises, especially start-ups, use knowledge to begin and grow. Knowledge plays a crucial role in creating value for companies and has a major influence on their survival. Penrose (1959) outlines two kinds of knowledge relevant to a company's success: entrepreneurial knowledge and managerial knowledge. Entrepreneurial knowledge relates to an individual recognising and developing a business opportunity, and managerial knowledge refers to developing the business processes associated with that opportunity. To understand the learning mechanisms that govern the development of each type of knowledge in the context of our investigation, the following sub-sections outline learning and KT in SMEs as they start-up and then develop. The literature review concludes with our research question.\nResearch methodology and data collection: A case study methodology is appropriate for answering this research question because it allows researchers to \"capture various nuances, patterns, and more latent elements that other research approaches might overlook\" (Berg, 2007, p. 318). This is especially so where the actions of participants form the main subject of an investigation. Case studies also allow the use of a comprehensive set of data collection methods (Creswell et al., 2007, p. 75), such as direct observations, participant observations, interviews and the analysis of documentation, archival records, and physical artefacts (Yin, 2014, p. 106). Birra Flea is an appropriate subject for study because it represents a good example of a successful start-up company operating in a unique and growing segment of the craft beer industry. And its development derives from KT processes involving the entrepreneur. For Birra Flea, KT is a relevant and complex process. As researchers, we were provided with an opportunity to investigate issues relevant to our research question in a practical context where the participants' experiences were critical to the outcome (Bhattacherjee, 2012), but where we had little or no control over their behaviour (Yin, 2014, p. 14). Corroborating our observations with additional data sources allowed us to \"clarify meaning by identifying different ways the phenomenon is being seen\" (Stake, 2000, p. 444), and to synthesise the evidence and validate our findings through triangulation (Yin, 2014, p. 120). Additionally, these data provided a rich array of evidence for understanding the social and operational context in which KT is implemented, and make that context \"intelligible to the reader\" (Dyer and Wilkins, 1991, p. 634). Practitioners will be able to translate our findings into day-to-day practice, with an awareness of the steps that are crucial in both the start-up and development phases.\nAnalytical framework: This section presents a description of Liyanage et al.'s (2009) theoretical framework we used to interpret the data - hereafter referred to as the Liyanage framework. This framework identifies some of the key components in the KT process, such as relevant knowledge, sources and receivers, KT steps and other elements that describe the form of transfer and measure its effectiveness.\nFindings: In this section, the start-up phase at Birra Flea is analysed through KT constructs, revealing two KT processes: one from external sources to the entrepreneur and another from the entrepreneur to the organisation. Through this interpretive research, the characteristics of the KT process and the role of the entrepreneur during the start-up phase are described. The section concludes with the changes likely to occur during the next phase of Birra Flea's development.\nDiscussion: the entrepreneur's role in KT processes during start-up and development: Applying the Liyanage model, the Birra Flea case illustrates how KT in a start-up took place in two cycles. As shown in Figure 2. Minelli triggered the first cycle of KT from external sources into business processes, and our analysis shows that the first important factor of KT is a combination of entrepreneurial passion and exploiting knowledge from past experiences. As IS2 points out:We started with a lot of expertise, know-how, and Matteo's experiences as an entrepreneur in other areas.\nConclusion: The start-up phase of an SME is a critical moment where knowledge management can determine the success and the sustainability of the new enterprise. With this research, we shed light on KT practices by examining the KT processes in an award-winning start-up: Birra Flea. Analysing the KT process involved the young entrepreneur Matteo Minelli, four key members of the organisation (consultant, brewer, administrative manager and commercial manager), and several publicly available resources. The analysis shows how the development of the business idea - i.e. experimenting with recipes, identifying customer segments, investment planning, etc. - required a complex combination of knowledge (planning and control, product and market knowledge) that was initially acquired by the entrepreneur and was then transferred into business processes. Conversely, as the business develops and still grows, these KT processes are being reversed, and the knowledge of the entrepreneur is being transferred into the business processes of the enterprise. The theoretical and practical implications of our research are outlined next.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the entrepreneur in the knowledge transfer (KT) process of a start-up enterprise and the ways that role should change during the development phase to ensure mid-term business survival and growth.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An in-depth, qualitative case study of Birra Flea, an Italian Craft Brewery, is presented and analysed using Liyanage et al.'s (2009) framework to identify the key components of the KT process, including relevant knowledge, key actors, transfer steps and the criteria for assessing its effectiveness and success.\nFindings: The entrepreneur played a fundamental and crucial role in the start-up process, acting as a selective and passionate broker for the KT process. As Birra Flea matures and moves into the development phase, the role of the entrepreneur as KT's champion needs to be integrated and distributed throughout the organisation, with the entrepreneur serving as a performance controller.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study enriches the knowledge management literature by applying a framework designed to provide a general description of KT, with some modifications, to a single case study to demonstrate its effectiveness in differentiating types of knowledge and outlining how KT can be configured to support essential business functions in an SME.\nPractical implications: The analysis systematises the KT mechanisms that govern the start-up phase of an award-winning SME, with suggestions for how to manage KT during the development phase. Seldom are practitioners given insight into the mechanics of a successful SME start-up; this analysis serves as a practical guide for those wishing to implement effective KT strategies to emulate Birra Flea's success.\nOriginality/value: The world's economy thrives on SMEs, yet many fail as start-ups before they even have a chance to reach the development phase, presenting a motivation to study the early stages of SMEs. This study addresses that gap with an in-depth theoretical analysis of successful, effective KT processes in an SME, along with practical implications to enhance the knowledge, experience and skills of the actors that sustain these vital economic enterprises.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
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