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Sustainability vs credibility of fiscal consolidation: A principal components factor analysis for the Euro Zone	[ "Eurozone debt crisis", "Models of self-fulfilling beliefs", "Principal components factor analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The \"shock therapy\" of front-loaded, \"ambitious\" fiscal consolidation plans, also known in Europe as \"austerity\", hinges on the credibility approach. In this approach, governments are urged to announce and implement large fiscal adjustments that are rewarded with lower interest rate. This is crucial. Even though austerity may have short-run negative effects on aggregate demand, these may be compensated by a permanent cut of the risk premium that prompts long-term private expenditure (e.g. Corsetti et al., 2010; Roeger and in't Veld, 2013; Buti and Pench, 2012).\n2. Facts in search of theory: Empirical research on risk premia in the EZ debt crisis is burgeoning. Challenging technical problems aside, some convergence can be detected. Overall, the EZ turmoil has shaken the reliance on financial market efficiency in providing the right stick and carrot mix that should drive fiscal consolidation[7]. Evidence has been found that post-2009 spreads not only reflect country-specific fundamentals but are also highly sensitive to \"systemic risk\" and other exogenous factors (Manganelli and Wolswijk, 2009; Sgherri and Zoli, 2009; Attinasi et al., 2009; Caceres et al., 2010; Favero and Missale, 2011). Also, there is evidence of \"contagion\", that is, the transmission of high spreads across countries via non-fundamental channels (Caceres et al., 2010; De Grauwe and Ji, 2013; Tola and Waldi, 2012). De Grauwe and Ji support the hypothesis of \"self-fulfilling beliefs\" via the positive feedback mechanism among market beliefs of default, higher spread, higher fiscal effort and reinforcement of market beliefs.\n3. Models of \"self-fulfilling beliefs\": De Grauwe and Ji (2013) make explicit reference to models of \"self-fulfilling beliefs\". This is, in fact, a growing literature on sovereign-debt crises that embeds the above-mentioned positive feedback mechanism and challenges both the efficient market hypothesis and the austerity doctrine. More recent examples include Corsetti and Dedola (2011), De Grauwe (2012), Gros (2012), Cooper (2012), Ghosh et al. (2013), Tamborini (2014a)[10]. This approach has also obtained an authoritative endorsement in the ECB president's speech where the OMT program was announced:\n4. A dynamic PCFA: As said above, the critical problem of the sustainability approach is that the main driver(s) of investors' behavior may be one (or more) unobservable variable(s) that they use to assess sustainability. Meanwhile, more than one observable variable may reasonably be conceived of as proxying the unobservable(s). These problems can be dealt with by means of well-established statistical techniques, which are, however, less common in the macro and financial fields. In this section, we present the results of a dynamic PCFA.\n5. Conclusions: The EZ sovereign debt crisis has challenged common wisdom and expected results of the austerity policies, especially those enforced with particular intensity onto the countries under most severe financial distress (the EZ5). Until the ECB has intervened promising a backstop against the escalation of spreads, austerity policies have been unable to curb large-risk premia and the growth of debts relative to GDP. The models of \"self-fulfilling beliefs\" of default that we have discussed provide a consistent explanation of these phenomena. In particular that large and fast fiscal adjustments may be deemed unsustainable by investors, thus increasing, instead of decreasing, their perceived risk of default. The preliminary correlation analysis presented in Section 2 has provided evidence that, in fact, cumulated fiscal adjustments and spreads of the EZ5 countries in 2010-2012 are positively correlated, and that the best correlated variable with spreads is the growing gap between the actual fiscal adjustment and the one required to stabilize the debt/GDP ratio.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain why some countries in the eurozone between 2010 and 2012 experienced a dramatic vicious circle between hard austerity plans and rising default risk premia. Were such plans too small, and hence non-credible, or too large, and hence non-sustainable? These questions have prompted theoretical and empirical investigations in the line of the so-called \"self-fulfilling beliefs\", where beliefs of unsustainability of fiscal adjustments, and hence default on debt, feed higher risk premia which indeed make fiscal adjustments less sustainable.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Detecting the sustainability factor in the evolution of spreads is uneasy because it is largely non-observable and may be proxied by different variables. In this paper, the authors present the results of a dynamic principal components factor analysis (PCFA) applied to a panel data set of the 11 major EZ countries from 2000 to 2013, consisting of each country's spread of long-term interest rate over Germany as dependent variable, and an array of leading fiscal and macroeconomic indicators of solvency fiscal effort and its sustainability.\nFindings: The authors have been able to identify the role of these indicators that combine themselves as significant latent variables in boosting spreads. Moreover, the large joint deterioration of these variables is identifiably located between 2009 and 2012 and particularly for the group of countries under most severe default risk (with Italy and France as borderline cases). The authors also find evidence that the announcement of the European Central Bank Outright Monetary Transactions program has improved the sustainability assessment of sovereign debts.\nOriginality/value: Dynamic PCFA is a rather unusual technique with respect to standard econometric tests of models, which is particularly well-suited to reduce the number of variables in a data set by extracting meaningful linear combinations from the observed variables that may concur to explain a given phenomenon (the dependent variable). These combinations, called \"common factors\", can be interpreted as latent, non-observable variables.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Using assignment model as an automated recovery system	[ "Disasters", "Data security", "Data handling", "System monitoring" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is no software engineer on Earth that feels comfortable after a server failure. Especially on real-time applications based on distributed databases, used mostly on military institutions and nation-wide organizations, the difficulties become more and more intense during data retrieval after a hardware failure or software failure. Studies in the last decade in the USA (1998), show that 20 per cent of data loss cannot be retrieved due to permanent failure, with major cost for the companies (Smith, 1999) At this point it must be noted the fact that the cost of data lost influence on the value of the destroyed data and less on different factors such as the decrease of productivity of the employees or the reduction of technical support. Furthermore the existing recovery systems offer solutions over usual classical cases of hardware or software failure. In addition, data are easily and constantly exposed on threats from the internet or from irregular data space; it is perceptible then the necessity of effective retrieval methods due to the lack of new methodologies of confrontation.The events of September 11 have affected all the aspects of our life. That day became a milestone in the section of disaster recovery. The tragic events of that day affected the revolution of the disaster recovery systems. Many of the existing methodologies were applied during the crisis; a new need to review and optimize disaster recovery theory has arisen. New techniques more effective and flexible were invented in order to confront the critical condition that many enterprises had faced. Those new methodologies are trying to face threats that until now, they were less significant, but they are proved to be the opposite exactly. In particular, after the huge amount of casualties and the destructions, it is more understandable that during crisis, in order to achieve the maximum of performance of a disaster recovery system, it is not preferable to use and count on the human factor. It seems that, human factor is unstable and in many cases unreliable.In our days, disaster recovery plans appear a variety of types with unstable cost. The cost changes considering the techniques and the material that are used in many cases in order to achieve a successful result. Obviously, cost is increasing as new techniques and more improved methodologies are added at the existing simple plan. These methodologies contain a variety of data storage types. (Ball et al., 1982). Backup techniques are more useful and necessary in order to succeed the correct data storage and the quick restoration of them in critical situations. An optimised backup technique will be in real time. However, a successful backup method must take place in short terms so as to achieve the correct and most well informed of it and has the chance to save any changes in the data. Backup techniques are analysed in the following section:* The first type of backup is the simple (full backup) where we save all the data that we keep in the hard disks of the server (Da Silva and Gudmundsson, 1993).* Incremental backup saves the data that have been transformed.* A new backup technique is supported in files (file based) (Chervenak et al., 1998).* Finally, on line backup, in real time is the most spread way of data storage (Chervenak et al., 1998).The transition to more complicated disaster recovery plans leads us through the area of informatics and information assurance to the area of risk management. Generally, it is essential to recognize the current situation and the current structure of the system before certain activities taken place.\nData threats: Today's complicated structure of modern informatics systems affect the way we save the data. The data are vulnerable to a variety of threats. It is then imperative the need of discovering new, effective countermeasures. In order to achieve that purpose we divide the threats that an information system faces into two major categories. The main threats are failures destroying parts of software or hardware. However, in many cases the borders of those two categories are not discrete.\nHardware failures: The hardware of an information system is vulnerable in dangers that many times are unpredictable. The majority of the disaster recovery systems until recently did not count the hazardousness of them. The existing recovery systems revised the perspectives of how we are predicting dangers and the methodologies we use to deal critical situations. A deeper analysis in hardware disasters leads us to the result that is necessary to divide that category in two other ones. This segregation based on the means that they are used to in order to achieve a failure. Those two categories are mainly physical failures and artificial ones:1. Physical hardware failures (Figure 1): a large portion of that category occupied by the disasters made to the hardware or to the system in generally. Commonly created by natural phenomena, such as fire, flood, and earthquake and so on. Also, disasters made in parts of the server are included.2. Artificial hardware failures (Figure 1): human factors influence, greatly, the normal function of distributed information systems. It is the main reason for the majority of failures.\nSoftware failures: Software failures are the most frequent threats. Their main advantage is the easiness of realization. It is very easy to fulfill a software failure by using tools, codes, programs that can be quickly created with the minimum cost. In addition, their hazardousness increases disturbingly if we consider how easy is to find this software and sometimes with no cost at all. Software failures can be provoked involuntarily or willingly and they are categorized in four major kinds (Figure 2):1. Software failures caused by virus.2. Software failures caused by destruction of files most of the times made by inappropriate installation or uninstallation of programs.3. Software failures in huge databases caused, in the majority of cases, by destruction of tables, destruction of relations between tables, or cancellation of the main database schema from misuse of the database administration program.4. Software failure caused by lack of necessary hardware (hard disks overloading or incompatibility between parts of the hardware and the software that is used by the system (e.g. software devices).\nFormulations: The appearance of a large number of threats leads systems administrators to think of new ways of counter-measures. Every disaster recovery system, in order to work properly, should fulfill the minimum level of functionality, i.e. the minimum number of necessary modules for the right operation of every system without any destruction. A system, in order to work properly, has to confront a variety of threats. Assuming that T is the set of threats that a system has to face within a given planning horizon: Equation 1 On the other hand, it is easy to understand that the countermeasures, that a system must have so as to repel a threat, should be in a satisfactory quantity and quality. Suppose that CM is the set of CounterMeasures that a system must have: Equation 2 As a result, the number of proposed solutions increases rapidly in order to reach the state of operational normality, which consists of the following basic principles of the risk and disaster confrontation theory. The main tool for the materialization of the theory is the confrontation map, i.e. a tool that helps to locate possible points of self-destruction, total or mutated. That map registers the danger status of our information system and it is expressed by the following matrix: Equation 3 so that, Equation 4 if the activation of cmj faces the threat of ti. Equation 5 otherwise.\nThreat confrontation proposition: If it is true, Equation 6 then the threat T has been faced successfully.Broadly speaking, dangers are constantly mutated with rapid speed. They manage to appear new shapes and functionalities more and more complicated and dangerous. That continuous transformation creates types of threats not easily categorized due to their complexity. As a result, there is the possibility to face a threat that has no countermeasure. This is shown in the following type:\nVulnerability proposition: If it is true, Equation 7 then the System S is vulnerable to the threat T.Furthermore, in order for countermeasures to be effective, they have to be transformed continuously. The above two propositions lead us to define a vulnerability index for a successful disaster recovery system: Equation 8 where SV is the cardinality number of the set which contains all the threats that satisfies relation (2).A successful disaster recovery plan is a technique where a system is restored in its primitive state (i.e. before the disaster) or to a new one similar to the original state. Assume S is the system under consideration. A basic principle for the risk and disaster confrontation theory is as follows:\"The restoration of a disaster recovery plan must be as similar as the primitive situation.\"This is equivalent to the following relation: Equation 9 Where R(S) is the restoration of the system and P(S) is the before the disaster incident, primitive situation of the system (S). The major scope of a disaster recovery plan is to converge up to the identical level where O = 0, which means the full recovery of the system to its primitive situation. This is quite difficult for the majority of the situations due to their complexity and the data loss.Assuming that D is the set of disasters that a system has to face: Equation 10 On the other hand, a system S in order to avoid any unpleasant situations such as loss of valuable data has to have a variety of automated recovery ready to respond in a crisis situation. Suppose that R is the set of recoveries that a system has loaded: Equation 11 A helpful tool for the materialization of the recovery is the catastrophe matrix, i.e. a tool that helps to avoid possible destruction, total or mutated with the use of the appropriate countermeasure. That matrix registers the disaster report of our System as follows: Equation 12 so that,mij=1, if the arising disaster di can be recovered by rj.\nFirst-class recovery proposition: If it is true: Equation 14 and Equation 15 then the system S is in a first class recovery.Nobody likes to spend money. An important criterion for the activation of the appropriate recovery is its activation cost. The calculation of the cost of activation of a recovery is made with the aid of the recovery cost-matrix: Equation 16 so that,cij = cost, if the i-threat activates the recovery rj,\nMinimum cost activation recovery proposition: Equation 18 so that, Equation 19 and Equation 20 The recovery model is obviously the well-known assignment problem with n rows and m columns, which are solved in a polynomial time for large n and m and with the aid of methods, which optimize the primitive method of Knuth. Therefore, there is no longer any need to find methods to solve the recovery model. But there still remains the difficulty to solve the first model of the threats and their countermeasures.\nConclusions: As a conclusion the study of the prediction and confrontation of the disasters of systems, which act in dynamic data area, is composed by two areas of research. Firstly, a research is made for the danger risk of the system and it is tried to avoid any threats with the aid of appropriate countermeasures. The second area of research accepts the fact that one or more threats have been activated one or more disasters. In that point, each catastrophe has to activate a corresponding recovery system, so as that model to be fully automated and with the minimum activation cost.Those two models show a new way of confront dangers, which overcome the existing classical models based on emergency scenarios and roles. The authors concentrate their research in the deeper analysis of the first confrontation model.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to deal with disaster and recovery systems, introducing the catastrophe matrix as a disaster-preventing tool.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A new model is proposed which is proved to be a classical assignment problem. It is solved based on well-known optimization methods. Research is presented for the danger risk of the system and a fully automated recovery system with a minimum cost is presented.\nFindings: - Research accepts the fact that a catastrophe has already been activated on the system.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The difficulty of solving the proposed model of the threat and countermeasures still remains.\nOriginality/value: - The proposed models show a new original way to confront dangers and overcome the existing classical models based on risk management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Perceived value: a critical examination of definitions, concepts and measures for the service industry	[ "Consumption", "Value‐in‐use pricing", "Customers" ]	[ { "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.\n1. Introduction: Service marketing literature began to appear in the early 1980s in the form of anecdotal service research that defined, described, extended and replicated existing marketing concepts. With the explosive growth of the service sector in recent times, increasing emphasis has been placed on the continued development of knowledge related to services marketing and thousands of articles have been written. Despite this growing abundance of published research, the consensus is to follow Kotler (2003) by viewing service marketing as a managerial process concerned with the facilitation and consummation of relational exchanges (Eggert and Ulaga, 2002; Keith et al., 2004). By defining these relational exchanges as transactions between two parties in which each party gives up \"something of value\" in return for \"something of greater value\" (Holbrook, 1999), the concept of perceived value has emerged and been incorporated into this services marketing literature (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). Since then, perceived value research has become an interdisciplinary area involving psychology, sociology, economic and business concepts. Perceived value was labelled \"the new marketing mania and the way to sell in the 1990s\" (Sinha and DeSarbo, 1998, p. 236) and has proven to \"be of continuing importance into the twenty-first century\" (Sweeney and Soutar, 2001, p. 203). The notion of \"value creation\" reflects upon the increased recognition of perceived value as one of the most important measures in gaining a competitive edge (Parasuraman, 1997) and a key factor in strategic management (LeBlanc and Nguyen, 2001; Burns and Woodruff, 1992). Although perceived value has attracted equally extensive attention in academia and industry in recent years (Heinonen, 2004), several issues of fundamental concern remain unresolved:1. Despite the emerged research, there is little consensus in regards to the definition and the concept of perceived value. According to Khalifa (2004) perceived value has become one of the most misused concepts in social sciences and particularly in the service marketing literature.2. The lack of agreement among scholars with respect to the definition and the concept of perceived value results in inconsistent and incommensurable empirical measures. Even though a number of approaches dominate the literature, all these scales and theories are the subject of profound criticism.3. For almost as long as perceived value has been studied its interdependence to other widely researched marketing concepts such as service quality and customer satisfaction has been discussed controversially.In light of this, the purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview to the concept of perceived value and its implications for the service industry. It is hoped that this will encourage a better understanding of the significance of perceived value to service marketing and management while providing constructive directions for future research and application in both academic and industry settings.\n2. The general nature of perceived value: In the literature perceived value is often delimited ambiguously, particularly to the terms value (singular) and values (plural) as well as the research object (see Table I). It is apparent that the notion of \"values\" and \"value\" must be distinguished (Agle and Caldwell, 1999; de Chernatony et al., 2000; Solomon, 1999; Woo, 1992). While the term \"value\" refers to a preferential judgement of either a single transaction or an ultimate end-state, \"values\" are the determinants of any social behaviour including attitude, ideology, beliefs and justifications (see for example Rokeach's (1973) value survey, Kahle's (1983) list of values, Mitchell's (1983) values and lifestyles methodology, or Schwartz's (1992) value survey). In other words, values respectively standards, rules, criteria, norms or ideals serve as a basis for any preferential judgement. The second source of the nebulous differentiation of perceived value drives from its simultaneous use in consumer behaviour research and service management and marketing research. However, a clear distinction needs to be made between the demand and supply perspective. Table I shows the general nature of perceived value by providing a classification scheme together with illustrative service marketing and management concepts.The forthcoming discussion addresses the dominant evolvement of transaction-specific values from an individual customer's point-of-view. However, beginning from societal values, and end-state values to the service delivery, Table I shows that many other marketing concepts have a relationship with perceived value. Ultimately, consumption values, service quality and customer satisfaction, have strong influences on perceived value, hence creating a strong interdependence between these concepts, but each with their own original definitions and foundations.2.1 The utilitarian perspective of perceived value\n3. The operationalisation of perceived value: Providing a state-of-the-art review on the nature of perceived value raises the questions of the (in)dependence and weighting of the benefits, sacrifices and types of value as well as questions of whether to apply a multiplicative or additive function in perceived value measurement. In each of the above conceptualisations of perceived value, benefits have been identified as the salient \"gets\" characteristic, while the sacrifices made to acquire or consume these \"gets\" has been identified as the relevant \"gives\" components. While a majority of authors consider these components to be distinct and independent, Zeithaml (1988), Sweeney et al. (1999), and Teas and Agarwal (2000) argue that price is directly related to benefits and sacrifices since it serves as an extrinsic indicator. Opinions also vary upon the weighting of these components. While utility theory suggests a balanced weighting of utility and costs, consumer behaviour research assumes that individuals tend to weigh losses such as price significantly more heavily than gains such as quality (Varki and Colgate, 2001; Lai, 1995). However, no theoretical or empirical evidence can be found in the literature that provides the weights to be allocated to these various components. Finally, the operationalisation of perceived value is either a multiplicative or an additive function of benefits and sacrifices (Cronin et al., 1997). In the former, perceived value has been seen as a ratio of benefits (numerator) to sacrifices (denominator). This multiplicative function is widely accepted among scholars (Zeithaml, 1988) and represents the dominant view in the literature. However, there has been criticism of the apparent reliance on a multiplicative function arguing that the multiplicative based specification is inconsistent with sociological research that suggests cognitive processes are conceived in a linear additive form. The additive function recognises the integrative nature of benefits and sacrifices, and specifies the compensatory trade-off between \"give\" and \"get\" components. In addition, the superiority of an additive function is given by findings of Cronin et al. (1997), DeSarbo et al. (2001) and Grewal et al. (1998).Both qualitative and quantitative as well as uni-dimensional and multi-dimensional methods have been used to measure perceived value. Early efforts to measure perceived value by using a uni-dimensional scale have been criticised for lacking validity (Woodruff and Gardial, 1998). Generally, measuring perceived value as a trade-off between price as the sacrifice and quality as the benefit is too simplistic since consumers may be able to identify fifty or more different attributes that shape their perceptions of value prior to, during and after consumption (Gale, 1994). Therefore perceived value has been dominantly operationalised using multiple item scales for better measurement. Table II provides an overview of selected empirical studies to highlight the numerous measures and methods applied in various contexts. Although a variety of approaches have been taken by different authors, and many of the studies are evolvements of previous studies, it is evidenced in Table II that as mentioned previously; functional, emotional and social value appear to be at the forefront of the most recent research.While consensus exists that service quality, customer satisfaction and perceived value predict behavioural intentions (Petrick, 2004), conflicting arguments have been made as to their differences, similarities, linkages, temporal order and overall relationship (Bolton and Drew, 1991; Caruana et al., 2000; Huber et al., 2007; Kashyap and Bojanic, 2000; Oliver, 1999; Spreng et al., 1993). Just as there is much controversy in the definitions and measurement of perceived value, the discussion about the terminology of service quality and customer satisfaction is equally debateable (Bitner and Hubbert, 1994; Cronin and Taylor, 1994; Spreng and Singh, 1993). Thus, a selection of empirical studies that have attempted to model the antecedent, mediating and consequent relationships among service quality, customer satisfaction, perceived value and behavioural intentions is presented in Table III. Despite this continuous debate no consistent evidence is given for the operationalisation of perceived value and its interdependence to other marketing concepts as specified in Table III (Gallarza and Gil Saura, 2006).\n4. Conclusion and recommendations: This paper has attempted to extend the knowledge of perceived value by critically examining the definitions, concepts and measures of perceived value as relevant for the service industry. The review of literature reveals that the scope of the traditional conceptualisation of the value construct focused on intangible products and involved general extensions of quality scales. Unlike the majority of the analysed studies, the latest research on perceived value is entirely based upon the characteristics of services in that they are intangible, inseparable, heterogeneous and perishable. The theoretical implications of the perceived value of services as identified in the measurement of perceived value appear to be twofold. First, the findings show that a multi-dimensional scale does indeed explain the perceived value of services better, both statistically and qualitatively, than does a single item \"value for money\" scale. Second, perceived value is neither a simple trade-off between quality and price nor merely an outcome of any other single factor. It can be stated that the perceived value of services is a combined assessment of consumers' perception of benefits and sacrifices, including quality and price, for a variety of perceived value dimensions with original behavioural intentions and customer satisfaction playing a role in overall evaluation.The findings from this literature review suggest a number of useful research directions that are recommended for exploration. As a starting point, future research should concentrate on developing a clearer articulation of the constructs used in the various study designs. This can in turn result in better measures, after which the interrelationship between perceived value, service quality, price, benefits, sacrifices, customer satisfaction and ultimately behavioural intentions can be better understood. Thus, future research should be directed toward investigating the interaction of perceived value with other core marketing constructs. By not testing for other determinants, the influence of risk, trust, involvement, etc. on perceived value may be inflated. Moreover, by capturing other determinants that contribute to perceived value, a much broader understanding of the value construct can be ascertained (Groth, 1995; Jensen, 2001). There may also be determinants which are context and consumer specific. It seems likely that pleasure, arousal or dominance play an important role in determining perceived value in some service settings. The notion that mediators are relevant in customers' perceived value of services also begs for additional research. Most importantly, future research into which measures of perceived value are most valid for the service industry, marketers and management is warranted. This will ensure consistency and provide the answer to the key service industry question \"what are the dimensions of value that customers care about\" (Sinha and DeSarbo, 1998, p. 237).As illustrated by discussion so far, it is evident that the theory of perceived value has a number of different concepts and theories that make up its foundations. The cognitive and affective components of perceived value theory as well as the relationship with concepts including value, service quality, price, benefits, sacrifices and customer satisfaction highlight the diversity of perceived value in that it covers and is closely linked with a number of different areas and aspects. As noted, various authors indicate that perceptions of value may be formed at the pre-purchase phase, post-purchase phase or, both (Patterson and Spreng, 1997; Dodds et al., 1991; Parasuraman and Grewal, 2000) which can also result in the development of different outlooks on perceived value. This complexity makes a single perceived value definition somewhat difficult in that it covers a number of different areas depending on the situation. However, the distinction between the different types of perceived value is particularly important for service organisations, marketers and managers to understand especially when considering the impact of perceived value on customers' willingness to buy, seek information, compare alternatives and evaluate (Al-Sabbahy et al., 2004; Walker et al., 2006). Without such an understanding service providers may end up providing the opposite of what constitutes perceived value in the eyes of their customers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to provide a literature review of the state-of-the-art and up to date concepts and measures undertaken in the research on perceived value. The purpose especially is to provide a comprehensive and systematic overview of the research on perceived value.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The common perceived value definitions, conceptual and measurement approaches and its close relationship with important and highly researched service industry components such as service quality and customer satisfaction are discussed.\nFindings: - This paper demonstrates underlying and foundational theories, systematises the research streams and addresses the unsolved concerns of perceived value. The paper concludes with recommendations for the future research and application of perceived value as being relevant to the service industry.\nOriginality/value: - The contribution of the paper lies in achieving a more profound understanding of the nature of perceived value for, equally, academics and industry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Contractual control, the propensity to trust, active trust development: construction industry	[ "Control", "Contracts", "Construction industry", "Projects", "Trust" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The emphasis that relational mechanisms place on inherent and moral control has generally been seen as a key regulator for promoting the success of inter-firm cooperative arrangements (Boersma et al., 2003; Morgan and Hunt, 1994; Nooteboom et al., 1997; Ring and Van de Ven, 1992; Schwepker and Schultz, 2013). However, in project partnerships in emerging economies, trust is particularly difficult to build because of the adverse interests of the project parties and the high degree of risk and uncertainty stemming from the inefficient institutional mechanisms (Black et al., 2000; Child and Faulkner, 1998). In line with this, many of the trust production models regard trust as a passive reaction to the perceived trustworthiness of the trustee (Mayer et al., 1995) or the relevant institutional safeguards (Bachmann and Inkpen, 2011). In other words, these models imply that trust is dominated by contextual factors other than the trustor (McEvily et al., 2003).\n2. The conceptual foundations of this study: The concept of trust has a long history and broad relevance. It is not surprising that a multitude of definitions of trust have been offered in the organization science field. Attitudinal and behavioral factors are often viewed as the essential substrates of trust. These two substrates of trust are seen to play distinct roles in the research on trust such that the micro-level-oriented (i.e. interpersonal level) literature predominantly focuses on trust as a belief, whereas trust as an action is mainly used to examine the trust between firms (Bachmann and Inkpen, 2011). Because we aim to explore project managers' trust in their partners, while placing particular focus on the trust between boundary spanners, we treat trust as an attitude rather than a behavior. Following a widely accepted definition, we define trust as \"a psychological state comprising the intention to accept vulnerability based upon positive expectations of the intentions or behavior of another\" (Rousseau et al., 1998, p. 395). Although trust has, at times, been treated as a type of control (e.g. \"social control\" or \"relational control\") (Bradach and Eccles, 1989; Grey and Garsten, 2001; Zheng et al., 2008), it is important to distinguish between trust and control because trust as a subjective feeling does not directly influence behavior (Das and Teng, 1998), whereas control normally refers to the process of regulating behavior to achieve particular goals (Cardinal et al., 2004). Moreover, given the fact that people in construction industry normally treat trust at the individual level (Laan et al., 2011), we also focus on interpersonal trust. Prior studies have recognized the strong connection between inter-organizational and interpersonal trust (Zaheer et al., 1998). For boundary-spanners acting on behalf of their organization in a project-based relationship, good interpersonal trust and attachment are key to the development of inter-organizational trust and performance (Luo, 2001).\n3. Theory and hypotheses: Trust works on multiple levels, including individual and organizational interrelationships (Fang et al., 2008). As a consequence, the formation of trust has been examined in a wide range of disciplines (Fulmer and Gelfand, 2012). Nonetheless, because trust is imparted by the individual members of organizations, rather than the organizations themselves (Zaheer et al., 1998), we use the main theoretical paradigms relating to the individual level to develop our conceptual framework (Figure 1). In the following sections, we discuss the components of our conceptual framework and develop our hypotheses.\n4. Methods: 4.1 Sample and procedures\n5. Analysis: We first tested H1 and H2 following the procedure outlined by Baron and Kenny (1986) using the raw score variables for the direct effect and mediation tests. According to Baron and Kenny (1986), mediation is supported when the independent variables (i.e. contractual control and the propensity to trust) affect the mediator (i.e. cognition-based trust) and the dependent variable (i.e. affect-based trust); and when examined simultaneously, the mediator affects the dependent variable, while the independent variables are no longer or less significantly related to the dependent variable. We then tested H3 using a multiple regression with SPSS 18.0 and then mean-centered the raw data to remove the potential confounding effects. According to the analytical procedure (Cohen and Cohen, 1983), we entered the controls in Step 1, the main effects in Step 2 and the interaction in Step 3. A significant increase in R2 at Step 3 indicates a significant interaction.\n6. Discussion and implications: Understanding how to generate active trust between boundary spanners from different partner organizations in an uncertain market such as China is critical for managers, because active trust can directly influence the cooperative behavior of their counterparts. Although the importance of contracts is widely accepted, opinions differ in regard to the complex relationship between trust and control. We attempt to provide a new perspective on the relationship between trust and control by considering the relationships between contractual control, the propensity to trust, cognition-based trust and affect-based trust. In addition to examining the existence of different types of trust, we investigate the role of trust in project partnerships from the trustor's perspective.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the assumptions concerning how the processes that foster trust are influenced by contractual control and managers' propensity to trust. More specifically, the paper investigates the extent to which distinct types of trust (i.e. cognition- and affect-based trust) are differentially and interactively associated with contractual control and the propensity to trust.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors collected survey data on 260 architect-contractor project-based relationships in China.\nFindings: The results of this paper show that contractual control and a project manager's propensity to trust are positively related to the managers' trust in their partners. However, the interaction of the propensity to trust and contractual control has a negative effect on cognition-based trust. Cognition-based trust, in turn, is linked to the unique and interactive relationships between contractual control, the propensity to trust and affect-based trust.\nResearch limitations/implications: While this paper adds to the literature on trust and control, future research is needed to fully understand the differences in interpersonal trust across alliances and countries.\nPractical implications: These findings provide important implications for firms hoping to facilitate active trust development processes.\nOriginality/value: More is now known about the trust in inter-organizational settings at the individual level.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mobile phone appropriation of students and staff at an institution of higher learning	[ "Mobile communication systems", "Communication technologies", "Universities", "Malaysia", "Institution of higher learning", "Mobile phone technology use" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Mobile phone (MP) which is essentially a communication device has undergone numerous transformations making its functionalities transcending the traditional voice communication between two individuals (Kushchu, 2007). Then, the unprecedented level of MP adoption coupled with the rate at which new technological services can be deployed through the gadget; are factors motivating the day-to-day research efforts on the technology. While other wireless technologies like mobile laptops and personal digital assistance (PDA) have been shown to have had significant impacts on human conducts, MP technology with its unprecedented penetration has done more. But despite the widespread of MP adoption across regions of the world, its usage and appropriation are poorly understood (Carroll et al., 2002a, b, c; Bar et al., 2007). In other words, there is a need to understand the use of MP beyond the concept of use and adoption.MP usage has been studied from various different approaches. These approaches range from the marketing perspectives of MP use (Karjaluoto et al., 2003; Lin, 2005), to social, cultural, and public contexts use and applications (Aoki and Downes, 2003; McGuigan, 2005) and adoptions (Kim, 2008). As the MP technology is becoming the basis of daily communication device to many societies worldwide, its complexity and sophistication have been quite intriguing to many users and researchers alike. Understanding its use is supposedly more complicated than just what the adoption theory alone can provide. Users of MP are more adaptive, definitive, and subjective to how they use the communication device (or is it just a communication device?). While the basic functions and features of the technology can be common across all communication devices in MPs, the technology itself is found varying to suit one user to another. The subjectivity in the use of the MP technology may have triggered the need to understand the use of MP as appropriated by the users. In this regard, appropriation refers to the use of the technology as designed by the designers to satisfy different purposes beyond the conception of the designer (Carroll et al., 2002a, b, c; Bar et al., 2007). Appropriation signifies how the technology is used, adapted, and fitted in the users' daily life.One appropriation process of mobile technologies has been described by Caroll et al. (2002a, b, c) through technology appropriation model developed from their qualitative studies on teenagers. This study accounts for MP usage by establishing the link between how users take ownership of the technology and how the technology is adapted to satisfy different purposes intended by the users. Some other studies too have shown that MPs are used to gratify or satisfy different purposes (Okabe and Ito, 2005; Walsh et al., 2007). Wirth et al. (2008) also proposed the notion of appropriation trough object-oriented and functional usage, which are pragmatic and symbolic in nature. Their MP appropriation model also elaborated on influential factors that are both functional and symbolic, and tied to various attractors from social and psychological perspectives such as norms and restrictions, and meta-communication.Research on the usage of MP has been commonly approached through adoption and technology acceptance model using intention to use and use. In most cases the technology need to be focused to specific MP technologies such as PDA or wireless application protocol phone (Kim, 2008; Venkatesh et al., 2003). Given the variation in the technology within the MP which users can appropriate its use to their desired needs and purposes, more attention needs to be given in understanding usage through this point of view. Therefore, using the appropriation approach, we can understand the MP usage more meaningfully through how the technology is used, the purposes it serves, and the context of its use through choice of functions and features (Bar et al., 2007; Lindqvist and Svensson, 2007; Okabe, 2004; Wirth et al., 2008). A review of literature helps to shed some light on the limitation of the existing studies which were based on solely quantitative adoption and acceptance model (Kim, 2008; Venkatesh et al., 2003) and, appropriation perspectives which were mostly qualitative in nature (Caroll et al., 2002a, b, c; Wirth et al., 2008).While only little empirical research can be found investigating actual use of MP technologies as compared to adoption studies, it is also difficult finding studies combining these different concepts of MP usages as well as investigating relationship between the concepts and personal attributes of users.In view of the above discussions, the following questions are considered to reflect a set of enquiries to be addressed by the study:Q1. What is the appropriation patterns of MP use among the respondents in terms of:Q1a. The attractors such as brand familiarity, fashion and style or physical appearance and cost influencing the choice of MP ownership?Q1b. The common purposes of MP use?Q1c. The frequently used functions and features?Q2. Are there relationships between age, gender, and occupation status and the appropriation pattern variables?\nMethodology: A. Participants and procedures\nResults and discussion: D. Participants profile\nConclusion: This research attempts to investigate the appropriation patterns of MP technologies in terms of attractor of choice of MP ownership, the common purposes of MP use, and the frequently used functions and features. The study also investigates the influences of age, gender, and occupation on the appropriation patterns among the different cohorts of people in an academic environment.Rogers (1995) asserted that perceived attributes of innovations were significantly associated with the adoption rate and were significant determinants of attitudes towards innovation. Subsequently, Carroll et al. (2002b) identified brand familiarity and physical appearance to be among the attractors of MP. Similar to these earlier studies, MP physical attributes and perceived level of accentuating user's status was found as a factor of consideration prior to purchase among the study's participants.Furthermore, some earlier studies had found the use of MP for different purposes. Among which were the use for social purposes such as family and friend contact (Walsh et al., 2007), the use for social management, safety and security, information management and life style organization (Carroll et al., 2002a, b, c) and the use for hedonic, utilitarian, and social values (Bina et al., 2006). In consistent with these earlier studies, this study found the use of MP technologies for different purposes namely for family contact, scheduling purposes, emergency contact and personal safety, socialization, collaboration with colleagues, knowledge seeking purposes, and for business needs. These results which fit into different categories of use found in earlier studies contributes to our knowledge that the use of the technology in Malaysia is similar to what is common in some other parts of the world.Lastly, on the appropriation patterns, seven functions, and features were found in this study as the frequently used functions and features among the respondents. These services were SMS, voice calls, music, alarm clock, address book, calendar, and camera. These functions and features were also found to be correlated with purposes of use such as socialization and entertainment purposes. The findings are found consistent with previous studies such as those conducted by Carroll et al. (2002a, b, c), Bina et al. (2006), and Walsh et al. (2007). Walsh et al. (2007) found that the use of SMS had been more prevalent than any other MP functions and features in Australia. The findings are also supported by Karim et al. (2009), through a similar study looking at the Malaysian nationwide use of MP.The analyses of relationship on the influence of personal attributes (age, gender, and occupation), with the appropriation patterns, purposes of use, types of functions and features used, have revealed some interesting findings. All of the attributes investigated are found significant contributors or determinants of how MP technologies are being appropriated. Age has been found to be influencing the choice of MP through physical and social status attractors; the purpose of MP use; and the types of MP functions and features used. Younger age groups have the tendency to be more attracted to adopt or purchase MP due to physical attributes and the status quo it reflected. They also use MP more for the purpose of socialization and entertainment. As for gender, female participants are more likely to use MP for information management purposes and socialization purposes. As for occupation type, those in the student and support group categories have the tendency to use more gadgets to facilitate their life which require more socialization and entertainment. The findings in this study further highlight the importance of age, gender, and occupation in understanding information technology appropriation, which fits well with MP technologies. Karim et al. (2009) have found similar findings and conclusion.This study, which has been conducted at an institution of higher learning environment, is expected to provide a more generic understanding to MP phone appropriation of its users. While most of the research relating to the use of MP has been approached through IT adoption and acceptance theories (Rogers, 1995; Venkatesh et al., 2003), this study further enrich the framework through the concept of IT appropriation. Such contribution should shed some lights into more research in IT which have similar attributes to MP technologies. Advancement in MP technologies has been observed to be able to provide huge opportunities for academic institutions to utilize the technology accordingly in both teaching and administration purposes. The study provides knowledge that can facilitate the understanding of user behavior in MP use within the academic compound for better development and services in the area of mobile technologies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the adoption and appropriation of mobile phone (MP) technologies by building on the technology appropriation theories. The paper also looks into the choice of MP use through various attractors, the purposes of MP use and the extent of use of various MP applications and features by the targeted users. This paper also explores the influences of age, gender, and occupation type on MP appropriation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper used a survey method in order to achieve the intended objectives. The staff (academic and non-academic) and students of three academic faculties of a university in Malaysia were used as the study's population. A sample of 201 was selected and used for the purpose of this paper.\nFindings: - The result of the paper allows us to describe important elements of MP appropriation and explore the influence of individual characteristics such as gender, age and occupation on different patterns of MP use through our conceptualization of appropriation. It is found that all of the individual characteristics investigated were significantly related with the MP appropriation and use.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Limitations in this paper are related to the ability of the result to be generalized to other user groups as well as other user groups at other institution of higher learning. More research needs to be conducted to ensure the robustness of the findings by comparing with other users.\nPractical implications: - The results of the paper are expected to assist in understanding the use of MPs across different ages and occupation and serve as a mechanism in guiding the development of MP applications and design by service providers and manufacturers, respectively; as well as in aiding policy formulation on MP use at the work place.\nOriginality/value: - The paper has taken a different approach from the commonly applied IT adoption and acceptance model in understanding MP use. The rationale for the use of appropriation theory from the study can contribute to similar areas with similar types of technology applications.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Optimal stopping time of software system test via artificial neural network with fault count data	[ "Artificial neural network", "Data transform", "Long-term prediction", "Optimal software testing time", "Software cost model", "Software reliability" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Nomenclature\n1. Introduction: In our modern society, computer systems become more essential and complicated. Especially, critical software applications increase in size and complexity day by day. Software reliability is a quality attribute of computer systems to perform their intended functions and operations in the operational environment, without experiencing system failures. Also, it is an important factor affecting the whole computer system's reliability. The high complexity of software reflects the software reliability as well as the increasing software development cost. Hence, quantitative software reliability assessment is becoming a strict requirement for software developers in addition to propose efficient software testing methodologies. For this purpose, a great number of software reliability growth models (SRGMs) have been developed in the literature (see Abdel-Ghaly et al., 1986; Achcar et al., 1998; Goel and Okumoto, 1979; Goel, 1985; Gokhale and Trivedi, 1998; Littlewood, 1984; Lyu, 1996; Okamura et al., 2013; Ohba, 1984; Ohishi et al., 2009; Pham, 2000; Yamada et al., 1983).\n2. NHPP-based software reliability modeling: Here we summarize the software reliability growth modeling. Suppose that software system test starts at time t=0. Let X(t) be the cumulative number of software faults detected by time t, where {X(t),t0} denotes a stochastic (non-decreasing) point process in continuous time. In particular, it is said that X(t) is an NHPP if the following conditions hold:\n3. A refined neural network approach: Artificial neural network is a computational metaphor inspired by the brain and nervous system study, and consists of an input layer with some inputs, multiple hidden layers with hidden neurons and one output layer. The input layer of neurons can be used to capture the inputs from the outside world. Since the hidden layer of neurons has no communication with the external world, the output layer of neurons sends the final output to the external world. Hence, determining an appropriate number of hidden neurons is an important design issue in neural computation. In this paper we consider an MIMO type of MLP with only one hidden layer. Similar to Section 2, suppose that n software fault count data (ti, xi) (i=1, 2, ..., n) are observed at the observation point t (=tn).\n4. Optimal software testing policy: Suppose that the system test of a software product starts at t=0 and terminates at t=t0. Let TL be the software lifetime or the upper limit of the software warranty period, where the time length (t0, TL] denotes the operational period of software. When the software fault count data khn ={x1, ..., xn} which are the cumulative number of detected faults at time ti(i=1, 2, ..., n) are observed at time tn (0<tnt0), the model parameter\n5. Numerical experiments: 5.1 Data sets\n6. Concluding remarks: There is a significant challenge on how to predict the software testing time minimizing the relevant expected cost. Especially, we have refined a neural network approach considered in Dohi et al. (1999) by introducing the MIMO type MLP. Since the computation technique on artificial neural network has been improved during the last three decades, it will be possible to apply more sophisticated neural computation technique to predict the optimal software testing time more accurately. Special interest in this research topic is to develop an optimal software testing policy in different software development processes such as agile model with incremental development and short testing cycles. The lesson learned from numerical examples in this paper is that our MIMO type of MLP could give the accurate optimal software testing policy in the early testing phase. This result motivates us to apply the refined neural network approach to not only the software fault prediction but also the optimal software testing decision. In future we will develop a tool to support the optimal software testing decision by automating the BP learning and the size determination of a hidden layer.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a novel method to estimate the optimal software testing time which minimizes the relevant expected software cost via a refined neural network approach with the grouped data, where the multi-stage look ahead prediction is carried out with a simple three-layer perceptron neural network with multiple outputs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To analyze the software fault count data which follows a Poisson process with unknown mean value function, the authors transform the underlying Poisson count data to the Gaussian data by means of one of three data transformation methods, and predict the cost-optimal software testing time via a neural network.\nFindings: In numerical examples with two actual software fault count data, the authors compare the neural network approach with the common non-homogeneous Poisson process-based software reliability growth models. It is shown that the proposed method could provide a more accurate and more flexible decision making than the common stochastic modeling approach.\nOriginality/value: It is shown that the neural network approach can be used to predict the optimal software testing time more accurately.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Reinterpreting the great US department store bankruptcies of the 1980s: A catalyst to strategic structural change	[ "Leveraged buy‐outs", "Organizational restructuring", "Department stores", "Retailing", "Qualitative research", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction and objectives: Alfred Chandler's classic historical 1962 study, Strategy and Structure examined the crucial link between a company's strategy and its internal structure. For Chandler, the multi-divisional structure that emerged in the early twentieth century had proved successful because:[...] it clearly removed the executives responsible for the destiny of the entire enterprise from the more routine operational activities, and so gave them time, information, and even psychological commitment for long-term planning and appraisal (Chandler, 1966, p. 382).This view played an influential role in the decentralisation of many leading corporations in the 1960s and 1970s (Rodrigues, 2002). However, from the 1980s onwards, there \"was growing scepticism about the role of diversified multi-divisional firms\" (Toms and Wright, 2005, p. 275). This scepticism solidified into major deconglomeration as the decade progressed with an increase in highly leveraged transactions across American industry as acquirers restructured, extracted surplus value and improved firm performance (Holmstrom and Kaplan, 2001).While many of these transactions were successful, increased shareholder value and the operating effectiveness of the corporations (Cotter and Peck, 2001; Jensen, 1993), one sector in particular - the US department store industry - was seemingly left devastated by a number of high profile bankruptcies. Casualties, amongst numerous others, included the Allied/Federated conglomerate, which was acquired and consolidated by the Campeau Corporation, and the world renowned, R.H. Macy, both of which entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1990 and 1992, respectively, (Table I). These \"failures\" become notorious and \"came to symbolize the folly of leverage in an overheated market for corporate assets\" (Baker and Smith, 1998, p. 124).This paper revisits these attempts to recast the structure of the US department store sector and focuses on understanding the longer term implications of events from the executives who experienced them and were left with the task of reworking the strategies and structure of the constituent firms. There are two aims of this research. Firstly, this paper seeks to understand the background to the leveraged transactions, the motivations for them, and the wider environmental circumstances in which they occurred. Secondly, and more substantively, we aim to analyse the implications that the transactions had for the strategy and structure of the US department store industry. In particular, the paper seeks to uncover the contradiction that while leverage was conceptually appropriate in terms of extracting improved efficiency within the acquired retailers, it ended up actually constraining synergy realisation and led to bankruptcy. However, the very efficiency-generating and structural centralisation argument that was the driving force behind justifying leverage was only realised during the post-bankruptcy period as Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection insulated the operators as they emerged from restructuring and instigated the necessary strategic and structural adaptation to the new retail environment.This paper is unique because it extends beyond purely financial analyses of the transactions in terms of changes in market value (Kaplan, 1989, 1994) or the journalistic accounts (Rothchild, 1991; Trachtenberg, 1996). It is based on corporate interviews with a wide array of US industry executives and analysts, both past and present[1], that are triangulated with a wide range of secondary material including press and analyst reports. The advantage of analysing the 1980s is that there is scope to interview the primary actors and analysts involved before, during, and after the buy-outs, accessing social and human perspectives and thereby avoiding a key concern of one historian who suggested that \"much of what we know about the history of American retailing comes from secondary sources, all too often accepted as part of the discipline without adequate confirmation\" (Savitt, 1989, p. 350). An obvious contribution of such retail history lies in reflecting experience and understanding on the contemporary industry - using the past \"to help inform the present and the future\" (Lamond, 2006, p. 9).The paper first briefly analyses the strategy and structure of the US department store sector in the 1980s and the mismatch between the two given the increasingly competitive retail environment of the period. Second, in the light of these structural challenges we analyse the theoretical basis for the leveraged buy-outs (LBOs) of these operators. The third and fourth sections introduce two case studies that were central to the restructuring of the sector: Federated/Allied and R. H. Macy's. These are developed in the fifth section of the paper by examining an array of data collected in our semi-structured interviews with the executives and analysts involved in the sector, before forming some brief conclusions.\nThe strategy and structure of the US department store sector in the 1980s: Inefficient structures, diversification and the need for efficiency\nCase study context: federated, allied and the campeau corporation: During the 1980s, Federated and Allied, two of the largest and most high-profile department store holding companies in the US, were central to the financial re-engineering of the retail sector. The saga centred on Canadian real estate developer Robert Campeau who used relatively little of his own capital as proportions of the purchase prices. First, Campeau purchased Allied Stores Corporation in October 1986 for $3.6 billion, plus assumed debt and fees -$4.4 billion in all. As this was at the height of the junk boom, it was financed almost exclusively through Citibank and First Boston, with Campeau only providing $150 million himself (Rothchild, 1991).In common with other leveraged transactions, there was immediate divestiture as the firm, constrained by its crippling debt burdens, had to dispose of its most unproductive assets or divisions not central to its core business operations (cf. Wright et al., 2005). In this manner Allied, sold 16 of its smaller units for $1.16 billion in 1987 but still held prestigious divisions such as Brooks Brothers which was widely regarded the jewel in Allied's crown (Hallsworth, 1991).Difficulties emerged when Campeau turned his attention to acquiring Federated Department Stores, which offered the potential for synergistic benefits as he would be able to open new malls and, as the owner of the key anchor department stores, pick and choose his mall designs to exclude stores he did not own (Hallsworth, 1991). However, a year and a half after the acquisition of Allied, Campeau was still reorganising the new firm into a stable enterprise when a bidding war commenced with R. H. Macy for control of Federated. This was eventually won by Campeau at $73.50 a share compared to the earlier price of $33. The overall purchase price has been calculated at $8.17bn, representing a bid premium of $3.3bn, financed by 97 percent debt (Kaplan, 1989). There is little wonder that Fortune magazine called it \"the biggest, looniest deal ever\" (Loomis, 1990).Market confidence was crucial to both transactions in keeping the Campeau Corporation liquid, in particular, the retention of Brooks Brothers in the Allied portfolio gave the company's backers confidence. However, the divestiture of Brooks to finance the Federated deal led Allied backers to conclude that their assets were being sold off to fund the Federated shareholders, who had seen their company double in value over four months. The rising valuation sparked concern over what else would need to be sold to fund the costly acquisition, and confidence fell (Rothchild, 1991). Campeau responded by divesting further chains from newly acquired Federated to reduce short-term debt - notably I. Magnin and Bullock's to Macy for $1.1 billion, and Foley's and Filene's were offloaded to May Department Stores for $1.5 billion in July 1988 (Kaplan, 1989). Despite these measures, the price for which Federated was purchased was simply too high and the crippling debt burden finally caught up with the Campeau Corporation when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 1990.\nCase study context: the RH Macy leveraged buy-out: The R.H. Macy experience of the late 1980s parallels the ill-fated financial restructuring of the Campeau Corporation. In 1986, the CEO of Macy's, Edward Finkelstein, led a $3.5 billion LBO. Prior to the buy-out, Macy's had $144 million debt and $1.48 billion in shareholder equity (c. $1 of debt to every $11 of equity). Following the takeover, the firm had $290 million in equity, as the ratio became $10 of debt to every $1 in equity (Trachtenberg, 1996). Despite this, the transaction was well-received by the financial markets. The rationale of the LBO was underpinned by a number of case-specific factors.First, there was the opinion that taking the company private through an LBO would offer a safe haven from Wall Street's earnings expectations. As the Director of Stores for Macy's East reflected, the view of the firm was that it would no longer \"be subject to the quarterly whims of the stock market\" (Peter Sachse, personal interview). Theoretically, the low valuation of the department store stocks provided the opportunity for the LBO to realise the \"real\" value of the firm, if privately owned.Second, the Macy LBO was motivated in part by a hostile takeover threat from elsewhere in the retail industry. A number of precedents had been set by the mid-1980s. In the late 1970s, West Coast department store operator, Carter Hawley Hale aggressively pursued Marshall Field, the Chicago-based luxury department store, for a potential hostile takeover. Field responded by leveraging its capital structure through organic expansion (Laulajainen, 1990). Moreover, Carter Hawley Hale itself faced the threat of a hostile takeover in 1984, when Columbus-based women's apparel retailer, The Limited Inc., made a bid at 25-35 percent above its going market price. The corporation succeeded in fending off the tender, but only by disposing of its Weinstocks division and ceding 37 percent of the voting power to a single shareholder, General Cinema Corporation (Laulajainen, 1987). Furthermore, in 1986, partly responding to similar pressures, May Department Stores acquired Associated Dry Goods Company operators of Lord & Taylor amongst others for $2.5 billion (Simpson, 2001). The impact of these threats for the department store industry cannot be overemphasised. As Walter Loeb, special advisor for Morgan Stanley, reflected, department stores \"looked at themselves and said size mattered and that they had to get bigger\" (Walter Loeb, personal interview). The alternative, of course, was to LBO and go private because \"size and performance would no longer be enough to guarantee the independence of any company\" (Trachtenberg, 1996, p. 28).Finally, and most importantly, the rationale of the Macy's LBO was driven by the premise that investors in the buy-out stood to extract considerable personal gain as a result. The prospects were good: Macy's was a national institution and had grown significantly through the 1970s and early 1980s under the skilled merchandising leadership of Edward Finkelstein and the transaction would retain the current management.The Chapter 11 filing and the capital structure bankruptcy\nLessons from the financial restructuring period: Understandably the late 1980s financial restructuring for the department store sector has been characterised almost exclusively by the use of adjectives such as \"looniest\" and \"crazy\" (Loomis, 1990), while Business Week classified the Campeau acquisition of Federated as one of the ten worst deals of the 1980s (Business Week, 1990). It is clear that the corporate control mechanism failed as the bidding wars, especially that between Robert Campeau and Edward Finkelstein for the ownership of Federated, spiralled out of control and were based on ego rather than any relationship to firm value or the ability to pay the capital back. Both retailers were heavily debt burdened and faced considerable challenges in paying down initial levels of leverage, regardless of adding to these deficits.In the following sections, by accessing the views of a wide array of executives and analysts at the forefront of these developments through personal interviews, we seek to deepen our understanding of the consolidations and their wider implications for the strategy and structure of the US department store industry.A prompt to structural change and the role of Chapter 11\nConclusions: This paper has analysed a period in US retailing that is renowned for failure and financial collapse. The wave of financial restructuring in the US department store sector was clearly disastrous, even if its imperative of centralised strategic and structural change was appropriate. More interestingly though, by using qualitative interviews with many of the leading actors involved in the sector at the time and since, we have been able to build up an understanding of the more positive longer term implications of the leveraged transactions beyond media portrayals and strict economistic studies of value creation.In particular, the failed leveraged transactions and the retailers' subsequent entry into Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganisation ultimately laid the foundations for the department store industry's re-emergence in the 1990s with an aligned structure and strategy. This underlines the view of Kalay et al. (2007) that Chapter 11 provides net benefits to firms. The role of leadership proved critical here too. The post-bankruptcy appointment of a new CEO, Allen Questrom, who had previously left the company to take up as CEO of Neiman Marcus, was crucial as \"the continued involvement of original management in the restructuring process is strongly associated with poor postbankruptcy performance\" (Hotchkiss, 1995, p. 4). More significantly, Questrom was proactive in implementing a revised strategy that fed directly into structural change - placing an emphasis away from promotion towards divisional consolidation, eliminating poorly performing stores, remodelling rather than opening new stores and centralised shared back office systems. Indeed, we should adopt a more entrepreneurial view of the recovery of the US department store sector where leadership was instrumental (cf. Wright et al., 2001). The nature of Chapter 11 thus allowed Federated to turn around quickly and refloat. The revitalised retailer acquired Macy's in 1994, as it itself languished in Chapter 11 restructuring and the financially struggling Broadway Stores (formally Carter Hawley Hale) in 1995. Most recently, during 2005, the strategy of portfolio restructuring recommenced with the merger of the two leading department store companies, Federated and May Department Stores, which saw further organisational reorganisation and structural change in search of greater operational efficiencies (Wood and Wrigley, 2007). The turbulence of the LBO wave thus ultimately led to a more efficient and centralised department store sector, better prepared to face the competitive threats of the 1990s.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The financial restructuring of the US department store industry is commonly interpreted as a time of corporate excess, value-destruction and ultimately collapse. The purpose of this paper is to re-analyse these events using qualitative methods to understand the background to the leveraged transactions and to review the implications that their failure had for the longer term strategy and structure of the US department store industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research is based on two extensive periods of fieldwork in the US when the author interviewed (n=28) many of the protagonists of the 1980s restructuring period and those who inherited the management of the bankrupt businesses in the 1990s. By adopting a qualitative perspective, we are accessing social and human perspectives of these developments as well as their wider effects.\nFindings: - The leveraged transactions were conceptually an appropriate attempt to centralise the structure of the industry but their execution was not possible under such extreme financial distress. However, bankruptcy protection provided the environmental conditions to realise the benefits of more efficient strategic and subsequent wide-ranging structural change.\nOriginality/value: - This research differs from economistic readings of the period that analyse changes in market value of the constituent firms and the more reactionary journalistic accounts. The paper re-casts the failed financial restructuring in a new light, underlining the regenerative effects of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in promoting firm revival, alongside visionary leadership.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Psychosomatic model of workplace bullying: Australian and Ugandan schoolteachers	[ "Workplace bullying", "Culture", "Psychosomatic model", "Bullying", "Workplace", "Australia", "Uganda", "Schools", "Teachers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The psychosomatic model of workplace bullying states that workplace bullying leads to negative affect, which, in turn, leads to physical symptoms. Although the psychosomatic model of workplace bullying has been examined in several countries (e.g. Australia and Denmark), a cross-cultural comparison of this model has yet to be conducted. This is surprising, given the critical role played by culture in shaping people's perceptions (Munene et al., 2005; Shaw, 1990). The main objective of this paper is therefore to examine the psychosomatic model of workplace bullying, using samples from Australia and Uganda. The use of directly comparable samples from two vastly different countries facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of the causes and consequences of workplace bullying, and underpins the development of effective workplace policies and practices to reduce the negative effects of workplace bullying.1.1 Workplace bullying\n2. Hypothesis development: The psychosomatic model of workplace bullying has been demonstrated to hold for samples of employed students in Australia (Djurkovic et al., 2006) and both white-collar and blue-collar workers in Denmark (Mikkelsen and Einarsen, 2002) and in Sweden (Hansen et al., 2006). Given the aforementioned results for a sample of employed students in Australia, it is expected that the results would hold also for a sample of schoolteachers in Australia. Although no such study has been undertaken in Uganda, it seems reasonable to assume that the psychosomatic model would hold also for a sample of schoolteachers in Uganda. The psychosomatic model is arguably a \"variform universal\" (Bass, 1997; Dickson et al., 2004), in that the model holds across cultures although the magnitude of the relationship between downward bullying and negative affect varies.Downward bullying renders formal authority salient and thus differences between targets of bullying in terms of their attitudes to formal authority may influence the effects of bullying: specifically, the negative affect that it evokes in targets. As mentioned above, the cultural dimensions on which Australia and Uganda differ are primarily individualism-collectivism and power distance. Australian workplace relationships are characterised by individualism and low power distance whereas Ugandan workplace relationships are characterised by collectivism and high power distance. Furthermore, power is exercised frequently, as is coercion, in organisations in high power distance societies (Kale and McIntyre, 1991). It is plausible that a consequence of high power distance in workplace relationships is that downward bullying is tolerated by those involved both directly (i.e. perpetrator and target) and indirectly (e.g. witnesses) because of their attitudes to authority: Autocratic leadership, which has been shown to be positively associated with downward bullying (O'Moore et al., 1998; Vartia, 1996), is more prevalent and more readily accepted in cultures with high power distance than in cultures with low power distance (Kale and McIntyre, 1991).It is plausible that downward bullying evokes more negative affect in targets in low power distance cultures (e.g. Australians) than in targets in high power distance cultures (e.g. Ugandans). It is argued here consequently, that the magnitude of the relationship between downward bullying and negative affect is greater in low power distance cultures than in high power distance cultures. As noted, people in low power distance cultures are likely to openly challenge and query authority figures, such as managers and bosses, and expect to be treated as equals by their superiors and thus are unlikely to tolerate or become accustomed to downward bullying. In contrast, people in high power distance cultures are more likely than people in low power distance cultures to be accustomed to and tolerate downward bullying because of their subservience to their superiors. Furthermore, the cultural norm in high power distance societies is such that the behaviour of superiors is neither questioned nor challenged, so subordinates in high power distance cultures will be less perturbed by downward bullying than will subordinates in low power distance cultures. Based on the preceding discussion, the following hypothesis is proposed:H1. The magnitude of the indirect effect of downward bullying on physical symptoms via negative affect will depend on culture. Specifically, the indirect effect of downward bullying on physical symptoms via negative affect will be stronger in Australia than in Uganda.\n3. Method: 3.1 Participants\n4. Results: A factor analysis was conducted to cheque the structure of the scales for negative affect and neuroticism. Each item from the two original scales had to meet two criteria to be retained:1. the item must have a loading of at least 0.50 on the appropriate scale, which is in line with Hair et al.'s (1998) recommendations based on sample size and number of items; and2. the first criterion must be met in both samples.The findings from these analyses are presented in Table I, which shows that five items from the original scales for negative affect and neuroticism met the two criteria. The average of the relevant items shown in Table I was used as the overall score for negative affect and for neuroticism.The internal reliability of the scales for negative affect and neuroticism was examined using Cronbach's Alpha. The Cronbach's Alpha for the five-item negative affect scale is 0.88 and the Cronbach's Alpha for the five-item neuroticism scale is 0.81. According to Nunnally (1978), a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.70 or more indicates satisfactory reliability. Based on Nunnally's recommendation, the scales for negative affect and neuroticism have satisfactory internal reliability.A factor analysis was not conducted on the bullying scale as the bullying items were treated as formative indicators for the following reasons (see Podsakoff et al., 2003):* the items are regarded as defining characteristics of bullying rather than as manifestations of bullying;* the different items do not share a common theme;* removing an item would alter the domain of the bullying construct;* a change in value for one of the items does not necessitate a change in value for all of the other items; and* the different items do not necessarily have the same antecedents and consequences.The items for physical symptoms were also treated as formative indicators, for the same reasons as those provided for the bullying items. The average of the items for bullying was used as an overall score for bullying whilst the average of the items for physical symptoms was used as an overall score for physical symptoms. An internal reliability analysis was not conducted for the bullying scale or for the physical symptoms scale, as it is not appropriate to conduct such an analysis for formative indicators.Table II contains the correlations between the measured variables and shows the following:* bullying has a significant negative correlation with age, gender, and teaching experience;* bullying has a significant positive correlation with negative affect, neuroticism, and physical symptoms;* negative affect has a positive correlation with age, neuroticism, and physical symptoms; and* neuroticism has a significant positive correlation with physical symptoms.A multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to examine differences between the two samples for the following variables: bullying, neuroticism, negative affect, and physical symptoms. Table III contains the means for these variables for each sample. The findings from the multivariate analysis of variance revealed a significant overall multivariate effect (Pillai's Trace=0.33, df hypothesis=4, df error=302, p < 0.001; Wilk's Lambda=0.63, df hypothesis=4, df error=302, p < 0.001). The findings from the univariate analysis of variance tests revealed that the Ugandan sample reported significantly higher levels of bullying than did the Australian sample {F(1, 305)=114.7, p < 0.001}. Furthermore, the univariate analysis of variance tests revealed non-significant differences between the Ugandan sample and the Australian sample in terms of neuroticism, negative affect, and physical symptoms.Bullying, negative affect, and physical symptoms were controlled for the effects of age, gender, teaching experience, and neuroticism. The controlled versions of bullying, negative affect, and physical symptoms were used in all of the following analyses.According to Muller et al. (2005), moderated mediation can be examined through the use of three multiple regression analyses:1. the dependent variable (i.e. physical symptoms) is regressed on the independent variable (i.e. bullying), the moderator (i.e. culture), and the product-term of the independent variable and the moderator (i.e. Bullying x Culture);2. the mediator (i.e. negative affect) is regressed on the independent variable, the moderator, and the product-term of the independent variable and the moderator; and3. the dependent variable is regressed on the independent variable, the moderator, the product-term of the independent variable and the moderator, the mediator, and the product-term of the mediator and the moderator (i.e. Negative Affect x Culture).All of the variables, except for physical symptoms, were standardised prior to creating the product-terms in order to reduce the correlations between the product-terms and their constituents.The findings from the three regression analyses are presented in Table IV. As shown in Table IV, the first regression reveals a non-significant interaction between bullying and culture on physical symptoms and that both bullying and culture have significant unique effects on physical symptoms. The second regression reveals a significant interaction between bullying and culture on negative affect. To examine this interaction effect, the correlation between bullying and negative affect was examined separately for each sample. These correlation analyses showed that although the correlation between bullying and negative affect is positive and significant for both samples, the correlation between bullying and negative affect is stronger for the Australian sample (r=0.48, p < 0.001) than for the Ugandan sample (r=0.28, p < 0.01). The third regression analysis, in the procedure outlined by Muller et al. (2005), revealed that negative affect has a significant unique effect on physical symptoms whilst the effects of bullying on physical symptoms are moderated by culture. The findings from the three regression analyses indicate moderated mediation.To demonstrate the moderated mediation effect, the psychosomatic model of workplace bullying was examined separately for the two samples using the procedure outlined by Baron and Kenny (1986). The findings from these analyses are presented in Table V and show the following:1. the correlation between bullying and negative affect is stronger for the Australian sample than for the Ugandan sample; and2. negative affect fully mediates the relationship between bullying and physical symptoms for the Australian sample whereas it partially mediates the relationship between bullying and physical symptoms for the Ugandan sample.In other words, although the psychosomatic model of bullying holds for both samples, bullying has a stronger relationship with negative affect for the Australian sample than for the Ugandan sample, and has a significant direct effect on physical symptoms for the Ugandan sample but not for the Australian sample: H1 is thus supported.\n5. Discussion: The objective of this study was to undertake a cross-cultural examination of the psychosomatic model of workplace bullying focusing on downward bullying. The psychosomatic model was extended by including culture as a moderator of the relationship between bullying and negative affect, based on the premise that the effects of bullying on negative affect vary between cultures due to differences in attitudes to formal authority in workplaces.As noted above, the Ugandan sample reported being subjected to more downward bullying than did the Australian sample. This finding accords with previous research which has shown that East African countries, such as Uganda, have higher power distance than does Australia and that autocratic leadership and authoritarianism are more likely in higher power distance cultures than in low power distance cultures. Autocratic leadership and authoritarianism are associated with workplace bullying (Hoel et al., 2010; O'Moore et al., 1998; Salin and Hoel, 2011; Vartia, 1996). For instance, autocratic leaders are arguably more likely than are consultative leaders to openly display anger towards subordinates and to assign subordinates to roles against their will.The psychosomatic model is supported for both the Australian and the Ugandan samples, which is consistent with previous findings using Australian, Danish, and Swedish samples. Furthermore, the relationship between bullying and negative affect is stronger for the Australian sample than for the Ugandan sample. Moreover, negative affect fully mediates the relationship between bullying and physical symptoms for the Australian sample and partially mediates this relationship for the Ugandan sample. These findings support the proposition that the psychosomatic model is a variform universal.Although the Ugandan sample reported higher levels of bullying than did the Australian sample, the two samples did not differ in terms of the levels of negative affect that they attributed to being bullied. This finding indicates that the Australian sample is more sensitive to being bullied than is the Ugandan sample in that the Australian sample reported lower levels of bullying but attributed similar levels of negative affect to being bullied. One possible reason for the lower effect of bullying on negative affect amongst the Ugandan sample is that some bullying behaviours may be regarded as normal leadership by subordinates in high power distance cultures, thereby diminishing the negative impact of such behaviours. With regards to the direct effect of bullying on physical symptoms amongst the Ugandan sample, when bullying behaviours are perceived as legitimate leadership behaviours, targets are likely to strive to appease the leader by exerting extra effort and thus may experience not only negative affect but also role-based stress and/or interpersonal stress, which may subsequently lead to physical symptoms.5.1 Theoretical and practical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The main purpose of this paper is to examine the psychosomatic model of downward workplace bullying in different cultures.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A cross-sectional design was used. Participants were teachers in government and non-government high schools in Australia and the Republic of Uganda. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire.\nFindings: - The psychosomatic model is supported for both the Australian and the Ugandan samples. However, the relationship between bullying and physical symptoms is fully mediated by negative affect for the Australian sample but partially mediated for the Ugandan sample. The correlation between bullying and negative affect is stronger for the Australian sample than for the Ugandan sample.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The psychosomatic model was extended by including culture as a moderator of the bullying-negative affect relationship. The findings show that the psychosomatic model of workplace bullying is a variform universal. All participants are schoolteachers and the findings may therefore not be generalisable to employees in other occupations. The validity of the findings is questionable as the data are self-reported. The cross-sectional design used precludes any conclusions being made about cause-effect relationships. Future studies should consider other personality dimensions that may influence the psychosomatic model of bullying and the use of a longitudinal design.\nPractical implications: - Downward bullying reduces employee effectiveness because the ensuing negative affect and physical symptoms hamper employees from performing optimally. Furthermore, targets may adopt avoidance strategies, such as absenteeism and turnover, to avoid being bullied.\nOriginality/value: - The psychosomatic model of workplace bullying was examined cross-culturally for the first time.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The rise of Taiwan in the TFT-LCD industry	[ "Technology foresight", "Business performance", "Varieties of capitalism", "Talent mobility", "Organization structure", "Technology introduction", "TFT-LCD industry", "Taiwan and Japan" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Since early 2000, the power balance between Japanese and Taiwanese Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD) firms changed drastically. However, previous studies have rarely addressed this dynamic change in the power structure in the global TFT-LCD industry. I adopted the theoretical framework of Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) by Hall and Soskice (2001) and attempted to explore the process of \"the fall of Japan, the rise of Taiwan\" in the global TFT-LCD industry.\nJapan's labor market institution and technology introduction: Unlike the open systems in the USA, the organizational relationships among Japanese electronics manufacturers form a closed network. For example, in the integrated circuit (IC) industry in the USA, the inter-firm network is widely dispersed spatially and each firm has very high autonomy and flexibility, whereas rigid hierarchical inter-firm networks characterize Japan's IC industry (Appleyard, 1996; Arita and McCann, 2002). As subsequently apparent in this study, the organizational structure of enterprise groups in Japan and the characteristics of Japanese technological knowledge are closely related to the labor market institutions in Japan.\nTechnology introduction and learning in Japan's TFT-LCD industry: In the late 1960s, Japanese consumer electronics giants such as Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and NEC Corporation started to introduce and learn the experimental manufacturing technology of the LCD through technological information from RCA and related academic literature. In 1973, Sharp (a Japanese consumer electronics giant) successfully developed mass production technology for TN-LCD (a prototype of commercialized LCD) for the first time in the world.\nTaiwan's labor market institutions and technology introduction: Chen (2008) showed that the high-tech industry in Taiwan is minimally bounded by a hierarchical organization structure or blood relationships. In particular, in the IC industry, strong personal ties are not important and formal institutional trust such as technological standards and quality certifications are the network governance mechanisms in inter-organizational networks (Chen, 2008). The characteristic traits of organizations in Taiwan's semiconductor industry are an open network structure, cooperative relationships with domestic firms and foreign enterprises promoting technology development (Chen, 2008; Jou and Chen, 2000).\nTechnology introduction and learning in Taiwan's TFT-LCD industry: From the 1980s to the early 1990s, Taiwan's LCD industry was in an early phase of development. During this period, Taiwanese entrepreneurs integrated the technology learned in the USA with the existing technologies in Taiwan and established the technological foundation for Taiwan's LCD industry (Wang, 2003, pp. 105-113). In 1997, the Asian financial crisis had a considerable negative impact on the world economy. A catch-up phenomenon by Korean firms ensued, forcing Japanese consumer-electronics giants to establish collaborative relationships with Taiwanese firms to strengthen their cost-competitiveness. From 1997 to 2003, ADI Group (an affiliated business of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation), IBM Japan, Toshiba and Sharp transferred TFT-LCD manufacturing technology to Taiwanese manufacturers. For example, CPT (a Taiwanese TFT-LCD firm) introduced turnkey technology including factory construction, factory design and manufacturing. CMO, the largest TFT-LCD firm in South Taiwan, introduced MVA technology from Fujitsu and jointly established a company with IBM Japan. Quanta Display (a Taiwanese TFT-LCD firm) entered into a turnkey agreement with Sharp and AUO (the largest TFT-LCD firm in Taiwan) introduced manufacturing and design technology from IBM Japan and adopted MVA technology from Fujitsu. AUO also entered into a turnkey agreement with Panasonic. HannStar (a Taiwanese TFT-LCD firm) signed a technology transfer contract with Toshiba and introduced turnkey technology (Wang, 2003, p. 236).\nConclusion and future research: With low mobility of human resources, Japanese consumer electronics giants introduced experimental technology from the USA through mediation by business organizations and successfully transformed experimental technology into mass production technology. However, during the stage of overseas technology diffusion, Japanese consumer-electronics giants were forced to sell key technology to Taiwanese firms given the long-term depression and the catch-up phenomenon of Korean firms. Japanese consumer electronics giants closed their manufacturing divisions for large-size TFT-LCDs or withdrew from the large-size TFT-LCD market, and some Japanese technical personnel who could not demonstrate their skills in Japan were inevitably recruited by Taiwanese TFT-LCD firms. Then, key Japanese technologies and expertise spread throughout Taiwan's TFT-LCD industrial world using technology learning mechanisms (the transformation of Japanese non-standard technology into standardized technology) and labor market institutions (high mobility of human resources) of Taiwan's high-tech firms. Thus, the global TFT-LCD market saw \"the fall of Japan, the rise of Taiwan\". From 2002 to 2003, Sharp and other Japanese consumer electronics giants started to adopt a technology protection strategy; however, it was too late to control the development of Taiwanese manufacturers. In the end, Japanese consumer electronics giants were forced to shift the focus of their business from the manufacture of large-size TFT-LCD to the production of small- and medium-size TFT-LCD.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to refocus the analysis of global political economies using concepts from studies on Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) to track Taiwan's rise in the Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD) industry. Taiwanese electronics firms began to outpace their competitors from Japan in TFT-LCD industry's competition from about the year 2000.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on depth interviews and analysis of secondary source material, newspaper and magazine.\nFindings: A time factor that helps determine advantage and/or disadvantage of high-tech industry in Japan and Taiwan. Stable organizational structure and less talent mobility in the Japanese TFT-LCD firms may well have been an advantage initially in the transformation process from US firms' experimental technologies to tacit mass production technologies, but proved to be a disadvantage in the subsequent competition with more mobile talent in Taiwanese firms eager to standardize mass production techniques. Japanese firms' rigid organizational structure could not keep pace to the market-oriented technology strategy in the global TFT-LCD industry, lost competitive advantage in a rapid pace.\nSocial implications: VoC literature should be focused to highlight two insights. The first is the premise of institutional forms specific to national models of capitalism. Patterns of technology transfer appear critical in the innovation process, and differ markedly between Taiwan and Japan. Second, the VoC literature suggests comparative institutional advantage.\nOriginality/value: Through the comparative analyses between Taiwanese capitalism model and Japanese counterparts, we can understand the reason and process of the rise of Taiwan in global TFT-LCD market.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How brand concepts represented as human values promote evaluation: The triggering role of incidental emotions	[ "Construal level theory", "Brand concepts", "Human values", "Incidental emotions", "Information processing fluency" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Increasingly companies have realized the importance of abstract brand meanings. The \"Trade in Value-Added (TiVA)\" initiative jointly proposed by OECD and WTO in 2013 underscored the essential role of symbolic meanings in brand image construction, which is one of the most fundamental ways to acquire extra premium (Park et al., 1986). Human-like values (e.g. TOMS' \"One-for-One\" donation project), goals (e.g. Rolex's slogan \"The benchmark for excellence\") and emotions (e.g. Coca-Cola's slogan \"Taste the feeling!\") are often introduced in the construction of brand meanings, shaping the desirability of brands among consumers. In fact, according to a 2014 report from Brandz, consumer-based brand equity is higher for brands that communicate the crystallization of people's aspirations, i.e. the particular goals as the representation of abstract brand meanings. However, inequivalent to the prevalent recognition of abstract brand meanings, limited actionable guidelines have been given for how to leverage these brand meanings to enhance brand equity.\nTheoretical framework: Human values as brand concepts\nPretests and stimuli development: Pretest 1: real brands selection for Studies 1A and 1B\nStudy 1A: Method\nStudy 1B: Method\nStudy 2: Method\nGeneral discussion: Building on research indicating that abstract brand concepts can be representations of human values (Torelli et al., 2012, 2011), we propose and provide empirical evidence that the communication of abstract brand concepts should consider the key role of incidental emotions. Triggering specific emotion motivationally congruent with the concepts of a brand led to increases in evaluation. Notably, this increase occurred not only between brand concepts of self-regulating values and emotions of self-relatedness (Study 1A, Study 2), but also between brand concepts of change-regulating values and approach/avoidance-oriented emotions (Study 1B). Furthermore, in all these studies, our results are driven by the experience of fluency triggered by the sequential activation of consistent motivations underlying brand concepts and incidental emotions. And the international effect of brand concepts and incidental emotions was only obtained among high-construal-level consumers, who tend to understand events schematically (Study 2).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how incidental emotions interact with brand concepts that are represented as human values to influence consumers' attitude toward brands. It also explores the effect of construal level on such interactional effect.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Three incidental emotion x brand concepts between-subject experiments were performed on consumers. The first two experiments used real brands as stimuli, while the third one featured a fictitious brand.\nFindings: Results revealed that the motivational congruency between incidental emotions and brand concepts leads to favorable consumer responses toward the targeted brand by inducing an experience of fluency. However, such effect only emerges among consumers with a high construal level.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides a new insight about the effect of brand concept represented as human values by identifying the role of situational factors (incidental emotions) and personal factors (chronic construal level), which are also easily administered and applied in everyday marketing contexts.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Identification of critical risk factors in public-private partnership project phases in developing countries: A case of Nigeria	[ "PPPs", "Developing countries" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: It is evident that poor outcomes occur in infrastructure projects delivery due to inappropriate allocation of risks among the parties involved (Flyvbjerg, Bruzelius and Rothengatter, 2003; Flyvbjerg, Holm and Buhl, 2003). It is on this premise that Flyvbjerg (2007) recommended public-private partnership (PPP) model for large infrastructure projects delivery, based on the fact that PPPs allocate risks to private investors willing to take on such risks in exchange for a long-term contractual agreement to be responsible for design, finance, construction, operations and maintenance. This is affirmed by Wibowo and Mohamed (2008) that PPP concept is the transfer of risks traditionally borne by the government to the private sector. The problem now lies in the identification, allocation and management of the risks which are dependent on the type of project, the procurement route and the contractual arrangement that are put in place (Leiringer, 2003). This is supported by Chou and Pramudawardhani (2015) that many PPP projects failure resulted from inappropriate risk allocation. However, the proper identification and allocation of risks are key to successful PPP project implementation. OECD (2008) reported that achieving value for money in PPP project depends on the ability of the major participant to adequately identify, analyze and allocate risks appropriately. This is corroborated by Thomas et al. (2006) that the success recorded in PPP projects, particularly BOT projects, is due to proper risks identification, assessment and allocation.\nLiterature review: PPPs in Nigeria\nResearch methodology: Earlier researchers have emphasized the philosophical underpinnings of the research process (see Thurairajah et al., 2006; Dainty, 2007; Badu et al., 2012). For example, McCallin (2003) asserted that a philosophical position should be reviewed and considered in the direction of inquiry. Thus, the philosophical concepts underlying this study emanated from positivism. For instance, positivism is employed because it is a scientific framework that aims to generate empirical evidence that is objective and testable (Finlay, 2006). Furthermore, Flick (2006) claimed that positivism seeks for an objective \"truth,\" which is seen to exist independently of the individual's perceptions of it. Saunders et al. (2012) asserted that positivism is associated with quantitative research. This study, therefore, employed the positivism paradigm where the knowledge of risk factors in PPP infrastructure projects is substantiated through cumulative of established facts and analyzed in a manner that facilitates replication. In addition, the appropriate selection of research strategy is guided by the nature of the study. Thus, the research strategies employed for this study include three different data-gathering approaches including literature review, desk review and brainstorming session and questionnaire survey. This is corroborated by Bryman (2006) that research methods are of different approaches, but advocated for a combination of approaches with a view to providing a more robust research outcome. Therefore, it is evident that in order to gain complete understanding of a given construction management research phenomenon, different approaches which typically comprised a blend of methods that are very different from each other should be used (Love et al., 2002; Yin, 2009; Saunders et al., 2012). It is against this backdrop that this study adopted four data-gathering approaches, which are briefly discussed as follows.\nResults and discussion: Background information of respondents\nConclusions: Understanding and enhancing knowledge of PPPs continues to be a matter of significance and importance. Thus, it is important for all stakeholders in PPPs to have an in-depth understanding of PPPs environment with a view to responding actively to various risks associated with PPP infrastructure projects implementation, particularly in developing countries. It is against this backdrop that this study identified and assessed the various risk factors associated with PPP infrastructure project phases comprising development phase, construction phase, operation phase and project life cycle. In achieving this, the study adopted four key approaches for data gathering including literature review, desk review, brainstorming session and questionnaire survey. In total, 70 risk factors associated with PPP infrastructure projects were identified, which were grouped into four phases of PPP projects including development phase with 12 identified risk factors, construction phase with 17 identified risk factors, operation phase with 14 identified risk factors and project life cycle with 27 identified risk factors.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are being faced by risk threats, notwithstanding the fact that the PPP model has been structured in a way that the associated risks are shared by both the public and private sectors. Consequently, the sources of risk change over the PPP project phases. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to identify and assess the risk factors in PPP infrastructure project phases comprising development phase, construction phase, operation phase and project life cycle through an empirical approach.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study adopted four different data-gathering approaches including literature review, desk review, brainstorming session and questionnaire survey. In order to capture a broad perception of stakeholders, the questionnaires were administered to three different stakeholder organizations to include public sector authorities (i.e. ministries, department and agencies), concessionaires and lenders/banks involved in different PPP infrastructure projects implementation in Nigeria. A total of 81 questionnaires were administered, out of which 63 were retrieved but after checking through the completed questionnaires, 60 questionnaires were found suitable for the analysis. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, mean score, Kruskal-Wallis test and the risk significance index in terms of severity and likelihood of occurrence conducted.\nFindings: In total, 70 risk factors were identified with respect to PPP project phases and their relative importance was gauged. In addition, the analysis of total 70 risk factors in the development phase, construction phase, operation phase and project life cycle phase indicated that 51 risk factors are located in the yellow zone, which is considered as moderate and 19 risk factors are located in the red zone that are regarded as critical.\nPractical implications: The identification of specific critical risk factors in each PPP project phase will provide a benchmark in developing risk management programs in developing countries.\nOriginality/value: These study findings would be useful for PPP stakeholders to focus their attention, priorities and leadership in managing these critical risk factors. Furthermore, the findings of this study are significant in providing an in-depth understanding of the current Nigeria's PPP market environment, which is a true reflection of developing countries as a whole.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Library professional's opinion about open source software adoption: Status, problems and measures used in libraries of Beijing, China	[ "China", "Research libraries", "Academic libraries", "Open source software", "Commercial software", "Library system" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Open source software (OSS) development in China continues to be booming daily. Despite a number of challenges, the magnitude of open source communities is also increasing. OSS has now become a popular topic of interest in all quarters of the developed and developing countries including integrated library software, digital library management, content management, inter-library loan management, document delivery services and other Web-based services. Open source communities are vigorously engaged in finding innovative ways of implementing OSS. The philosophy behind adopting OSS is that every person in the community can participate in the upgradation process of OSS. OSS ILS offers valuable options for proprietary systems. The availability of OSS consists of free distribution, openly available source code and permission for modification of software (Subramanyam and Xia, 2008).\nLiterature review: Open source development promises to be a lucrative enterprise for libraries and has recently emerged in China. A large body of OSS literature has been generated over the past decade that depicts a higher rate of OSS adoption across different organizations including libraries. OSS has growing significance for developing economies such as India, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia, Iran and China. Rajani et al. (2003) conducted a very useful research study, related to the significance of OSS for developing countries, which identified low-cost, anti-piracy, security and technological independence as factors behind the augmented growth of OSS in the developing world. Rafiq (2009) conducted an international study about perceptions with reference to adoption of OSS in libraries and found that library professionals have a strong positive perception and inclination toward OSS adoption. The study further established that developing countries indicated higher interests in OSS solutions as compared to developed countries.\nResearch questions: The study was intended to answer the following research questions:\nResearch design: The study has adopted a concurrent mix method technique to attain its objectives. Quantitative and qualitative phases were used to gather the results. The study was based on two major types of libraries: 20 research libraries and 20 academic libraries. Both types of libraries shared their experiences about OSS which have some similarities and differences.\nQuestionnaire: The questionnaire was filled by library professionals. It was designed by using back-to-back translation from English to Chinese. The questionnaire was prepared in the simplest way to encourage responses. The convenient sampling technique was used. The top 20 academic and research libraries were selected for data collection on the basis of China's ranking list (www.topuniversities.com).The questionnaire consisted of a five-point Likert type scale comprising 20 items to measure the perception. The literature revealed a number of statements by different researchers related to benefits, drawbacks, issues, etc., associated with OSS. These statements were presented in the second part of the instrument and respondents were requested to choose their level of agreement or disagreement with the presented statements. The responses to the items were recorded as: strongly agree = 5, agree = 4, no opinion = 3, disagree = 2 and strongly disagree = 1. \"No opinion\" option was added because all items are knowledge based and the possibility existed that some respondents may not have an answer to an item. Library professional's opinions in quantitative phase were tested by using t-test, which has been proven that both types of library professionals have different opinion about every statement of the question. Nevertheless, attention was given to the variation in library types that is academic and research libraries of Beijing, China. The coefficient alpha (0.76) reliability from the results suggests that the instrument is stable enough to determine the LIS community's perception toward OSS. The subjects of the study were LIS professionals. To reach the population, the instrument was distributed by personal emails to LIS professionals that were known to the researcher. The principal author filled the questionnaires by hand in December 2015. The number of total questionnaires received was 40, 20 from academic libraries and 20 from research libraries of Beijing, China.\nInterviews: The in-depth interviews focused on the following:\nResults and discussion: Data were gathered from 40 libraries of Beijing, 20 from research institute libraries and 20 from university libraries. Data were collected equally from two types of libraries. The two groups indicated that 80 per cent respondents belonged to the IT sector of university libraries, 60 per cent to research libraries, 20 per cent were head of library in university libraries and 40 per cent were also affiliated with research libraries. In total, 40 per cent of respondents had 6-10 years working experience in universities libraries, while 20 per cent respondents belonged to the same working experience group (Table I). Young library professionals have more ability to learn the latest technological advancement regarding library information management and enthusiasm to face upcoming challenges of the field.\nQualitative data analysis: professionals' opinions: The qualitative phase of the present research was based on 40 interviews with IT personnel and head of librarians/professionals. The results are based on thematic data analysis as follows:\nConclusion and recommendations: The purpose of this research paper was to explore professional's opinion about OSS adoption, problems and future measures in Beijing, China. The findings have clarified certain important points. It has also shown that China is growing in all fields of life, especially in information technology, but still there is a need to peruse certain aspects related to OSS. Through this study, librarians recommended that there should be organized workshops, seminars and short courses for library professionals. For this purpose, library associations can play a positive role at the local, provincial and country level. Standard-based OSS software should be selected which will give full assistance to library professionals in automation of all library functions and can be a source of consortium among all level of libraries. OSS has a very popular slogan \"open for all\", but attention should be paid to those vendors who are involved in making the available software free of cost to libraries. They should provide some software training and demos for library staff. Online assistance, user groups, blogging and Web 2.0 are also viable solutions to solving the librarians' problems regarding implementation of OSS. The efficiency of library professionals is interwoven with their professional background to obtain good results from library professionals; there is a responsibility of library schools to revise their curriculum and introduce technological changes and user needs and their requirements in present scenario. There is a great need to take an initiative to implement theoretical and practical aspects of technological changes, which is the most demanding part of library automation. Library associations should play an active role in introducing free library software. IT control section of library association (Beijing) should focus on the fact that OSS is being used at an appropriate speed, sufficient modules are being used and the OSS is compatible with all operating systems so that training sessions, workshops and short courses may be designed for library professionals. The basic concept of resource sharing, especially how to share online resources, should be imparted to library professionals through workshops and seminars. Another prime responsibility of library professionals is to keep in view the accessibility of different OSS for libraries and find the best solution for their organization keeping in mind all aspects of their respective libraries. For instance, Koha (free software) is quite well-known with reference to automation of all library service functions and sources and has upgrading versions. Library professionals should take steps to introduce and train other professionals with reference to OSS. Commercial/foreign software is very efficient and provides the requisite services while being in sync with the library demand and user satisfaction, but it is quite expensive so the fee structure should be revised especially for developing countries.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the professional opinion of LIS with reference to open source software (OSS) adoption, status, problems and future measures in research and academic libraries of Beijing, China.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, and semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted among 20 academic and 20 research libraries in Beijing, China. The convenient sampling technique was used to collect data. The data collected were interpreted using descriptive statistics and independent t-test.\nFindings: The results reveal that Chinese research and academics libraries depend mostly upon commercial software and place a great deal of trust on locally produced free software. This situation may be caused due to the lack of professional knowledge in OSS and lack of appropriate technical expertise. Although there were a sufficient number of librarians who have shown interest in OSS, they did not enthusiastically agree to implement it in their libraries. Furthermore, the interviews highlighted the professionals' opinion that most librarians are reluctant to adopt OSS due to the risk factor, lack of professional expertise, insufficient interest of the Chinese Government and lack of professional training.\nOriginality/value: The findings are useful for the Chinese LIS community, software developers, technology administrators and library administrators. In particular, it is beneficial for research and academic libraries of China to adapt OSS for library management and provide better library services and sources to their library users.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Human capital and financial performance in professional football: the role of governance mechanisms	[ "Financial performance", "Human capital", "CEO duality", "Family board representation", "Football industry" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper primarily intends to investigate the financial impact of human capital investments in the professional football industry. The authors elaborate on this issue by exploring whether internal governance mechanisms affect the relation between player investments and financial performance, which has been rarely if ever addressed in prior research.\nLiterature review and hypothesis development: Human capital investments and firm performance\nSample selection procedure and data collection: This research is based on a panel data set composed of accounting and governance data for 16 Italian professional football clubs spanning a nine-year time period (2007-2015), which total up to 144 club-year observations. All sample clubs are limited companies by share which are legally required to produce audited financial statements, with the audit function performed by an outside auditor (albeit this is not mandatory for all of them under the current company law).\nResearch design: The football industry provides a unique setting for exploring the financial impact of human capital investments mainly because the football industry is a highly human intensive sector with most organizational operations requiring the involvement of human capital. According to Dimitropoulos and Limperopoulos (2014) and Dimitropoulos and Koumanakos (2015), football player contracts are the most significant investment of clubs and the majority of revenues is channeled in player registration rights. Previous studies on the impact of human capital investments in various sectors and in the football industry have proxied for human capital via wage costs, salaries, player transfer fees or player registration rights as published on clubs' balance sheets (Dimitropoulos and Limperopoulos, 2014; Amir and Livne, 2005; Gerrard, 2001). We extend previous studies by incorporating three measures of human capital including annual wages (WAGE), new cash investments in player contracts on an annual basis (INV_CONTR) and the difference between gains and losses from trading of player registration rights (PR_CONTR) which proxies for the net profitability from contract trading. Dimitropoulos and Limperopoulos (2014) found that higher investments in player contracts in Greece are associated to deteriorated financial performance and viability because those investment decisions are not based on economic standards but are the outcome of clubs' attempt to enhance on-field success to the detriment of financial success. However, the recent study of Dimitropoulos and Koumanakos (2015) on a sample of European football clubs pointed to the opposite direction, as clubs' human capital proxied by wage costs is positively associated to financial performance. So, based on the contradicting evidence in the literature, we cannot form any expectation regarding the impact of new investments in player contracts, net profit from player contract trading and wages on financial performance.\nEmpirical results: Descriptive statistics and univariate analysis\nConclusions: It is widely recognized by academic, practitioner and popular audiences that the main and core asset of professional football businesses is the human asset and consequently clubs with superior ability to channel funds into playing talent are better placed to retain a \"competitive advantage\" both in terms of sporting achievements and turnover (Franck, 2010). On the other hand, investments in playing talent are also held responsible for the financial distress of professional football businesses at least in as much as a club invests beyond its means and gambles on success, which if does not materialize places club viability at jeopardy.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between human capital investments and financial performance in the professional football industry. The authors examine this association by controlling for internal (club-level) mechanisms of governance. Specifically, as they deal with a context of highly concentrated ownership and familial control of football clubs, they posit that the degree of family board representation and a dual leadership structure exert a moderating effect on the decision to spend on playing talent.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The empirical analysis employs a fixed-effect econometric model on a panel data set of 16 Italian football clubs that spans a nine-year time period ending up with 144 firm-year observations.\nFindings: The main novel finding of this investigation is that clubs with CEO duality and a high degree of family board representation manage to profit from investments in player contracts as opposed to clubs which lack these governance mechanisms.\nResearch limitations/implications: A clear implication is that the presence of corporate governance mechanisms at club level may be value-enhancing. In terms of policy direction, the finding makes the case that regulatory bodies should consider the imposition of governance mechanisms at club level as a means to promote actual financial discipline and a further ally to current regulations that are restricted to monitoring processes tied to accounting data.\nOriginality/value: This study attempts to explain the financial outcomes of player investments by combining insights from the mainstream governance and family business literature. Prior works in the field are restricted to testing the direct relation between player investments and performance, but fail to consider the potential moderators of this association.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Bank adoption of mobile banking: stakeholder perspective	[ "Mobile banking", "Blogging", "Delphi method", "Distribution channels", "Diffusion of innovation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Technology innovations have been a major force driving changes within distribution in banking. It first began to alter banks distribution channels in the 1970s with the introduction of ATMs, followed by telephone banking in the 1980s, internet banking in the 1990s and mobile banking 1990s-2000s (Devlin, 1995; Hoehle et al., 2012). For the purposes of this study mobile banking is defined as:An interaction in which a customer is connected to a bank via a mobile device, such as a mobile phone or personal digital assistant, (PDA)(Laukkanen and Kiviniemi, 2010, p. 373).\nMobile banking background: In an increasingly competitive environment, where customer loyalty is diminishing, mobile banking offers banks the potential to gain competitive advantage, retain and acquire customers. It also supports increased customer satisfaction through value-added mobile services, cross-selling and reduced costs (Shankar and Kumari, 2016; Tiwari et al., 2006; Vinayagamoorthy and Sankar, 2012; Juniper Research, 2014). A key distinguishing feature of mobile banking, compared to other channel innovations, is the multiple access modes. Typically, access is through short messaging service (SMS), browser-based systems (WAP) and client applications or apps. According to Vinayagamoorthy and Sankar (2012), SMS and browser are the most commonly used platforms. However, this opinion is not shared by the industry. BBA and EY (2015) reported that downloadable apps were the most popular platform for customers with an estimated 15,000 apps downloaded per day in the UK alone. Typically, many banks provide services from more than one platform enhancing functionality thereby meeting the needs of a wider group of customers (Pousttchi and Schurig, 2004). Currently, service offerings continue to differ worldwide (KPMG, 2014). No national, global or universal standard for mobile banking technology exists (Donner and Tellez, 2008) highlighting the limited evolution and development of this innovation to date.\nDrivers of bank adoption: The key drivers for banks regarding any service innovation is normally cost and benefits (Barnes and Corbitt, 2003). Traditionally cost savings have driven decisions (Lu Stout, 2007) which has been the case regarding the adoption of previous electronic channels (Jayawardhena and Foley, 2000). However, cost considerations may also produce a decelerating effect upon the diffusion of mobile banking due to prohibitive start up and running costs and a reluctance to invest in new technologies (De Castro, 2009). Implementation costs were found as a barrier to banks adoption of internet banking (Thulani et al., 2009) although Jones (2014) concluded that mobile banking may generate additional revenue. Furthermore, bank profitability was eroded by the adoption of internet banking due to increased competition (Onay and Ozsoz, 2013). Banks are also raising concerns as ROI is difficult to predict since many benefits of electronic channels are already provided through internet banking (Feig, 2008). In fact, ROI was not immediate for internet banking, taking between one and three years to realise (Hernando and Nieto, 2007). Banks are also motivated by the convenience and flexibility offered to customers and the ability to cross-sell (Herzberg, 2003) although this is widely debated (Parvin, 2013; Scornavacca and Hoehle, 2007). Scornavacca and Barnes (2004) concluded that banks took the opportunity to cross-sell their products over the mobile channel. Tiwari et al. (2007) identified that the strategic driver of German banks was to strengthen the bank-customer relationship, while Parvin (2013) concluded that adoption is driven by increased customer satisfaction, competitive pressures and financial inculsion (Jones, 2014). There are therefore numerous influences and issues referred to with limited consensus drawn.\nMethodology: Research approach and data collection\nFindings and discussion: Data were analysed using SPSS v 22 and thematic content analysis. Themes were identified where consensus of opinion was achieved. Divergent opinions were also of interest.\nConclusion: This study explored the drivers and barriers of bank adoption of mobile banking. Table IV shows the conceptual framework of the drivers and barriers of bank adoption of mobile banking clearly showing that relative advantage of mobile banking acts more as a barrier than a driver. Moreover, there are more barriers than drivers identified indicating that more negative influences have to be overcome by banks in order to ensure mass industry adoption. Practically, this information may be useful in helping banks develop and implement their mobile banking strategies. Finally, this framework shows how complex the area of adoption of mobile banking is and, could help to further explain, why its widespread global adoption has been sporadic and, at times, slow.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Bank adoption of mobile banking globally remains sporadic. Factors influencing this remain under researched. The purpose of this paper is to explore drivers and barriers of bank adoption of mobile banking from a stakeholder perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using diffusion of innovation (DOI), a mixed method study was conducted. Data were collected using blogging to inform a two-round modified Delphi study. The opinion of 72 members from six stakeholder industries was sought.\nFindings: The results indicate that DOI theory is still applicable within mobile environments in helping to understand the diffusion of mobile banking. Key drivers of bank adoption were global mobile phone penetration, competitive advantage, customer convenience, strategic importance, customer demand, low perceived risk/security concerns and stakeholder partnerships. Findings suggest low levels of customer demand and lack of return on investment (ROI) are key barriers for banks. The findings have strategic implications for industry players highlighting the importance of mobile banking to maintain market share and customer relations. These influences will inform successful mobile banking strategies by raising awareness of major barriers.\nOriginality/value: This study concentrates on a bank/stakeholder perspective. It confirms that DOI theory is still applicable within mobile environments. It extends understanding of bank adoption providing useful information for all stakeholders. It has implications for banks regarding multi-channel banking and the motivators and challenges influencing its adoption.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The limits of resistant reading in critical literacy practices	[ "Teaching literature", "Textual studies", "Critical literacy", "English language arts", "Curriculum English", "Literacy teaching" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: \"Once there was a tree\": There was a time when I (first author) found great pleasure in the day each semester when I would ask students in my children's literature course to examine Silverstein's (1964) The Giving Tree through a feminist lens, an activity I hoped would foster the kinds of critical literacy practices I wanted them to be able to use in their own classrooms. I chose The Giving Tree deliberately: a much-beloved story that obviously reduces its female character to a selfless caregiver, the text nicely scaffolds undergraduates toward the ability to read through a feminist lens while also helping me show that unless we wear critical lenses regularly, the interplay of power and oppression can happen right under our noses, without us even realizing it.\nCritical literacy and resistant reading: We understand critical literacy as an approach to literacy instruction that aims to foster students' ability to critique and transform \"dominant ideologies, cultures, economies, institutions and political systems\" (Luke, 2012, p. 5). For theorists and practitioners of critical literacy, language is a \"principle means for representing and reshaping possible worlds\" (p. 7), and as such, it can perpetuate relations of domination or challenge such relations. Grounded in the assertion that language and texts are \"never neutral, that discourse is constitutive, and that literate practices are inevitably concerned with power relations\" (Comber, 2011, p. 7), critical literacy instruction asks students to interrogate language use, attending to the ways \"semiotic resources\" perpetuate relations of domination, and to use their critiques to engage in transformative social action (Janks, 2010, p. 153). In asking students to critique the ways texts perpetuate relations of domination and to engage in transformative social action, critical literacy educators see their pedagogy as \"part of a piecemeal attempt to adjust social norms\" (Mellor and Patterson, 2004, p. 95).\nComplicating critique in the field of English: Some literary scholars who grapple with the \"limits of critique\" (Felski, 2015) identify critique as a method of reading grounded in what Ricoeur (1970) calls the \"hermeneutics of suspicion\" (Felski, 2015; Sedgwick, 2003). The term refers to the interpretive practices ushered in by the work of Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud (Ricoeur, 1970, p. 32) and reflects these theorists' shared commitment to unveiling the \"false consciousness\" on which our world is built. These three thinkers - whom Ricoeur calls the \"masters of suspicion\" (p. 33) - understand this false consciousness in different ways: for Nietzsche, false consciousness depends upon the will to power; for Marx it is the social being; and for Freud, it is the \"unconscious psychism\" (p. 34). While all three use different approaches to unveil false consciousness, Ricoeur argues that they share the conviction that interpretation is not a matter of \"recollecting\" meaning, but instead is the \"reduction of the illusions and lies of consciousness\" (p. 32). For all three thinkers, consciousness itself cannot be trusted to access the truth, and so interpretation requires methodologies that demystify what false consciousness has hidden.\nReading the surface: a note on the method of our project: Our aim in this project is not to critique critique. We do not want to read resistant reading practices suspiciously, digging below the surface to point out how they perpetuate relations of domination or reify ideologies. Instead, we aim to look at resistant reading from a new angle, describing what we see without making claims about the workings of power. To describe critical literacy in a new light, we draw inspiration from the literary scholars whose work catalyzed the project. For her part, Felski (2015) inspired us to consider the ways our analysis might align with her vision of \"postcritical reading,\" an approach that rejects the hunt for \"hidden causes, determining conditions, and noxious motives\" and instead involves placing ourselves in front of a text, asking what it \"unfurls, calls forth, makes possible\" (p. 12). Best and Marcus's (2009) description of the surface of texts inspired our approach to attending to what texts unfurl and call forth. Their contention that the surface is the \"location of patterns that exist within and across texts\" (p. 11) led us to read two texts that describe critical literacy approaches to literature instruction alongside Felski's (2015) description of critique, and to attend the patterns that emerge.\nThe limits of resistant reading: The work by Connors and Rish (2015) and Borsheim-Black et al. (2014) provide thorough descriptions of instructional tasks that one might use to integrate critical literacy practices with literature instruction. For their part, Connors and Rish (2015) focus on combining critical literacy with young adult literature instruction to examine how these texts position readers. They contend that YA literature is not \"ideologically neutral\" and that - like all texts - they position readers in particular ways. The authors point out that although YA literature has the potential to expose readers to liberating ideologies, it can also \"reinforce the status quo and perpetuate problematic power imbalances\" (p. 22). To resist the ways YA texts attempt to position readers, the authors suggest that teachers engage in critical literacy approaches that encourage readers to read against the text, unveiling ideologies about age, race, gender, sexuality, etc., that sit beneath the surface. Encouraging readers to notice the assumptions that undergird a text, they argue, might help students challenge or reject these assumptions. One example they use to illuminate their approach to critical literacy is a lesson on Hinton (1967), the young adult book about a \"greaser\" who lives in a neighborhood rife with violence and poverty. The authors discuss how attending to the \"hidden\" ideology of the text illuminates the fact that the book reifies the myth of meritocracy.\nImplications: In reading these two approaches to critical literacy alongside Felski's description of critique, we have drawn attention to the way resistant reading practices position readers in relation to literature and the affective orientation these practices encourage students to take. We have highlighted, in particular, the way that two critical literacy approaches to literature instruction encourage readers to treat the literary text as a suspect, one full of clues that the reader must follow to discern the nature and extent of the text's transgressions. We have also illustrated how critical literacy encourages vigilant affective orientations that can lead to feelings of unease and discomfort in students. These two features of critical literacy are neither inherently good nor bad, but we think they are, as Foucault would say, dangerous. Below, we would like to share some concerns that emerged as we read these descriptions of critical literacy alongside work that questions the role of critique in the field of English.\nPossibilities and trajectories: To end, we offer three pedagogical possibilities which may help orient students and teachers differently toward literary texts. Importantly, we do not understand these approaches as replacements for or improvements upon critical literacy as an approach to literacy instruction generally; rather, they are different pedagogical options which may provide alternative ways of orienting students toward texts.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to draw from work in the field of English that questions the \"limits of critique\" (Felski, 2015) in order to consider the limits of critical literacy approaches to literature instruction. The study focuses on the relational and affective demands that resistant reading places on readers and texts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing from post-critical (Felski, 2015) and surface (Best and Marcus, 2009) reading practices in the field of English, the authors perform analyses of two recent articles that illustrate critical literacy approaches to literature instruction, drawing attention to the ways the resistant reading practices outlined in each article reflect Felski's description of critique.\nFindings: The authors' readings of two frameworks of critical literacy approaches to literature instruction produce two key findings: first, in emphasizing resistant readings, critical literacy asks readers to take up a detective-like orientation to literature, treating texts as suspects; second, resistant reading practices promote a specific set of affective orientations toward a text, asking readers to cultivate skepticism and vigilance.\nOriginality/value: While the authors do not dismiss the importance of critical literacy approaches to literature instruction, the study makes room for other relational and affective orientations to literature, especially those that might encourage readers to listen to - and be surprised by - a text. By describing critical literacy through the lens of Felski's work on critique, the authors aim to open up new possibilities for surprising encounters with literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mentoring as a practical training in higher education of entrepreneurship	[ "Mentoring", "Entrepreneurship education", "Active learning", "Practical training" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Recent research indicates growing recognition of the importance of business entrepreneurship for economic growth and employment, and a corresponding recognition that tools which effectively encourage and enable entrepreneurship can be taught (Levie et al., 2009; Schwartz and Malach-Pines, 2009; Levie and Autio, 2008; Kirby, 2003). Yet there is a paucity of empirically rigorous research to validate the effect of entrepreneurship education on sustainable increase in nascent graduate entrepreneurs (Matlay, 2006). Students at academic institutions who are at the beginning of their career constitute an important target group in this regard as they express increasing interest in gaining entrepreneurial knowledge and skills (Schwartz and Malach-Pines, 2009).\nPractical training in higher education: Practical training and active learning have long been exercised in many fields, including engineering and business studies. Generally in higher education Zepke and Leach (2010) suggested ten different actions in order to foster student engagement in order to improve student success in higher education in terms of students' retention, completion and employability. Among these actions are active and collaborative learning, educational experiences, mentoring and enabling students to become active citizens. In engineering education, active learning has been successfully practiced for a number of years. Lamancusa et al. (2008) reported that the American programme named The Learning Factory, which provides experiential reinforcement of engineering science, was a success. The experiment demonstrated that a hands-on approach to engineering education is pedagogically sound, sustainable, cost-effective and transferable. By the year 2008, more than 10,000 American students benefited from this programme.\nHigher education of entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship education is defined by Jones and English (2004) as \"the process of providing individuals with the ability to recognise commercial opportunities and the insight, self-esteem, knowledge and skills to act on them\". The potential impact of enterprise education and training on the supply of entrepreneurs in a country has long been recognized (Levie et al., 2009). A longitudinal study conducted in the UK (Matlay, 2008) showed that entrepreneurship education had a positive impact upon entrepreneurial outcomes related to the graduates' career aspirations. In order to enhance this impact Matlay (2011) argued that adding to the entrepreneurship education process secondary and tertiary stakeholders from the wider community (such as parents of students, alumni, entrepreneurs) can be viewed as a motivator and facilitator of effective entrepreneurship education. A meta-analysis based on 42 independent samples (n=16,657) found a significant relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurship outcomes with a stronger effect for academic-focused interventions than for training-focused interventions (Martin et al., 2013). Another meta-analysis of 73 studies with a total sample size of 37,285 individuals (Bae et al., 2014) found a significant but a small (0.143) correlation between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions and a smaller correlation between business education and entrepreneurial intentions. But this meta-analysis showed that after controlling for pre-education entrepreneurial intentions the relationship between entrepreneurship education and post-education entrepreneurial intentions was not significant. Meta-analysis of 183 studies on entrepreneurial talent against venture performance found weak connection between entrepreneurial education and performance outcomes (Mayer-Haug et al., 2013).\nPractical training and fieldwork in entrepreneurship education: In entrepreneurship education, the appropriate teaching methods ought to be considered in light of the students' directions, objectives and scope. Students who elect courses in entrepreneurship are generally characterized as outgoing, activists in nature and tending to act impetuously with little concern for the long-term effects (Morrison and Johnston, 2003). Entrepreneurship courses should be built in a modular way to fit the needs of the different populations of students (Schwartz and Malach-Pines, 2009). Most entrepreneurship courses are largely descriptive in nature and generally take the perspective of the detached academic as opposed to the practising entrepreneur (Jones and English, 2004). These courses make contributions to understanding entrepreneurship, but lack the elements necessary to operationalize this knowledge. Entrepreneurial knowledge comprises the subject concepts but the actual practice of entrepreneurship requires skills and mentality in order to succeed (Anderson and Jack, 2008). Rigg and O'Dwyer (2012) incited the question whether entrepreneurial learning in higher education is an oxymoron. Matlay (2008) indicated that only few higher education institutions in the UK are prepared to depart from the traditional academic classroom model of \"bums on seats\" entrepreneurship education, however, most business schools appear to use a combination of theoretical and practical approaches. While class-based knowledge input is a vital component of learning, academicians in the field of entrepreneurship education are increasingly aware that the traditional lecture-based, didactic methods of teaching and learning alone are insufficient. For this reason, interactive techniques of active learning in which students practically \"see, touch and feel\" entrepreneurship have been developed (Cooper et al., 2004; Peterman and Kennedy, 2003). Huq and Gilbert (2013) investigated the possible benefits of a work-based learning in social entrepreneurship and found this curriculum enhanced graduates' attributes and employability.\nPractical training through mentoring: Entrepreneurship education programmes which include practical experience based on interaction with environments of actual workplaces enables students to be immersed in a deep external learning process (Jones and English, 2004; Cooper et al., 2004). Practical experience may be more beneficial where the student enjoys a greater degree of autonomy. Jones and English (2004) advocated student-centred learning, in which students experience a deeper learning process than that afforded by the traditional passive classroom experience. Using their approach, the students have a great deal of autonomy over how they learn, when they learn and where they learn. Student-centred learning enables the development of skills that are transferable across all workplace settings. The question is how to apply entrepreneurial student-centred learning in a practical setting based on experiential interaction with the environment. This learning is best situated in practical experiential programmes, in which students can avoid condescending positions as are commonly exercised in the workplace. Mentoring less knowledgeable entrepreneurs while being mentored by more knowledgeable entrepreneurs may be exercised as practical training for students. The benefit and power of mentoring entrepreneurs is broadly reported (e.g. Chertavian, 2012; Ibrahim and Soufani, 2002). The process in which successful entrepreneurs and business people act as mentors and advisors for entrepreneurship students is widely exercised in many business schools throughout the UK (Botham and Mason, 2007). Mentors can act at different times in different roles as leaders, models, coachers, teachers, advisors counsellors or even as \"buddies\" in order to create successful outcomes to their mentees (Kent et al., 2003, p. 442). Entrepreneurial mentoring may be helpful (Ibrahim and Soufani, 2002), but sometimes damaging (Kent et al., 2003). Mentorship programmes in which the mentors provide guidance and support to nascent entrepreneurs were found to enhance entrepreneurial traits (Ibrahim and Soufani, 2002). Mentoring in an entrepreneurial context may encompass direct forms of help, more akin to advising or even consulting, which is arguably broader than mentoring in other environments (Gravells, 2006). A certain level of direct advice to entrepreneurs may be dysfunctional in one mentoring context and beneficial in another context. In cases wherein the mentored entrepreneurs have more than one mentor, this weakness is reduced. On the other hand, the process of mentoring endows the mentoring students with experience in practical entrepreneurship.\nMethodology: In order to explore the feasibility and the benefits of practical training for entrepreneurship students while they are the mentors an exploratory method has to be undertaken. More specifically the chosen methodological approach is based on active research in which \"a comparative research on the conditions and effects of various forms of social action and research leading to social action\" (Lewin, 1946, p. 35). Therefore this study is based on two independent and separated designed live projects wherein the students mentor nascent entrepreneurs who are less knowledgeable than they are. Specifically, this approach was achieved in two different though similar programmes in which the students play the role of mentors: first, mentoring teams of adolescent entrepreneurs in a high school and second, mentoring retired nascent entrepreneurs. Both programmes are implemented in few academic institutions in Israel as practical fieldwork, which is a requirement of a number of academic courses. The mentoring students are mentored by the professor of their academic courses. In the courses under discussion, a small portion (10-20 per cent) of the students chose to participate in either one of these programmes, while others chose to undertake non-mentoring tasks.\nResults: Teaching outcomes in entrepreneurship programmes are generally ought to be assessed (Galloway and Brown, 2002; Ibrahim and Soufani, 2002; Zhao et al., 2005). The general outcomes were found to be satisfactory, although detailed assessment of the content, design and delivery of each entrepreneurial education programme was beyond the scope of the current study, similar to other studies in this field (cf. Galloway and Brown, 2002).\nDiscussion: This reflective study brings together pedagogy and theories of high education in entrepreneurship. This paper presents a novel approach to practicing entrepreneurial education in business schools which is getting the students to be the mentors rather than being the mentees. The groups of young and elderly entrepreneurs who are mentored by the students add to the entrepreneurship education process stakeholders from the wider community thus facilitating and enhancing the effectiveness entrepreneurship education (Matlay, 2011). Practitioners may apply mentoring model to similar entrepreneurship training programmes in different institutions. Furthermore these mentoring techniques may be even more effective in non-academic than in academic programmes due to the practical nature of the mentoring process.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the benefits of enriching higher education of entrepreneurship through mentoring potential entrepreneurs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Students in entrepreneurship classes were offered being mentors along with being mentored by professional senior staff in either one of two programmes designed to defined age groups: first, adolescent entrepreneurs in a high school and second, retired nascent entrepreneurs. This exploratory study was undertaken in the mode of action research.\nFindings: Most students who participated in either one of these programmes for at least one semester reported \"substantial\" improvement in their personal entrepreneurial abilities and higher self-efficacy. The rate of students who reported this reflection is more than double higher in relative to their classmates who did not elect to undertake mentoring in these programmes.\nResearch limitations/implications: Due to the limitation of a case study, further research with additional data is needed to validate the benefits to students being mentors in entrepreneurship programmes.\nPractical implications: Additional tools for active learning are needed since previous research indicates it may not be sufficient to teach entrepreneurial talent in the classroom setting. Providers of higher education in entrepreneurship could consider incorporating students as mentors in different practical programmes in order to enhance their capabilities and self-efficacy.\nOriginality/value: Practical training and active learning have long been exercised in many fields, including engineering and business studies. This reflective study brings together pedagogy and theories of high education in entrepreneurship. A novel approach is suggested in which students are mentors rather than mentees in practicing entrepreneurship.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Coding schemes as lenses on collaborative learning	[ "Content analysis", "Synthesis", "Collaboration", "CSCL", "Coding schemes", "Technology-rich learning environments" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: To increase the impact of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) research, make it accessible to a broader audience and support further synthesis efforts, it is critical to develop a shared understanding of collaboration and common definitions for the metrics that are used for studying CSCL phenomena. Technology can play an important role in collaborative learning but appropriate analysis of its role in collaborative learning requires having common ways of understanding what researchers mean by collaboration. The CSCL field has made important interdisciplinary contributions in this regard but definitions of high-quality collaboration still often remain implicit. The use of CSCL in various learning contexts has been demonstrated to have moderate effect sizes on a range of learning outcomes, processes, and affective variables (Chen et al., 2018; Jeong et al., 2019). A defining feature of CSCL research is the study of collaborative learning to illuminate underlying mechanisms and processes rather than treating collaborative learning as a black box (Dillenbourg, 1999). Given the diverse approaches to collaborative learning in the CSCL community, it is valuable to reflect on current research and synthesize different approaches to analyze the similarities and differences in collaborative processes (O'Donnell and Hmelo-Silver, 2013; Stahl et al., 2014). In addition, investigating how researchers across disciplines (e.g. learning sciences, computer sciences, educational measurement) define the dimensions of CSCL can help to establish a common language across communities and improve communication, identify potential gaps in understanding, promote sharing of similar analytic tools and support synthesis efforts in CSCL (Jeong et al., 2014). To make this research accessible to a broader audience, this paper presents a research synthesis that focuses explicitly on the types and features of coding schemes that are used as analytic tools for CSCL.\nMethods and data analysis: In all 21 coding schemes were collected from nine researchers from a range of disciplinary backgrounds who participated in the aforementioned NSF-funded workshops. The researchers that participated in the workshops study collaborative learning in different contexts that vary from face-to-face to online settings to small- and large-scale data sets. To ensure that the coding schemes from the workshops represented current research and to represent the most recent developments in CSCL research, we also examined coding schemes for collaboration or collaborative learning from ijCSCL journal articles from March 2015 to March 2017, which included 11 additional coding schemes from 11 articles. In synthesizing the codes, we excluded from our analysis codes that were labeled as \"other\" by the authors. In total, we analyzed 387 codes from 32 coding schemes (see Appendix for a complete list of articles). Using a combination of inductive and deductive thematic analysis, the first two authors jointly coded and analyzed the corpus of coding schemes through three stages.\nResults: To determine how the 13 final categories were represented across the coding schemes, we conducted frequency counts in each category and ran frequencies of coding schemes that included at least one code in that category (Table II). In total, there were 68 original codes in the cognitive domain, 193 original codes in the integrated domain, and 107 original codes in the social domain, with 19 in the \"other\" category. Examining the distribution of codes shows that the integrated domain was the most prevalent, accounting for nearly 50 per cent of the total codes and all but one coding scheme included at least one code from the integrated domain. Within the integrated domain, elaboration was the most common and was included in an overwhelming majority of the coding schemes (81 per cent). The cognitive domain codes accounted for approximately 18 per cent of the total codes and at least one cognitive domain-related code was included in 69 per cent of the total coding schemes. Within the cognitive domain, the content-related category was the most prevalent among all the codes (9 per cent of all codes) and 44 per cent of the coding schemes we examined included at least one content-related code. The social domain accounted for more of the overall codes (28 per cent; higher than the cognitive domain) but occurred in fewer coding schemes (59 per cent) than the cognitive domain. One surprising finding was the lack of codes and coding schemes relating to facilitation, or the teacher's role in collaborative learning, with only six total codes (2 per cent) and only two coding schemes. Although the lack of teacher facilitation codes could be attributed to our sampling process, we expected more coding schemes to include codes related to teacher facilitation of collaborative learning.\nDiscussion: By analyzing a set of coding schemes, we highlight what CSCL researchers find important by making these implicit understandings of collaborative learning visible and by proposing a common language for researchers across disciplines to communicate by referencing a synthesized framework. Additionally, the Appendix contains references to each of the coding schemes that were analyzed as part of this study, which may be helpful and relevant to other CSCL scholars. Some researchers have discussed different perspectives of collaborative learning and attended to varying aspects in their analysis and examination of collaborative activities. Roschelle and Teasley (1995) recognized the interplay between the social and individual. They stated that collaborative learning requires students' continued efforts to co-construct and solve \"a shared conception of the problem\" (p. 70). Salomon and Perkins (1998) emphasized that the individual and social aspects of learning interact \"in synergistic ways,\" which results in variations and richness in learning (p. 2). The social level and the individual level are not distinctly incompatible with each other but the interplay between them affords learning. These previous studies verified the domains revealed in our synthesis and inspired us to generate the framework. In this section, we would like to discuss three potential directions of research, hoping to encourage CSCL researchers to reflect upon their understanding of collaborative learning, to explore the aspects that have not been as well studied, and even to build onto our framework as they develop their research designs.\nConclusion: By investigating and analyzing various coding schemes, our study synthesized the existing understanding of collaborative learning among researchers and identified the big themes that researchers have explored. This synthesis of coding schemes aims to increase understanding of and help different stakeholders in the CSCL community design for collaborative learning and situate or advance their work through using existing coding schemes. The results from this synthesis suggest that CSCL researchers have a model of collaboration that explicitly includes both cognitive and social elements of CSCL and often integrates the cognitive and social aspects. This synthesis revealed that the cognitive and integrated domains are well established within the field of collaborative learning. As this synthesis identified less collaborative learning research in the social domain, researchers should explore this domain to further unpack the variations and dimensions within the social domain.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is widely used in different levels of education across disciplines and domains. Researchers in the field have proposed various conceptual frameworks toward a comprehensive understanding of CSCL. However, as the definition of CSCL is varied and contextualized, it is critical to develop a shared understanding of collaboration and common definitions for the metrics that are used. The purpose of this research is to present a synthesis that focuses explicitly on the types and features of coding schemes that are used as analytic tools for CSCL.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research collected coding schemes from researchers with diverse backgrounds who participated in a series of workshops on collaborative learning and adaptive support in CSCL, as well as coding schemes from recent volumes of the International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative learning (ijCSCL). Each original coding scheme was reviewed to generate an empirically grounded framework that reflects collaborative learning models.\nFindings: The analysis generated 13 categories, which were further classified into three domains: cognitive, social and integrated. Most coding schemes contained categories in the cognitive and integrated domains.\nPractical implications: This synthesized coding scheme could be used as a toolkit for researchers to pay attention to the multiple and complex dimensions of collaborative learning and for developing a shared language of collaborative learning.\nOriginality/value: By analyzing a set of coding schemes, the authors highlight what CSCL researchers find important by making these implicit understandings of collaborative learning visible and by proposing a common language for researchers across disciplines to communicate by referencing a synthesized framework.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Conflict and abusive workplace behaviors: The moderating effects of social competencies	[ "Interpersonal relations", "Conflict", "Workplace", "Employee behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Research suggests that in the USA, civil behaviors are on the decline while hostile interactions are becoming more prevalent (Farkas and Johnson, 2002). Hostile interactions range from relatively mild behaviors including rudeness and insensitivity to overt aggression including road rage and homicide. The fact that hostile behaviors are becoming increasingly commonplace is apparent in organizational life as well (Cortina et al., 2001; Lim and Cortina, 2005; Pearson and Porath, 2005). Hostile interactions, however, are especially problematic in the workplace because perpetrators and targets are likely to be in frequent contact with each other, which can lead to escalation or displacement of aggression by the involved parties and even witnesses of these negative interactions (Andersson and Pearson, 1999; Hornstein, 1996; Mitchell and Ambrose, 2007; Namie, 2003, 2007; Pearson et al., 2000). Additionally, long-term abuse by the perpetrator (Namie, 2003, 2007) as well as revenge (Bies and Tripp, 1998) or counter-aggression (Lee and Brotheridge, 2006) by the target are likely given regular contact by the parties involved and threats to identity and self-esteem that are often a part of hostile interactions in the workplace (Burton and Hoobler, 2006; Lutgen-Sandvik et al., 2007).\nPurpose of the current study: The purpose of the current study is to examine factors that predict engagement in abusive behavior at work. This study adds to the current research by not only examining the efficacy of contextual (e.g. interpersonal conflict) and demographic factors (e.g. gender, hours worked, job satisfaction) for predicting frequency of engagement in abusive behaviors but also examines whether an individual's level of social competency (e.g. political skill, self-monitoring) moderates this relationship.\nImpact of workplace hostility: Abusive and uncivil behavior at work is estimated to affect a significant portion of the US workforce. Estimates of the percentage of employees who are affected by such behaviors range from approximately one-third to over a half of the workforce, depending on the behaviors included as examples of abusive and uncivil workplace behaviors (Cortina et al., 2001; Keashly and Jagatic, 2003; Lutgen-Sandvik et al., 2007; Namie, 2007). Such behaviors undermine the physical health, mental health, and effectiveness of both targets and witnesses to abuse; and ultimately the organizations in which they work.Research supports the relationship between various forms negative interactions at work and reduced employee performance (Keashly and Neuman, 2006; Lutgen-Sandvik, 2006; Pearson et al., 2000), job satisfaction (Lim et al., 2008), and organizational citizenship behaviors (Dalal, 2005). Empirical research also suggests that employees who are exposed to hostile work interactions, whether directly as a target or indirectly as a witness, are prone to increased withdrawal behaviors including increased absenteeism and turnover (Lutgen-Sandvik, 2006; Rayner, 1997). Likewise, these employees have an increased likelihood of experiencing a myriad of mental and/or physical health disorders (Bjorkqvist et al., 1994a; Lim et al., 2008; Namie, 2003, 2007; Rospenda, 2002; Vartia, 2001).Employees, however, are not alone in their suffering; their respective organizations also suffer in a variety of ways. Abusive behavior in the workplace often leads to voluntary or involuntary termination of talented employees who became targets of abuse (Namie, 2003, 2007). A survey study by Namie (2007) indicated that approximately 40 percent of targets of bullying, a persistent form of workplace abuse, voluntarily leave their job. Targets of abuse, however, often do not do so immediately, thus making it more difficult for organizations to see the ramifications of ignoring employees' abusive behaviors. Instead, targets and even witnesses usually only quit after a series of attempts to end the abuse and usually only after their productivity declines substantially or they find another job (Lutgen-Sandvik, 2006; Namie, 2007). As described by Lutgen-Sandvik (2006, p. 427), \"... resisting workers do not give up; they continue trying to end abuse until exiting the organization.\" Before finally giving up, targets often talk to many others including individuals inside and outside the organization in an effort to seek support in coping with workplace abuse (Hoel et al., 2004). This attempt to cope, however, can lead to damage of the organization's reputation (Lutgen-Sandvik and McDermott, 2008). Also, if left unchecked, workplace abuse can create a contentious workplace climate that permeates the entire organization (Andersson and Pearson, 1999; Pearson and Porath, 2004). Lutgen-Sandvik and McDermott (2008, p. 305) refer to such establishments as \"employee abusive organizations;\" a characterization that is also consistent with Parzefall and Salin (2010).Two decades ago, Leymann (1990) estimated that the cost of each incident of bullying in the workplace is between $30,000 and $100,000 annually. In his book, The No Asshole Rule, Sutton (2007) describes a case in which one individual's harassing behavior cost the employing organization $160,000 annually, mostly to replace employees who quit in order to avoid the harassment. Additionally, Namie (2007) estimated that the turnover of 28 million American workers is attributable to workplace bullying.According to Adams and Crawford (1992, p. 13), abusive behavior at work is a \"more crippling and devastating problem for employee and employers than all other work-related stresses put together.\" Abusive behavior is a mid-range form of counterproductive work behavior falling between workplace incivility and extreme forms of workplace violence. Much research has shown that people who experience abusive interactions often act hostility toward others (Bies and Tripp, 2005; Lee and Brotheridge, 2006; Miles et al., 2002; Spector et al., 2006a) or engage in other forms of resistance (Lutgen-Sandvik, 2006).\nRange of hostile interactions: As noted above, there are many forms of hostile interactions at work. These types of interactions can be placed along a continuum ranging from relatively low intensity hostile actions that are not intended to harm others, often labeled incivility (Andersson and Pearson, 1999), to highly hostile interactions such as bullying and mobbing (Rodriguez-Carballeira et al., 2010) that are meant to psychologically and emotionally harm others. Uncivil interactions and interpersonal hostility in the workplace can spiral (Andersson and Pearson, 1999; Mitchell and Ambrose, 2007) escalating conflict (Glasl, 1982) and resulting in retaliatory acts (Skarlicki and Folger, 1997) up to intentional physical violence including homicide (Felson and Steadman, 1983). This paper focuses on generalized abuse at work, adopting the Spector and Fox's (2001) conceptualization which includes low to moderate intensity verbal and emotional abuse, as well as some moderate forms of physical aggression.First, we seek to show that interpersonal conflict at work is related to abusive behavior. This test is conducted as a control in order to verify that our data are consistent with previous research, such as Penney and Spector (2005), which showed that incivility and interpersonal conflicts were positively related to counterproductive work behavior.H1. Interpersonal conflict at work will be positively related to engagement in abusive behavior at work.\nSocial competencies: Individuals vary in how they respond to conflict; not all people respond by abusing others. Individual differences beyond job satisfaction, gender and number of hours worked may influence the conflict - abuse relationship (see for example Mitchell and Ambrose, 2007 regarding negative reciprocity beliefs). There has been a renewed interest in social competency research, including the constructs of political skill, emotional intelligence, and self-monitoring. Abusive behavior at work, like incivility, is an inherently social interaction (Andersson and Pearson, 1999). The current study investigates whether social competencies (namely, political skill, self-monitoring and emotional intelligence) mitigate or augment the tendency to reciprocate experienced interpersonal conflict with abuse toward others.Political skill\nMethod: Participants and procedure\nResults: Descriptive statistics and correlations between study variables are provided in Table I, with Cronbach's alpha estimates listed along the diagonal. In order to test the study hypotheses, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted. Consistent with recommendations by Cohen et al. (1999) we centered the predictor variables using their respective means to reduce multicollinearity. Control variables were entered in step one, focal variables in step two, and hypothesized two-way interactions were entered in step three.As shown in Table II, all three steps were significant, with each step accounting for significant incremental validity in predicting abusive behavior at work. Significant interactions between interpersonal conflict at work and both political skill and self-monitoring were noted. A significant interaction between interpersonal conflict and emotional intelligence, however, was not evident likely due to significant overlap between political skill and emotional intelligence (r=0.54).As recommended by Aiken and West (1991), follow-up median split analyses were conducted to further test the significant moderator effects. Scores falling below the median (5.78) for political skill were treated as \"low\" and scores falling at or above the median were treated as \"high.\" The analyses indicated that interpersonal conflict significantly predicted engagement in abuse at both low (F(1, 110)=5.74, p<0.05; b =0.22) and high (F(1,99)=20.07, p<0.001; b=0.41) levels of political skill (see Figure 1).A median split was also conducted for self-monitoring consistent with the method used for the political skill analyses. Scores that fell below the median (10) were labeled as \"low\" while scores equal to and above the median were labeled as \"high.\" The analyses indicated that interpersonal conflict significantly predicted engagement in abuse for high (F(1,109)=36.07, p<0.001; b=0.50) but not low (F(1,101)=0.211, ns; b=0.05) self-monitors (see Figure 2).\nDiscussion and suggestions: Results confirm a relationship between interpersonal conflict in the workplace and employee engagement in counterproductive workplace behaviors (i.e. abuse of others). Results also suggest that social competencies interact with interpersonal conflict to predict likelihood of abusing of others at work. In particular, politically skilled workers and high self-monitors were more likely to engage in abusive behaviors when experiencing high levels of interpersonal workplace conflict.Contribution of current study and future research directions\nSummary: Much research has been conducted that examined the positive ramifications of social competencies including political skill and self-monitoring. The current study revealed negative aspects of these competencies, specifically a stronger conflict - abuse relationship for individuals who are politically skilled and/or high self-monitors. Organizational leaders and human resource professionals need to be aware of the potential negative repercussions that these social competencies may yield in the workplace.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating effects of social competencies, specifically, political skill, self-monitoring and emotional intelligence, on the workplace conflict-abusive behavior relationship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study utilized data collected from graduate and undergraduate students majoring in psychology, management, human relations and social work who were recruited from two mid-sized mid-western universities. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to test the study hypotheses.\nFindings: - Results indicated that interpersonal conflict in the workplace is associated with employee engagement in counterproductive work behaviors. Results also suggested that social competencies interacted with interpersonal conflict to predict the likelihood of abusing others at work. Politically skilled workers and high self-monitors were more likely to engage in abusive behaviors when experiencing high levels of interpersonal workplace conflict.\nOriginality/value: - The study is the first to show that certain social competencies may actually have negative ramifications in the workplace. Specifically, individuals who are politically skilled and/or high self-monitors are more likely to abuse others when they themselves experience interpersonal conflict.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Implementation of a distance learning program focused on continuing medical education with the support of patent-based data mining	[ "Patents", "Innovation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The study of patents can be considered important since these documents constitute a vast source of information and technological knowledge, reporting innovations and inventions in the most varied subjects and sectors (Bergek et al., 2015). It is through them that new technologies are discovered, relations between companies and inventors are established, nations with superior innovation development and data protection are identified, and the main research and development centers of the world are mapped (Ferraz, Quoniam, Reymond, & Maccari, 2016).\n2. Theoretical framework: In this section, we present the main theoretical pillars that support this work: the concept of patents, the models of computational tools used in searching for, the computational tool Patent2net, DL and continuing medical education.\n3. Research methodology: This work presents a particularly quantitative and descriptive approach, when the indicators related to patents are described, although in some moments there are qualitative analyses with a technometric basis, when the contents of patents are evaluated. Furthermore, this work describes the way in which the computational tool Patent2net performs the extraction, organization and presentation of the information related to health-oriented DL patents, deposited in the Espacenet database.\n4. Description and analysis of results: Figure 1 shows the initial screen available on the web with a series of results from the up to date patent analysis provided in this paper. Among the main subjects evaluated are 3D Printing, Entrepreneurship, Big Data, Dengue, DL, among others. To access any of the aforementioned subjects, it is necessary to click on the link in Figure 1, and select the subject. After that, the researcher will be directed to the screen shown in Figures 2 and 3, which pertain to the DL patent, which is the central focus of this work.\n5. Conclusions: This paper presents the tools and platforms available for fast and efficient extraction, organization and presentation of patent information, and highlights the organization and presentation of data made by Patent2net based on Espacenet, which discovered patent documents in DL, focused on Continuing Medical Education.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the use of a free code computational tool, Patent2net, in the search of patents for the implementation of distance learning aimed at Continuing Medical Education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This technical report is based on the extraction, organization and availability, in the format of graphs and dynamic tables, and also based on information in other patents on the subject, made available in the Espacenet database.\nFindings: As a result, it was possible to identify a Chinese patent, free for reproduction in Brazil, which describes an e-learning system that simulates 3D scenarios for training nursing teams.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper has used one unique patent database, but containing more than 100m documents.\nPractical implications: The selected patent can contribute to the improvement of care and behavioral techniques of the health professionals.\nSocial implications: The training of health professionals can improve the public and supplementary health systems.\nOriginality/value: This is the first paper in that de technometric analisys of patents was used to solve a problem regarding the training of health professionals.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Insurance risk exchange in the presence of background risk and private information: A continuous-time model	[ "Insurance", "Risk analysis", "Information exchange" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Insurance risk exchange models have played an important role in the literature of insurance economics. Several seminal papers, e.g. Borch (1962), Arrow (1971) and Golubin (2006), provided in-depth analyses of either the optimal insurance decision or insurance market equilibrium. Subsequently, many papers considered the effect of asymmetric information (e.g., Rothschild and Stiglitz, 1976) as well as background risk (e.g., Eeckhoudt and Kimball, 1992) on the optimal insurance decision. As noted by Dionne and Doherty (2000), the presence of uninsurable background risk and of individual risky assets is an empirical fact, but optimal insurance and investment decisions in the presence of correlated risks and private information have not been studied extensively. This article analyzes these optimal decisions by considering both background risk and asymmetric information simultaneously, employing a continuous-time two-agent risk exchange framework. In this setting, we present some interesting results that differ from those of traditional static and/or single-risk models.The continuous-time insurance demand model was originally developed by Briys (1986, 1988), Gollier (1994), and Moore and Young (2006) inspired by the earlier works of Samuelson (1969) and Merton (1969, 1971) for determining optimal portfolio choice and consumption in the manner of continuous-time dynamic programming. One benefit of Merton's continuous-time model is the convenience of gauging the instantaneous correlations among the associated risks. Another benefit is that the dynamic behavior can be characterized by the Bellman equation. Briys and Gollier recognized that the insurance demand decision should be analyzed jointly with the investment and consumption decisions because all are relevant to the instantaneous flow of wealth.Compared to previous studies in the context of continuous-time insurance decision making (e.g., Briys, 1988; Gollier, 1994; Moore and Young, 2006), this article has several major improvements. First, we consider the model under an (incomplete) economy in which an investment risk (e.g., a financial portfolio) uninsurable by traditional insurance and a background risk (e.g., wage income) uninsurable in both financial and insurance markets (see Doherty and Schlesinger, 1983; Mayers and Smith, 1983) are taken into account. As pointed out by Schlesinger and Doherty (1985), if the insurance market is not complete, then an efficient risk allocation strategy by the insured is to balance the transfer function between the financial market and the insurance market. This implies that the insurance and investment decisions should not be separate from each other, a common theme of \"enterprise risk management.\" With insurance loading, Gollier (1994, 2003) indicated that the optimal decisions implied by a continuous-time model may not be identical to those implied by a static and/or single-risk model, because the insured can use precautionary saving or time-horizon diversification to mitigate the adverse effect of insurance risk, and so insurance/investment decisions should not be independent of consumption/cash-payout decisions.Second, while most previous studies using continuous-time models (e.g., Briys, 1988, Gollier, 1994; Moore and Young, 2006) focused only on the demand side, Lin (2005), using a supply model similar to that of Powers (1995), was the first to consider both supply and demand assuming that both sides face the same investment risk and wish to exchange insurance risk so that they can improve their respective expected lifetime utilities. However, his solutions were obtained by assuming the independence of the two agents' strategies given the equilibrium market price. In this study, we assume that one agent's decisions must consider the other agent's strategy; i.e. the two agents' strategies are interdependent, and they are solved endogenously.Third, we consider the case in which Pareto efficiency is impeded by information asymmetry with respect to insurance losses (Akerlof, 1970), making the risk transfer function infeasible or inefficient. It is well known that the Pareto-optimal resource allocation can be achieved only without private information. As commonly suggested by standard insurance texts, information asymmetry is more likely to arise in insurance markets than in financial markets because the frequency and severity of insurance losses are easily affected by the insured's behavior, which is costly for the insurer to monitor. Many papers (e.g., Rothschild and Stiglitz, 1976; Kunreuther and Pauly, 1985; Cooper and Hayes, 1987) address the design of an appropriate insurance contract either by providing a menu of multiple price-quantity policies or by assembling a multi-period contract in accordance with the insured's underwriting experiences. In both approaches, the insured is induced to reveal his/her risk type, so these contracts do reduce the deadweight loss associated with information asymmetry. Nevertheless, a certain degree of Pareto inefficiency is inevitable.The literature regarding insurance demand with private information is extensive. However, most studies to date have been limited to discrete-time models, and fail to capture the instantaneous dynamic relationships among multiple risks. If information asymmetry is viewed as a parameter risk (to the insurer) that can be characterized by a diffusion process, then, as we will show, a reduction of Pareto-inefficiency using alternative hedging is possible. It is often recognized that the information asymmetry between the insurer and the insured will decline over time with the growing underwriting experience of the insurer. Ultimately, the insured's risk type is revealed, which is known as the \"aging effect\" in insurance terminology. Assuming that the insured cannot switch to other insurers, we also investigate the agents' long-run insurance and investment decisions when diminishing information asymmetry is present.\n2. The model: The basic approach of our study is similar to methods in the literature of continuous-time financial decision making developed by Merton (1971, 1973), Briys (1986, 1988), Gollier (1994), and many others. However, because there are two independent agents, our problem is treated as a stochastic differential game, in which we seek solutions that are not only optimal for each agent individually, but also in strategic (Nash) equilibrium as a pair.Let agent B (for \"buyer\") represent the interests of all potential insureds, and agent S (for \"seller\") represent the interests of all potential insurers. In contrast to the Briys/Gollier model, in which the insured's losses are described by Poisson jumps, we take B to be representative of a large population, and therefore use a geometric Brownian motion to describe the population's continuous-time loss process (and consequently a lognormal distribution to describe total losses at any time). Assume that the cumulative incurred loss process, L(t), is governed by a geometric Brownian motion; i.e. Equation 1 where l is the expected instantaneous rate of change in incurred losses and sL is the associated volatility parameter.We assume further that there exists a market in which instantaneous borrowing and lending are permitted, and that both B and S invest in the same asset (i.e. the market portfolio), modeled by a second geometric Brownian motion: Equation 2 where a is the expected instantaneous rate of change in the asset portfolio, sA is the associated volatility, and the asset portfolio is correlated with the insurance loss process with instantaneous correlation coefficient rLA.In this analysis, it is implicitly assumed that all assets are perfectly divisible, have limited liability, and can be traded continuously. Moreover, transaction costs and taxes are ignored for simplicity. Finally, the insurance price is assumed to be constant over time under a competitive or regulated market.The decisions of B and S include consumption, dividend, portfolio investment, and insurance retention rates. These decisions are made in the presence of several risks, including insurance losses, portfolio returns, and (as we shall see later) wage income and the parameter risk associated with expected losses. In a manner similar to Briys (1986, 1988), we begin by modeling the wealth processes of B and S, respectively, as: Equation 3 and Equation 4 where:C(t) is the insured's instantaneous consumption rate;D(t) is the insurer's instantaneous dividend rate;R(t)[?][0,1] is the insured's incurred loss retention rate (and therefore the insurer's incurred loss assumption rate);oi(t) is the weight allocated by agent i to the asset portfolio;r is the instantaneous risk-free rate of return; andp is the price per unit of insurance.The above wealth dynamics show that, in order to exchange the pure risk, the two agents need to pay/receive the insurance premium and transfer/retain the losses while they also invest in the same representative portfolio (with different weights). Hereafter, we omit the time index of some variables for simplicity.\n3. Insurance quantity determined by the insured: Throughout our analysis, we will assume that the insurance price (p) is given by the market, so that both B and S are price-takers. This can occur either if the market is very competitive, or if it is subject to strict rate regulation. In addition, we initially will assume that S is an insurance quantity-taker - i.e. that it is entirely up to B to determine the quantity he/she wants to buy. This can occur either in \"short-tail\" insurance lines with dependable forecasts (i.e. low payment risks), or under \"soft market\" conditions, in which supply exceeds demand[1].Now suppose that B's objective is to maximize his/her additive utility of consumption, under planning horizon T: Equation 5 and S's objective is to maximize the shareholder's additive utility of dividends, under the same planning time horizon: Equation 6 where:Et[ * ] is the conditional expectation operator at time t;ui( * ) is the utility function of agent i, assumed to be increasing, concave-downward, time-additive, and state independent;Ki(t, Wi) is the bequest function of agent i at time t; andT may be viewed as the term of a relevant insurance contract.Assuming that the J(i)(t,Wi,L) are twice-differentiable with respect to t[?][0,T], Wi, and L, we apply the Bellman principle to optimize (1) and (2) simultaneously, obtaining the first-order interior solutions stated in the following proposition.Proposition 1\n4. The case with background risk: Although the investment risk discussed in Section 3 is uninsurable in the insurance market, it is insurable in the capital market. In this sense, the two markets can be viewed as complete, and we have shown the effect of the correlation between the two types of risk on B's and S's decision making.In this section, we introduce a type of background risk that is not insurable in either the insurance market or capital market. A typical example of this type of risk is wage income, which has received much attention in the financial literature (see, e.g. Fisher, 1975; Duffie et al., 1997; Cuoco, 1997; etc.).The effect of correlated background risk on continuous-time insurance and investment decision making has not been studied extensively, and it is of interest to compare this scenario to the corresponding static model[4]. To this end, we assume that the stochastic behavior of background risk, e.g. wage income (Y), is governed by the stochastic differential equation (SDE): Equation 31 where n is the expected instantaneous rate of change, sY is the associated volatility, and rAL and rAY will denote the instantaneous correlation coefficients of the background risk process with the insurance loss process and the asset portfolio process, respectively.To account for background risk, we must modify B's wealth process as: Equation 32 while S's wealth process remains unaffected. The following result then follows from an approach similar to that of Section 3.Proposition 2\n5. The case with private information: It is often observed that B may possess private information regarding his/her expected losses that it is costly for S to monitor. We now assume that the information asymmetry with respect to B's expected instantaneous loss rate, l, may be viewed as a parameter risk to S described by the SDE: Equation 37 where m is the expected instantaneous rate of change, sl is the associated volatility, and rAl will denote the instantaneous correlation coefficient between the parameter risk and the asset portfolio. This leads to the following result.Proposition 3\n6. The case with background risk and diminishing information asymmetry: It is well known that the adverse effect of information asymmetry can be reduced in many ways[6]. If the possibility of switching to other insurers is ruled out because of the nature of the long-term relationship between the insured and the insurer, then the insured gradually will reveal his/her risk type, and so the information asymmetry will decline over time, and ultimately vanish[7]. If the volatility of such intertemporally diminishing information asymmetry can be described by a continuous-time exponential function, then the SDE (4) may be rewritten as: Equation 42 where the zi, for i=0,1, capture the rate of decrease in the volatility of the parameter error, and are assumed to satisfy the condition: Equation 43 This yields the following generalization of Proposition 2.Proposition 4\n7. Insurance quantity determined by the insurer: In contrast to the quantity assumption of previous sections, we now will assume that B is an insurance quantity-taker - i.e. that it is entirely up to S to determine the quantity it wants to sell. This can occur if market demand exceeds market supply; for example, if S has limited capital and wants to restrict coverage to avoid possible insolvency, or under \"hard market\" conditions.In this case, B and S will seek the objectives: Equation 47 and: Equation 48 respectively. With B (rather than S) as a quantity-taker, we then obtain the following counterpart to Proposition 1.Proposition 5\n8. Conclusions: This article extends the continuous-time insurance demand model by considering both background risk and private information simultaneously, and analyzing them under a two-agent risk exchange framework. Our approach is to exploit the possibility of continuous-time hedging, while obtaining optimal insurance and investment decisions in an incomplete and imperfect market. Many of our findings provide insights not found in traditional static and/or single-risk analyses. For example, we find that if the insurer/insured is an insurance quantity-taker, then its/his/her optimal investment decision should take into account the insured's/insurer's risk attitude. In addition, we find that the insured can purchase full insurance even if the price is actuarially unfair and the insurance risk and investment risk are uncorrelated. Moreover, hedging instruments can be formed to mitigate the impact of background risk as well as private information, thereby reducing the deadweight loss.Our model is not only an extension of the continuous-time insurance demand model of Briys (1986, 1988) and Gollier (1994), it may more appropriately be considered as a model of \"enterprise risk management\" (the integration of insurance risk, investment risk, background risk, parameter risk, etc.) for institutional agents. We also recognize that our model easily can be extended from the relationship between an insured and an insurer to that between an insurer and a reinsurer.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to introduce an insurance risk-exchange model in the presence of background risk and private information and which solves the optimal insurance and investment decisions simultaneously.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The model undertakes a continuous-time two-agent framework in which the decisions depend on who can determine the insurance quantity as well as the agents' risk attitudes. The decisions are solved by using dynamic-programming techniques.\nFindings: - The results show that the insured may purchase full insurance even if the insurance price is actuarially unfair and the insurance risk and investment risk are uncorrelated. Further, the demand for insurance may be affected by background risk even if the two risks are uncorrelated. If Pareto optimality is impeded by private information, the paper shows that the deadweight loss can be mitigated by forming a hedging demand with respect to the parameter risk.\nOriginality/value: - This study is not only an extension of the existing continuous-time insurance demand model, but also may be considered a model of \"enterprise risk management\" for institutional agents.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The effect of ISO 14001 on equity structure	[ "Environmental management", "ISO 14001", "Event study", "Equity structure", "NYSE/NASDAQ" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Environmental management has been increasingly recognized as a comprehensive strategy which can contribute to improving not only a firm's environmental performance but also financial performance. For implementing environmental management, a number of firms have accepted ISO 14001 certification as a standard which can help guide their green processes. Although ISO 14001 has a potential to improve firm performance, a question has been continuously raised by many researchers and practitioners concerning \"whether a sizable investment for going green is justified?\" If the negative effect of the rising equity risk is greater than the positive effect from the improved financial outcome, the marketplace would react negatively to the adoption of the ISO 14001 certification. Motivated by this question, this study aims to examine how the adoption of ISO 14001 affects a firm's financial health by measuring the long-term movement of four performance variables which show equity structure of the firm: assets, liabilities, debt ratio (liabilities/equity), and market-to-book value of equity.\nReview of relevant literature and hypothesis development: ISO 14001 is a representative environmental standard which provides a comprehensive set of guidelines for implementing environmental management. A number of companies have designed and implemented their environmental management through ISO 14001 certification, due to the fact that it contains harmonized standards for managing the firm's efforts on environment (Tibor and Feldman, 1996). As ISO 14001 certification encourages firms to improve their operations as well as environmental performance, it has the potential to improve the firm's financial performance (Rondinelli and Vastag, 2000; Ryu et al., 2009). The Porter hypothesis suggests that well-designed environmental regulations have a potential to improve the firm's financial benefits as well as environmental performance (Porter, 1991; Porter and van der Linde, 1995). Sroufe (2003) supported the hypothesis by empirically proving that ISO 14001 certification not only reduces environmental effects, but also improves waste reduction and manufacturing efficiency.\nMethodology: Event study and control\nResults and discussion: The average statistics of the sample firms present a total asset of $13,868.5 million, an equity market value of $22,231.9 million, liabilities of $9,932.6 million, annual sales of $2,695.9 million, annual operating income of $407.6 million, and annual income of $172.2 million. The numbers of the certified firms in each year during 1996-2010 are presented in Table I. In the past decade, US firms have been far less interested in the ISO 14001 certification compared to other parts of the world (ISO, 2013; Lewis, 2013). Although the current ratio of ISO 14001 certified firms in the USA is one of the lowest among the developed countries, this number is expected to grow steadily in the future. This study performed the parametric two-tailed t-test which assumes no abnormal performance of equity structure variables. Although we expected an increase in the certified firm's assets and liabilities in our study hypotheses, it would be possible that variables could move in unexpected direction. In addition, due to the sensitivity of the parametric test to extreme outliers (McWilliams, 1990), this study also employed non-parametric tests such as the Wilcoxon signed rank test and sign test.\nLimitations and future research: Due to the small sample size, this study could not focus on a single industry. As the number of ISO 14001 certified firms increases in the USA, future research might be able to gain more consistent and meaningful results by focussing on specific industries. Second, this study did not take account of the history of each firm's green management. If the influence of the firm's green history is incorporated in the future study, it would greatly increase the reliability of the study results.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of ISO 14001 certification on US public firms' equity structure regarding whether the typical heavy investment required for environmental management system is justified in terms of equity risk.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study employs the event study methodology and examines the pre- and post-movements of firms' equity structure around the ISO 14001 certification date. This study investigated 5,189 listed firms in the New York Stock Exchange and National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation and the abnormal performance of firms' equity structure was measured by using four dependent variables (assets, liabilities, debt ratio (liabilities/equity), and market-to-book ratio of equity).\nFindings: The results showed that the adoption of ISO 14001 increased a firm's total assets, liabilities, and debt ratio in the long run, implying that pursuing the certification entails the increase in a firm's size and equity risk. The long-term movement of the market-to-book ratio of equity showed no abnormal performance, while it fluctuated in the short term.\nPractical implications: This study suggests that managers should consider the potential risk from a firm's equity structure when they decide to pursue the ISO 14001 certification.\nOriginality/value: This study is the first effort to investigate the long-term effect of ISO 14001 certification on the firm's equity structure using the event study methodology in the USA.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Corporate food donations: altruism, strategy or cost saving?	[ "Food waste", "Surplus food", "Donation", "Corporate philanthropy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Environmental issues and societal problems do not spur innovation by themselves; indeed, some companies are more prone to undertake innovations toward a greater sustainability. In today's competitive environment, sustainable waste management appears to be an important leverage for companies, and donating surplus products and resources is an increasingly relevant practice for sustainable waste management. Innovation in the operational systems is necessary in order to modify the existing processes to introduce a new player in the \"extended supply chain,\" i.e. non-profit organizations.\n2. Literature review: The idea of \"charitable contributions\" by \"companies\" lies at the center of several academic debates. In 1968, Schwartz (1968) defined corporate philanthropic contributions as \"a one-way flow of resources from a donor to a donee, a flow voluntarily generated by the donor though based upon no expectation that a return flow, or economic quid pro quo, will reward the act\" (p. 480). However, one should recognize that corporate giving is an instance of the socially responsible behavior of business enterprises, and as such is not synonym with lack of returns, and may still be an expression of self-interest. Corporate donations may be a means to obtain a charter to exist from society and augment business viability (\"[...] if business wishes to retain its present social role and social power, it must respond to society's needs and give society what it wants\" Davis, 1973, p. 314). In other words, corporate giving can be described as a \"pragmatic legitimacy\" instrument (Suchman, 1995, p. 578). According to this view, business enterprises would donate to show their congruence with the values and beliefs of closer social groups, and getting benefits from the latter.\n3. Methodology: Considering the nature of the research questions and the disagreement in the literature about the motives behind corporate philanthropic practices, a qualitative research methodology was adopted in two steps:\n4. Findings: 4.1 Cross-case analysis\n5. Discussion: This study has documented that motives behind corporate food donations are a combination of strategic, moral and operational efficiency reasons. In an attempt to fill a literature gap, this research shows that cost saving willingness plays a significant role in decision making in the case of surplus food donations. Therefore, as far as the first research question, strategic and moral motives are widely discussed by the literature (Marx 1999; Sanchez, 2000; Moir and Taffler 2004; Gan, 2006; Noble et al., 2008), but our analysis shows that they could not be sufficient to explain the corporate giving decision. When corporate donations are in kind, the willingness to enhance operational efficiency and to save costs may also exert a significant influence toward corporate donations.\n6. Conclusion: The paper shows that not only strategic and moral motives, but also economic efficiency concern plays an important role in the managerial decision-making process pertaining to surplus food management. \"Cost saving\" is a straightforward economic incentive, whereas legitimacy concerns or ethical drivers lean on individual or firm-specific circumstances that are more difficult to foresee. In other words, efficiency is a more robust driver from the business perspective.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding of motives behind corporate giving and at finding out whether and when operational efficiency plays a major role in the case of surplus food donations by food supply chain companies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A multiple case study methodology has been applied considering a sample of 16 food sector companies operating in Italy. Three cases have been analyzed in-depth to highlight the contextual factors that make cost savings possible and donations sizeable and regular.\nFindings: The results show that the willingness of companies to reduce operational costs plays a relevant role in managerial decisions concerning the recovery and donation of unsold food, although to different degrees across the supply chain stages.\nOriginality/value: The paper shows that not only strategic and moral motives, but also economic efficiency concern plays an important role in the managerial decision-making process pertaining to surplus food donations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Application of Six Sigma DMAIC methodology to reduce the defects in a telecommunication cabinet door manufacturing process: A case study	[ "Six Sigma", "Welding", "DMAIC", "Cause and effect analysis", "Pareto chart", "Telecommunication cabinet door" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In this contemporary world, every industrial firm is striving hard to have a dominating share in the market. The strive for domination is present in almost all sectors of the market. For this purpose, the firms are aiming at higher sales, which, in turn, is dependent on the quality of the product. The quality and cost of the products are one of the critical characteristics to increase the sales. For this purpose, be it manufacturing or service, firms are aiming towards improving the quality of their outcome (Desai and Shrivastava, 2008). Hence, from the past many years, quality improvement is the most sought-after concept discussed not only in the big companies, but in the small-scale sectors as well (Panat et al., 2014).\n2. Literature review: Prior to the beginning of the undertaken project, a brief literature review was done which showcases the projects undertaken by different personnel in different domains. The list of the literatures reviewed, the domain of application and the key methodologies with several aids are listed in Table II.\n3. Case study: The selected case study to be analysed here is the process of manufacturing door panel of a telecommunication cabinet. The study was conducted in an industry which produced a variety of sheet metal products among which the door panel was one. Some of the other products manufactured in the selected industry were sheet metal casings, padlocks, fixtures, designer metal furniture and other engineered products which involved sheet metal. The door panel whose process is under study is shown in Plate 1. The industry followed a pull system where in the production is run based on the customer orders.\n4. Results and discussion: As shown in the results, the sigma value has been increased from 3.49 to 3.67. The percentage of total rejections in DPMO reduced to 15,873 from 23,271. But the improvement in the sigma level is only 0.18. The number of rejections in the process can be further reduced if the complete design of the fixture is changed. The rework cost has been decreased from Rs56,666,662.55 to Rs38,650,779. This has decreased the cost rework investment percentage from 1.6 to 1.12 per cent with a magnitude of 0.48 per cent per million door panels produced.\n5. Conclusion and recommendation: As mentioned, the magnitude of decrease in the rework cost is 0.48 per cent. Even though this seems to be a small improvement, the practical interpretation of this quantity is a great add-on for the financial ability of the industry. As mentioned previously, since it is a pull system, the investment in costly improvements lasts only till the order finishes and not till the end. During this time, there is a potential threat of reduction in the profit margin as well. Nevertheless, if a DOE is conducted with varying levels of factors such as fixture designs and welding machine voltage level, the performance can still be improved.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to apply the Six Sigma DMAIC methodology in order to reduce the rejections experienced in the manufacturing of the doors belonging to a telecommunication cabinet.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The process involved joining of sheet metal and hinge using welding operations with the help of a fixture. The methodology used is the structured DMAIC method in order to identify the root cause for the rejections and solve it.\nFindings: The paper provides insights about the identification of the root cause for the defects and the solution to overcome it, and also the benefits that were obtained as a result of the application of the solution.\nResearch limitations/implications: This methodology has been applied to the variation observed in the dimensions of a particular component to be welded with a main part. This approach can be used to find such dimensional variations.\nPractical implications: This study has been successfully carried out in a medium-scale industry which has total quality management in practice.\nOriginality/value: Six Sigma DMAIC was necessary for the identification and reduction of the defects which arose in the sheet metal and welding operations, and had to be resolved in order to increase the bottom-line.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Volunteers in a hospital - opportunity or threat? Exploratory study from Finland	[ "Management", "Volunteer management", "Health care", "Volunteering", "Hospital volunteering", "Non-professional care" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Finland represents one of the Nordic welfare states where the role of the public sector as the organiser and main provider of health and social services is strong, despite the growth of the purchaser-provider model linked with new public management since the 1990s. Health and social care professions are regulated by legislation and bylaws. Formal health and social service settings, whether run by the public, private or non-profit sector, need to follow the set qualification criteria. The role of informal care provided by relatives or unrelated volunteers is valued, but its role varies depending on the service field and service setting. The strongest bastion keeping the volunteers and informal carers outside \"the fortress\" is hospitals and health centres. At the same time, health care is suffering from shortages of professional staff and staff members report a lack of time to provide needed care and support for patients. This paper reports findings from a study of the attitudes and views of hospital staff towards informal care given by volunteers.\n2. Informal care and volunteering: 2.1 Conceptual framework\n3. Purpose of study and methodology: 3.1 Previous research\n4. Professional staff's views on volunteer work in a hospital: The results of the interviews and role play stories are first reviewed separately based on content analysis of the core themes expressed. In the discussion, the similarities and differences found by professional category and the location of the hospital are explained.\n5. Key findings and discussion: The key findings of this explorative study are summarised in brief based on the research questions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Finland represents one of the Nordic welfare states where the role of the public sector as the organiser and provider of health and social care is strong. However, the amount of voluntary work in social and health care services is surprisingly big. The strongest advocates for keeping the volunteers outside are hospitals and health centres while at the same time they are suffering from shortages of staff and staff is reporting lack of time to provide needed care for their patients. The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a study of the attitudes of professionals towards voluntary work in hospitals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is based on an exploratory study done in three hospitals, two from an urban area and one in a rural area. The interviewees represent nursing and care staff (n=21). The main questions were how staff members see options, constraints and drawbacks of volunteering regarding professional roles, work division, coordination and management.\nFindings: Attitudes of staff varied from positive to conditional. The approaches towards voluntary work varied from holistic to task-centred or patient-centred and were linked with organisational approach, professional approach or considerations of patients' well-being. Critical views were expressed related to managerial issues, patients' safety and quality of care. Increasing the amount of voluntary work done in hospitals would require a considered strategy and a specifically designed process for coordination, management and rules on the division of labour.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research raised themes for further quantitative studies to elaborate the findings on the similarities and differences of the opinions of different staff categories and to be able to develop further the heuristic model of volunteer management triangle suggested in the paper.\nSocial implications: The study raises questions of the need and promotion of volunteers in general and especially in health care services. It also raises critical views related to voluntary work in hospitals.\nOriginality/value: The study is a new initiative to discuss voluntary work and how to manage volunteers in hospitals. It provides valuable knowledge for practitioners in health care involved in volunteer management and coordination.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring jaycustomer behavior and handling approach in casinos	[ "Macao", "Gaming", "Superstition", "Critical incident technique", "Casino", "Dysfunctional customer behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: \"Customers are always right\" is a widely known aphorism among marketers. They generally believe that pleasing customers is a paramount factor for business success and are willing to transfer bargaining power to their customers, who are more demanding than before. With such strong bargaining power, many customers are reluctant to comply with organizational regulations and norms that dictate appropriate behavior in a service encounter (i.e. jaycustomers) (Fisk et al., 2010). As such, the outcome of pleasing customers deviates from marketers' expectations with regard to better business performance. Instead, jaycustomer behaviors, in turn, impose detrimental effects on other customers, employees and organizations (Reynolds and Harris, 2006). For instance, a customer who misbehaves affects other customers' willingness to stay with the service provider and their satisfaction with the service experiences. In their interactions with jaycustomers, employees suffered psychologically and physically (Grandey et al., 2004). Jaycustomers also threatened business profits by generating large operation costs (Covert, 2007). As such, there has been a call for more focus on investigating jaycustomer behavior (Fisk et al., 2010).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Jaycustomer behaviors\n3. Methodology: Given that casinos are an unexplored sector for jaycustomer behaviors, a qualitative approach was adopted to maximize understanding of the research problem. Specifically, the present study used CIT to solicit the data.\n4. Findings: 4.1 Profile of the informants\n5. Discussion and conclusions: 5.1 Jaycustomer behaviors and causes\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to uncover various types of jaycustomer behaviors, causes of the behaviors and employees' handling approaches in casinos, which is an underresearched sector in the literature.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using critical incident technique (CIT), the researchers prompted 52 casino employees in Macao to recall critical incidents about jaycustomer behavior that they had encountered. The informants, then, described the circumstances that led up to the situation, the responses of customers and how they and their colleagues handled the situation. Content analysis was used to develop the categories.\nFindings: The findings of this study report 9 categories of jaycustomer behaviors, 9 causes of the behaviors and 12 handling approaches. Different from previous findings, breaking a promise and instigation are identified for the first time. Such causes as a losing experience and superstition are specific to the casino industry. Strict handling approaches are rarely adopted to handle jaycustomers, especially the premium customers.\nPractical implications: Casino operators are recommended to ensure that employees are well-trained and provide clear guidelines on handling jaycustomers. Conniving approaches should be re-evaluated. Seeking support from other personnel has to be tactical. Moreover, customers should be educated to reduce their misunderstanding of gaming and transaction procedures.\nOriginality/value: There has been increasing scholarly focus on jaycustomer behaviors. However, very less is known regarding such behaviors, their causes and employees' handling approaches in casino, a sector which is different from other hospitality sectors. The current study unveiled jaycustomer behaviors which have not been found in previous studies and causes which are specific to the casino sector.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Sense of calling and career satisfaction of hotel frontline employees: Mediation through knowledge sharing with organizational members	[ "Career satisfaction", "Self-determination theory", "HRM", "Knowledge sharing", "Meaning of work", "Frontline employee", "Sense of calling" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Employees in organizations endow different meaning onto their work, such as job, career and calling (Wrzesniewski et al., 1997). Such different meanings may have a fundamental effect on how employees approach, enact and craft their work (Wrzesniewski et al., 1997; Rosso et al., 2010). Among different meanings, the study of the influence of a calling has experienced notable growth since the late 2000s (Duffy and Dik, 2013). Growing out of classical religious conceptualization, sense of calling has taken a more generalized meaning that underscores self-actualization through work. Individuals with a strong sense of calling are strongly passionate about their work, see their work as a way to personal fulfillment and recognize the contribution of work to community and larger society (Wrzesniewski et al., 1997; Hall and Chandler, 2005; Bunderson and Thompson, 2009; Rosso et al., 2010; Dobrow, 2013; Hagmaier and Abele, 2012; Cardador et al., 2011; Duffy and Dik, 2013; Lee, 2014).\nLiterature review: Sense of calling\nResearch model: Sense of calling and career satisfaction\nMethodology: Sample\nAnalysis and results: Statistical analysis of the empirical data was conducted using a two-step approach. Initially, the data analysis confirmed the reliability and validity of the measurement model. Next, a path analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses proposed in the research model.\nDiscussions and conclusion: Given the increasing academic interest in the type of meaning that individuals endow on their work, this study focused on the question of whether and how sense of calling influences the career satisfaction of hotel frontline employees. This study explored the effect of sense of calling orientation on career satisfaction and found that knowledge sharing might act as a link between sense of calling and perceived career success. This study has following implications.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between sense of calling and career satisfaction of hotel frontline employees and to analyze the mediation role of knowledge sharing with organizational members given the rapidly growing academic interest in the meaning of work.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on a survey of 357 frontline employees in 12 super-deluxe hotels in Korea, this study performed confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling analysis to test the hypothesis of causal relationships in the research model.\nFindings: Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT), this study shows that sense of calling has a positive and significant effect on the career satisfaction of hotel frontline employees and that the relationship was mediated by active participation in knowledge sharing with supervisors and coworkers.\nPractical implications: The research result highlights the significance of service providers' calling orientation on career satisfaction and their pursuit of skills and knowledge for higher personal development and performance to achieve career success.\nOriginality/value: Based on SDT, this study deepens our understanding on the process of how calling orientation leads to career satisfaction and knowledge sharing behavior in organizations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Innovation-oriented operations strategy typology and stage-based model	[ "Change management", "Emergent strategy", "Operations management", "Strategic alignment", "Competitive analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Configuration theories have played an important role in building theory of operations management and operations strategy. The configuration perspective emphasizes a holistic synthesis of multiple, interdependent characteristics and highlights dominant patterns in organizations (Miller, 1996). Further, it provides a basis for understanding viable strategies, organization types and manufacturing tasks in a given situation (Miller and Friesen, 1984; Miller, 1996, Bozarth and McDermott, 1998). In a comprehensive of configuration models in manufacturing strategy, Bozarth and McDermott (1998) report that the two typical forms of configuration models - taxonomies and typologies - have gained increased popularity for both pedagogical and research purposes. While typologies describe ideal types that represent a unique combination of organizational attributes, taxonomies attempt to classify organizations into mutually exclusive and exhaustive groups (Doty and Glick, 1994). This popularity stems from the ability of these configuration models to parsimoniously characterize organizations into a smaller set of specific types and enable evaluation of various equifinality arguments related to internal fit and environmental fit.Bozarth and McDermott (1998) note that configuration theories in manufacturing strategy are few in number, mainly focusing on describing strategy types (Stobaugh and Telesio, 1983; Wheelwright and Hayes, 1985; Miller and Roth, 1994; Richardson et al., 1985; Kotha and Orne, 1989) or defining manufacturing process types (Hayes and Wheelwright, 1979a, 1979b; Hill, 1994). The key variables used to develop typologies and taxonomies in manufacturing strategy literature include: process flow, product volumes, degree of standardization, product variety, process structure complexity, product line complexity, organizational scope, competitive strategy, environment and manufacturing capabilities. Process types proposed in the typologies include: job shop, batch, assembly, continuous flow and projects (Hayes and Wheelwright, 1979a, 1979b; Hill, 1994). Several strategy types have been proposed based on various combinations of the key variables, such as low-cost, technology-driven and marketing intensive strategy types (Stobaugh and Telesio, 1983); caretakers, marketers and innovators (Miller and Roth, 1994); niche differentiator, broad market differentiator, cost leader and lean competitor (Ward et al., 1995). While some typologies have emphasized the importance of innovation (e.g. technology-driven strategy type, innovators, broad market differentiator), we observe that the key motivators for innovation, i.e. environmental dynamism and complexity, are either not explicitly considered (Stobaugh and Telesio, 1983; Miller and Roth, 1994) or are conceptualized at a somewhat higher level of abstraction (Ward et al., 1995). Conceptualization of dynamism and complexity in terms of the intersection of industry life cycle and technological change addresses this shortcoming and allows tighter integration of operations strategy with environmental conditions.The importance of industry life cycle: The interactions of organization and environment on strategy making and strategy adaptation of organizations has been examined by scholars in general management (Miller and Friesen, 1984) as well as in operations management (Ward et al., 1995). Product life cycle has been the dominant lens through which operations management research explicitly examined the influence of changes in environmental conditions on operations strategy (Hayes and Wheelwright, 1979a, 1979b). Yet, organizations go through life cycles, namely the industry life cycle (Lei and Slocum, 2005), that extend beyond products. These industry life cycles, defined as the \"stages in industry development\" (Williamson, 1975, p. 215) are concerned with the evolution of firms and industries over time (Klepper, 1996). The industry life cycle passes through distinct stages. In the early stage, firms face rapid growth and low barriers to entry. Several competing offerings in the marketplace eventually evolve into a dominant product configuration based on end-user requirements. As competing offerings become increasingly similar, slower growth, increasing price competition and lower profitability rates typically occur. At this stage, competitors start focusing on specialization and cost efficiency (Lei and Slocum, 2005). The industry life cycle model presents a broad framework that is closely related to other models motivated by empirical regularities observed in the product life cycle data. Yet, the scope of the industry life cycle model extends beyond that of product life cycle, market innovation and technology innovation models. Similar to these alternate models, the industry life cycle model allows consideration of exogenous and endogenous technical change, rate of imitation by competing firms, differences in the patterns of customer segmentation, internal efficiencies of competing and other random factors that characterize market and technology based innovation. However, the industry life cycle also enables consideration of strategic choices, scientific progress and sociological models of industry evolution where the focus is on how the interactions of social and political conditions with economic forces shape the relative abundance and diversity of industries. The industry life cycle model thus provides a solid foundation for developing theory in operations strategy.Technological change: While innovation and technology management have been considered as defining variables in some of the configuration models observed in operations strategy (Stobaugh and Telesio, 1983; Richardson et al., 1985; Ward et al., 1995), these models mostly consider incremental product and process innovations that are characterized by steady evolution and improvement. Yet, there are also periods of disruptions in which new unpredictable technologies can completely replace dominant designs and re-define industry structures (Adner, 2002). Technological change, defined as radical or incremental innovations, plays an important role in the formation of new markets and in the development of new products and processes. When a firm fails to adapt to new technologies, painful consequences result as illustrated by Schmenner (1983) whereby established players lose their leadership positions to new entrants. Highlighting the challenges posed by new technologies, Kassicieh et al. (2002, p. 375) note these technologies require novel approaches and new competencies. Furthermore, large firms seem reluctant to adopt these technologies, and prefer to react to disruptive technologies only after technologies have changed the product-market paradigm.To account for the issue of technological change, some studies in the operations strategy literature recommend taking innovation into consideration (Leong et al., 1990; Ward et al., 1998), yet a comprehensive examination of the innovation based competitive priority is currently lacking in extant research.1.2 Purpose of the study\n2 Literature review: To understand the need for a typology of alignments between operations strategy and industry ecosystems, we present three distinct sets of literature relating to:1. configuration theories in operations management;2. operations strategies that deal with competitive priorities and strategic choices; and3. life cycle models that impact operations strategy.2.1 Configuration theories in operations management\n3 Aligning operations strategy with industry ecosystem: A concern that has been expressed in the operations strategy literature is that manufacturing capabilities \"are not matched to competitive strategy in a dynamic and unpredictable competitive environment to sustain competitive advantage\" (Brown and Blackmon, 2005, p. 798). The perspective of industry ecosystems (Lei and Slocum, 2005) presents an opportunity to address this concern. The industry ecosystem framework is particularly useful in providing a basis to integrate corporate strategy issues with operations strategy while also considering the interaction between industry life cycle and rate of technological change (i.e. industry ecosystems). Skinner (1969) asserted that corporate strategy drives operations strategy, which requires clear competitive priorities and strategic choices (Hayes and Wheelwright, 1979a, 1979b; Hill, 1994; Leong et al., 1990). Thus, corporate strategy requires a cogent understanding of competitive priorities and strategic choices that deliver an appropriate operations strategy. Lei and Slocum's (2005) framework provides a basis for developing a typology of innovation-driven operations strategies. The four quadrants in their framework imply the need for operations strategy types that fit each of these industry ecosystems. The operations strategy typology derived from Lei and Slocum's framework provides the impetus for our development of a stage-based model that specifies the cumulative development of capabilities. Guided by the stage-based model we propose how a firm can adapt its operations strategy to the various quadrants described in the industry ecosystem typology. Specifically, we propose three distinct stages or transformation strategies that a firm can use as it traverses its way across industry life cycles and changing technological environments. The three stages provide a roadmap, starting from the transformation of science to technology to the development of related product-market strategies, which is required for an innovation-driven operations strategy. A firm does not necessarily have to traverse all stages. Instead, as is explained later, the specific stage-based progression depends on the quadrant from which a firm begins its transformation.3.1 A typology of innovation driven operations strategies\n4 Discussion of the stage-based framework: Our stage-based framework, as shown in Figure 2, is intended to introduce the need for innovative competitive priorities and operations strategies that respond to evolving industrial ecosystems. Specifically, the framework proposes that competitive priorities and supporting strategic choices differ according to different stages of product-market development and technological change. We posit that the alignment between competitive priorities and operations strategy with the appropriate industrial ecosystem plays a critical role in the long-term product-market success of firms. More importantly, firms must adapt their competitive priorities and operations strategies to fundamental changes in the product-market requirements of differing industrial ecosystems (Yin, 2003, p. 5).Consider Cusumano et al.'s (1992) description of the battle between Sony's Betamax and JVC's VHS home videocassette tape recording formats introduced in the 1970s. Although JVC followed Sony into this marketplace, both firms carried out \"pioneer\" strategies. Sony's competitive priority was to surpass its rivals with performance-based technologies introduced in its Betamax video recorder. Unfortunately, Sony was too slow in adapting to the rapidly changing industrial ecosystem and ultimately lost the global market to JVC and Matsushita as discussed below.JVC and its parent company, Matsushita, moved rapidly from stage one into the second and third stages of development as shown in Figure 4. While JVC gained market access by forging alliances with TV manufacturers to market its VHS recorders, Matsushita surpassed all competitors in expanding its production capacity to supply the growing market. Matsushita was then able to offer a broad range of product features and prices through the development of flexible production capabilities. Meanwhile, JVC's researchers and engineers doubled the recording time of its VHS tape over that of Betamax, allowing it to record full-length movies. To further speed up the market's development, JVC allowed its strategic partners to also improve technical standards and to improve its VCR's performance beyond that which JVC could have accomplished alone. Cross-functional teams were created with representation from design and manufacturing to create efficient designs that provided cost advantage over competitors.After pushing VHS recording capabilities to four hours in 1977, Matsushita was able to convince RCA, the market leader, to sell its recorders under the RCA brand. Matsushita also cut production costs through radical innovation of its manufacturing process. Instead of aligning the VCR heads after final assembly, Matsushita reversed the manufacturing process and preassembled the heads into the cartridge. The preassembled heads were then machine ground to ensure perfect alignment without requiring further adjustment. This process innovation dramatically reduced manufacturing cost and time, allowing major price reductions and higher quality recorders.Sony, who had been recognized as a pioneer in electronic technologies, relied on its strategy of selling the highest performance products at the highest prices. This narrow competitive priority, however, provided an opportunity for JVC and Matsushita to adapt to the rapidly changing shift in industrial ecosystems. While Sony created the initial market, Matsushita adapted its competitive priorities through rapid innovations in product and process developments, as well as improving product value and market coverage. Sony's inability to adapt to changing industry ecosystems limited the company's long-term success in the home videocassette tape recording industry.\n5 Conclusions: In this paper, we presented a conceptual model that contributes to further theory development in operations strategy. We conclude by highlighting some of the important contributions, limitations and directions for future research.5.1 Consideration of industry ecosystems and competitive priority\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to examine how firms, operating in mature and growing industries, can improve the alignment of their operations strategy to fit situations characterized by varying rates of industry growth and technological changes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors enhance the operations strategy typology presented by Lei and Slocum by incorporating an enhanced set of competitive priorities and supporting structure/infrastructure requirements into their four cell matrix. They then introduce a stage-based model of environmental dynamism and complexity that can foster major transitions in operations strategy.\nFindings: - Industry growth and technological change interact to create alternative environments with varying levels of dynamism and complexity requiring realignment of operations strategy. With increasing rates of technological change, the authors emphasize an urgent need to include innovation as a competitive priority (along with cost, quality, delivery and flexibility) to proactively adapt operations strategy to fit changing environments. It is also necessary for managers to ensure a fit between their competitive priorities and the development of supporting structures/infrastructures to ensure effective implementation of competitive operations strategy.\nOriginality/value: - Operations strategy literature has not focused attention on the basic goals and capabilities needed to implement or adapt to today's dynamic environments. This study adds innovation as a competitive priority and improves our understanding of adaptation of operations strategy to alternative environments created by the interaction of industry growth and technological change. Specifically, by focusing on competitive priorities and supporting capabilities in dynamic environments, the authors provide directions for implementing changes to operations strategy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Curbing electronic shopper perceived opportunism and encouraging trust	[ "Trust", "Satisfaction", "Electronic shopping", "Perceived opportunism" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: One business challenge currently facing enterprises is the possibility of developing electronic commerce (e-commerce). Some recent advances are related to mobile commerce, which is an extension of e-commerce (Jahanshahi et al., 2011; Yang et al., 2014). As Herrmann and Tavakolifard (2010, p. 235) point out, \"the emergence of a new generation of versatile mobile devices will evoke a world in which we nearly always are electronically connected with our environment.\" The widespread use of e-commerce in today's society is beyond question, as reflected by the high penetration of new technologies (International Telecommunication Union, 2016). In fact, the revenue in the global e-commerce (including purchases via desktop computer and via mobile devices) market amounts to US$1,179,203 million in 2016 (Statista, 2016).\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses: The agency theory states that when the consumer (principal) has to choose the \"best\" electronic vendor (e-vendor) (agent) to buy from (to establish the relationship with), a problem of information asymmetry may appear (Pavlou et al., 2007; Chen et al., 2010). The principal-agent perspective can be applied whenever there is bounded rationality, asymmetric information and parties' goal incongruence, as is often the case in ES (Morosan and DeFranco, 2015). This problem means that, due to a lack of information, the consumer has difficulty distinguishing the true quality of different products/services and the true behavior of the e-vendor (Pavlou et al., 2007) and might, therefore, perceive opportunism. This information asymmetry becomes greater if consumers do not have comprehensive information, as happens in ES. It is particularly acute when e-shoppers are faced with a lack of advice, the impossibility of trying out products and services, distrust when paying and transferring personal data, little or no experience and knowledge in the field, difficulties with small smartphone screens, tiny multifunction keypads, connection instability or transfer of location based sensitive information. Morosan and DeFranco (2015) suggest that in e-commerce, consumers face perceived opportunism concerning agents (e-vendors) and systems where transactions are conducted (websites). As an example, Yang et al. (2015, p. 80) recognized that \"wireless technology-based systems are more vulnerable to information interception and are more unstable as compared to traditional fixed broadband-based web systems.\"\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Data analysis and results\n4. Discussion and implications: The main objective of this study was to empirically analyze different ways to gain e-shopper satisfaction and trust and inhibit perceived opportunism in the asymmetric principal-agent relationships that can exist in ES. Theoretical and managerial implications are now set out.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Consumers can face a situation of information asymmetry in electronic shopping (ES). The purpose of this paper to examine the relationships between: relational variables such as satisfaction, trust and perceived opportunism; and website cues (cognitive signals such as security and personalization, and experiential signals, such as design and entertainment).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper opted for the structural equation methodology to analyze data collected from 447 Spanish e-shoppers.\nFindings: Results show different factors that relate to satisfaction, trust and perceived opportunism in ES. Satisfactory experience with ES and entertainment emerge as the most relevant factors to achieve trust and prevent perceived opportunism in e-commerce.\nOriginality/value: The five contributions of this study are: the introduction of variables from several theoretical approaches to the study of an agency problem in e-commerce; the study of different ways to gain buyer trust and reduce perceived opportunism in an electronic shopper-vendor relationship; the application of signaling theory as part of the process of helping the principal (e-shopper) to solve their shopping problem in a context of information asymmetry; the analysis of the impact of external cues from e-vendor/site, which allows for a comparison between internal experiences and external quality signals; and the study of entertainment as an important hedonic variable in order to have satisfied and confident e-shoppers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Customer knowledge management, innovation capability and business performance: a case study of the banking industry	[ "Business performance", "Innovation capability", "Customer knowledge management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the past years, the importance of external sources, particularly customer knowledge, has been highlighted by both practitioners and academics (Joshi, 2004). Today's customers have become more innovative and active and can easily communicate with other customers and firms anywhere in the world. Therefore, customers have valuable information and knowledge, which can be used as important sources for competition (von Hippel, 2001; Bolton and Shruti, 2009; van Doorn, 2010; Hoyer et al., 2010). However, customer knowledge does not constitute a strategic advantage by itself; it needs to be managed (Hollebeek, 2013).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Customer knowledge management\n3. Research model and hypotheses: By providing appropriate feedback and a special environment for sharing information among customers, and between firms and customers, CKM enables firms to know what their customers know. So, through CKM, firms have access to an important source of novel ideas, which are suitable for innovation and performance. By proposing a conceptual model, which is shown in Figure 2, this paper aims to investigate the relationships among CKM, innovation capability and business performance.\n4. Research methodology: In this paper, a quantitative survey was used to empirically test the hypotheses. In the next part, we explain the sample, operational definitions and measurements of main variables.\n5. Analysis and results: 5.1 Measurement model\n6. Conclusions: 6.1 Implications for theory\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine the effect of customer knowledge management (CKM) on continuous innovation and firm performance in 35 private banks in Guilan (Iran). CKM emerges as an important and effective system for innovation capability and firm performance. However, the role of CKM in innovation and performance is not well understood.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data have been collected via questionnaires from managers of private banks in Guilan. Feedback was received from 265 managers in 350 distributed questionnaires, and hypotheses were tested using the structural equation modelling.\nFindings: The results of this paper indicate that knowledge from customers has a positive impact on both innovation speed and innovation quality as well as operational and financial performances. Also, our results demonstrate a different effect of knowledge about customer and knowledge for customers on various dimensions of innovation and firm performance. By using customer's knowledge flows, firms will be aware of external environment and new changes in customers' needs and so will be more innovative and perform better.\nPractical implications: CKM is known as an important system to connecting internal environment to external environment to create novel ideas. The results of this paper shed light on the consequences of CKM on firms and provide support for the importance of CKM to enhance innovation capacity and firm performance.\nOriginality/value: This article is one of the first to find empirical support for the role of CKM within firms and its importance on innovation capability and firm performance. This study can provide valuable insights and guidance for researchers and managers as well.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Public buying decisions: a framework for buyers and small firms	[ "Ireland", "Public procurement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Scholars and policy makers are increasingly aware of how public procurement may support government objectives. In Ireland, the context of this study, initiatives have been designed to make public procurement consistent with enterprise development and innovation policies. Particular emphasis is placed on creating a \"level playing field\" on which small and medium enterprises (SME) compete for a share of the estimated 14 billion public contract market. However there are gaps between the potential and actual impact of procurement policy to date (Murray, 2001; Preuss, 2007, 2009). The interaction of context and the process of public procurement may explain this gap.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Policy environment\n3. Methods: Given the exploratory nature of the research questions a case study design was chosen. The research was designed using a multiple case study (Eisenhardt, 1991), with the \"case\" defined, as a contract award. Purposive sampling was used to select cases and four cases were sufficient to fill theoretical categories (Yin, 2008). For example it was critical that our cases represented the buying continuum (Figure 1) rather than the public sector population. Two criteria were used to select research sites, organisations were nominated to National Procurement Awards (www.procurement awards.ie) and organisations exhibited a variation in context. Once cases were selected and initial pilots completed a qualitative research strategy was pursued. Data was first gathered from procurement directors and then from procurement teams. This gave the researchers sufficient cognitive access (Saunders et al., 2009) to conduct a longitudinal study as well as to satisfy our requests for referrals to suppliers.\n4. Results: 4.1 Lots-based contracts\n5. Discussion and conclusion: A key objective of the paper was to explore the factors that influence buyer decision-making, and to identify the processes and conditions that support SME participation. The findings are now discussed using a typology of efficient, adapted, central and balanced supply arrangements. Our contribution extends buying options from efficient and central to include adapted and balanced. This classification presents a spectrum of opportunities for public buyers to engage with suppliers, whilst being consistent with EU procurement policy. The framework also gives small suppliers an awareness of opportunities for \"self-help\" (Loader, 2013). The framework proposes that buying complexity and supplier engagement are conditions that support reconciling rationalistic and normative pressures on public buyers. The research contributes to closing the gap between the potential and realised capacity of using procurement to achieve government objectives.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The aim of this paper is to explore the factors that influence buyer decision-making in public procurement. The objective is to better understand the processes and conditions that support different supply arrangements, which maximise SME participation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper uses case study evidence of contract awards across multiple organisational contexts including: a local authority, commercial semi-state, police force, and a tourist agency.\nFindings: National policy and the role of procurement exerted mixed effects upon the cases. The procurement processes were broadly similar and included cross-functional teams, consideration of trade-offs and market research.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper highlights the transition of public organisations toward strategic procurement including supplier engagement.\nPractical implications: This offers buyers a decision support tool that promotes equal opportunities for SME participation, a key goal of EU procurement. The implications for suppliers of each buying decision are also outlined. The concept of practical rationality is used to support the framework.\nOriginality/value: A normative framework of public procurement decision-making is generated from the cases. Buying complexity and supplier engagement are two conditions that support a 2x2 decision framework. The framework extends efficient and central-buying decisions to include adapted and balanced decisions. This range offers buyers a decision support tool that promotes equal opportunities for SME participation, a key goal of EU procurement. The implications for suppliers of each buying decision are discussed.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Global dual-career exploration and the role of hope and curiosity during the process	[ "Dual‐career couples", "Jobs", "Globalization" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: You should not confuse your career with your life! (My Father).\nIntroduction: A dual-income couple is defined as both members of the couple earning an income to support the family-unit, whereas, dual-career couples are exemplified by both partners being employed and psychologically committed to their professions (Mumma, 2001; Parasuraman and Greenhaus, 2002; Challiol and Mignonac, 2005). There has been a substantial amount of research relative to career issues and dual-career couples, but primarily these studies have focused on dual-career couples engaged in domestic transfers, their refusal to relocate, stress in the family/work relationship, the influence of domestic transfers on the career paths of both members, and the differences in willingness to relocate based upon which of the couple (i.e. male or female) is being transferred (Valcour and Tolbert, 2003). One area that has not received the same level of attention is the global relocation of dual-career couples (Harvey, 1997, 1998; Harvey and Wiese, 1998a; van der Velde et al., 2005; Vangelisti et al., 2007).In relation to global career decision making, global dual-career couples' career exploration is examining career opportunities in a global context for both members of the couple. Global dual-career couple exploration behaviors are commonly observed at the time of transition from domestic to global career opportunities (Harvey, 1998). However, while early global career decision-making is essential for later global career development, exploration is not only common in dual-career couples wishing to make a global career change or responding to changes but also as part of one's ongoing global career decision-making process (Eby, 2001; Elloy and Smith, 2003; Green, 2004).While several researchers have noted the importance of the behaviors found in dual-career couples, most of the current research is for one individual and not tied to the career exploration of dual-career couples as a decision-making unit (Hall, 1986; Jordaan, 1963; Phillips, 1982; Caligiuri et al., 1998; Challiol and Mignonac, 2005). The unit of analysis that would appear to be the most appropriate but yet, very complex to examine, is that of the couple (both members) career orientation and exploration. In today's global environment, couples make decisions based upon the impact/value of career choices of both members of the couple (Harvey, 1997, 1998). Very little is known about the specific triggers, nature, and outcomes of global dual-career exploration behaviors (Harvey, 1996a, 1996b, 1997, 1998; Harvey and Wiese, 1998a, 1998b; Wolf-Wendel et al., 2001; Wan et al., 2003). Moreover, as a result of the notable instability in the employment contract and recent changes in the workplace (e.g. global organizational structure and work patterns) there is a need to examine global dual-career exploration as a continuous and adaptive process (Harvey, 1997; Harvey et al., 1999).An individual engages in global career exploration as a way of gathering information about one's self and the global context/environment with the ultimate goal of fostering progress of global career development (Hall, 2002; Parasuraman and Greenhaus, 2002). Proactive global career exploration behaviors are common during various global dual-career transitions and at the time of global career decision-making for both members of the couple. However, exploration may also be triggered by curiosity and a natural desire to explore. There are two types of global career exploration:1. Environmental global career exploration - is the investigation of various global career options that an individual may consider pursuing at any point in his/her global career. In exploring the environment, the individual proactively collects new information on jobs, global organizations, and occupations that have not been previously considered. Finding out necessary information about various jobs, global organizations, or industries allows more informed global career decision-making;2. Self-exploration - is focused on defining and exploring one's own interests, values, previous experiences, and global career goals.It is a way of reflecting about and rethinking one's global career and gaining a deeper understanding of oneself and the commitment to the dual-career aspirations. As a result of this process, the individual obtains a clearer perspective of what their stress, desires and abilities are and what he or she may not want to have in the work environment (Eby, 2001; Eby et al., 2002; Elloy and Smith, 2003).While environmental exploration is behavioral in nature, self-exploration is a cognitive process. The two processes may occur simultaneously and may influence each other. For example, as a result of an interesting work option encountered during environmental exploration, the individual may decide to conduct more self-exploration and reconsider his/her interests relative to the dual-career constraints, values, and experiences related to the particular option encountered.This paper examines global dual-career exploration as a continuing process occurring throughout a dual-career couple's professional life that may be observed at each life-stage and/or when a new global career situation is encountered (Super and Hall, 1978; Caligiuri et al., 1998). Figure 1 depicts a model of global career exploration that is discussed in the paper. As is illustrated by Hall (1986), later in life, especially in mid-career, global dual-career exploration is often triggered by different aspects of the global organizational environment, the work role, or the couple (e.g. hope and personal/professional curiosity). It is also believed that global career exploration is often a functional process that can lead to further global career growth, especially when it is triggered by the individual as a way of disrupting common \"global career routines\" due to the dual-career dimensions (Hall, 1986; Harvey, 1997; Riusala and Suutari, 2000).\nFoundation of global dual-career exploration explained through hope theory: Hope construct\nThe role of curiosity in global dual-career exploration: Curiosity is an innate characteristic of humans that is present in each person varying levels of intensity. Specifically, curiosity is a desire for acquiring new sensory experience and/or knowledge, which motivates exploratory behavior (Berlyne, 1949, 1950, 1954, 1960) (see Figure 2). Given the importance of searching behavior in global career exploration, particularly in global career decision making, it would appear that curiosity is central to motivation as well as the search process in collecting new information about global career alternatives (Blustein, 1997). Curiosity is the foundation of the willingness or desire to move through the learning process to address the information gap between what one knows and what one wishes to know about global career options and alternatives for both individuals in the dual-career couple (Loewenstein, 1994; Eby and Russell, 2000; Chew and Zhu, 2002).The concept of curiosity is generally divided into two broad categories:1. Perceptual curiosity - increased perceptional and/or reaction to visual, auditory, or tactile stimulation (Berlyne, 1954, 1960); and2. Epistemic curiosity - the motivation, desire, or drive to know and to learn, which is aroused by conundrums or perceived gaps in knowledge that is desired to make decisions (Berlyne, 1954; Litman and Spielberger, 2003). While in some ways perceptual curiosity could play a role in global career exploration, it is envisioned that the epistemic dimension of curiosity will be instrumental in the seeking of new knowledge and the development of decision-making criteria used in the exploration of global career options. Epistemic curiosity is motivated by conceptual conflict or conflict between mutually discrepant symbolic response tendencies (e.g. thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, conceptions) that need to be resolved by the individual making the global career decision (Berlyne, 1954). Information and/or knowledge are gained through observation, consultation, cognition (thinking), or some combination of the three.To gain additional insight into the epistemic category of curiosity, two types of exploratory behaviors have been identified that global career seeking couples can select from in their quest for salient information about global dual-career choices:1. specific exploration - is a detailed investigation of novel stimuli to acquire new information and/or knowledge about a perceived gap in one's knowledge (i.e. accessing information on salaries relative to present position as well as global career alternatives); and2. diversive exploration - examination of alternatives due to boredom or a desire for general stimuli due to the need for motivation regardless of the source or content of the input (i.e. searching the internet relative to 'hot' new jobs or professions).Table I provides a classification of specific and diversive exploration in both the perceptual and epistemic realms of information seeking.To determine the level of curiosity a global dual-career couple has might be determined by measuring each individual's general level of curiosity with such scales as the Imaginal Processes Inventory (Giambra et al., 1992); the Sensation Seeking Scale (Zuckerman et al., 1964); the Openness to Experience Scale (Costa and McCrae, 1988); or more specific oriented informational exploration searches by using the State-Trait Curiosity Inventory (Spielberger and Butler, 1971); the Melbourne Curiosity Inventory (Naylor, 1981); or the Curiosity and Exploration Inventory (Kashdan et al., 2004). But it would seem appropriate that curiosity plays a critical role in the willingness of dual-career couples to seek information relative to their global career options and to explore the possibilities of changing global careers as a couple.\nAssessing the support needed to encourage global career exploration: Global career exploration necessitates taking risk. In order to explore new global career options, most if not all global career explorers need support. This support can come from a number of providers but none more important than family/friends and the present organization in which one currently works. Figure 3 illustrates the dual support mechanism that is required to support individuals undertaking global career exploration. The support mechanism depicted in Figure 3 can be divided into three categories:1. the nature of the support environment;2. dual-career couple adjustment and need for social support; and3. acceptance and trust in dual-career global manager couples.I. Nature of support environment\nConclusion: Dual-career configuration can complicate careers for both individuals, but dual-careers in a global context are even that much more difficult for dual-career couples given the complexity of overseas assignments. The level of curiosity among the dual-career couples can spell the difference between success and failure of career exploration, particularly of the trailing spouse. All too often it is difficult (if not impossible) for trailing spouses to continue their careers, which increases stress in the couple (Harvey, 1998; Harvey and Wiese, 1998a; Baruch et al., 2002; Moore, 2002). The resistance to undertaking a global assignment is increased in dual-career situations. It is estimated that seventy percent of all marriages are either dual-career or dual-income families, thereby reducing the overall pool of candidates for overseas assignments.Hope provides the basis for dual-career couples to undertake a global assignment and provides the basic infrastructure for resolving stress and the potential conflict found in global dual-career couples. By maintaining an optimistic perspective during stressful times, dual-career couples' curiosity will be heightened, increasing their sensitivity to environmental cues and interpersonal support/communications. Curiosity is the initial step in learning and provides a mechanism for accelerating learning to reduce culture shock and reduces the time necessary to adjust to the host country's culture as well as the culture in the host country's organization. It is thought that curiosity will also provide the trailing spouse in the dual-career couple with the motivation to resolve the potential dramatic/negative impact on the career path. If hope and curiosity can be instilled in the dual-career couple, the probability of successfully completing a foreign assignment will be increased.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to use hope theory as a foundation from which to understand the global dual-career exploration phenomenon. Additionally, the concept of curiosity is explored as a triggering mechanism for dual-career couples to explore and learn about career options in a global context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Hope theory is used to provide theoretical support for the proposed conceptual model.\nFindings: - It is concluded that hope and curiosity are important elements for dual-career couples to leverage in order to reduce stress, maintain marital status, and allow the trailing spouse to resolve the potential dramatic and negative impact on their career path.\nPractical implications: - Both hope and curiosity have been argued to have developmental aspects, meaning that individuals can nurture and strengthen their level of hopefulness and curiosity. Organizations which aid individuals in developing these abilities will likely increase the probability that their global employees will successfully complete their foreign assignment.\nOriginality/value: - The paper explicitly examines dual-career exploration as it occurs in a global context. More specifically, it takes the perspective that global dual-career exploration is a continuous and adaptive process in which individuals who are hopeful and curious will be more successful in exploring and adapting to career options.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Scholarly communication in educational psychology: a journal citation analysis	[ "Serials", "Communication", "Students", "Educational psychology", "Cluster analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nI. Introduction: Scholarly communication is concerned with using and disseminating information in academic fields through formal and informal channels (Borgman, 1990). Authors communicate knowledge to audiences in formal records (books, journals, proceedings, etc.) and discuss and share ideas in informal communication activities (conversations, talks, telephone calls, e-mails, letters etc.). For that matter, scholarly communication distinguishes between intellectual structure and social process related to formal and informal channels (Lievrouw, 1990). Bibliometrics is a method that applies mathematical and statistical techniques to studying formal channels of scholarly communication. Among existing bibliometric techniques, citation analysis is most widely used for identifying influence of resources, building intellectual structures, and tracking information flow of a given academic field.Intercitation analysis, which uses cited and citing information as its data, is one of the major methods to create intellectual structures of domain knowledge. Taking the intercitation approach, this paper aimed to study the intellectual structure and information flow of educational psychology through a citation analysis of its journals. Educational psychology is a broad interdisciplinary field encompassing knowledge primarily from education and psychology. It is concerned with \"finding and applying principles and techniques that promote effective instruction, which in turn enhances learning\" (Turner and Good, 1998). Like many other citation studies, the significance of a quantitative and visual presentation of the intellectual structure and citation patterns in the field is manifold. For example, it can assist with library collection development, and help prospective authors select journals of their interests.\nII. Literature review: Previous citation studies of educational psychology journals have examined general and specific trends of the field. Lancaster et al. (1985) conducted a citation analysis of educational psychology journals for 1981. They identified the \"first level\" and the \"second level\" journals in educational psychology, and discussed their publication and citation trends in terms of language, country, productivity, dispersion, and obsolescence. In two separate studies, Walberg and Haertel presented a comprehensive introduction to the field and examined its core journals, citation patterns, research fronts, and most cited articles for 1988 (Walberg, 1990; Walberg and Haertel, 1992). Walberg (1990) identified 16 core educational psychology journals, journals that were most frequently cited by the core, and journals that most frequently cited the core. On the other hand, there have been citation studies of school psychology journals. Using data for the time periods of 1981-1985, 1978-1985, and 1985 for three different procedures, Kawano et al. (1993) examined the characteristics of three major school psychology journals, the editorial board influence on publications, the relationships between school psychology journals and other closely related journals, and the impact of the quality of the school psychology journals on the related areas and on themselves. Expanding on Kawano et al.'s study, Frisby (1998) studied the citation patterns and the structure of 22 school psychology and related journals for 1990-1994. He noted that school psychology journals had a lower rate of self-citations than other journals in the pool and they tended to make more citations to other journals than receive citations from them. The structural analysis of his study indicated that school psychology journals were located midway between \"special education\" group and \"psychology\" group on dimensional one and closer to the end of the \"High Emphasis on Professional Service Delivery Issues\" group on dimension two. In another study, Kwak (2002) focused on citation patterns of five major school psychology journals for 1995-1999. The author found that, among other things, the self-citation and cross-citation rates of these selected journals were relatively low. Moreover, more than 90 percent of the citations in the selected journals came from journals outside of them and less than 3 percent of the citations came from journals focusing on behavior analysis.Other studies related to educational psychology journals have focused on the content of published articles, authorship, authors' affiliations, institutional and individual productivity rather than on citations of the journals. For example, Ball (1984) examined the current and historical research trends in educational psychology through a content analysis of the articles in Journal of Educational Psychology published in the selected biennial periods from 1910 to 1980. Similarly, O'Donnell and Levin (2001) identified eight general topic categories and their distribution for the published articles in selected volumes of the same journal from 1910 to 1999. Based on a points system, Smith et al. (1998, 2003) studied the scholarly productivity of educational psychologists and institutions in five core educational psychology journals for the periods of 1991-1996 and 1997-2001, respectively. Hsieh et al. (2004), however, took an alternate approach to measure a scholar's productivity. On the front of school psychology journals, Reynolds and Clark (1984) explored the content and institutional productivity in several school psychology journals between 1974 and 1980, and found significant change in content over time. By the same token, Webster et al. (1993) studied the productivity of the top fifty institutions in five major school psychology journals for 1985-1991. In another study examining publications in journals by faculty of school psychology programs for 1995-1999, Carper and Williams (2004) reported that five mainstream school psychology journals published substantially more articles than other journals, and the article themes fell into four categories.\nIII. Research questions: As stated, the purpose of the present study was to create the intellectual structure of educational psychology and examine its general citation patterns using the intercitation data. Although Kawano et al. (1993) and Frisby (1998) conducted structural analyses in their studies, the journals they chose, with the exception of a few, were largely different from what were used for this study. Using more educational psychology journals, this study constructed the intellectual structure of the field from a different perspective. Specifically, the study addressed the following three research questions for the study period:1. What was the intellectual structure of the selected educational psychology journals?2. What were the ratios of the cited frequencies to citing frequencies for these journals within the field?3. What were the journals' citation concentration ratios in the field?\nIV. Methodology: A total of 34 journals in the educational psychology category of Thomson Scientific's Journal Citation Reports (JCR) (Thomson Scientific, 2004/2005) were selected for this study for 2004-2005. JCR included 38 educational psychology journals for each year of the study period. However, four journals were not included in this study either because they had extremely low citation rates or because the required data were unavailable in JCR for the target period. The selected journal titles and their abbreviations are listed in Table I.Likewise, the intercitation data from the selected journals were collected from JCR. The citing data for LID in 2005 were unavailable online. So they were counted manually from the print version of the journal. The study used journals as the unit of analysis. The collected data were organized in journal-by-journal adjacency matrices with the rows representing the citing journals and the columns the cited journals. A matrix for pooled citation data of all the two years was constructed.To determine the subject relatedness of the journals, the data in the pooled matrix were subjected to an average linkage hierarchical cluster analysis. The cosine measure was used in order to overcome the potential problems resulting from a sparse matrix (Ahlgren et al., 2003). The general citation patterns of the selected journals in the study period were presented in terms of cited and citing frequencies, self-citations, and related ratios.Although the study expanded its scope of study in terms of data collection, it was limited to the category of educational psychology journals in JCR. The Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), presently known as Thomson Scientific, has its own criteria for classifying journals into different categories (Pudovkin and Garfield, 2002; Morillo et al., 2003). Certainly studying the scholarly communication of journals in a broad-based field like educational psychology may concern knowledge that travels to and from journals outside the category. Nonetheless, journals in other categories that may have high connections to the educational psychology journals were not included because of the scope of this study.\nV. Results: Cluster analysis\nVI. Discussion and conclusions: This study was aimed at exploring the intellectual structure and general citation patterns of educational psychology journals for 2004-2005. The results of the study have shed light on the research objectives. The overall intellectual structure of the major educational psychology journals was constructed through the cluster analysis, which classified the journals into six different clusters, namely, general educational psychology/learning/literacy, school psychology, measurement and counseling, Germany-based educational psychology, creativity, and the other. As noted in prior research on journal network structures (Doreian and Fararo, 1985), the objective of the structural approach to journal citation analysis is to identify similar patterns of citations instead of the overall size of citations among the journals. The result of the structural analysis in this study is consistent with this argument. Each of the identified clusters of journals, with the exception of the other group, reflects a similarity of ties among its members in terms of subject relatedness. The clusters of the journals, by and large, fall into the specialties of educational psychology as a discipline, which includes such sub-areas as learning, instructional design, reading and literacy, cognition, motivation, human development, learning environment, counseling, and measurement (Walberg, 1990; Walberg and Haertel, 1992; Haertel, 1994). The finding about the close linkage between the general educational psychology journals and the learning and literacy journals supports the view that educational psychology is essentially about learning (Turner and Good, 1998). The result of the cluster analysis also indicates that general educational psychology and school psychology continue to exist as two separate specialties. This finding is partly in line with the structural analyses by Kawano et al. (1993) and Frisby (1998) although the comparisons should be viewed with caution due to different sets of journals used in the studies. The cluster analysis also shows a connection between the measurement and counseling journals. A possible explanation for the connection is the relatively great measurement component in the counseling journals. The Germany-based journals form one cluster because they are published in German. This suggests that language still plays an important role in scholarly communication. As educational psychology evolves, creativity has become an object of study in field. As expected, the two creativity journals are clustered as one group, echoing Ball's (1984) view on the changing state of educational psychology, which identified creativity as one of the topics in the field. Finally, despite their cited and citing frequencies, CD and DP are not affiliated with any of the other thematic groups because structurally they are not equivalent to them (Doreian and Fararo, 1985).Examining the cited and citing frequencies and their related ratios, the study has yielded some significant information about the general citation patterns of the selected educational psychology journals in the target period. Several patterns can be discerned from the analysis. First, the intra-disciplinary cited frequencies of a few journals account for more than half of the total on the scale. This is an intriguing phenomenon in bibliometrics, namely, a small number of journals in a field accounting for a relative high percentage of citations or publications. Second, the majority of the selected journals cite more than being cited in the field, indicating they import more knowledge than export it to other journals in the field. Journals exporting more knowledge than importing it are normally those with relatively high impact factors in the field such as CD, EP, JEP, JLS, JCP and SPR. Third, the major general educational psychology journals, most school psychology journals, all Germany-based journals, and creativity journals have relatively high combined ratios of CitedFS/CitedFA and CitingTS/CitingTA, suggesting their great concentration in the field. Apparently, journals at the low end of the scale have less focus on the discipline than others. A case in point is CD, which is a high impact factor journal devoted to all aspects of child development. Similarly, DP focuses on the study of discourse in many disciplines. Finally, journals having high CitedFS and CitingTS frequencies or net CitedFS/CitingTS ratios do not necessarily have high CitedFS/CitedFA and CitingTS/CitingTA ratios.The study of the intellectual structure and citation patterns in educational psychology has practical implications for librarians, prospective authors in the profession, and academic administrators. The clustering of subject specialties in this study can inform librarians doing selection of journals in educational psychology. Librarians can collect educational psychology journals by cluster to meet their specific needs. For example, the finding that the general educational psychology journals are closely related to the learning and literacy journals indicates that, if necessary, these journals may be collected together. Moreover, the finding of the clusters of journals may provide information for researchers seeking publishing opportunities in this field. Prospective authors may choose to publish their research in appropriate journals that focus on their research interests. Finally, academic administrators may find this study helpful in terms of understanding scholarly communication in the field and recommending promotion and tenure for their faculty.More research work should be undertaken to better understand the intellectual structure and information flow of educational psychology journals. A possible study is to examine the intellectual structure of journals between educational psychology and other immediately related knowledge domains. Other methods and techniques, including expert opinion surveys, co-citation analysis, and large scale content analysis, can be used in future studies to examine the subject relatedness and specialties in educational psychology journals from different perspectives.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to study the scholarly communication of educational psychology by exploring its intellectual structure and general journal citation patterns.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Journal citation data were collected from Journal Citation Reports for 2004-2005. The structure of the subject relatedness of the journals was created through a cluster analysis using the cosine as its measure. The general citation patterns were discussed in terms of cited and citing frequencies and related ratios.\nFindings: - Six clusters of journals were identified, including general educational psychology/learning/literacy, school psychology, measurement and counseling, Germany-based educational psychology, creativity, and the other. The following general citation patterns emerged in the study: a small number of journals accounted for a relatively high percentage of the intra-disciplinary citations; the majority of the selected journals cited more than being cited in the field; the major general educational psychology journals, most school psychology journals, all Germany-based journals, and creativity journals had higher level of concentration in the field than others; and journals with high cited and citing frequencies and high cited/citing ratios did not necessarily have high level of concentration in the field.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Given the broad scope of educational psychology, the study was limited to the journals included in the educational psychology category of Journal Citation Reports.\nPractical implications: - Libraries may benefit from the study results for collection development in educational psychology. Prospective authors may use the information to enhance their publishing opportunities. Academic administrators may use the citation information for promotion and tenure review.\nOriginality/value: - The study revealed the subject relatedness and general citation patterns of educational psychology journals in a large context. The visual and quantitative presentation of the citation patterns is conducive to the understanding of educational psychology as a discipline.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Age-based maintenance for a fleet of haul trucks	[ "Availability", "Productivity", "Simulation", "Maintenance", "Mining equipment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In coal open pits, a large amount of coal and overburden must be transported in the pit on a daily basis. The main methods for moving these materials are belt conveyor, train track railway, truck, or intermodal transport. Truck-shovel systems are the most commonly used because they offer many advantages: flexibility, high mobility, climbing ability, small turning radius, short time investment, and low infrastructure cost (He et al., 2010; Mena et al., 2013). However, the operating cost of truck-shovel systems is the most expensive part of the process in the mining activity (Aksoy and Yalcin, 2000; Alarie and Gamache, 2002; Niemann-Delius and Fedurek, 2004; Ta et al., 2005; He et al., 2010). It is widely recognized that the maintenance cost of trucks and shovels can constitute around 30-50 percent of the overall haulage costs (Topal and Ramazan, 2010). Reduction in the operating costs can be effectively achieved by increasing mining equipment productivity.\n2. Process properties of truck dispatching in an open-pit mine: It is common for many open-pit mines to have fleets containing trucks of different age levels. The operating hours of all trucks are not expected to stay the same throughout the shift. Some trucks may need to be temporarily stopped for preventive or corrective maintenance, which influence their availability to operate. Based on these considerations, the objective of this study is to improve the simulation modeling framework for allocating trucks in the fleet by maximizing the productivity, in which reliability, availability, and maintainability characteristics of each truck age level are taken into account.\n3. Modeling: The specific simulation modeling framework presented in this paper aims to allocate available trucks for maximizing the overburden production. It is measured by the total number of trips that each truck can perform under the ideal operation and breakdown event. The proposed conceptual model is presented in Figure 2. The starting point is the analysis of collected data, which is the historical data of truck-shovel activity times from January to December, 2014. The collected data are rich enough for the statistical analysis, which are provided by the global positioning system (GPS). The distributions of truck-shovel activity times are analyzed to find a suitable parametric model. A log-normal distribution is chosen because it fits sufficiently well to the empirical distribution of activity times. The fitting is based on the sample mean and the standard deviation, (for further details see Appendix).\n4. Results: 4.1 Truck dispatching models\n5. Conclusions: One significant factor in a profitable open-pit mine is an efficient overburden transport system. For this reason, the ability to improve the equipment productivity has been achieved directly by allocating trucks and shovels in an efficient manner with consideration of age-based maintenance. The simulation study conducted in this paper provides new guidelines of the volumes of improvement, which is applicable for other industries, such as shipping, taxis, and package delivery. Obviously it is likely that in practice one faces problems that are not included in the simulation models, but the improvement is so pronounced that it is likely that the use of this more sophisticated approach would yield more significant improvements in the mine production than one would expect.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The most costly part in an open-pit mine is the transportation of material out of the mine. The efficiency of the truck-and-shovel fleet plays a major role in cost control. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The truck dispatching simulation model with consideration of age-based maintenance is proposed.\nFindings: This paper underlines an impact of truck dispatching decisions and reveals remarkable differences in the total production under different approaches of operational availability. Additionally, the simulated results introduce an effective scheduled maintenance for different truck age levels.\nOriginality/value: The approach is based on a case study taking into account the stochastic equipment behavior and environment in a real open-pit mine. This approach can be used more generally in situations in which truck fleets are used to transport material.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Experiential learning in entrepreneurship education: A prospective model for South African tertiary institutions	[ "Entrepreneurialism", "Workplace learning", "Small to medium‐sized enterprises", "Experiential learning", "South Africa" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This is a conceptual paper. It provides a prospective model for experiential or work integrated learning (WIL) in entrepreneurship education and training. The model is still to be developed, tested and be applied as an effective entrepreneurial education method. The article does not attempt to provide a syllabus of what to teach or not to teach but proposes a method of integrating and delivering what most entrepreneurship scholars agree has to be taught. The training model is outcome based and focuses on the production of entrepreneurs as opposed to providing an entrepreneurship education. No distinction is made in this study between the terms teaching and training or among the terms, experiential learning, cooperative education, service learning and work integrated learning.It provides an experiential training model as opposed to the entrepreneurial education models as presented in South Africa by Van Vuuren (1997), Van Vuuren and Nieman (1999), and Pretorius et al. (2005).The article provides a brief background on entrepreneurship education, identifies weaknesses of the current methods, and discusses the prospective model in detail before concluding.\nBackground: Co and Mitchell (2006, p. 349) note that there have not been many studies in South Africa that investigate the state of entrepreneurship education in the country, except at secondary school level and just a few on methodologies being used by universities to teach entrepreneurship. No known study in South Africa has focused on WIL in entrepreneurship education.According to Jones and English (2004, p. 416), the growing literature on entrepreneurship education tends to argue that a different approach, a departure from the traditional lecture centred, passive learning used in traditional business disciplines such as management and marketing, is needed. The new style should be action oriented to encourage experiential learning, problem solving and creativity and best provide the mix of enterprising skills and behaviours needed to create and manage a small business.Brazeal and Hebert (1999, p. 29), North (2002, p. 24) and Kuratko (2005, p. 583) point out that the study of entrepreneurship is still in its infancy and there are several weak points in the field such as the lack of depth of the programmes that were started. The weaknesses are discussed next.\nCurrent enterprise education and training: Experiential learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience (Kolb, 1984, p. 41). The underlying assumption is that for learning to take place, experiences have to occur. Based on Kolb's (1984) idea, Politis (2005, p. 407) confirms that entrepreneurial learning is an experiential process in which knowledge develops through experiencing, reflecting, thinking and acting.Groenewald (2003, p. 350) define WIL as a structured educational strategy that progressively integrates academic study with learning through productive work experiences in a field related to a student's academic or career goals, not as an add-on but an integral part of the educational process.Work integrated learning (WIL) is the component of learning that focuses on the application of theory in an authentic work based context. It addresses specific competencies identified for the acquisition of a qualification which relates to the development of skills that will make the student employable and will assist in developing his/her skills (HEQC, 2004, p. 26).Making the student employable is a contradiction of intention. It is not and should not be the aim of what the author will term training of a \"student entrepreneur\" in the South African context. In South Africa overall unemployment is currently 25.5 per cent (StatSA, 2007) and over 75 per cent among the youths (25-34 years) (African Development Forum, 2006, p. 6), and every entrepreneurship trainer is aiming to produce \"job creators and not job seekers\".Deficiencies exist in the South African education system in general and in entrepreneurship education in particular due to the apartheid legacy. Education infra structure, qualified and motivated teachers and a culture of teaching and learning has suffered severe damage (Driver et al., 2001, p. 40).Given this background new appropriate approaches to entrepreneurship education need to be adopted if positive results are to be realised.Appropriateness\nThe model and discussion: As emphasised by Dana (1993, p. 86) and O'Neill (2004, p. 5), the end product of entrepreneurship education should be a creative individual who understands how to bring an idea from conception to starting and managing a business. A pragmatic demand for relevancy and the application of knowledge is therefore required. As rightly pointed out by O'Neill (2004, p. 5), \"what does an entrepreneurship student become if he or she does not become an entrepreneur\"?The author questions why entrepreneurship students get lost in the maze of job seekers. Why is it that a nursing school can produce nurses and an entrepreneurship school cannot produce entrepreneurs? It has been proved that entrepreneurship can be taught, so is it the current teaching method which is wrong?Cope (2005, p. 384) notes that in recruiting students for entrepreneurial training, rather than identifying who an entrepreneur is based on traits theory, it is beneficial to consider the evolutionary nature of entrepreneurship and explore who through learning \"an entrepreneur can become\". An entrepreneur is someone who possesses a bundle of certain qualities and thinks and behaves in an innovative and creative way.The entrepreneur\nImplications and recomendations: * An appropriate and well-structured WIL based entrepreneurship training that encompasses both classroom and field experiences should be the base of learning.* The available structures (role players) and resources are at best fragmented and not outcome based. A paradigm shift is needed especially among the current entrepreneurship curriculum developers and educators. The disparate efforts of the different structures need to be coordinated and re-directed towards the production of entrepreneurs.* Entrepreneurship programmes should prepare a student to start a business within a given period, during or after completion of study. The potential of a student to achieve this outcome should be the basis on which a student is recruited into the programme.* Possible incubation facilities such as food kiosks and stationery shops (already in place on many campuses) should be available for student entrepreneurs to learn their trade.* The current internships programme should have an entrepreneurship-specific focus and it should be built into the current entrepreneurship curricula.* All stakeholders should learn that failure is an integral part of entrepreneurship. The student should therefore be allowed space to \"try and fail\" to encounter \"intelligent failures\" as part of effective learning.The model, like any other, will need development and testing. Empirical research specifically on WIL in entrepreneurship education is urgently called for. A number of challenges exist in the possible application of the model. There is need to prepare a curriculum around the proposed model and such a curriculum would have its own problems such as content and time allocations. Measurement of the learning that is assumed to take place as a result of the proposed education model is another area that will need further investigation. An in-depth study of learning in the theory of entrepreneurship and experiential learning would benefit the field of entrepreneurship in particular.Learning priorities of entrepreneurs may differ according to sectors or the stages in the entrepreneurial process the student is in and this is not build into the model. The student will learn differently from the entrepreneurial state of the SME and the entrepreneur and this needs to be researched and taken into account.The model assumes that the student will learn from the successful entrepreneurs and established businesses. This may deprive the student the chance to learn from the business start-up stage and from the trials and tribulations the entrepreneur and the business may go through before establishment or success. Cope (2005, p. 389) notes that entrepreneurship learning is an emotionally intense process, which is achieved through painful experiential learning. The emotions-learning relationship still has to be conceptualised within the context of entrepreneurship. There is need, therefore, to investigate the resultant depth of reflection and learning from the interaction of the student entrepreneur with each of the domains of the model.\nConclusion: Entrepreenurial education and training in South Africa is characterised by shortfalls and weaknesses. Yet evidence from within the country and outside indicates that experiential learning can transform experience into entrepreneurial knowledge has maintained that it is possible to produce entrepreneurs in the same way nurses are produced through appropriately designed work integrated learning. However, a new approach needs to be put in place if entrepreneurship education and training is indeed to produce entrepreneurs; one that should start early as possible to allow for maximum impact and effect. The article has discussed an integrative prospective model on entrepreneurship education and training. Whilst it neeeds further development and empirical research on implementation, it nevertheless provides a conceptual platform from which to explore further the complex areas of entrepreneurial education and training and influence design and delivery.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present a prospective entrepreneurship training model based on experiential learning which will enable the \"production\" of small business owners or entrepreneurs which is not being achieved by the current methods.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This is a conceptual paper. It analyses the current approaches in use, identifying inherent weaknesses and the gaps that need to be filled. Through literature reviews and case cites it provides a model that integrates experiential learning into entrepreneurship education.\nFindings: - The paper shows that appropriate experiential training can truly be integrated into entrepreneurship education in South Africa as in disciplines such as engineering or nursing.\nResearch limitation/implications: - The model needs to be test implemented to find its efficacy. Just like any model, it may need refinement.\nOriginality/value: - The prospective model is an attempt to produce entrepreneurs and small business owners. This is critical in South Africa where entrepreneurs/business start-ups are in critical shortage. No known study on work integrated learning (WIL) in entrepreneurship in higher education has been conducted in South Africa or such a model presented.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Dr Spock's Food Festival	[ "Tourism", "Science fiction", "Futures", "Food festivals", "Food tourism", "Science" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Food is relevant in almost every aspect of an individual's life and can either be seen as a necessity or a luxury. It is seen as something common between people of different cultures, languages and places. Food tourism has drawn much attention as a tourism product, it is seen as one of the key components of the tourist experience and food festivals provide an opportunity for society to socialise as by their nature they bring people together. But what is the future? By 2050, nearly ten billion people are forecasted to live on planet Earth, there will be new middle classes with new consumption patterns, oil will be scarce, the planet will be warmer as a consequence of climate change and five billion people are forecasted to take an international holiday (Yeoman, 2012). So what could all this mean for food tourism and food festivals? This trends paper portrays one future and the eight trends that will shape that future. The Dr Spock's Food Festival is about how science, education and new forms of consumption could shape the future of food festivals.\nScenario: Dr Spock's Food Festival - Tokyo 2050: Dr Spock's Food Festival is a science food festival, which is heavily influenced by technology and alternative foods, such as lab burgers, genetically modified organism (GMO) food and vertical farming. It is held in Tokyo, Japan. Here, science and science festivals have become mainstream in society. This scenario (or story) is told through the words of Sanjo.\nSo, what are the trends portrayed in Dr Spock's Food Festival?: Trend 1: the desire for community\nConcluding thought: Dr Spock's Food Festival is about educating individuals on the origins of food and bringing people together to experience food. In the last two decades, we have seen a dramatic change to the way we are eating; learning about why this has occurred will ensure we continue to find ways to feed future generations. This scenario raises issues that could be considered somewhat undesirable for the future of food, but are real. Today, science and technology are seen as the drivers of innovation. Society is more knowledgeable, demanding, sophisticated and searching for new ideas. Dr Spock's Food Festival represents this. Molecular gastronomy is the science of the restaurant industry, often portrayed as the ultra-luxury experience. Tourists in general are chasing new tastes and forms. The scenario might sound scary but often this scenario is happening already.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to make the reader think about the consequences of food scarcity and how science would deal with the situation portrayed through Dr Spock's Food Festival set in Tokyo 2050.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper takes the form of a trends analysis perspective.\nFindings: The authors explain the circumstances (or drivers) of how food scarcity would lead to particular future state. The paper portrays eight driving forces from increased urbanisation to a knowledgeable society.\nOriginality/value: What if it did occur as molecular gastronomy and the desire for new experiences are core values of today's restaurant industry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Repurchase loyalty for customer social co-creation e-marketplaces	[ "Social media", "Loyalty", "Co-creation", "Commitment", "Web site quality", "Value equity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Customer co-creation refers to \"an active, creative and social collaboration process between producers (retailers) and customers (users)\" (Piller et al., 2010, p. 1). Customer co-creation focusses on a product development approach in which customers actively take part in the design of a new offering (Roser et al., 2013) and is \"about joint creation of value by the company and the customer\" (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004, p. 8). Frow et al. (2011) developed a final typology of co-creation consisting of 12 forms of co-creation (i.e. co-conception of ideas, co-design, co-production, co-promotion, co-pricing, co-distribution, co-consumption, co-maintenance, co-outsourcing, co-disposal, co-experience, and co-meaning creation) (see Figure 1). Co-creation approaches share two main features: One is the expansion of organizational boundaries and the other is the involvement of co-creators (Roser et al., 2013). The idea of the co-creation platform, involving customers in the design or development of future offerings, has the potential to generate business transformation (Owen et al., 2008).\n2. Theoretical framework: Cronin et al. (2000) developed the Quality-Value-Satisfaction (QVS) model to examine the interrelationships of variables in a service marketing context. Through empirical testing, Cronin et al. (2000) concluded that service quality leads to both perceived value and satisfaction and that perceived value mediates the relationship between service quality and satisfaction. To extend the model beyond the service marketing area and to build the theory to better explain online consumer behavior in the social co-creation e-marketplaces, the current study applied the QVS model (Cronin et al., 2000) in the context of social co-creation. In the proposed model of the current study, perceived web site quality dimensions were operationalized as four exogenous constructs: (a) usability and information quality, (b) visual appeal and image, (c) interactivity, and (d) web innovativeness. Value equity was examined as the value stage. Commitment and repurchase loyalty were examined as the satisfaction stage.\n3. Hypotheses development: 3.1 Commitment\n4. Method: 4.1 Data collection\n5. Results: 5.1 Participant characteristics\n6. Conclusions and implications: The purpose of the current study was to examine the interrelationships among online apparel shoppers' perceived quality of social co-creation web sites, value equity, commitment, and repurchase loyalty to social co-creation. The results demonstrate theoretical conceptions regarding commitment and repurchase loyalty to social co-creation as well as provide insights into the development of the social co-creation platforms.\n7. Limitations and suggestions for future research: This study examined only online apparel shoppers' reaction to the social co-creation e marketplaces. Investigating reactions and usage behaviors of actual social co-creation users who are selling their designed apparel products on social co-creation web sites, and who are conducting diverse co-creation activities, such as co-design, co-maintenance, co-distribution, co-promotion, co-conception, and co-pricing, could be addressed in future research. Furthermore, examining how customers, suppliers, partners, influencers, and competitors as key actor groups within the co-creation platforms utilize social co-creation e-marketplaces would offer useful insights to develop efficient social co-creation web sites.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Social co-creation refers to the process of using social media as a vehicle to carry out customer co-creation engagements. By allowing many customers to contribute to a specific co-creation initiative, social media makes co-creation platforms more efficient. The purpose of this paper is to examine: first, whether usability and information quality, visual appeal and image, interactivity, and web innovativeness, as perceived web site quality dimensions, were related to value equity; second, whether value equity was related to commitment and repurchase loyalty to social co-creation; and third, the moderating effects of aesthetic appreciation and fashion opinion leadership.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The conceptual foundation was based on the Quality-Value-Satisfaction model. Data were collected from US online apparel shoppers (n=691) using a consumer panel via an online survey. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the proposed model and research hypotheses.\nFindings: Usability and information quality, visual appeal and image, interactivity, and web innovativeness had indirect influences on commitment and repurchase loyalty, mediated by value equity of social co-creation.\nOriginality/value: This proposed model may provide useful insights for apparel e-retailers to use in order to differentiate their e-strategies and develop successful social co-creation web sites. Furthermore, the proposed strategies will enable apparel e-retailers to fulfill customers' increasing demand for more interactive and online social shopping experiences that utilize the customer's own creativity.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Logistics service providers and corporate social responsibility: sustainability reporting in the logistics industry	[ "Corporate social responsibility", "Sustainability", "CSR reports", "Environmental and social performance indicators", "Logistics service providers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The cross-functional nature of logistics makes it vital to every corporate strategy, particularly to actions and policies aimed at ensuring environmental and social sustainability of operations. There is a body of literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues in relation to logistics function, but the role of logistics service providers (LSPs) in CSR programmes is yet to be explored. LSPs are in a good position to play a strategic role in supply chain-wide sustainability initiatives, because they connect and interact with other companies in the network. There are also significant economic drivers to LSPs' engagement in CSR initiatives. A better environmental and social performance is likely to have a positive impact on a company's bottom line (e.g. GHG emissions from freight transport are directly related to the amount of fuel used, thus can be easily translated into operating costs). Therefore, LSPs traditionally operating on very low profit margins, can consider initiatives aimed at reduction of environmental and social impacts as a means of improving their economic performance.\nLiterature review: CSR and logistics\nResearch design: The findings presented in this paper are based on a content analysis of CSR reports of large, international LSPs. Content analysis allows for reliable, systematic, objective, transparent, and quantitative study of the manifest content of existing publications (Weber, 1990; Krippendorff, 2004; Wong and Karia, 2010). It is a useful tool to determine key ideas and themes in published text, and to measure comparative positions and trends in reporting (Gurthie et al., 2004; Spens and Kovacs, 2006). Content analysis has been previously successfully applied in logistics and supply chain management research (e.g. Spens and Kovacs, 2006; Carter and Easton, 2011; Hazen et al., 2012), including investigations focusing specifically on LSPs (e.g. Cullinane and Toy, 2000; Maloni and Carter, 2006; Marasco, 2008; Busse, 2010; Lukassen and Wallenburg, 2010; Wong and Karia, 2010; Busse and Wallenburg, 2011). Most logistics or LSP-related content analysis studies use academic papers as units of assessment. However, analysis of public disclosure in a form of CSR reports, annual reports, financial statements, or web site content, is not uncommon in other fields (e.g. Gray et al., 1995 on CSR disclosure, Gurthie et al., 2004 on intellectual capital reporting, Jose and Lee, 2007 on environmental reporting), and this approach is adopted in this paper.\nEmpirical findings: Although aspects of sustainability are mentioned on corporate web sites of most LSPs in the sample (53 per cent), only 45 (13 per cent) out of the 350 LSPs studied publish formal CSR reports, including dedicated CSR reports (34.10 per cent) or a CSR section in the annual reports (11.3 per cent). Further 27 (8 per cent) and seven (2 per cent) LSPs were included in the CSR reports of their corporate groups and CSR section of the corporate group annual reports, but it was impossible to extract data related to an individual company. Hence, these companies were excluded from further analysis. At the time of data collection, for 11 LSPs the latest CSR report available was published in 2012, 26 companies last reported on their CSR performance in 2011, and the final eight in 2010. The overall reporting rate of 23 per cent is well below the results reported by KPMG (2011), which show that 95 per cent of the 250 largest companies in the world now report on their CSR activities. However, the same study indicates that, at the industry level, the transport sector achieves one of lowest reporting rates, with only 57 per cent of companies publishing their CSR records. The discrepancy between ours and KPMG's results is likely to be caused by a different composition of both samples (i.e. KPMG's one includes passenger and freight transport operators, whereas we focus on LSPs), and the size of companies included in the transport sector sample (as discussed above, KPMG's results show that even amongst the largest companies in the world, the size of a business strongly influences the probability of CSR reporting).\nConcluding remarks: The importance of CSR is rising on political and business agendas. This paper provides an insight into how transparently LSPs report on the sustainability of their performance. Our analysis suggests that CSR is becoming an increasingly important issue for logistics companies, with over a half of LSPs presenting CSR-related actions on their corporate web sites. However, only 13 per cent of world's largest LSPs produce a formal CSR report and publish at least some CSR-related indicators.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a content analysis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports published by logistics service providers (LSPs), and to analyse factors influencing the level and scope of reporting. In order to address this objective, the authors show to what extent various social and environmental categories are covered in the CSR reports. The authors also investigate whether any differences in the use of CSR indicators can be found with regard to the use of a formal reporting framework, the size of a company, location of its headquarter, and ownership structure.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study begins with a comprehensive literature review on the CSR policies and practices in relation to the field of logistics. A database of 350 international LSPs is compiled based on independent rankings of top logistics companies. Applying a content analysis approach, corporate web sites and CSR reports are examined in order to investigate how sustainability is reported and what CSR-related indicators are published. Statistical analysis is carried out to provide insight into whether any differences in the use of CSR indicators can be found with regard to four key factors identified in the literature review.\nFindings: Although aspects of sustainability are mentioned on corporate web sites of most LSPs in the database (53 per cent), only 13 per cent publish formal CSR reports. This research identifies a variety of indicators used by LSPs and shows that the use of a formal reporting framework and the size of a company are the two main factors influencing the levels of CSR reporting in the sector.\nPractical implications: This paper provides an insight into how transparently LSPs report on the sustainability of their performance. LSPs can compare their own CSR reporting approaches to the body of scientific literature and the findings presented in this paper, in order to adapt more general concepts and best practice evidence to their needs.\nSocial implications: By focusing on best practice in reporting of the environmental and social performance, this research can potentially improve the long-term sustainability of the logistics sector.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study providing a comprehensive review of the CSR reporting practice in the third party logistics sector. As such, this paper provides an important basis for CSR-related research in the field of logistics and supply chain management. Several areas for future research are also identified.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Does transformational, ambidextrous, transactional leadership promote employee creativity? Mediating effects of empowerment and promotion focus	[ "Transformational leadership", "Innovation", "Promotion focus", "Psychological empowerment", "Transactional leadership", "Employee creativity", "Ambidextrous leadership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In an era of rapid advances in science and technology and fierce competition, organizational creativity has become a key factor in an organization's ability to survive. If organizational creativity can be improved, so will its competitiveness and performance (Bucci et al., 2014; Tubadji and Nijkamp, 2014; Vicente-Lorente and Zuniga-Vicente, 2012). The best way to improve organizational creativity is to rely on employee creativity (Camelo et al., 2010; Choi and Ji-Hye, 2014; Kyvik et al., 2012; Maria and Maria, 2013). Indeed, innovation through creativity is an important factor in achieving both success and competitive advantage for organizations (Gumusluoglu and Ilsev, 2009).\n2. Literature review and hypotheses development: 2.1 Transformational leadership\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Research model\n4. Results: In this study, we used SPSS13.0 and LISREL8.51 software. The data were tested for reliability and validity using confirmatory factor analysis. Investigation of the confirmatory model tries to determine whether the research model is instrumental in explaining the observed data and information. A Structural equation model was used for data analysis to study the causalities for all the constructed parameters.\n5. Discussion: In this study, we developed and empirically examined on how three leadership styles (transformational leadership, ambidextrous leadership and transactional leadership) work via two important intervening variables (employees' psychological empowerment and employees' promotion focus) to influence employee creativity in China's electronics companies. Our study offers several important findings. It found a significant positive impact of transformational and ambidextrous leadership on employees' psychological empowerment. This finding is consistent with the conclusions reached by Pieterse et al. (2010) and Lee and Lee (2012).\n6. Conclusion: Organizations can survive and compete only by relying on rapid innovation and strengthening the creative capacity of their staff. Innovative is, therefore, more important than ever. Based on the empirical results presented here, this study concludes that the greater the tendency toward transformational or ambidextrous leadership, the greater will be a manager's ability to improve the creativity of his or her employees. If managers adopt a transformational or ambidextrous leadership style, they can increase their employees' creativity through their employees' psychological empowerment. In addition, if managers adopt a transformational or ambidextrous leadership style, they can increase their employees' creativity through their employees' promotion focus. Transactional leadership in contrast was found to have a significant negative impact on employee creativity. These empirical findings can inform enterprises and organization managers in their use of transformational or ambidextrous leadership so as to improve their employees' creativity and enhance the competitiveness of their enterprises or organizations overall.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate transformational, ambidextrous, and transactional leadership and their relationship to employee creativity and the extent to which psychological empowerment and promotion focus are consistent with previous studies that identify their significant impact on employee creativity. In addition, employee psychological empowerment and promotion focus are used as mediators in the research model to ascertain whether or not there is a significant mediating effect between transformational leadership, ambidextrous leadership, transactional leadership and employee creativity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In the study, 500 questionnaires were mailed to 50 electronics companies in China; 427 valid questionnaires were eventually collected. A structural equation model was then used for data analysis to study the causalities between all the parameters.\nFindings: The research findings indicate that transformational and ambidextrous leadership styles have a significant effect on employee creativity. In addition, the study found that employee psychological empowerment and promotion focus has a significant mediating effect for transformational leadership, ambidextrous leadership, transactional leadership and employee creativity.\nOriginality/value: Executives who adopt a transformational or ambidextrous leadership style tend to have employees with greater psychological empowerment, while transformational or ambidextrous leaders tend to have employees with a stronger promotion focus. Further, the study discovered that when executives adopt a transformational or ambidextrous leadership style, they can use their employees' psychological empowerment and promotion focus to improve employee creativity.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How Mary P. Follett's ideas on management have emerged: An analysis based on her practical management experience and her political philosophy	[ "Mary P. Follett", "Management concepts", "Management ideas", "Political philosophy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: \"She had struck every single chord in what now constitutes the management symphony\" (Drucker, 1995, p. 2). This quotation is taken from the book edited by Pauline Graham, published in 1995, that confirmed the rediscovery of Mary P. Follett's ideas and writings on management (Graham, 1995). Although they had never completely disappeared, her ideas were for a time eclipsed (Fry and Thomas, 1996). For a number of reasons, they did not have the same impact as those of some of her contemporaries, such as Frederick W. Taylor, Henri Fayol, Elton Mayo and others (Calas and Smircich, 1996), whose influence was, for the most part, immediate and important in that it played a major part in structuring management practices for several decades (Mintzberg (1995) on Henri Fayol's principles of business administration). And yet, Follett was one of the very first to get to grips with themes fundamental to business management that were not tackled by practitioners and academic specialists in management until much later (Metcalf and Urwick, 1941; Fox, 1968): coordination, leadership, control, power and responsibilities, conflict resolution, negotiation, etc. While there are now a number of studies focusing specifically on Follett's contributions, there are fewer, on other topics, that purport to be inspired explicitly by her ideas and concepts. Some authors of standard works on management themselves admit that they were slow to get the measure of Follett's conceptual advances (Lawrence, 1995). It has to be said that conducting research based on Follett's writings is a complex undertaking, and considerable detective work is required to track down conceptual developments that necessarily go beyond the traditional boundaries of the discipline of management (Davis, 1989). Mary P. Follett was not just a modern, innovative observer of management practices (Huault and Schmidt, 2006). She was also, and above all, a contributor to the debate on democracy and, more generally, a specialist in the processes of social interaction, which, over the course of her life, she observed and experimented with in various ways.\nThe life and undertakings of Mary P. Follett: her opportunities to engage with management: In the first stage of our investigation, the aim is to identify the opportunities that Follett had over the course of her life to engage with management. In this initial phase of our analysis, it is assumed that the construction of management concepts and principles is in part an experimental process akin to Taylor's intellectual trajectory: scientific management as a set of concepts and practices developed on the basis of science and his experiments at the Midvale Steele Company and then at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.\nA conceptual edifice built around social interaction and democracy: Our starting hypothesis in this article is that, in developing her ideas on management, Follett drew on elements of a generic theoretical edifice in order to formulate responses to several questions in management.\nA conceptual edifice used to answer key questions of management: As this edifice is generic, Follett can mobilize useful concepts to address management issues: coordination, control, conflict management, etc. As this edifice is consistent, Follett manages to demonstrate, through rhetoric procedures, the relevance of certain postures and management practices. To show this, we have decided to base this third stage of our analysis on an examination of three papers that Follett gave between 1925 and 1927: \"Constructive conflict\", \"The giving of orders\" (both given in January 1925 to the Bureau of Personnel Administration in New York) and \"The psychology of control\" (Follett, 1927).\nInstantiation: A large part of the three articles analysed here is made up of arguments and illustrations whose purpose is twofold: first, to characterise generic situations involving social interaction that can be linked to various management situations and, second, to demonstrate the universality of various concepts, most of them already introduced by Follett in 1918 or 1924.\nConceptual linkage: Instantiation makes it possible to link a management problem (e.g. conflict management, coordination, control, command) to concepts which, for the most part, Follett had already introduced or used in earlier works: circular response, total situation, integration, law of the situation, etc. In \"The giving of orders\", Follett begins by showing that the challenges of the command function can be viewed through the prism of the mutual influence that individuals exert on each other. Consequently, the concepts of circular response and integration can be deployed to analyse the command function. The connections between circular response and integration have already been noted above. There is a certain coherence between the two concepts that Follett exploits so that, when she draws on a concept in order to analyse a management problem, she is actually drawing on a sequence of concepts which immediately makes her discourse on management practices more coherent. It is as if, in formulating her arguments, Follett is drawing on compact conceptual packages. This would suggest that constructing concepts and discourses relating to management practices requires an ability to make pertinent use of more general theories (in the sense that they relate to contexts other than management ones) with a high level of internal coherence.\nThe deduction of management postures and practices: Follett's papers all seek to make her conceptual developments operational and, in part, capable of being acted on (i.e. useful to managers). Being inclined to experiment is one of the virtues she acknowledges in businessmen. For several commentators, Follett is both a theoretician and a pragmatist. Follett's operational slant is often evident. This is the case in The New State, for example, where she describes how to set up exchange groups (neighbourhood groups), and in \"The giving of orders\", where she states in very concrete and pragmatic terms that she favours suggestions made by a manager in the presence of an employee over long-distance orders (considerable distance between order giver and executor). She is also a conceptual author. On the basis of an in-depth exercise in instantiation followed by a very cautious forging of links to a more general concept (having made sure that the management situation in question does indeed fall into the generic category of problem that she had characterised during the instantiation phase), Follett deduces some major management principles:\nConclusion: The purpose of this article has been to highlight how Mary P. Follett's ideas on management have emerged. To that end, it has been necessary to investigate the process whereby the concepts she developed were applied to management. The question is not as clear cut as it is for at least two of her contemporaries, F.W. Taylor and H. Fayol. The former tested the principles of scientific management on the shop floor and it was these experiments that gave legitimacy to the knowledge and recommendations he produced. The latter drew lessons from his long experience of management, which was sufficient to imbue his principles of management and \"good practices\" with relevance and validity. Although Follett was neither an engineer nor the manager of a mine or factory, she was the head of a group that had to be coordinated in order to achieve common objectives: she was in a management situation. The social work activities in which she was involved or which she initiated constituted the empirical base of a conceptual edifice dealing with social processes in general and democracy in particular. The concepts that make up this edifice have first to be understood if we are truly to understand the construction of management concepts and principles in Follett's writings. However, this is not sufficient, since Follett's reference works are not focused specifically on management issues. So we have also to analyse the construction of Follett's arguments and identify the various phases it went through, from starting point (a management issue) to management concept and/or principle (response to the management issue). Examination of three papers that Follett gave to managers has enabled us to demonstrate, first, that Follett draws on the concepts of circular response (translation or corollary of Gestalt theory) and integration. There is a considerable degree of coherence between the notion of circular response, once accepted, and the proposal that modes of social interaction based on integration should be adopted. Follett makes use of this coherence in developing her arguments on management practices. Next, it is possible to identify at least three rhetoric tips in Follett's discourse. The first is instantiation, in which it is shown that a particular management problem belongs to a category of questions with particular characteristics that can be understood by reference to certain concepts (including but not limited to circular response and integration). In the second phase, Follett deploys the concepts in question in order to analyse the problem under investigation. By this means, she is able to bring a considerable degree of coherence to her argument on the management issue in question. The robustness of Follett's conceptual edifice is linked to the fact that it was constructed in order to explain a very generic type of situation, namely processes of social interaction, thereby encompassing problems in political science as much as in management. In the third and final phase, the derived management principles are developed. It is on the basis of these principles that the management attitudes and organisational structures required for dynamic, integrative management are determined. The way in which these principles are constructed naturally opens the way for research aimed at validation through experimentation. In this sense, Mary P. Follett, for all she was a prophet or pioneer, seems not to have been entirely rediscovered.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The aim of this paper is to highlight the way Mary P. Follett's ideas on management have emerged.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research explores the different opportunities Mary P. Follett has regarding management issues. It also analyses Follett's way of reasoning in some of her conferences on management.\nFindings: Follett's ideas on management have been based on her practical management experience and on her political philosophy. The paper particularly demonstrates that Follett was currently proceeding in three different areas: instantiation, conceptual linkage and deduction of management principles. A management problem becomes a particular instance of social interaction situation, within a broader category of problems and situations: that is what we identify as \"instantiation\". Follett makes connections with concepts she has developed about democracy: that is what we named \"conceptual linkage\". Deduction of management ideas is then made possible by combining instantiation and conceptual linkage.\nOriginality/value: This paper helps to explain why so many management authors have considered Mary P. Follett as a pioneer, a \"prophet of management\".\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Multidimensional appropriate clustering and DBSCAN for SAT solving	[ "Problem solving", "Computational complexity", "BSO", "Data distribution", "Data mining techniques", "Satisfiability problem" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction and motivation: The satisfiability (SAT) problem, being the first problem to be proven NP-complete (Cook, 1971), is considered as the backbone of the NP-completeness and represents one of the most known and studied problem, especially for the AI community. It consists in determining whether a conjunctive normal form (CNF) formula can be set to true or not. A CNF formula is defined by a conjunction of clauses, each clause being a disjunction of literals where a literal is defined as a Boolean variable x or its negation\n2. The satisfiability problem: definition: The Boolean SAT problem is defined by a set of clauses where each clause is a disjunction of literals. Each literal being a variable x or its negation\n3. Related works: 3.1 Clustering techniques\n4. Data preprocessing for SAT instances: Because of the huge size of data, their complexity and their multiple sources, data tend to be noisy, inconsistent and probably incomplete, which can falsify any forthcoming data mining process. We introduce in this section a preprocessing - cleaning - step for reducing this inconsistency. In the case of SAT instances, we cannot talk about incompleteness or noise, because the instances represent either a real-world problem transcription or are generated with an aim of solving. On the other side, SAT instances have to satisfy the conditions relative to tautologies and redundancy. Therefore, the data preprocessing for SAT instances is limited to the following tasks:\n5. Data distribution towards clustering selection: Different clustering techniques may produce different results on the same data set, determining the most suitable clustering technique to apply is then crucial. In the case of SAT problem, the most suitable clustering technique helps reducing the instance complexity in a judicious manner. Our purpose is to determine the appropriate clustering technique in order to solve the instance in an optimal way, by studying the distribution of variables in clauses.\n6. Phase 2: solving SAT clusters: We present, in this section, the algorithms used for solving the previously created sub-instances. The DPLL algorithm for clusters which number of variables do not exceed a fixed threshold, and the BSO algorithm otherwise.\n7. A case study: Different clustering techniques may give different results for the same data set. Determining the appropriate clustering technique for a data set is one of the most important steps. We present, in this work, different variables distribution on clauses types with the aim of determining the most suitable clustering method for each of these types.\n8. Experimentations: To show the efficiency of the proposed approaches, some experimentations were conducted on some well-known benchmark. The experimentations were conducted on an i7 2.40 Ghz 4Go, and implementation was done on Microsoft Visual Studio CSharp 2013, Framework .NET 4.5.1.\n9. Conclusion: Throughout this paper we explored the intelligence and technology offered by the data mining, and especially the clustering techniques, as preprocessing for SAT instances. We propose a two-phase framework, with a first statistical descriptive phase in which distribution of variables on clauses is explored to better determine the clustering technique that suits the most with each distribution, followed by the clustering itself. The second phase consists in solving the achieved clusters from the previous step.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper is an extended version of Hireche and Drias (2018) presented at the WORLD-CIST'18 conference. The major contribution, in this work, is defined in two phases. First of all, the use of data mining technologies and especially the tools of data preprocessing for instances of hard and complex problems prior to their resolution. The authors focus on clustering the instance aiming at reducing its complexity. The second phase is to solve the instance using the knowledge acquired in the first step and problem-solving methods. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Because different clustering techniques may offer different results for a data set, a prior knowledge on data helps to determine the adequate type of clustering that should be applied. The first part of this work deals with a study on data descriptive characteristics in order to better understand the data. The dispersion and distribution of the variables in the problem instances is especially explored to determine the most suitable clustering technique to apply.\nFindings: Several experiments were performed on different kinds of instances and different kinds of data distribution. The obtained results show the importance and the efficiency of the proposed appropriate preprocessing approaches prior to problem solving.\nPractical implications: The proposed approach is developed, in this paper, on the Boolean satisfiability problem because of its well-recognised importance, with the aim of complexity reduction which allows an easier resolution of the later problem and particularly an important time saving.\nOriginality/value: State of the art of problem solving describes plenty of algorithms and solvers of hard problems that are still a challenge because of their complexity. The originality of this work lies on the investigation of appropriate preprocessing techniques to tackle and overcome this complexity prior to the resolution which becomes easier with an important time saving.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Sale and leaseback programme in Barclays	[ "Banking", "Leasing", "Management strategy", "Assets management", "Property" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Barclays undertook a sale and leaseback programme in the UK and Spain across 2006-2008. It raised PS1.1bn in sales proceeds over that period and was the largest property sales programme the group has ever executed across its occupational estate. This article reviews the reasons it was done, timing, how it was executed and the lessons learned.\nBackground and context: In 2005 the Barclays Group was pursuing a number of business strategies to position it as a leading global universal bank and to achieve higher earnings growth for its owners into the future. Its priorities were to:* build the best bank in the UK;* accelerate growth of global businesses;* develop selected retail and commercial banking businesses in selected countries outside the UK; and* enhance operational excellence.During 2005 a controlling interest in Absa had been acquired in South Africa. PS2.9bn had been invested which brought in an additional 7 million new customers. By the end of 2005 Barclays reported record pre-tax profits of PS5.3bn. This was 15 per cent year on year growth. Return on equity was 21 per cent.The economic environment was relatively benign. GDP across the major advanced economies had been growing at an average of 3 per cent in 2004 and 2005 and was expected to continue to grow at similar levels through 2006 and 2007. So in late 2005, with the group investing for growth, profitability good and the economic outlook favourable, the property team began to look at options for how the portfolio might provide more direct support to the group's ambitions.The global portfolio had over 5,000 properties and was c 35m sq. ft. in size. By number, 40 per cent of the properties were freehold and 60 per cent leasehold. As many of the owned sites had been in the group a long time the main opportunity was to release capital for potential use elsewhere.Barclays had not previously had a strategy of releasing capital from property assets at any meaningful scale. Sales of operational assets were typically done on the occasion of site exits, in response to site-specific market opportunities or where there was a desire to fund other investments within the property portfolio. In total this activity generated no more than a few tens of million pounds of property gains in the years prior to 2006.The question for the property team now was whether to release capital at a portfolio-level scale for more general redeployment within the group, and if so, to what extent and how.\nAssessing the opportunity: A cross-disciplinary approach was taken in assessing the opportunity. Early consultation on accounting policy confirmed sales of property would be necessary to recognise any gains in the portfolio (as Barclays uses a cost approach to account for its operational property assets).More substantial engagements were initiated with the group's balance sheet and treasury teams to develop the analysis further. The balance sheet advisory team ensured a fit with the broader asset and liability options for the group. The treasury team advised on how any proposals fit their assessment of future uses and sources of capital.The property team segmented the portfolio based on geography, use (office/retail), size (larger/smaller) and holding intentions (core/non core). Top-down assessments were made on current values (with Barclays in continuing occupation), rental costs on typical leaseback contracts and current book values. Advice was taken on valuation outlooks. Likely execution paths, costs and timescales were considered for each segment.The analysis suggested capital release opportunities of at least PS0.5bn were possible. This was equivalent to c.10 per cent of 2005 pre-tax profits and to some 2 per cent of the balance sheet value of shareholders equity as at end 2005. So the opportunity was significant.The property assets with the best opportunities were mostly in the UK (Figure 1), with some in Spain. This part of the portfolio had been made easier to take to the market as a result of actions the previous year in which residential interests has been separated and sold-off, leaving a commercial estate only. Property markets were at cyclical highs both in terms of yields and relative to other asset classes, so the timing looked good.Moreover most of the properties had relatively stable occupational outlooks, which meant they were suitable for leaseback transactions and had relatively low exit-cost risks. With base rates at 4.5 per cent and initial rents potentially 5 per cent or less of sale proceeds, the Group would be raising capital at initial costs close to risk-free pricing. Returns on capital in Barclays were running at over 20 per cent p.a., so the financial case was strong.By early 2006, joint proposals had been tabled and the group had agreed a new strategy to release a material amount of capital from the property portfolio for use more widely across the business.\nExecution: Significant decisions needed to be made on how this strategy would be executed (Table I). Options were examined around the extent to which we should:* package the properties into one or a few large portfolios; or* sell individual property assets direct to the market.The property team engaged advisors to help make the case for each route. Differences were evaluated on multiple dimensions including:* prices that each approach would be expected to achieve;* wider benefits available to the group (e.g. fees and lending margins on any lending to buyers);* costs of execution;* running costs post sale; and* execution risk.This produced the following conclusions:* no consensus on expected value outcomes;* additional benefits expected from portfolio sales (e.g. fees and lending margin if portfolios were offered with stapled debt);* lower execution costs if sold individually;* lower running costs for portfolios once sold; and* better flexibility in execution for individual sales.With no clear agreement on which path would offer the best financial value, final decisions were taken around flexibility in execution. The decision was that sales would be executed individually or through small packages by the most value adding means available in the market. It would not be through large portfolios aimed at producing a few institutional landlords.This approach would allow us to access value opportunities across the market as they evolved, keep costs low and ensure the execution path stayed well matched to changing business circumstances. Offering standard leases across many landlords was also felt likely to achieve better terms than would have been likely from negotiations with a few institutional landlords.Targets were set for the first half of 2006 but no further. Subsequent targets were to be set and reviewed on a rolling basis for no more than six months at a time.The properties to be transacted first were the most valuable. These would generate the biggest capital releases and meant that if market conditions changed sufficiently to stop the programme the biggest contributions would already have been made.\nResults: In 2006, 4.7 per cent net initial yield was achieved across 330 properties at an average value of PS1.6m. 2007 achieved the same net initial yields across 425 properties at an average value of PS1.2m. In the first half of 2008 (when the sales were all completed that year), net initial yields of 5 per cent were achieved across 195 properties at an average value of PS0.5m.In excess of 95 per cent of sales by number and over 80 per cent by value were completed via auction. The largest sales completed were by private treaty either individually or in small portfolios.Prices achieved were monitored and analysed closely. Most of our product was in the IPD standard retail sector and was a mix within that of prime and secondary. Our analysis suggested we were achieving better than market benchmark pricing for the properties we sold. In 2006 this was relatively marginal at 5-10 per cent better. However as general market conditions deteriorated (from the third quarter 2007) the prices achieved held up particularly well. The data suggested to us performance levels of 15-20 per cent (Figure 2).The detail of what we offered changed as the market conditions evolved. Initially we offered ten-year lease commitments in the UK, this moved out over time to 15 and 20-year lease terms. Close attention was also paid to pricing outlook. We evaluated a range of risk reduction options and chose to underwrite a small number of transactions to protect value at certain points in the programme.On tax, initial investigations indicated there was significant value at stake from ensuring records were up to date and suitable for each site. We needed to make sure appropriate reliefs and allowances were applied in the tax computations for each building. It was also clear that the data we had could be materially improved. In the UK for example we needed:* acquisition dates;* 1982 values (for pre 1982 purchases);* additional costs that might qualify as part of the tax base-cost of the asset;* disposal proceeds and costs; and* appropriate use of indexation and allowances from the tax authorities.Records were updated after close interrogation of our own data systems and gaps were filled where appropriate, e.g. by commissioning 1982 valuations. The exercise of updating and improving data accuracy produced outcomes that were materially ahead of the initial tax estimates.The occupiers of the properties were 95 per cent internal to the group. Where we had third-party occupiers they were included in the sales transferring future risk to the new owners. Internal occupiers were managed so they were net winners from the strategy. Whilst property gains were controlled at the group centre through the finance director, additional investments were approved for the occupying businesses. This helped get agreement on some potentially challenging areas, e.g. deciding which properties would be in the programme (where we agreed streamlined protocols to include those where there were no plans to exit within three years), and agreeing who bears exit cost risk (which went to the occupiers).In turn the property team made sure internal occupiers:* bore lower rental costs on average than they did prior to sale (they were previously paying internal market-related rents for occupying freeholds);* enjoyed a longer average time to rent review (reviews across the leaseback portfolio were structured so that there was on average over two years extra to review dates compared to the internal rent review cycle); and* had a smooth pattern of rent reviews (by ensuring review dates were spread out over time).The programme was the biggest Barclays has ever undertaken across its occupational estate. It covered close to 1,000 properties and generated sales proceeds of PS1.1bn. Property gains of c PS850m were booked into the group accounts from 2006 to 2008, significantly above original estimates.\nLessons learned: The key lessons for us in getting best value from this programme were:* Decisions taken from a position of strength allowed us to be able to sell into strong market demand and choose our timing and approach.* The importance of anticipating changeable market conditions and maintaining a flexible stance on objectives and execution.* How critical it is to get and keep the support of key stakeholders across the organisation, both in shaping the proposals and during execution.* The value in having a mixed-discipline team on a project of this type, particularly the combination of finance and property skills.* The value of taking a segmented approach in thinking about the portfolio and in taking it to market.* The benefits of focusing on post tax results.Sources used:* Project records within Barclays PLC.* Barclays PLC report and accounts 2005, http://group.barclays.com/Investor-Relations/Financial-results-and-publications/Annual-Reports?tab=1225803115167* IMF world economic outlook 04/2006 database, www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2006/01/data/* IPD standard retail indices 2006-2008.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to review the context, rationale, execution strategies and results of the biggest property sale and leaseback programme Barclays has yet undertaken.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper is a review and analysis of Barclays' project documentation plus report and accounts, interviews with key decisionmakers, analysis of external economic and property market data in order to set the strategy choices and results achieved into context.\nFindings: - The sale and leaseback programme released capital and supported business objectives at a material level for Barclays; it achieved sales values that were at cyclical highs; flexibility in execution allowed additional value to be delivered across changing market conditions; a mixed skills team was critical for success.\nOriginality/value: - The paper documents why the sale and leaseback programme made sense for the organisation and what elements were key to success both as a strategy and through execution. It provides a case study for how a large organisation approached a recent and large-scale sale and leaseback opportunity across a portfolio of 900-1,000 properties.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Customer loyalty approach based on CRM for SMEs	[ "Relationship management", "Customer relationship management", "Small- and medium-sized enterprises" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The current and competitive market is characterized by changes in technology and consumer preferences that occur quickly (Amalnick and Zadeh, 2017). This makes it increasingly important for companies to provide their customers with a personalized service and has led to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) investing in customer relationship management (CRM) (Reicher and Szeghegyi, 2015). SMEs, despite it being difficult for them to survive in the market, are important to the economy of several countries, as they create jobs, and their presence and impact add to social cohesion and this ensures that economic activity is diversified (Lussier et al., 2016).\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Relationship marketing and customer relationship management\n3. Loyalty approach for small- and medium-sized enterprises in the services sector: This approach is based on analyzing the state of the art on the particularities of SMEs in the service sector, relationship marketing and CRM. We were guided by their concepts, structures, difficulties and observed whether SMEs had the appropriate conditions to use each approach to determine if they could develop a loyalty approach, which requires the relationship to be continuous.\n4. Case study: applying the loyalty approach: 4.1 Context of the case study company\n5. Discussion and conclusion: This research study assumes that the use of CRM practices in SMEs in the service sector will lead to greater customer satisfaction and loyalty being attained, but such initiatives must be in line with the peculiarities and characteristics of this type of organization. Generic solutions, which require large investments, must be avoided. This article proposed an approach that adopts tools that are well known and easy to use.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore marketing analysis by developing a customer loyalty approach for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the service sector, based on customer relationship management (CRM) in the context of an emerging economy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study analyzes different models of CRM in the literature and defines a loyalty approach for SMEs in the service sector. It is characterized as exploratory research, with a qualitative approach. A systematic review of the literature is undertaken as the starting point for achieving the main objective of the study.\nFindings: The need to develop a framework for an approach to customer loyalty for SMEs based on CRM and to make it operational.\nResearch limitations/implications: It is a qualitative and exploratory study, applied only to a company's two main clients.\nPractical implications: The contribution of this study is that it offers SMEs consistent guidelines on how best to conduct relationship management with their customers by using a systemic methodology that can be adapted to the requirements of more effective interaction between a company and its customers. It also provides coherence to the purpose of meeting customers' needs. This is an action strategy that focuses especially on the use of tools, such as SERVQUAL, Kano and SWOT analysis, and thereby increases the competitive profile of organizations in this sector.\nOriginality/value: This study is a new approach to customer loyalty for SMEs in the service sector, which integrates elements of CRM strategy and implementation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managing intellectual capital dimensions for organizational value creation	[ "Innovation", "Intellectual capital (IC)", "IC management", "Organizational value creation", "Value creation capacity", "Knowledge-based value drivers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the last decades, a set of political economic, social and technological discontinuities have increased the importance of knowledge and intangible resources and accelerated the pace of innovation to support companies' value creation dynamics.\n2. Rationale for the knowledge foundations of companies' organizational value creation: There are several reasons to assume that to manage IC may have advantages:\n3. IC and organizational value creation: identifying, managing and maximizing the relationships: 3.1 IC, performance improvement and competitive advantage\n4. Overview on the contributions of the special issue: The contributions to this special issue deal with different aspects, which are important for a better understanding of the relationships between IC management and companies' value creation as well as of the approaches, tools, methods and techniques to better disentangle the mechanisms by which knowledge assets, separately or interdependently, contribute to improve companies' organizational performance.\n5. Conclusions and research implications: It is widely recognized that the relevance of managing IC is strongly related to its impact on innovation dynamics and organizational business performance improvement. Nowadays, to get gains, private and public organizations have to be able to transform their knowledge domains into profitable products and services as well as they have to dynamically renew their capabilities. For these purposes, they have to continuously and actively identify, acquire, organize, share, apply and assess their knowledge resources. In this perspective a critical issue for organizations is how to extract and generate the greatest value from these resources. The full potential of knowledge resources is realized when they are efficiently and effectively identified through easy-to-use models and frameworks as well as managed through proper knowledge processes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This introduction paper to the special issue on \"Managing intellectual capital dimensions for organizational value creation\" aims to focus on the relationships between intellectual capital (IC), innovation, performance improvement and competitive advantage in private and public organizations. The purpose of this paper is to review and underline some relevant theoretical pillars and contribute to the ongoing debate on how knowledge assets may impact organizational performance and innovation dynamics.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a deep analysis of the managerial literature addressing the nature, the role and the relevance of the IC dimensions for organizational value creation. The conceptual background sets the foundations for a better understanding of the strategic importance of knowledge-based value drivers for innovation and sustainable competitive advantage.\nFindings: This paper provides a framework summarizing the key assumptions at the basis of a better understanding the strategic relevance of the knowledge-based value drivers for competitiveness.\nOriginality/value: The value of this paper is the definition of a conceptual framework outlining the relationships between IC management, innovation, performance improvement and value creation capacity.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Being a vegetarian traveller is not easy	[ "Travel intentions", "Vegetarianism", "Travel motivations", "Constraint negotiation", "Dietary restraint", "Travel constraints" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The contribution of the tourism industry to the global economy is now widely acknowledged (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2017), and examining the factors that encourage or discourage people to travel is therefore a high-priority task for destination management organisations (DMOs) and travel agents. Experiencing different dietetic cultures is some people's primary reason for travelling abroad, but it can also be a travel constraint (Cohen and Avieli, 2004).\nTheoretical contexts: Vegetarianism\nMethodology: This study's mixed-methods approach was of the explanatory sequential type (Creswell and Clark, 2011). Quantitative data were collected and analysed in the first phase, and based on the results, qualitative interviews were conducted to clarify them.\nResults: Participants' characteristics\nDiscussion: The results of this study's pioneering model of the relationships among vegetarian travellers' motivations, constraints, negotiations and travel intentions suggest that such intentions are positively influenced by travel motivations and constraint negotiation ability. That is, the more strongly motivated vegetarian travellers are, the more actively they negotiate their travel constraints: for example, by preparing vegetarian food or snacks before travelling overseas.\nImplications and suggestions for future research: Practical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Previous empirical studies have not documented the link between vegetarians' dietary constraints and travel intentions. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to utilise a mixed-methods approach to examine the interrelationships of this group's travel motivations, travel constraints, constraint negotiations and behavioural intentions, with special reference to how dietary constraints deter its members from travelling, and its extent.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An online questionnaire was administered to outbound Taiwanese vegetarian travellers (n=418), and this was followed by in-depth, semi-structured interviews (n=9) to complement the quantitative data.\nFindings: The results indicated that vegetarians' dietary constraints significantly deterred them from travelling in certain circumstances: notably, in the company of non-vegetarians. Nevertheless, it was found that some vegetarians efficiently negotiated their constraints and persisted in travelling, in some cases, by compromising their dietary preferences.\nPractical implications: Travel agents and planners should explore more strategies to meet the needs of vegetarian travellers to increase this group's travel satisfaction.\nOriginality/value: This study established the first theoretical model explaining the relationships among vegetarians' travel motivations, dietary constraints, constraint negotiations and travel intentions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The concept and application of daman al-milkiyyah (ownership risk): Islamic law of contract perspective	[ "Risk", "Ownership", "Uncertainty", "Liability", "Responsibility", "ḍamān al-milkiyyah" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Throughout the passage of time, economic systems have grappled with the concept of ownership and its characteristics. Regardless of the social organization in place - feudalism, socialism or capitalism - ownership is fundamental to any economic system. To understand the practical applications of an Islamic economic system, one must understand the Islamic notion and conceptualisation of ownership. Similar to secular economic systems, an Islamic economic system places strong emphasis on the protection of private property rights. However in Islam, private property rights are not limited to private benefit but are also intended to promote and ensure social benefits. This paper argues that the source of any legitimate and profitable economic activity rests with the concept of daman al-milkiyyah (ownership risk). This concept will be described in detail in the second section, followed by its practical applications in the third section. The final section concludes the discussion.\nThe concept of daman al-milkiyyah: To adequately address the concept of daman al-milkiyyah, this section is divided into three subsections. The first two subsections comprise separate descriptions of al-milkiyyah (ownership) and daman (liability), and this is followed by an explanation of daman al-milkiyyah in the third subsection.\nThe application of daman al-milkiyyah: Islamic banking and finance have emerged and developed over the past four decades to become an increasingly important segment of the financial system in many parts of the world, particularly in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The main reasons for its emergence are the widespread involvement of riba in the conventional system and the perception that the conventional system is not set up towards achieving maqasid al-Shari'ah (the objectives of Islamic law) (Siddiqi, 2006).\nConclusion: According to the Islamic faith, the absolute ownership of all things belongs to Allah, and mankind is entrusted to act upon property in accordance to what has been ordained. Clearly defined property rights are fundamental to Islam, as the protection of property is one of the objectives of the Shari'ah. However, Islam also requires the circulation of wealth in an economy to promote and ensure social benefits. This paper unpacks the conceptual meaning of the term daman al-milkiyyah and discusses its relevance in the context of contemporary applications in Islamic banking and finance. The central argument of this paper is that daman al-milkiyyah is a fundamental condition which legitimizes profit in commercial transactions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the concept of daman al-milkiyyah (ownership risk) and to assess its application in contemporary Islamic financial products and services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The methodology adopted is that of descriptive research.\nFindings: From an Islamic law of contract perspective, the concept of daman al-milkiyyah is central to legitimate profit-making transactions and hence must be adhered to in practical applications of Islamic finance.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study should help motivate further investigation into the position of daman al-milkiyyah among different parties in existing Islamic financial products and services.\nPractical implications: Policymakers and regulators should ensure that Islamic financial products and services are structured in a way that does not allow parties to profit without adequately bearing the liability for potential loss.\nSocial implications: The condition of daman al-milkiyyah as a source of legitimate profit reflects the idea that the role of finance in Islam is to promote and ensure social benefits.\nOriginality/value: This paper emphasizes the importance of daman al-milkiyyah as a fundamental condition for profit in Islamic financial transactions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An integrated model for factors affecting construction and demolition waste management in Iran	[ "Iran", "Waste management", "Construction and demolition (C&D)", "Factors affecting", "Integrated model", "Minimization" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Construction and demolition (C&D) waste refers to the waste released on buildings and other types of construction projects due to construction, renovation and demolition activities (Doan and Chinda, 2016). C&D waste constitutes a majority of the total waste dumped in landfills (Wu et al., 2016). Therefore, construction has a lasting impact on the natural environment (Yuan and Shen, 2011). Construction materials are wasted with a rate as high as 20-30 per cent of the weight of total material during construction as stated by Yahya and Halim Boussabaine (2006). A sizeable proportion of construction materials are sent to landfills at the end of life of buildings and facilities (Lu et al., 2011; Wu et al., 2016). Hence, the economic impact of wasted resources is also very significant (Dajadian and Koch, 2014) in view of the current alarming waste rate and considering that construction materials comprise around 40 per cent of the material flow within the world economy (Reza et al., 2011). Therefore, C&D waste management is considered important to arrest this wastage for environmental and economic reasons (Ding et al., 2016). Evidence in the literature recognises a wide range of benefits for C&D waste management (Doan and Chinda, 2016). In monetary terms, 50-60 per cent of a construction project cost is accounted for by the costs of materials, thus any reduction in rate of waste yields major cost savings on projects (Khanh and Kim, 2015). More to this are the costs associated with disposal and consumption of valuable landfill space (Hao et al., 2008). Besides, effective C&D waste management results in reducing energy consumption, CO2 emissions and lowering environmental risks (Reza et al., 2011). Despite such advantages, waste management has not become commonplace within the construction industry in developing countries (Manowong, 2012) such as Iran (Chini and Nasri, 2009; Saghafi and Teshnizi, 2011; Fatemi and Imaninasab, 2016).\nC&D waste management: The waste hierarchy provides an order of priority for managing waste consisting of reduction, reuse, recycling, recovering and disposal (Hwang and Yeo, 2011; Chen and Lu, 2017). It is based on the minimisation of resource consumption and environmental damage, which are important considerations in sustainable construction (Chinda, 2016). Reduction is considered to be the most preferred way of managing C&D waste through minimising its generation (Ding et al., 2016; Wu et al., 2016). It requires the least resources and eliminates the burden of waste disposal and related costs (Marzouk and Azab, 2014; Chen and Lu, 2017). In addition, waste minimisation can improve a builder's public image and reputation (Poon, 2007). Moreover, it can lead to higher productivity, saving of time and improved safety on worksites (Kulatunga et al., 2006). The study by Ding et al. (2016) in China illustrated that reduction policies can result in reducing up to 27 per cent of total waste generation.\nConceptual framework: Conceptual frameworks are built through drawing concepts from various findings which come from a careful review of the body of knowledge and are typically presented as the outcome of review of the literature (Shields and Tajalli, 2006). To outline the conceptual framework of the study, the process of building conceptual frameworks as outlined by Christensen (2006) was followed in the present study. The stages included identifying the constructs associated with waste management, classifying these constructs and defining the associations to explain the outcomes.\nResearch methods: A quantitative survey was chosen as the main method of data collection for the present study in view of achieving the objectives stated above. Survey questionnaires enable researchers to map the responses of a large number of industry experts and consequently generalise the findings to the population of interest (Neuman, 2006).\nResults: Respondents' profile and internal consistency\nDiscussion of the results: With significant relationships observed on the PLS-SEM model (see Figure 5), larger path coefficients could be interpreted as indicative of higher levels of effects on waste management. The revised (final) model of the study as given in Figure 4 shows that path coefficients varied from 0.754 (Ind4) to 0.490 (Project 2). Items with low loadings add little explanatory power to the model. As recommended by Hulland (1999), items with outer loadings greater than 0.6 could be used in reporting the results of an analysis as influential. With a cut-off at 0.6, 12 factors could be considered as influencing heavily on different levels of waste management in Iran as shown in the model proposed in Figure 6 and explained below.\nConclusion: The necessity for implementation of effective waste management on construction projects in Iran is quite obvious and the only problem remaining is the best approach to achieve this goal. As the first comprehensive study on C&D waste management in Iran, the findings of the present study underscore the urgency to take a number of remedial solutions to make improvements in this area. Based on the findings as discussed, the remedial solutions as pointed out by Ghazinoory (2005) and the experiences of the authors within the Iranian construction industry, the following broad areas could be referred:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Factors influencing management of construction and demolition (C&D) waste within the Iranian context have yet to be investigated. The purpose of this paper is to define and address this knowledge gap, through development of a model to map the associations among the primary factors affecting C&D waste at project, industry and national levels.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A conceptual model is developed based on synthesising the findings of available studies on factors affecting C&D waste with a focus on developing countries. For collecting data, the study drew upon a questionnaire survey of 103 Iranian construction practitioners. The strength and significance of associations among these factors to modify and validate the model were assessed using the structural equation modelling-partial least squares approach.\nFindings: Major factors affecting C&D waste management and their level of importance were identified at project, industry and national levels. Results clearly showed that the government should review regulations pertaining to C&D waste management and make sure they are implemented properly. The \"polluter pays principle\" is a useful guide in devising effective policies and regulations for the Iranian context.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the field through presenting the first major study on C&D waste management in Iran. The study provides a picture of C&D waste management status quo in Iran and encapsulates the factors affecting C&D waste management in the Iranian context at different levels within an integrated model. The findings have practical implications for policy makers and construction practitioners in Iran, similar developing economies and foreign firms planning to operate in Iran.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A strategic selection of channel satisfaction model by using neuro-fuzzy: Taiwan perspective	[ "Modelling", "Channel relationships", "Fuzzy logic", "Supply chain management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: 1.1 Research motivation\n2 Theory literature review: This section provides a brief key construct definition of channel satisfaction, followed by a literature review of the theory. The relevant literature for the contingency fit of Strategy Organization Performance Theory is discussed in the following section.2.1 Strategy channel satisfaction model (SCSM) theory\n3 Conceptual framework of contingency fit solution for SSCM: 3.1 Conceptual framework\n4 Empirical results: 4.1 Data, measure characteristics, and survey instruments\n5 Conclusions: The purpose of channel strategic selection is to find the most critical and more appropriate channel strategy competence, which will contribute to the channel supply chain organization in the future. Therefore, an effective selection model to select the right and appropriate channel strategy competence is important in channel supply chain management practical sense. Although there have been many articles talking about the strategic selection, they do not provide a concrete suggestion such as non-linear interaction relationship about whether this strategy competence selection is appropriate or not except the statistical significant path model test for some important variables. This paper aims to provide a more concrete solution for this problem.This paper, based on the strategy competence contingency fit method of SCSM, use neuro-fuzzy to construct a strategic selection system to help organization to select the better-fit channel strategy competence. The empirical result shows that in addition to the precise forecasting ability of this neuro-fuzzy satisfaction model, the knowledge base derived could also help explain the problem that the traditional CSM cannot explain the contingency fit. The higher the channel strategy competence contingency does not imply the higher channel performance. For a certain performance, there could be many combinations between strategy environmental scenario and strategy competence. In other words, the performance depends on the contingency fit between channel strategy competence and strategy scenario.This research tries to explain the contingency fit in a different approach by using neuro-fuzzy technique. Fuzzy logic is used to formulate the relationship between the input and output variables. Fuzzy logic approach could convert the vagueness or imprecise input data of strategy competency selection process to cripse one. The learning ability of neural network is used to refine the knowledge base. Neuro-fuzzy technique can combine this previous historical strategy scenario of expert learning system to effectively explain the contingency fit of selection process. Fuzzy logic approach could explain the non-linear effect of the interaction relationships from the unique franchised fresh food supply chain manufacturer to all the chain store supermarket network in the metropolitan region. The constructions of this paper are as follows:1. It gives an empirical testing for the contingent fit model of critical strategy competence selection.2. It gives an alternative supply chain explanation for contingent fit theory.3. It provides the channel practitioners a more concrete and scientific model to select critical fit for channel strategy competence.4. It is an integration between artificial intelligence and SCSM, providing a successful application example of neuro-fuzzy.5. This model can also be used as the basis for the channel supply chain training and development.\n6 Limitations and future research direction: The results and implications that are drawn from this study are subject to limitations associated mainly with the measurement of the constructs. A cautionary note, regarding the measurement of the influential intensity of channel power and channel conflict, should be in order, in addition to the use of channel power sources. A more accurate reflection of these constructs might be to track the actual interactive commercial competence of various industry professions and cross-cultural perception. Therefore, future studies are needed to identify the channel strategy competence for different industry and to scrutinize the functions of different forms of strategy competence (perceived in various Chinese retail channel such as Hong Kong and Singapore modernizational retail channel et al.) in channel satisfaction management.Furthermore, the relatively limited set of items used to operate the major business-to-business marketing strategy competence components (including product management activities, price management activities, distribution management activities, and sales management activities) should also be mentioned. Current marketing literature on relationship marketing management allows the inclusion of a larger number of items. However, the validity of our results is not reduced by the limited number of included items, because these items have been extensively discussed in current channel satisfaction literature, as well as due to the fact that marketing variables are likely to be influenced by this channel satisfaction measure.Finally, market managers may be able to design better practices of satisfaction management to examine the perceptions of both sides of the channel relationship if the disparity of perceived strategy competence standards between the distributors and the suppliers and its joint effect with marketing are taken seriously into consideration. Then cross-periods comparable studies regarding strategy competence are needed to develop the real-time strategic expert learning system, especially in the future Electronic Commercial channel era.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This research, based on the idea of contingency fit, attempts to construct a strategic selection system to select the best fit competency of channel strategic selection by using neuro-fuzzy technique.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Neuro-fuzzy technique is used.\nFindings: - In addition to, providing a concrete bilateral solution to select the right and better fit competency of channel strategy and giving an alternative way to explain fit, this strategic selection system can also be used as a competency diagnosis system for channel members in the supply chain organization, providing clues for further channel performance promotion and channel modernization.\nOriginality/value: - Through the literature and construction of strategy channel satisfaction model (SCSM) concepts and ideas, an empirical study of the Asian Commerce Community meet distribution channel relationships will pose an Asian developed channel modernization perspective of SCSM to discuss the critical marketing strategy selection for the traditional orient \"commercial channel\".\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Corporate social responsibility: the risks and opportunities for HR: Integrating human and social values into the strategic and operational fabric	[ "Corporate social responsibility", "Human resource strategies", "Strategic alignment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has brought with it a new challenge for HR managers and professionals - one loaded with both risks and opportunities. Managing those risks and exploiting those opportunities will, however, require a reappraisal of existing approaches to HR and the scope of its activities.\nAn era of public and consumer advocacy and activism: We live in an era of unprecedented public and consumer advocacy and activism, and with the internet a constant in terms of increasing transparency and connectivity, this activism will only intensify over time.Organizations today are under immense scrutiny to demonstrate that their business stands for something more than profits. More specifically, they are being required to show that their activities add at least some value to, and at the very least do not negatively affect, the wider community.Organizations have, to a large extent, recognized this and have thus been busy devising CSR programs in response. There is also little doubt that there are managers and executives who are personally motivated to ensure that their organizations are acting in the common good.However, there is no denying the impact that this will have on the competitiveness and sustainability of corporate business models. How does this affect the role of HR specialists and what should they be doing about it?\nThe problem of multiple organizational identities: More often than not, an organization's identity and that of its CSR program are not the same. This is because, in most cases, CSR is seen as a necessity, but one that is complementary rather than integral to an organization's core strategy.Unfortunately this can result in organizations having multiple public identities - one for the core business and the other(s) for the CSR program(s). This corporate schizophrenia, a disconnect or discontinuity in the core values, can in the worst cases result in tragedy, bad publicity, and the destruction of corporate value.There have been some notable examples.BP had a great CSR program in Texas but apparently did not pay sufficient attention to the maintenance of its refinery. When that refinery exploded, lives were lost, many people were injured, plant and equipment were destroyed, and an independent report on the incident was a public-relations disaster for the company.In another classic example, Bristol Myers Squibb found itself under federal investigation in the US for blocking access to generic drugs - something that clearly cannot be reconciled with its stated mission to \"extend and enhance human life\".How does this affect the work of HR managers and what can they do about it?If you believe that HR has a significant responsibility in respect of developing the core values and belief systems within and throughout organizations, this corporate schizophrenia must surely represent a major twenty-first century challenge for all HR managers.One might argue that not every organization is like BP or Bristol Myers Squibb. However, even for the average organization, any disconnect in the core values - be it strategic, operational or geographic - is likely to cause problems.\nFocusing on the core values: Perhaps the most important manifestation of any disconnect in the core values is in the customer experience.Most polls show that people are, by nature, distrustful of organizations, and believe that, while many organizations profess to be good corporate citizens, much of what they do is motivated by PR and the desire to make more profits. Obviously, the examples cited above merely reinforce that negative sentiment.It thus follows that employee-development programs must be geared towards ensuring that the customer experience reflects the organization's values with respect to the community.Sometimes the discontinuity in values can be political and geographic in nature. For example, Google and Microsoft have been much criticized for bowing to Chinese authorities by censoring their search-engine results in that country.Incidents such as these, while having a relatively limited operational impact, can nevertheless influence how others view the entire organization. In some cases they can also have a negative impact on employees, managers and ultimately organizational performance.HR professionals should be concerned with how their organizations determine the limits, ethical or otherwise, of core values and beliefs. They should especially consider how or when such limits, irrespective of where they might be applied, will affect employees, the organization, its clients, and the wider community.The primary issue, of course, is that many of today's CSR programs are just that, programs - they are not part of the core belief system of people operating within an organization. Until such time that the human and social values that CSR programs profess to hold dear are fully integrated into the strategic and operational fabric of an organization, HR must work with CSR managers and other departments to resolve the conflicts that might arise, and that might ultimately impair the value of the organization.Further, if and when an organization does integrate its CSR and core beliefs, HR specialists must play a key role in embedding those beliefs throughout the organization.\nInnovation still remains an imperative: Thus far we have mostly concerned ourselves with the risks that might arise from having a disconnect or discontinuity in an organization's core values. However, while the initial focus must be to manage those risks, this must certainly be viewed as the minimum position - the one most likely to resolve internal conflicts and diminish the possibility of negative fall-out.Consider the environment.The array of government authorities, consumer groups, non-governmental organizations, the general public and consumers that increasingly defines the scope of what organizations can and cannot do will become more rather than less activist. Therefore, organizations will find themselves consistently challenged to adapt to new requirements and demands.Constant change invariably means constant innovation. Thus by definition, the work of HR must also be focused on developing behaviors that promote innovation as well as minimize risks. Otherwise, maintaining a competitive advantage will be difficult.This might sound like an insurmountable challenge, but in reality it is a great opportunity.\nWhere there is friction there is opportunity: It is years since I completed my MBA but I will always remember the words of one of my lecturers: \"Where there is friction there is opportunity.\" Having worked in investment banking for almost 20 years I was fortunate to witness this principle first-hand.During the late 1980s, central banks and regulators became fearful of the risks that international banks posed to the global financial system. Consequently, under what became know as the Basel accord, regulators imposed a set of capital rules that were designed better to control the activities of banks by setting limits on the levels of risks they could incur.The banks that became successful in this new environment were the ones that developed a culture of managing, pricing and selling risks by introducing innovative and complex financial products. As the Basel rules increased in complexity, these same banks responded by increasing the diversity of their products, and with it their competitive advantage.The challenges faced by organizations in this new era of what I would call human and social values are certainly not dissimilar to those faced by international banks over the past 20 years.So how might an HR specialist approach the current problem? Are there any guidelines or is there any precedence for innovating through human and social values? The answer is yes.\nInnovating through human and social values: The record shows that responding to human and social needs has been one of the greatest catalysts for product innovation and development in the history of commerce.The industrial revolution was driven by both the personal ambitions of ordinary people as well as the desire to provide basic goods such as soap, previously the preserve of the rich, to the common people.Ford's Model-T was similarly driven by two different but complementary sets of human and social values. The first was his desire to grant mobility to the masses. The second was that the wages he paid catapulted the ordinary worker into the middle classes.In our time, the success of the mobile phone, the computer, and the internet can all be defined in terms of their human purpose. Bill Gates triumphed not because he had the best product, but because he had a vision of a computer on every desk and in every home, while the internet has rapidly moved from a distinctly technical triumph to a human and social phenomenon.All the evidence suggests that human and social values often provide the greatest inspiration for performance and innovation. As Drucker noted:The real development I have seen of people in organizations, especially in big ones, comes from their being volunteers in a non-profit organization - where you have responsibility, you see results, and you quickly learn what your values are.All that is required of the HR specialist, therefore, is to engineer his or her organizational development and transformation programs around such values. However, to do that we need a new organizational model - one that places people and human and social values at the core of everything the organization does.\nEngineering a human and social transformation: Since human and social values are increasingly defining the scope and nature of an organization's activities, in order to manage risks and improve innovation, organizations should develop a human and social model of their business. I call this model the human-asset model.The human-asset model recognizes that today's organizations are best defined as a network of human assets - managers, employees, suppliers, customers, and the wider community. In this model, success is determined by the extent to which these assets are motivated to work and collaborate in pursuit of a common vision or purpose.It is within such a framework that an organization's common vision or purpose, and thus its core beliefs, can be defined within a human and social context. Consequently, this model enables HR specialists to play a stellar role in determining and developing an organization's core beliefs, and ultimately its competitive advantage.\nNote: Jonathan Ledwidge is managing partner of THAPartners and author of the book The Human Asset Manifesto (Morgan James Publishing). For more information, visit www.thapartners.com or the blog at http://thamanifesto.typepad.com\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Advances the view that corporate social responsibility (CSR) has brought risks and opportunities for HR managers, and that managing the risks and exploiting the opportunities will require reappraisal of existing approaches to HR and the scope of its activities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Argues that, more often than not, an organization's identity differs from that of its CSR program, because CSR is most often seen as complementary rather than integral to the organization's core strategy. Highlights, through the examples of BP and Bristol Myers Squibb, what can result from this corporate schizophrenia.\nFindings: - Shows that this corporate schizophrenia represents a major challenge for HR managers, who must ensure that employee-development programs are geared to ensuring that the customer experience reflects the organization's values with respect to the community and that the human and social values that CSR programs profess to hold dear are fully integrated into the strategic and operational fabric of the organization.\nPractical implications: - Presents the human-asset model, which recognizes that today's organizations are best defined as a network of human assets - managers, employees, suppliers, customers, and the wider community. In this model, success is determined by the extent to which these assets are motivated to work and collaborate in pursuit of a common vision or purpose.\nOriginality/value: - Highlights the need for HR professionals to engineer their organizational-development and transformation programs around the relevant human and social values.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The wage gap in Spain for temporary workers: the effects of the Great Recession	[ "Wage gap", "Quantile regression", "Decomposition of the wage gap", "Fixed-term contract", "Great Recession in Spain", "Permanent contract", "J31", "J71", "C21" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The Spanish labour market in the 1980s was characterized by a high unemployment rate and very little flexibility. For this reason, in 1984, fixed-term contracts (temporary contracts) were introduced. The aim was to ensure greater labour flexibility so that more workers would be hired, thus bringing down the unemployment rate at a swifter pace.\n2. Literature review: Several studies can be found that explore the wage gap in Spain between workers with fixed-term and permanent contracts, with non-conclusive results. De la Rica and Felgueroso (1999) carried out an analysis using the 1995 WSS. They observe that the gap grows as workers' skills rise, although most of the gap can be explained by different worker characteristics. Davia and Hernanz (2004) explore the determinants of the wage gap, using EC Household Panel Data (ECHP) and the WSS. The biggest problem, when estimating a wage equation, is the fact that we cannot observe the wages of unemployed workers. Davia and Hernanz (2004) overcome this handicap by conducting a two-step estimation where, during the first phase, the probability of participating in the market with a fixed-term or permanent contract is estimated. The main result is that the wage gap depends on the characteristics of the worker and job, but once the characteristics have been controlled for, temporary workers receive even higher wages than ones with permanent contracts. De la Rica (2004) uses the 2002 WSS to study the wage gap, depending on the length of contract. The type of contract used to hire workers depends on individuals' characteristics, thus controlling for endogeneity. The results of the study by De la Rica (2004) indicate that there is a wage gap in favour of permanent workers, after controlling for worker and job-related characteristics. All the aforementioned studies use the Oaxaca decomposition to analyse whether the wage gap is due to the workers' different characteristics or to other factors. However, none of these studies analyses the wage gap across the distribution.\n3. Methodology: This paper has a dual objective. First, it aims to establish the existence of a wage gap, dependent on the length of contract, controlling for the remaining worker, job and company-related characteristics. To do this, the first step is to estimate an OLS regression. Second, having proven the existence of this gap, the aim is to analyse whether it changes across the wage distribution. For this purpose, an unconditional quantile regression (UQR) is estimated. Lastly, the wage gap is broken down, following the methodology explained by Fortin et al. (2011), to find out the causes of the gap and, more specifically, to distinguish the part corresponding to differences in worker characteristics and the part corresponding to differences in the coefficients. This technic allows to analysis the contribution of characteristics and coefficients of specific covariates across different parts of the wage distribution.\n4. Data and descriptive statistics: 4.1 Data\n5. Results: In this section, first, we estimate the wage gap of our full-time workers with less than 24 months in the company (what we called our \"baseline\" hereafter) across the distribution using quantile regression and, second, we decompose the wage gap to find out whether they are originated by differences in endowments of the workers or not.\n6. Analysis of robustness: In this section, an analysis of the robustness of the results is made. Basically, we run several regressions for other sub-samples to ensure that previous results are not a consequence of the sample selected in our baseline.\n7. Conclusions: This paper explores the existence of a wage gap depending on the length of contract. Workers with a temporary contract can be seen to receive lower wages than workers with a permanent one, even though under Spanish labour law, companies are not allowed to pay different wages depending on the length of a contract.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the wage gap between temporary and permanent workers across the whole wage distribution, not just at the mean, and the evolution before and after the Great Recession on this gap in Spain.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An extended Mincer-type wage equation is estimated using ordinary least square regression and unconditional quantile regression. Then, the decomposition of the wage gap between workers with fixed-term and permanent contracts for each quantile is made using the Fortin, Lemieux and Firpo decomposition.\nFindings: The results show that two workers, with identical characteristics, earn different salaries if they have a different type of contract. However, the wage gap is not constant across the wage distribution. The penalty for temporary workers is wider for higher wages. Moreover, the main part of the gap is due to observed characteristics, but other factors (unobserved characteristics and discrimination) become more relevant in the upper part of the wage distribution.\nOriginality/value: The study expands upon available studies for Spain in two points. First, it is the first paper to the knowledge that analyse both the wage gap between temporary and permanent workers across the wage distribution and its decomposition. Second, the paper explores what happened before and after the Great Recession. In the years that the paper analyses there is also a labour market reform.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Factors affecting institutional change: a study of the adoption of Local Agenda 21 in Spain	[ "Institutional theory", "Sustainable development", "Institutional change", "Local councils", "Spain" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In a short period of time, sustainable development has become an objective for a large number of organizations and institutions. This brief phrase - which embodies the desire for economic growth and social development, a growing concern for environmental questions, and the attempt to leave a healthy legacy for future generations - represents far more than just a new concept to add to our vocabulary. It has generated new values, perceptions, and social norms and, most importantly from our point-of-view, an entire scenario that has affected the way cities behave (Jalas, 2012; Morse, 2008; Sutheerawatthana and Minato, 2009).\nTheoretical framework: Institutional theory and institutional change\nThe research framework: Over the last few decades, environmental questions have awakened great interest and concern.\nHypotheses: Based on the foregoing, we will develop a series of hypotheses about how specific institutional factors affect the town and city councils that have introduced LA21 and the differences between local councils with high vs medium implementation levels of the program.\nResearch methodology: Sample\nResults: In this we present the research results. First, Table I shows the correlations between the variables analyzed in this research. There are significant and positive correlations between normative pressure, legitimacy, institutional embeddedness, collaboration, sustainable development, organizational changes, and Local Agenda 21. As can be seen in Table I, none of the correlations takes a value close to 1, a preliminary indication that no multicolinearity is present. We verified this result by calculating a series of tests (e.g. tolerance, variance inflation factor for each regression model, and confirmation of the non-presence of multicolinearity (Hair et al., 2006).\nDiscussion and conclusions: From this study we have been able to analyze different issues that affect the behavior of organizations in general and, more specifically, Spanish city and town councils. Spanish local councils are currently responding to an institutional change that influences them to develop their actions within the frame of sustainability. These organizations face complex institutional contexts and respond to institutional logics that encourage more sustainable behaviors when they adopt LA21. Our understanding of organizational sustainability is incomplete and requires further development, including understanding how this issue impacts nonprofit organizations and the strategies adopted in response (Weerawardena et al., 2010). The process of adopting LA21 shows how our municipalities are responding to this challenge.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine how Spanish local councils respond to changes in their institutional context by implementing a sustainable practice: Local Agenda 21 (LA21).\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper uses the institutional approach to explain the factors influencing the adoption of LA21. It develops a series of hypotheses about how specific institutional factors affect the town and city councils that have implemented an LA21, as well as the differences between local councils with high versus medium implementation levels.\nFindings: The analysis reveals some institutional factors that explain the process of institutional change, the outcomes of LA21, and the differences between local councils.\nResearch limitations/implications: Only one respondent from each local council completed the questionnaire. The authors tested for common method bias and did not find it to be present.\nPractical implications: From a more practical point-of-view, the authors consider LA21 to be an effective instrument for improving both the sustainability of towns and the management of local councils.\nOriginality/value: The paper proposes institutional theory as a perspective that can explain change in organizations. The main value of the research lies in its identification of the factors affecting the process of change and the outcomes of implementing a sustainable practice like LA21.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Big data in the Danish industry: application and value creation	[ "Big data", "Process management", "Value analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The concept of big data is attracting a lot of attention in both the mass media and the academic literature, and data are seen as a competitive resource and new means of creating value for organizations. However, in a report from 2013 by the Danish Business Authority (Erhvervsstyrelsen, 2013), big data was identified as a hard-to-grasp and unwieldy concept that many companies lacked experience with. The report categorized the companies actively working with big data into two groups. The first group consists of large, often multinational companies with long-standing experience in business intelligence and analytics. The second group consists of relatively small and young companies, i.e. startups, focusing on business opportunities with regard to big data. The two groups of companies represent only a small part of the total number of companies in Denmark. The large majority of companies are small and medium-sized companies, which have limited experience with big data. As a consequence, there is a lack of knowledge and therefore value in studying this large and diverse group of companies. This is also emphasized by extant literature. SMEs often find access to extensive consumer data prohibitively expensive (Donnelly and Simmons, 2013). \"Small and medium-size businesses are often intimidated by the cost and complexity of handling large amounts of digital information\" (Simon, 2013), which put them \"at a severe disadvantage to big competitors that had the financial muscle\" (Donnelly and Simmons, 2013) to collect, analyze and act upon data on, e.g., customer behaviors and market trends. Donnelly and Simmons (2013) call for more research focusing on SMEs, which is echoed by Simon (2013) who wants \"attractive alternatives for companies that can't afford to - or simply don't want to - hire their own data scientists\". Against this backdrop, it is the aim of this paper to investigate the extent to which the application of big data creates value for small and medium-sized companies. Specifically, the paper addresses the following research question:\n2. Analytical framework: For the purpose of studying the complex concept of big data, we decided that an analytical framework was needed to guide and structure our research efforts. Such a framework provides us with structure and overview, and it guide us in interpreting and understanding the concept of big data from all relevant perspectives. For these reasons we have chosen the DELTTA model by Davenport (2014) as our analytical framework. The DELTTA model is established specifically for the purpose of analyzing and understanding the concept of big data. Thus, the DELTTA model defines big data by dividing the concept into six elements. Each element of the DELTTA model is clearly defined, and each element adds insights into the big data concept. The six elements of the DELTTA model are summarized in Table I.\n3. Review methodology: The literature review is based on the guidelines and recommendations by Webster and Watson (2002) and Okoli and Schabram (2010). According to Fink (2005), a quality literature review must be systematic in following a methodological approach, explicit in explaining the procedure by which it was conducted, comprehensive in its scope by including all relevant material, and reproducible by other researchers following the same procedure in reviewing the topic. Acknowledging that \"the quality of literature reviews is particularly determined by the literature search process\" (Vom Brocke et al., 2009, p. 2206), in this section we describe in detail how the literature was identified and analyzed.\n4. Literature review: In the following, state-of-the-art knowledge in the literature is summarized for each element of the DELTTA model. All selected papers have been categorized according to the DELTTA model, and each paper is contributing to at least one element of the DELTTA model. The contribution of each paper is presented with regard to the particular element of the DELTTA model.\n5. Empirical research: In order to better understand how big data is used in practice to create value, an online survey was created and distributed to a sample of Danish companies. The unit of analysis is small and medium-sized private sector companies (SMEs). Small and medium-sized companies are defined as companies with 249 employees or less. This definition corresponds to that of Statistics Denmark (www.smvportalen.dk/om-smvportalen/definition-af-smv), i.e. the central authority on Danish statistics. The definition of small and medium-sized companies is solely based on the number of employees. Turnover or any other accounting-based number is not part of the definition. The Danish definition may vary from that of other EU countries. All organizations are for-profit companies. By focusing on for-profit companies, the definition of value is limited to economic profit.\n6. Survey analysis: 6.1 The big data application and value creation factor\n7. Discussion and conclusion: This research, seeking to investigate the degree to which the application of big data creates value, has yielded a number of findings. First of all, our research shows a correlation between the application of big data and value creation. The close relationship between application and value creation is highlighted by the principal factor analysis, which points to one factor that describes 75.6 percent of the variance in the 12 variables.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The development within storage and processing technologies combined with the growing collection of data has created opportunities for companies to create value through the application of big data. The purpose of this paper is to focus on how small and medium-sized companies in Denmark are using big data to create value.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research is based on a literature review and on data collected from 457 Danish companies through an online survey. The paper looks at big data from the perspective of SMEs in order to answer the following research question: to what extent does the application of big data create value for small and medium-sized companies.\nFindings: The findings show clear links between the application of big data and value creation. The analysis also shows that the value created through big data does not arise from data or technology alone but is dependent on the organizational context and managerial action. A holistic perspective on big data is advocated, not only focusing on the capture, storage, and analysis of data, but also leadership through goal setting and alignment of business strategies and goals, IT capabilities, and analytical skills. Managers are advised to communicate the business value of big data, adapt business processes to data-driven business opportunities, and in general act on the basis of data.\nOriginality/value: The paper provides researchers and practitioners with empirically based insights into how the application of big data creates value for SMEs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The call of the city: using design methods to attract families	[ "Cities", "Family", "Urban communities" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: When American soldiers returned home from the Second World War, their decisions about where to live dramatically changed life in cities as we knew it. Veterans took their expanding families, their new cars, and their cheap VA mortgages and moved to the USA's burgeoning suburbs.\nYoung families as a market opportunity for cities: With that as backdrop, CEOs for Cities advanced the idea to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley that families with children who have financial options about where they live could be a new and important market opportunity for the City of Chicago. His enthusiastic response put the question, \"What can urban leaders do to retain these families as city residents?\" squarely on the CEOs for Cities' agenda.Typically, the first step in answering such a question would be to convene focus groups to explore the issue, then to follow those with a statistically valid survey of the target demographic. But in this case, leaders of the organization were certain that there were too few families who had even considered the possibility of raising their children in the city to have a survey make much sense. After all, you would likely be considered a bad, self-centered parent if you raised your child in the city. (I know. I was one of those parents way ahead of my time.)The organization chose a different approach. CEOs for Cities instead asked a team of graduate students at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute of Design to develop a more robust way to explore the question. Employing user-center design research methods, the student team responded with a rich set of insights and recommendations that surprised us all. They clarified why families leave cities. They also importantly challenged the conventional wisdom about what can be done to bring them back.Rather than ask suburban parents what might persuade them to move to cities, the team studied the actual behavior of parents in cities and suburbs. They conducted in-depth interviews with parents and studied their environments. These visits, made in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia, were documented with photos and video.Interestingly, the team found more angst among suburban parents about their decisions to leave the city compared to urban parents who stayed. Suburban parents felt they had made compromises on behalf of their children, but were unsure that those compromises were for the best. Despite the comforts of suburban living, parents worried about depriving their children of diversity and a more community-friendly lifestyle where neighbors bump into neighbors.But the more promising insights came from pioneering urban parents. Determined to remain in cities, these parents were willing to invent their own solutions to the sometimes formidable challenges city living posed to families with kids. By studying their behavior, the team developed an understanding of the real issues for urban parents and the lengths they are willing to go to overcome them. The team analyzed the behavior of these parents and generated opportunities for possible new solutions by uncovering the obstacles they faced and how they overcame them, much the way beta-testers are used in product development. The workarounds created by pioneering urban parents then guided the process of creating new concepts designed to be executed by urban leaders.To understand the information they had gathered and to identify the best prospects for urban living, the team developed what they labeled the \"Swing Vote Problem Frame\" (see Figure 1).Analysis of the problem frame produced an important insight: the best new prospects for city living are those they labeled \"tentative urbanites\" and \"discontented suburbanites.\" This group was referred to as the \"Swing Vote.\"The team also determined from interviews and observations that parents identified three major obstacles to city living: safety, space and schools. By analyzing the ways pioneering urban parents overcome these obstacles, team members believed they could design better solutions for the broader population (see Figure 2).Parents worry that cities may be too big and dangerous for raising children. They worry that without a fenced, spacious backyard, their children will be deprived of space. They worry that urban school systems just do not compare with their suburban counterparts, and if their children are forced to attend city schools, parents fear their children will get behind and stay behind, crippling them for life.Pioneering urban parents' solution for the problem of safety was urban density and neighborliness that produces plenty of \"eyes on the street.\" Their solution for the problem of less private space in the city compared with the comparatively large homes and yards in the suburbs was the use of public space, such as sidewalks and parks, and their solution for schools was supplementing their children's education with the diversity and broader cultural offerings that only cities can offer.Once the team had clearly identified the problems urban parents face and how pioneering problems solve those problems, they wanted to develop ways urban leaders could ease the pain for all urban parents. By doing so, the team believed that cities could capture a much bigger share of the market.\nSafety, space and schools: The range of concepts, as the concept map in Figure 3 illustrates, was quite broad.Their concepts, while driven by the study of pioneering parents with economic options, are useful for all urban families. They wanted their concepts to excite the imaginations of urban leaders and encourage them to use all of their available resources in new and unexpected ways. The broad categories of safety, space and schools were illustrated through frameworks to get urban leaders looking at their cities through a different lens. Instead of \"dangerous\" and \"crowded,\" think \"watchful\" and \"city as a big backyard.\" Rather than just \"schools,\" think \"city as a big classroom.\" The idea is to encourage creative approaches, as opposed to just dealing with problems (see Figures 4-6).Even though the team developed a clear analysis of the problems urban parents face, found the solutions pioneering parents had invented for themselves, and generated a robust set of concepts for institutionalizing the solutions, the findings are still being resisted by many urban leaders. They have not yet recognized the very real market opportunity families with children represents for cities - that they are the next frontier in urban markets. Urban leaders do not yet believe in their ability to address the problems parents face, fearing that unless they fix every problem, no one fix can make a difference, and they do not generally have the staff to execute these recommendations with a \"both-and\" mentality that allows them to add the concerns of middle class families to the more familiar poverty agenda.We have seen the same resistance before. It happened when CEOs for Cities first identified the opportunities for cities associated with the college-educated 25- to 34-year-old market. Although they were moving to cities in greater numbers than other Americans, their importance as a market was initially dismissed. Benign neglect was the order of the day. It took almost five years from the time CEOs for Cities first identified the opportunity for the story to land on the front page of The New York Times (2006), profiling the success of Atlanta in attracting and retaining young adults. With that, interest among urban leaders took off.The same trajectory is likely for this issue. One or two smart urban leaders, confident enough to take some risks, will take these findings seriously and begin to execute these concepts.Already, there are some promising signs of success. In Philadelphia, Paul Levy is a particularly bold urban entrepreneur who leads the city's Center City District business improvement district. To build real estate value in downtown Philly, Levy negotiated with the city's public school leadership to single out schools in the central city for special treatment that favored downtown residents. He also assumed responsibility for marketing all central city schools - public and private - with a single web site and a school fair for parents, actions that were completely foreign to the public school system. He also worked on improving the curb appeal of schools in the area, understanding that was part of a successful marketing strategy.Levy is the first of what will likely become a steady stream of urban leaders who realize that this market is ready to return to cities that solve their problems. We are already seeing stories of children showing up at Brooklyn bars (The New York Times, 2008) and upsetting the locals and of controversies at a Chicago bakery called A Taste of Heaven whose owner had the temerity to post a sign urging his new kid customers to \"use your inside voice\" (The New York Times, 2005).Families are slowly coming back to cities and that is a plus, adding to their talent and tax base, but to accelerate that nascent trend, the needs of families must be deeply understood. Good school options are one, but only one, of their needs. By leveraging the inherent strengths of cities and employing user-centered design techniques, as the Institute of Design team did during the Kids in Cities project, urban leaders can address the unmet needs of the \"Swing Vote\" population. Instead of just making cities better for families, why not make them the choice for families?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - For the first time in 50 years, young people are coming back to cities. But what happens when they have children? Convention seems to dictate they move to the suburbs where they can find big houses, big yards and good schools. This paper aims to describe how CEOs for Cities and students from the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute of Design took a fresh look at how cities can better serve families.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - By studying the behavior of pioneering urban parents in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia, the research team uncovered ways they overcame obstacles to living in the city. Using these insights, they developed ways for urban leaders to leverage inherent city strengths in three key areas of safety, space and schools.\nFindings: - Pioneering urban parents showed the research team that a small shift in thinking could turn a city into a backyard bigger than any found behind a house, that busy streets create a feeling of safety, and that the vibrancy of cities is an important factor in education their children. Surprisingly, the research even uncovered suburban parent fears in isolating their children from the culture and diversity of urban areas.\nOriginality/value: - There is a growing number of parents who want to raise families in cities. They are coming back, but slowly. Urban leaders have an opportunity to accelerate this new market of city dwellers using the natural assets their cities already possess.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The kaleidoscope called leadership	[ "Influence", "Leadership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Two men considered great leaders happened to have lived and served during the same period of time in Britain: Benjamin Disraeli a conservative politician, writer and two time British Prime Minister, who was credited with the purchase of a controlling interest in the Suez Canal and the conferring of the title of Empress of India upon the Queen of England. The other great leader was William Gladstone, a liberal politician and four time British Prime Minister who was credited with major political reform throughout his over 60 years in government.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Leadership is a complex concept that is discussed often in many books, blogs and articles, which try to identify those necessary traits to make one a leader. But leadership is ambiguous in that the characteristics that makes one a leader in one situation may not work and may even be detrimental in a similar one. Defining it is difficult, knowing it when you see it is easy. The purpose of this paper is to intend to make you aware of its complexity and your ability to become a leader yourself.\nDesign/methodology/approach: By briefly comparing two successful but dissimilar leaders, the scope and breadth of leadership is introduced. Rather than attempting to define leadership, the paper proceeds to talk about what leadership is not, and why. It ends with an affirmation of our ability to become a leader and a \"nudge\" to develop those leadership skills we already possess.\nFindings: The paper suggests leadership is autological, something which defines itself, and that it is seen as different by every individual. It also proposes that we all have leadership traits within us and that whether we are consciously aware of it or not, we act as leaders every day.\nPractical implications: The thoughts this paper evokes can help those who are in leadership positions, those striving to become better leaders, and those who are not aware of their leadership potential by broadening their perspectives of leadership and our ability to attain it.\nOriginality/value: This paper presents leadership in a unique manner, identifying its complexities while providing assurances it can be attained.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
On the structure of the present-day convergence	[ "Innovation", "Development", "Classification", "Convergence", "Systems theory", "Globalization", "Technological innovation", "Global studies", "Low-income countries", "Middle-income countries", "Catch-up" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Various aspects of convergence and the catch-up effect have attracted considerable scholarly attention, including the questions of unconditional (absolute) convergence vs conditional convergence; global convergence vs local or club-convergence; s-convergence vs b-convergence, etc. (for a systemic review see, e.g.\nWhy should one expect to observe unconditional convergence?: The theory of convergence predominantly relies on the two classic works. First, in 1952 Alexander Gerschenkron in his \"Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective\" essay showed that relative backwardness of a country can contribute to its development if supported by \"adequate endowments of usable resources'' and the absence of \"great blocks to industrialization\" (Gerschenkron, 1952, p. 6). Then, in 1956, Robert M. Solow published \"A contribution to the theory of economic growth\" pioneering the idea of the generality of unconditional convergence worldwide (Solow, 1956).\nWhy should one not expect to observe unconditional convergence at the global level?: However, the 1990s and the 2000s saw a wave of works showing no evidence for absolute convergence and stating the idea of conditional convergence instead. Thus, Barro viewed 98 countries in the period 1960-1985 and refuted the hypothesis of absolute convergence, stating that \"the hypothesis that poor countries tend to grow faster than rich countries seems to be inconsistent with the cross-country evidence\" (Barro, 1991, p. 407). Mankiw et al. also studied a sample of 98 countries, proved the absence of absolute convergence in per capita income during the period 1960-1985, and introduced the notion of conditional convergence, stating that \"the Solow model predicts convergence only after controlling for the determinants of the steady state\" (Mankiw et al., 1992, p. 422). Sala-i-Martin analyzed a set of 110 countries and only found evidence for conditional convergence, stating that \"the cross-country distribution of world GDP between 1960 and 1990 did not shrink, and poor countries have not grown faster than rich ones. [...] in our world there is no absolute b-convergence\" (Sala-i-Martin, 1996, p. 1034).\nAny signs of unconditional convergence? Recent dynamics of the gap in per capita GDP: Let us first view the dynamics of the gap in GDP per capita between the high-income OECD countries and the low-income countries for the past three decades (see Figure 1).\nPossible explanations of the trends: Let us now turn to analyzing the forces and factors behind the specific pattern of the dynamics of per capita income gaps between the high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries revealed above. Naturally, no comprehensive explanation (or even attempt at making one) for the complex structure of convergence trends could possibly be made in a single paper. So below we will try to outline only some of the main economic forces that are likely to have contributed to the specific convergence-divergence pattern of the latest years. Let us start from the two fundamental convergence-driving forces proposed by Gerschenkron and Solow (as quoted above) namely technological diffusion from the more advanced countries to the developing ones, and weaker diminishing returns in the developing countries.\nPossible global implications of the convergence-divergence pattern: Thus, the structure of convergence-divergence pattern in the recent years is rather complex. The gap between the high-income and the middle-income countries has been decreasing rapidly. This fact is particularly noteworthy when taking into account that the middle-income countries currently accommodate about 70 percent of the world population (about five billion people). If the current pace persists in the nearest decades, the prospects for these 70 percent look truly bright, as the gap between the high-income OECD countries and the middle-income countries will essentially disappear in just 15-20 years. However, such an over-optimistic view about the middle-income countries fully converging to the high-income ones is very doubtful due to the prospect of the \"Reindustrialization of the West (or possibly, just the USA based on cheap energy coming from shale oil,\" on the one hand, and the \"middle-income trap\" awaiting the middle-income countries, on the other. Indeed, a number of Latin American countries were the first to experience stagnation at middle-income levels and failure to move further into the ranks of high-income countries (note that exactly such stagnation could easily be caused by too weak democratically legitimated institutions which seems a necessity to further growth according to some economic thought (see, e.g. Acemoglu, 2009). A number of works reveal the same threat to be currently looming large for many developing countries in other regions, notably in Asia (including China) (see, e.g. Grinin and Korotayev, 2010; Kohli and Mukherjee, 2011; Cai, 2012; Kharas and Kohli, 2011; Aiyar et al., 2013).\nConclusion: Our analysis reveals a rather significant re-configuration of the world system in the latest 30 years. It is namely the middle-income countries that demonstrated the highest economic growth rates after 1990 (and even more so after 2000). This is quite explicable, as in the modern world namely the middle-income countries generally have the best opportunities for achieving high-economic growth rates. Indeed, the workforce in such countries is still rather cheap (as compared to the high-income ones), but already benefits from rather high levels of education and health system, which greatly increases the quality of the workforce (as compared to the low-income countries). The low-income countries, on the other hand, are lagging behind in terms of education (especially secondary and tertiary education) and still experience extremely high population growth rates, which increases the age-dependency ratio and decreases the economic growth rates. While the middle-income countries have been converging to the high-income ones, the low-income countries have actually been diverging from the middle-income ones. This is a rather threatening trend which requires specific international attention to removing the growth obstacles in the low-income countries (among other things, increasing the education level and the quality of the workforce, as well as bringing down the extreme population growth rates). This is especially true regarding the type of developmental cooperation with those low-income countries that should shift away from a philosophy of power relations (dictate of the stronger) toward a philosophy of cooperation and mutual esteem, and understanding of the real needs of poor countries. This particularly underlines the urge for another global political structure.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: A substantial number of researchers have investigated the global economic dynamics of this time to disprove unconditional convergence and refute its very idea, stating the phenomenon of conditional convergence instead. However, most respective papers limit their investigation period with the early or mid-2000s. In the authors' opinion, some of the global trends which revealed themselves particularly clearly in the second half of the 2000s call for a revision of the convergence issue. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Several methodologies for measuring the global convergence/divergence trends exist in the economic literature. This paper seeks to contribute to the existing literature on unconditional b-convergence of the per capita incomes at the global level.\nFindings: In the recent years, the gap between high-income and middle-income countries is decreasing especially rapidly. The gap between high-income and low-income countries, meanwhile, is decreasing at a much slower pace. At the same time, the gap between middle-income and low-income countries is actually widening. Indeed, in the early 1980s GDP per capita in the low-income countries was on average three times lower than in the middle-income countries, and this gap was totally overshadowed by the more than ten-time abyss between the middle-income and the high-income countries. Now, however, the GDP per capita in low-income countries lags behind the middle-income ones by more than five times, which is largely the same as the gap (rapidly contracting in the recent years) between the high-income and the middle-income countries. This clearly suggests that the configuration of the world system has experienced a very significant transformation in the recent 30 years.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research concentrates upon the dynamics of the gap in per capita income between the high-income, the middle-income, and the low-income countries.\nOriginality/value: This paper's originality/value lies in drawing attention to the specific changes in the structure of global convergence/divergence patterns and their implications for the low-income countries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Long-term relationship of crude palm oil commodity pricing under structural break	[ "Malaysian CPO and CPO-F", "Symmetric and asymmetric models", "Pricing efficiency and structural break", "VECM and TAR model" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Even though the issue of long-run relationship between markets has been extensively examined, understanding the relationship between markets continues relevant because knowledge about commodity price is important in order to take a position in the commodity market. It is one of the reasons that empirical studies on the long-run relationship between markets continue to emerge until now (see e.g. Peri and Baldi, 2010; Sehgal et al., 2015; Ghosh and Kanjilal, 2016; Nambiappan et al., 2018). Since understanding the long-run relationship is the main concern regarding pricing efficiency, information about the speed of adjustment of short-run deviation is crucial. Once the long-run relationship between the two markets is established, market deviation in the short run becomes temporary.\n2. Theoretical framework and literature review: EMH focuses on the instantaneous reflection of all the available information on the price. Ever since EMH is introduced, researchers have tested the theory on several classes of assets as well as commodities (Arouri et al., 2013). According to Tuyon and Ahmad (2016), EMH remains puzzled and therefore remains a debated issue in finance as many studies are testing the validity of the theory. The complexity of the behaviour of the commodity price is important in order to explain the deviation of the price from EMH (Alvarez-Ramirez et al., 2015). In a similar manner, event that causes long memory in the price could lead to inefficiency in the market price (Wang and Wu, 2012). Ali et al. (2010) use EMH to explain the overreaction of investors towards newly available information in the Malaysian stock market. The validity of EMH is examined in their study.\n3. Research methodology: With a view to examine the pricing efficiency of CPO, both symmetric and asymmetric long-run relationships are examined in this study. In doing so, Johansen cointegration, VECM and TAR models are employed. Johansen cointegration and VECM techniques are employed for the symmetric model, while TAR model is used to examine the asymmetric long-run relationship of Malaysian CPO pricing. The use of TAR and VECM models to quantify the asymmetric and symmetric long-run relationship has been established in past studies (see e.g. Haughton and Iglesias, 2012; Valadkhani, 2013; Zhu et al., 2011).\n4. Data and empirical results: Daily closing prices of CPO, CPO-F and basis are used in this study. CPO and CPO-F prices are obtained from the Bloomberg, while basis is the estimated value of CPO and CPO-F differential. The period of study ranges from 1 June 2009 to 16 August 2016. Price is converted into logarithm value and descriptive statistics is presented in Table I.\n5. Conclusion: Pricing of the agricultural commodity is crucial to the industries that use the commodity as a major input of production. Consistent fluctuation in the market price will have a significant effect on firms' revenue, as the cost of production will adjust upward consequently reducing the net profit. However, taking a position in the CPO market necessitates simultaneously offsetting the position in the CPO-F. Price fluctuation in the CPO market may be normalised in the CPO-F market through simultaneously offsetting the position especially in the case of CPO which is one of the 17 globally recognised vegetables oils.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the pricing efficiency of the Malaysian crude palm oil (CPO) market before and after the structural break. This study uses the daily closing price of CPO and CPO futures (CPO-F) for the period ranging from June 2009 to August 2016 while taking structural breaks into account.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this study, symmetric and asymmetric long-run relationship model are employed, such as the Johansen cointegration, VECM, TAR and M-TAR models, to examine the impact of structural breaks on the pricing efficiency of the Malaysian CPO market.\nFindings: This finding establish that Malaysian CPO price is efficient before and after the structural break. The consistent efficiency of the Malaysian CPO market supports the trading of the CPO-F in Globex and the use of Malaysian CPO pricing as the reference price. This study establishes that a structural break in the Malaysian CPO price series does not affect the pricing efficiency of the market.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study shows that using Malaysian CPO price as a reference price is sustainable even in the event of a structural break. Therefore, market participants in the Malaysian CPO market have less to worry about the CPO price as it supports the weak form of efficiency. Price deviation in the short run may not lead to arbitrage profit as transaction cost may not be covered.\nPractical implications: This study implies that if there is distortion in the price due to shocks, both manufacturers and producers need to hedge their positions in the futures market (subject to their positions in the underlying market). By entering into the futures market, pricing is locked in advance; hence, price risk is eliminated. Such a distortion could also affect the efficiency of the CPO price, therefore this study also addresses the issue of efficiency of the local CPO market.\nOriginality/value: Previous studies on Malaysian CPO pricing efficiency did not take the effect of structural break into consideration, making it difficult for these studies to show consistency in the efficiency of the Malaysian CPO market.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
International students' university preferences: how different are Malaysian and Chinese students?	[ "Higher education marketing", "International students", "Country of design", "Delivery mode", "Online distance learning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The demand for higher education has risen in recent decades and the education market is now a well-established global market, especially in major English speaking counties (Mazzarol and Soutar, 2001; Binsardi and Ekwulugo, 2003). There are more than three million international students worldwide, an increase of 57 percent from 1999 to 2009 (UNESCO Publications, 2011). In the USA, international student enrollments contribute more than US$18 billion to the national economy every year, while international education is Australia's third largest export industry, generating AUD$18 billion in exports in 2009 (Australian International Education, 2010). International students contribute to the economy through their university fees, but also spend a considerable sum on goods and services, and thus, have a flow on effect throughout the economy.\nLiterature review: Students often go through an extended decision making process when making education choices. The \"push-pull\" model has been used to understand international student flows (Cummings, 1984), students' motivation to study abroad and international students' choice of university (Mazzarol and Soutar, 2002). Mazzarol and Soutar (2002) suggested international students use a three step selection process in which a student first decides to study internationally, then selects a host country (influenced by a country's \"pull factors\"), and finally, selects an institution within that host country (influenced by the institutions' \"pull factors\").\nMethodology: The sample\nResults: The relative importances of the attributes\nDiscussion: Country of design (COD) of educational institutions\nConclusions, limitations and future research: The present findings add to previous research into students' selection processes by studying two important attributes not considered before (COD and PM). The study also provided a cross-national comparison between two important international student source countries (Malaysia and China), studying similarities and differences between two developing countries.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine factors that influenced international university preference, looking at country of origin (COO), that is the COO of the course and program modes (PMs). This study specifically focusses on differences in perceptions across students from Malaysia and China.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Conjoint analysis was used to examine the relative importances and part-worth scores of these attributes on international university preferences.\nFindings: PM and country of design (COD) had a major influence on Malaysian and Chinese students' preferences for international universities. Online distance learning was the least preferred option, while offshore campuses were more acceptable to Malaysian students compared to Chinese students. Malaysian students preferred to study in the UK, while Chinese students favored Australia. Malaysian students were also found to be more cost sensitive compared to Chinese students, while the latter were more motivated by job prospects offered by an institution.\nResearch limitations/implications: Limitations include the specific sample, pre-university students only from developed countries (Malaysia and China), which limits the generalizability to students from other countries.\nPractical implications: This study offers insights in the effect of COD and PM on students' preferences for international universities, as well as other previously studied university-level attributes in a higher education setting. With a better understanding of factors affecting these preferences, higher educational institutions are better placed to implement a suitable marketing strategy to attract more international students.\nOriginality/value: This study examines the impact COD, Delivery Mode (DM) and other university level attributes have on Malaysian and Chinese pre-university students\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Differences in state- and district-level stakeholders' perceptions of curriculum coherence and school impact in national curriculum reform	[ "Curriculum reform", "Latent profile analysis", "Curriculum coherence", "School impact" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: It has been proposed that in order to promote curriculum reform implementation and educational practitioners' ownership over the reform, the curriculum developers and stakeholders need to build a sufficiently shared understanding of the functions of the curriculum and its meaning for the schools' mission (see Fullan, 2007; Ornstein and Hunkins, 2004; Pietarinen et al., 2017). At the same time, there is evidence of educational administrators, stakeholders, principals and teachers often differing in their understanding and response to educational change and curriculum reforms (Desimone, 2006; Louis and Robinson, 2012; Ng, 2009; Spillane, 1998; Timperley and Parr, 2005; Yuen et al., 2012). Perceiving the curriculum as a coherent whole is particularly important for those in charge of developing and implementing the curriculum because it provides grounding for sustained goal setting and reform implementation. While coherence in terms of alignment and continuity within and between the elements of the curriculum (e.g. Newmann et al., 2001; Schmidt et al., 2005; Smith et al., 1998) and in terms of providing a coherent basis for constructing shared understandings of the curriculum's aim and shared principles and values for teaching and learning (e.g. Bryk, 2010; Hallinger and Heck, 2002; Newmann et al., 2001) is suggested to be crucial to support pupil learning and school development, research on how curriculum coherence is perceived by different stakeholders is scarce. A few studies have implied that teachers' perceptions of school-level coherence are related to pupil achievement (e.g. Newmann et al., 2001) and that perceptions of coherence between policies, goals and activities within and between schools and the educational system are important for reform to take root (e.g. Allen and Penuel, 2015; Louis and Robinson, 2012; Russell and Bray, 2013). Our earlier studies suggested that state- and district-level stakeholders' perceptions of core curriculum coherence are related to the expected school-level impact of a curriculum reform (Pietarinen et al., 2017; Sullanmaa et al., submitted). This implies that perceived curriculum coherence is an important determinant of facilitating change in schools. State- and district-level stakeholders do not, however, comprise a single entity, and differences are likely to occur both within and between the groups.\nCurriculum coherence: A coherent curriculum entails unity and connectedness among the aims, content, instructional practices, learning experiences and assessments (Beane, 1995; Kelly, 2009; Smith et al., 1998). It entails a holistic and integrative approach to curriculum development, focusing on the learners and their purposeful learning experiences (Beane, 1995; Ornstein and Hunkins, 2004). Curriculum coherence also includes a structural approach focusing on the alignment and the coherent organization of subject matter (e.g. Schmidt et al., 2005; Squires, 2009). This study explores how different educational stakeholders have perceived the coherence of the core curriculum that aims to guide the district-level curricula and further governs the development of the national basic education system.\nFunction of coherence in curriculum reform: The effects of curriculum reform on school-level practice and development, particularly on a large scale or long-term basis (see, e.g. Coburn, 2003; Elmore, 1996), depend on the interaction between the stakeholders at different levels of the educational system and their understanding of the curriculum reform (e.g. Cheung and Wong, 2011; Fernandez et al., 2008; Fullan, 2007; Ng, 2009; Timperley and Parr, 2005; Yuen et al., 2012). High levels of perceived coherence in the core curriculum have been shown to contribute to district-level stakeholders' expectations of the impact that the curriculum reform will have on school-level development, by directing the development work toward solving problems faced by schools, and committing teachers to the development work (Sullanmaa et al., submitted).\nCurriculum reform in Finland: The educational system in Finland aims to facilitate stakeholders' coherent understandings about the curriculum by involving stakeholders from different levels of the educational system in the curriculum reform process and by emphasizing collaboration and shared goals among educational administrators, stakeholders and practitioners in the reform orchestration (Salonen-Hakomaki et al., 2016; Tikkanen et al., 2017; Vitikka et al., 2012). The national core curriculum, based on the Basic Education Act, is part of the Finnish educational steering system which outlines the mission, key objectives and core content of basic education (Vitikka et al., 2012). The Finnish National Agency for Education (formerly the Finnish National Board of Education) is responsible for orchestrating reform of the core curriculum approximately every 10 years. The most recent reform was launched in 2012. The Finnish National Agency for Education invited various stakeholders such as municipal education providers, teacher educators, researchers, principals and teachers to participate in working on different parts and content of the core curriculum. These state-level working groups were also responsible for writing the final core curriculum document, completed at the end of 2014. The core curriculum includes the main objectives and core content, and represents an outline to be collaboratively developed for local curricula by the districts and municipalities (Vitikka et al., 2012). It functions as a tool for developing a shared understanding of the values and aims of teaching and learning, and as a basis upon which teachers can build their pedagogical practices (Vitikka et al., 2012).\nAim of the study: The aim of this study was to explore state- and district-level stakeholders' perceptions of curriculum coherence and school impact in the context of Finnish national curriculum reform. Subgroups of stakeholders were identified based on the perceived curriculum coherence and school impact using latent profile analysis (LPA). It has been suggested that a certain level of agreement about a curriculum's meaning, goals and effects between the state and district levels is key to facilitating curriculum reform implementation and promoting school-level ownership and development (see, e.g. Dutro et al., 2002; Fullan, 2007; Timperley and Parr, 2005). Accordingly, the following hypotheses were tested:\nMethods: Participants\nResults: Latent profiles\nMethodological reflection: The study was conducted in the context of the Finnish national curriculum reform and the participants were individuals invited to the curriculum reform work. Thus, they may have been more development oriented, open, or active, and hence could have had more positive perceptions about the reform than their peers who were not involved in the development work to the same extent. Further, engagement in the development work was likely to provide more opportunities for sense-making and building more coherent views about the curriculum document. Accordingly, they might have adopted more coherent perceptions of the reformed curriculum than on average. However, the participants in both the state- and district-level curriculum development working groups included a large percentage of teachers, school leaders and other school staff, some of whom had no previous experience in curriculum development work. Therefore, the sample represented a variety of roles in the educational system.\nDiscussion: This study utilized a person-centered approach in exploring profiles of perceived curriculum coherence and school impact in the context of a national core curriculum reform in Finland. It also examined whether there were differences in profile memberships between the state- and district-level stakeholders involved in the curriculum reform. The results showed that 83 percent of the participants belonged to the high coherence and impact profile and 17 percent to the lower consistency of intended direction and impact profile. In addition, the differences between the state- and district-level stakeholders' odds of belonging to a certain profile were identified. The results showed that the state-level stakeholders had relatively higher odds of falling into the high coherence and impact profile, whereas the district-level stakeholders had relatively higher odds of belonging to the lower consistency of intended direction and impact profile. Earlier research has also shown that stakeholders and practitioners at different levels as groups often hold different views about educational change (Desimone, 2006; Ng, 2009; Timperley and Parr, 2005; Yuen et al., 2012).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Shared understandings of curriculum reform within and between the levels of the educational system are suggested to be crucial for the reform to take root. The purpose of this paper is to explore variation in perceived curriculum coherence and school impact among state- and district-level stakeholders.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The participants (n=666) included state- and district-level stakeholders involved in a national curriculum reform in Finland. Latent profile analysis was employed to identify profiles based on participants' perceptions of the core curriculum's coherence and the reform's impact on school development.\nFindings: Two profiles were identified: high coherence and impact, and lower consistency of the intended direction and impact. State-level stakeholders had higher odds of belonging to the high coherence and impact profile than their district-level counterparts.\nPractical implications: The results imply that more attention needs to be paid in developing a shared and coherent understanding particularly of the intended direction of the core curriculum as well as the reform's effects on school-level development among state- and district-level stakeholders.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the literature on curriculum reform by shedding light on the variation in perceived curriculum coherence and school impact of those responsible for a large-scale national curriculum reform process at different levels of the educational system.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A sustainable perspective in wine production for common-good management: The case of Fontanafredda biological "reserve"	[ "Commons", "Sustainability", "Wine sector", "Territory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The richness of a territory, a favourable climate and the presence of natural resources usually favour certain economic activities (Capasso et al., 2015: Dana et al., 2017; Festa, Ciasullo, Vrontis and Thrassou, 2016; Festa, Cuomo, Metallo and Foroudi, 2016; Festa, Cuomo, Metallo and Festa, 2016; Festa et al., 2015; Giacosa et al., 2017), which also characterise many regions thanks to strong and widespread local entrepreneurship (Bresciani, Ferraris, Santoro and Nilsen, 2016; Bresciani, Giacosa, Broccardo and Culasso, 2016; Galati, Crescimanno, Tinervia, Iliopoulos and Theodorakopoulou, 2017; Galati, Tinervia, Crescimanno and Spezia, 2017; Mariani et al., 2012; Santoro et al., 2017; Vrontis et al., 2016). This is certainly true for the wine industry (Festa et al., 2017, 2018), which is deeply marked by several attributes of the territory and by entrepreneurial orientation, knowledge and skills (Conto and Lopez, 2008; Giacosa, Giachino, Bertoldi and Stupino, 2014; Vrontis and Paliwoda, 2008; Vrontis and Thrassou, 2011).\nTheoretical background: the commons in the wine sector: The wine sector is a frequent subject of study (Vrontis et al., 2006; Vrontis, Thrassou and Rossi, 2011) because of its relevance to company revenues and employment (Bresciani, Ferraris, Santoro and Nilsen, 2016; Bresciani, Giacosa, Broccardo and Culasso, 2016; Conto and Lopez, 2008; De Salvo et al., 2017; Rossi et al., 2012; Thrassou and Vrontis, 2006, 2009). Cultural identity and commons development are strictly linked in the wine sector (Bonnekessen, 2010; Bresciani and Oliveira, 2007; Conto et al., 2014, 2015). Several decades after Hardin's (1968) seminal work, the risk of over-exploiting common goods, which leads to these goods' destruction, as he presented, remains all too real. This destruction of the commons occurs when people behave as \"free riders\" and do not factor in the need to maintain the commons as a source of benefits for all. Due to poor management, the ruin of the common good will lead to the loss of the competitive advantage derived from the good's uniqueness (Bresciani, Thrassou and Vrontis, 2015; Thrassou et al., 2014). According to Ostrom (2015), establishing common goals, approaches and rules is the best solution to conserve and manage the common good.\nMethodology: The following research question has been formulated to achieve our research goals:\nCase study: Fontanafredda: The case study presentation\nDiscussion and conclusions: Over time, Fontanafredda has become a firm that is capable of innovation (Scuotto, Santoro, Bresciani and Del Giudice, 2017), starting from Cavour's adoption of modern innovations at the beginning of the winery's history (Bresciani, 2009; Dries et al., 2014; Vrontis et al., 2016) and continuing through the firm's recent choices to shift to organic cultivation and to create a Vino Libero. Even in production, the winery maintains a constant link with local heritage and with its own tradition, as its products demonstrate; for example, the company ensures continuity in the use of historic structures and recipes (Rossi et al., 2014). This approach is connected to the broader concept of the common good that the firm has internalised; indeed, this approach has become an element of competitive advantage and differentiation for the company (Besser, 2012).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse how sustainability is crucial in maintaining and assigning value to a common good. In particular, the paper identifies several characteristics of a business model that could be adopted to manage sustainable innovation strategies that respect the balance among environmental, social and commercial goals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This case study involves Fontanafredda, an internationally recognised historical Italian wine company characterised by its highly innovative business approach and sustainable business model.\nFindings: Fontanafredda's approach is connected to the broader concept of the common good the winery has internalised to become an element of its competitive advantage and differentiation. The preservation of traditional values - primarily the respect and valuing of one's own territory - is a key asset of the winery, which attaches great symbolic and concrete importance to these values.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study uses a single case study approach and a qualitative method without quantifying the impact of every business choice. For theoretical implications, the study emphasises the strong connection between sustainability and innovation in the management of the common good.\nPractical implications: Numerous practical implications are identified regarding several stakeholder groups, such as the management, owners, investors and the various entities linked to the regional promotion and tourism sectors.\nOriginality/value: This research explores how and why Fontanafredda amounts to more than simply wine production by focusing on the characteristics of its business model, which efficiently handles the link between innovation and heritage for common-good development.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Insights from the failure of the Countrywide Financial Corporation	[ "Financial reporting", "Executive compensation", "Mortgage loan securitization" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This paper examines the business activities, financial reports, and management compensation practices of Countrywide Financial Corporation (Countrywide) in the period preceding the company's financial distress and eventual takeover by Bank of America in 2008. The analysis is framed around the following three questions. The first relates to the development of Countrywide's business model which evolved to become a mortgage origination and securitization operation, and whether this business model contributed to the company's demise. Second, the study examines whether the risks associated with Countrywide's business activities were transparently reflected in the financial reports. Third, we analyze whether Countrywide's executive compensation practices encouraged management behaviors that ultimately led to the company's financial distress.\n2. The business model and operations: 2.1 Setting the scene\n3. The countrywide business as reflected in the financial reports: An overview of Countrywide's financial performance is presented in Table II. Panel A shows strong growth over the period 2000-2006. Total revenues grew by 490 percent from $1.93 billions to $11.42 billions, and income grew by 615 percent from $374.15 millions to $2,674.86 millions. The largest contributor to revenue growth was \"gain on the sale of loans and securities,\" which reached $5,681.85 millions or 49.5 percent of total revenues in 2006. A breakdown of the margins on selling loans and securities is provided in the Form 10-K and some inferences may be drawn about Countrywide's operations. First, there is a negative relation between profit margin and loan quality. Second, there is an increase in profit margin on loans labeled \"prime.\" However, this latter loan category included \"non-conforming loans\" which were not separately identified despite the fact that the proportion of these riskier loans was increasing. With hindsight, it is easy to suggest that investors in Countrywide should have been aware that the company's activities were expanding more rapidly than competitors, and that this was a function of originating and securitizing riskier loans and more lower lending standards. The increased profit margins and rising delinquency and foreclosure rates are indicators of the riskier nature of the loans. However, this risk was not explicitly described in the financial disclosures.\n4. Governance and compensation practices: Angelo Mozilo was one of the founders of Countrywide in 1969 and assumed the CEO role in February 1998. He also became Chairman of the Board in March 1999, and President in March 2000, while continuing as CEO. Accordingly, he had deep knowledge of the company from long association, and potentially held strong influence over the board because of the founder role and CEO duality. This is consistent with Ravina and Sapienza (2010) who provide evidence that CEOs and executive directors are closer to the firm, and hold more inside information compared to other directors on the board. It is also consistent with Adams et al. (2010) who find that the insider status of executive directors also raises the issue of balance of power, which can affect the optimal functioning of the board. With dispersed ownership of the company and incentives for the rest of the board to maintain the benefits that come with board membership, CEOs with excessive power are less likely to bargain at arm's length on matters such as compensation arrangements (Bebchuk et al., 2002; Jensen et al., 2004).\n5. Conclusions: The objective of this paper is to provide insights into the causes of the 2007-2010 financial crisis and inform the regulatory debate that has followed. Commentators variously \"blamed\" the financial crisis on financial reporting failures, securitization and low-quality credit policies, unregulated trading of securities (such as over the counter trading of mortgage backed securities and credit default swaps), and the collapse of the real estate market. To inform this debate we conducted an in-depth analysis of Countrywide, a company exhibiting many of the business practices observed among financial institutions in the years leading up to the crisis.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to evaluate the business activities, financial reports, and management compensation practices of Countrywide Financial Corporation (Countrywide) in the period preceding the company's financial distress and leading to its eventual takeover by Bank of America in 2008. This analysis provides a number of insights into the risks that Countrywide was exposed to which may guide future research and financial management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Case study evaluating the failure of Countrywide Financial Corporation.\nFindings: First, Countrywide was highly reliant upon the securitization of mortgage loans to finance its activities and this was apparent in the financial reports. Second, these securitization transactions exposed Countrywide to significant financial risks, including the risk inherent in the uncertain values of residual interests and warrantees. Problematically, these risks were not transparently reflected in the financial reports, as confirmed by the lag in the timing of stock price responses. This untimely market response suggests the equity market was not aware of Countrywide's risk exposures until shortly before the company's solvency crisis. Third, the compensation practices of Countrywide encouraged and rewarded management for exposing the firm to significant risks.\nPractical implications: This paper provides insights into financial management that are relevant for researchers and professionals.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides insights for researchers and practitioners relating to the impact of asset securitization on business risk and how these business activities and risks are disclosed in the financial reports.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Finnish "state of mind" on inter-organizational integration: A cost accounting and cost management perspective	[ "Cost accounting", "Cost management", "Management control", "Control techniques", "Finnish survey", "Inter-organizational relationships" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: 30 years have passed since \"networks\" were identified as the third form of organization alongside conventional \"markets\" and \"hierarchies\" (Hakansson, 1982; Thorelli, 1986). In the course of time, the nature of inter-organizational relationships has been metamorphosing from arm's length transactions toward relational, and thus more complex interactions through subcontracting, outsourcing, alliances and joint ventures. This kind of development, which can be described as network formation, is increasingly challenging academics' outlook on management control (see, e.g. Dekker, 2004; Hakansson and Lind, 2007; Caglio and Ditillo, 2008). Caglio and Ditillo (2008) emphasize that management control in the inter-organizational domain comprises three distinct layers; control archetypes, management control and cost and accounting control. Out of these layers of control, this paper is focused specifically on cost and accounting control, which by definition transgresses organizational boundaries.\n2. Research design: 2.1 Data collection\n3. Analysis, findings and discussion: 3.1 In search of reciprocal correlations: factor analysis\n4. Conclusions and implications: The factor analysis resulted in five factors three of which were eventually accepted: Factor 1: \"orientation to joint cost management,\" Factor 2: \"the current state of cost management,\" and Factor 3: \"interest to develop cost management.\" Based on these three factors, five distinctive clusters of companies were identified from the data: Cluster 1: \"the cost experts,\" Cluster 2: \"the trustful,\" Cluster 3: \"the holdouts,\" Cluster 4: \"the trailblazers\" and Cluster 5: \"the uncertain\". These clusters form the answer to the following research question:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The role of management control is frequently emphasized in connection with inter-organizational relationships and value networks. For example, boundary-spanning cost and accounting control techniques have been studied in multifaceted empirical settings. The prevalence of such techniques is, however, currently unknown in conjunction with companies' interests to increase inter-organizational integration in general. Additionally, also the nexus between the internal state of cost management and the company's willingness to develop inter-organizational relationships requires further investigation. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is based on an extensive survey that was responded to by more than 1,500 CEOs and CFOs from large, medium-sized and small Finnish enterprises in a variety of industries. As the authors chose the mixed-methods approach, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected for the study.\nFindings: The findings suggest that companies can be allocated to five clusters: \"the cost experts,\" \"the trustful,\" \"the holdouts,\" \"the trailblazers\" and \"the uncertain\". When the networking-oriented clusters, \"the trustful\" and \"the trailblazers\" are combined, the authors can conclude that 40 percent of the studied companies are interested in increasing inter-organizational integration. However, only 7 percent have boundary-spanning techniques in use. There is also a correlation between interest in integrating and developing cost management.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper contains several theoretical implications, although further research, e.g. comparative studies, is required to verify the findings. The scarcity of managerial implications can be regarded as a limitation.\nOriginality/value: This paper fills several untapped research gaps by studying inter-organizational integration in the cost management context from multiple, complementary perspectives with a particularly large set of data.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The influence of m-marketing tools on consumer buying process: evidence from the dining sector	[ "Mobile marketing tools", "Consumer decision-making", "Customer loyalty" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Since the introduction of SMS in 2000, mobile marketing (thereafter, m-marketing) proliferated (McCorkle et al., 2013). Following relevant technological developments and the subsequent introduction of smartphones, numerous functions can now be offered through a mobile phone, most of which can be used for marketing purposes. As mobile users increased, marketers began to apply mobile features in their marketing campaigns. Currently, mobile broadband networks cover 84% of the world's population, about 47% of which use the internet (ITU, 2016). In developing countries, 80% of the population is users of mobile phones (ITU, 2016). These figures highlight that the effectiveness of m-marketing depends on the adoption rate of mobile devices and Internet services, and the marketing activities performed through the available m-marketing tools. In addition, consumer attitudes towards those functions are highly influential. The smartphone, which has now replaced the traditional mobile phone device, has an advanced interface, and the capacity of continuous new applications to be used by consumers. Thus, it offers numerous opportunities for marketers, considering its increased capacity and adoption rate and usage (Andrews et al., 2016). Moreover, there is a shift in online marketing from computers to mobiles. According to Nielsen (2014), consumers' use of smartphone web browsers has exceeded their usage of computer-based browsers in USA and the UK. However, most consumers showed little receptiveness towards m-marketing (Shankar et al., 2016). Thus, while smartphone use is on the increase, consumer adoption of m-marketing tools seems to be low. This might be due to the likely negative consumer's attitudes and firms' scepticism about m-marketing effectiveness (Bart et al., 2014). These trends present several challenges for marketers in terms of understanding the smartphone potential and subsequently develop appropriate marketing strategies. There are calls for further research about m-marketing in general and smartphone marketing in particular, especially on the effect of m-marketing on consumer shopping (e.g. Marriott et al., 2017; Shankar et al., 2016). There is also a lack of studies that explore m-marketing from marketers' viewpoint, and further research is needed in different service contexts (Kim and Law, 2015). Additionally, m-marketing may be more suitable for some products precisely the higher involvement ones (Bart et al., 2014). In that respect, the dining sector could provide a useful context to examine the application of relevant m-marketing tools.The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of m-marketing tools on the stages of consumer decision-making process. This topic is approached from a mobile tools' perspective and focuses on smartphone users who are interested in and receptive to m-marketing. In that respect, first, the paper identifies the mobile apps containing marketing functions and that have been found useful for a specific decision-making task (i.e. dining). Second, it examines consumer's acceptance of these services; and third, it explores the potential impact of each m-marketing function on the stages of the dining decision-making process. Usage behavioural patterns are examined from the perspectives of both consumers and marketers. Qualitative research method is employed considering the exploratory nature of this study and the limited research evidence on the topic. The dining sector in Lebanon is used as the geographic context, considering that it would provide new empirical evidence from a developing country. This study focused on smartphone apps and their functions that are relevant for marketing activity. It contributes to the literature by connecting relevant mobile apps with the stages of the consumer decision-making process. It presents new empirical evidence on mobile apps usage from the perspectives of both marketers and consumers. It is also found that the decision-making process of loyal customers is further affected by m-marketing tools than the repeat customers. It should be noted that in the current study, loyal customers are considered those showing psychological commitment to the restaurant brand (attitudinal loyalty), accompanied by repeat behaviour, whereas the repeat customers just repurchase the service (Thakur, 2018). Marketing strategies should address findings by focusing on loyal customers and opinion leaders with appropriate m-marketing functions at each stage of the consumer decision-making process.The paper is structured as follows. The next section presents the conceptual background of this study, comprising a literature review of extant research and the theories that guided it. This is followed by the research method section where the data collection method, the sampling strategy, and the data analysis approach are explained. The next section discusses the findings. Finally, implications for further research and practice are noted and conclusions are drawn.\nConceptual background: M-marketing\nResearch method: Data collection\nResults and discussion: In the following paragraphs, a presentation of results per m-marketing tool will take place, emphasizing on adoption, ease of use, usefulness, and its impact on the stages of consumers' decision-making process. Moreover, results will be presented for marketers and consumers interchangeably, for reasons of coherence, to enrich the results emerging and present a canvas of both stakeholders' views. An overview of key findings per function and stakeholder type appears in Tables 2 and 3, with respective suggestions aside to provide a better understanding.M-marketing tools acceptance\nConclusions and implications: Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper explores the potential impact of mobile marketing tools on consumer buying behaviour within the context of dining. The aim is to examine the influence of mobile marketing tools through their different functions on the stages of the consumer buying process. The study addresses a lack of relevant research with evidence from both customer and supplier perspectives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The mobile tools that are found useful for dining were considered in this study. Qualitative interviews with marketers and consumer opinion leaders were conducted, given the limited extant research.\nFindings: The results reveal that mobile marketing tools influence consumers' decision-making differently and their effect varies according to the customer type. Additionally, it shows that loyalty has a direct influence on mobile marketing effectiveness, as the decision-making process of loyal customers is more affected by mobile marketing tools than the non-loyal customers.\nResearch limitations/implications: The limitations are mainly based on the qualitative nature of this study and are relevant to the research context. Further research could examine these findings in different service and geographical contexts.\nPractical implications: Marketing activity through the smartphone should focus on loyal customers and opinion leaders with the use of appropriate mobile tools.\nOriginality/value: The study provides empirical evidence on the variable influence of mobile marketing tools on consumer decision-making and develops a conceptual framework. It is also found that loyalty is an important factor that positively affects smartphone tools adoption.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Young luxury fashion consumers' preferences in multi-channel environment	[ "Multi-channel", "Conjoint analysis", "Luxury consumer", "Product attribute", "Channel attribute" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With the growth of digital technology, luxury fashion consumers today utilise several channels including brick-and-mortar stores and online channels to search for information and purchase products. Luxury products have been traditionally sold at brick-and-mortar stores (e.g. offline) because of their highly priced and prestigious characteristics (Vigneron and Johnson, 1999). Luxury fashion consumers expect personalised customer services and tactile shopping experiences corresponding to the higher price (Dauriz et al., 2014). Thus, a common form of multi-channel shopping has been found to be using the online channel for information, product discovery and price comparison, whereas the offline channel is used for the actual purchase (Yu et al., 2011). However, this way of thinking has evolved. According to Achille et al. (2018), approximately 78 per cent of luxury sales are digitally influenced or conducted online. Moreover, online luxury sales currently make up 8 per cent of total luxury sales in the United States; however, these are expected to grow up to 25 per cent by 2025 (D'Arpizio and Levato, 2017). About 23 per cent of younger consumers between 18 and 35 years old have used an online channel for their first luxury purchase. Therefore, it is important to understand what attributes young consumers prefer in their online luxury shopping journey compared to an offline shopping journey.With several luxury retailers experiencing stagnant growth due to market saturation in the luxury industry, the effective utilisation of multi-channel was emphasised in recent years (Dahlhoff, 2016). Multi-channel practices refer to using multiple channels, both online and offline channels, to attract more cross-shoppers, a broader range of consumers and provide convenience, a key benefit sought by young consumers (Harris et al., 2011; Yu et al., 2011). Variations in the attributes of each channel can elicit differing levels of utility, and the ways consumers perceive these attributes can significantly influence their channel choice (Schoenbachler and Gordon, 2002; Shin and Kim, 2006). Consumers can enjoy broader and deeper product assortments, lower prices and detailed product information in the online channels compared with the traditional offline stores (Choi and Shen, 2017; Lu, 2017; Noble et al., 2005). Moreover, virtual technology began to be used in the online channel by several luxury retailers such as Burberry and Dior to provide comparable service quality and experience to the offline environment (Paulet, 2017). In contrast, in the offline environment, consumers experience superior employee-based service quality with the availability of instant access to the product through direct acquisition (Al-hawari and Mouakket, 2012; Lebel, 2016; Shackleton, 2016). However, there is an inherent dilemma in the management process of multi-channel. In the past, when consumers opted to use online channels, the sales in offline stores were cannibalised (Schoenbachler and Gordon, 2002). Hence, to establish an effective strategy that does not undermine the strength of either online or offline channels, it is imperative to understand what consumers prefer and expect from luxury retailers in the online versus offline channels. Also, it is critical to find the ideal combination of attributes for each type of channel.In the luxury industry, it is important to account for the influence of the product category and price point on the channel choice, because the luxury sector can be sub-divided with these criteria (Quan and Shen, 2017). Similarly, Taillez (2017) argued that luxury exists in diverse sub-categories, which use different strategies. Even if luxury products are characterised by their limited production, craftsmanship and high price, a variety of products are provided today to increase the sales, bringing democratisation of luxury (Kapferer and Bastien, 2009; Truong et al., 2009). In fact, there are a total three types of luxury based on price point, which are absolute, aspirational and affordable luxury, and the product categories can be largely classified into four, which are beauty, ready-to-wear apparel, accessories and watches and jewellery (Achille et al., 2018; Rambourg, 2014). According to Rambourg (2014), the order of luxury segments in terms of price point is depicted as a pyramid. For instance, the lowest segment is affordable or accessible luxury. Generally, consumers who purchase accessible luxury have a tendency to purchase products online more than aspirational and absolute luxury consumers because the higher prices of these two segments pose greater risks to them (Dauriz et al., 2014; Taillez, 2017). In the case of product category, some categories experience more purchases online than via offline channels. Specifically, beauty products were most purchased in the online channel by luxury consumers, followed by ready-to-wear apparel because of their lower price points (Achille et al., 2018). Hence, channel attributes as well as product attributes within defined product categories and price points should be incorporated into the profiles for analysis.In this paper, based on relevant literature, two major groups of factors that affect consumers' channel choice were investigated: product-related factors and shopping-related factors (Chen et al., 2010; Kim and Hyun, 2009; Shin and Kim, 2006). Overall, the findings of previous studies lacked the ability to explain the differences in consumer preferences between online and offline channels despite a plethora of literature on product and shopping attributes that consumers evaluate (Chen et al., 2010; Chiam et al., 2009; Kim et al., 2015; Schaupp and Belanger, 2005). Additionally, previous studies only evaluated the importance of each attribute and did not consider the interaction among the attributes, even though in reality consumers make an overall judgement by incorporating the relative importance of each attribute, requiring complex trade-offs (Green et al., 2001). Moreover, these attributes should be examined specifically in the luxury industry because the way young luxury fashion consumers make trade-offs can be quite different from consumers in other sectors.Given the importance of growing young luxury fashion consumers as well as the necessity of establishing effective strategies in the multi-channel environment, the purpose of this study is to compare preferences for distinct product and shopping attributes between online and offline channels when young consumers purchase luxury products. This study employs a conjoint analysis method to investigate how different attributes affect the channel choice in more realistic settings.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Luxury fashion consumers in multi-channel environment\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Data collection and sample profiles\n4. Results and discussions: 4.1 Attribute importance\n5. Implications and limitations: Today, digitally influenced young luxury consumers utilise multiple shopping channels and choose the most value-added channel for purchases, compared to typical luxury consumers who tend to choose the offline channel in order to have shopping experiences they associate with the higher prices. Thus, the present study examined the relative impact of different attributes on the luxury product shopping. The results of this study provide managerial implications by providing insights into the optimal combination of product and channel attributes for young luxury consumers' shopping in either the online or the offline channel. Six attributes, which can be classified into product attributes and channel attributes, were examined: price, product assortment, product category, availability of human-assisted service, availability of VFRs and channel type.Among the attributes, price was the most important to young luxury consumers in the multi-channel environment, followed by availability of human-assisted service, availability of virtual fitting rooms, product assortment, product category and channel type. The luxury product that survey respondents were most willing to purchase was luxury watches and jewellery with a price range of $100~$1,200 provided in offline channels, which have a broad range of product assortment, human-assisted service and VFRs. It was clear that multiple attributes such as product attributes and channel attributes were valued and respondents appeared to make some trade-offs between attributes when purchasing luxury products. To be specific, since the price was the most important factor that young consumers consider, luxury firms can benefit from introducing additional lines of affordable luxury to both online and offline channels for short periods of time, unless it significantly dilutes their prestigious brand image. In addition, the most striking finding from the conjoint analysis was the significant importance placed on channel attributes including human-assisted service and VFRs compared to product attributes other than price. This was surprising as product attributes were considered to be more important in many studies. Several influential functional and symbolic aspects of products were basically evaluated based on product attributes (Im and Go, 2015; Wiedmann et al., 2009). This finding of channel attributes being more important than product attributes suggests that a sole focus in product attributes may not be effective. Rather, it is more important to provide complementary additional services, which were exclusive in the offline channels in the past, such as human interaction and fitting experience. In other words, rather than trying to predict which channel consumers prefer, luxury retailers need to adopt an approach which focuses on enhancing consumer experiences through offering effective experiential channel attributes that allow consumers to have human-assisted service or use VFRs. Hence, it would be more desirable to provide personalised and innovative attributes to enhance channel performance overall, unless luxury firms try to compete based on price. Specifically, in the case of human-assisted service, it is imperative to find effective ways to translate human-based interactive experience to online channels perhaps through developing innovative technologies, which are only marginally available through call centres or artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbots now. Meanwhile, in comparing the probabilities of purchasing luxury products in terms of channel types, while holding the other attributes at the most preferred levels, respondents were more willing to purchase luxury products in the offline channel. However, due to the small relative importance of channel type, the key attributes that exert greater influence on the order of the combinations were lower price, followed by availability of human-assisted service, availability of virtual fitting rooms, broad product assortment and less-consumable and durable product category. Given the small difference between online and offline, in order to thoroughly explain young luxury consumers' channel choice, it is important to study external factors such as demographics or psychographics (e.g. shopping orientations, motivations) that can influence the way consumers process the attributes. In addition, they can be used to further segment young luxury consumers based on their unique characteristics (Kwon and Jain, 2009). However, the unique characteristic of each channel should be not discounted considering the significant differences.Academically, this study can fill a gap in the literature regarding consumers' trade-offs between relevant attributes and channel choice behaviour in the multi-channel environment. In prior studies, attention has been primarily given to the single-channel retail environment, addressing the key factors that determine consumers' decision-making in the online versus offline channels (Yu et al., 2011), overlooking the comprehensive nature of consumers' decision-making. In reality, consumers make decisions based on complex trade-offs between several relevant attributes. In this respect, this study provides academic implications by presenting empirically significant attributes in the multi-channel environment, taking the connectedness among the attributes into account. Also, the study confirmed the difference between typical luxury consumers and young luxury consumers by revealing that young luxury consumers place greater importance on price, followed by supportive services provided in the channels rather than on the type of purchase channel. The present study also provides some potential directions for further research. First, more research on multi-channel consumers' decision-making mechanisms when purchasing luxury products may aid in understanding the small differences found between the channel types and greater differences found in the product and channel attributes. Second, in the current study, luxury consumers placed great importance on shopping attributes including human-assisted service and VFRs compared to product attributes except for price. Since human-assisted service and VFRs both can have variations in their characteristics in terms of the method (e.g. salesperson, call centre, kiosk) and the level of advancement in technology (e.g. artificial intelligence, virtual reality) they use, more research on the way consumers make trade-offs among clearly defined service options can be helpful in understanding the distinction among the \"Yes\", \"Moderate\" and \"No\" classification used in this study. Lastly, while this study revealed that young luxury consumers place higher perceived value on price rather than on service experiences or other aspects of product attributes, considering the greater degree of involvement in the purchase decision process of luxury products compared to non-luxury products, it would be meaningful to examine the differences in importance placed on the respective types of products in the future studies.Although meaningful implications were derived from this study, there is room for further improvement. First, the respondents to the survey in the present study are young consumers in the United States, which limits the generalisability of the findings. More generalisable results can be obtained by examining consumer groups with different demographics such as gender, education level and nationality in further studies. Second, despite the growth of young luxury consumers and middle-class luxury consumers, the use of young consumers can be problematic considering they comparatively have a smaller annual income than typical luxury consumers. Their relatively low income level indicates that they are not the primary luxury consumers, even if they may be potential consumers of affordable and accessible luxury. Therefore, it is important to screen the respondents based on their discretionary income in future research to involve individuals who have a higher level of income.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore and examine the relative impact of product and channel attributes on luxury product shopping in the multi-channel environment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A D-optimal discrete choice conjoint design was used. The data were analysed using a multinomial logit model and desirability indices.\nFindings: Findings indicate that low price was the most important factor that influenced young consumers' preferences. After price, young luxury consumers placed a greater importance on channel attributes such as human-assisted service and virtual fitting rooms.\nResearch limitations/implications: The sample consisted of young consumers in their 20s and 30s, who utilise both online and offline channels. Hence, the income level was relatively low. Also, the results cannot be generalised to all luxury consumers.\nPractical implications: Providing preferable channel attributes is more crucial to young luxury fashion shoppers than focusing on improving product attributes, with the exception of price.\nOriginality/value: The paper proposes the optimal combination of key product and channel attributes that is most preferable to young luxury fashion consumers in the multi-channel environment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Total acquisition cost of overseas outsourcing/sourcing: a framework and a case study	[ "Modelling", "Outsourcing", "Purchasing", "Manufacturing systems", "Cost effectiveness" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Overseas outsourcing can be costly. The cost savings may not be as great as they seem (Gilley and Rasheed, 2000). Recently, many UK manufacturers have transferred their production to low-cost regions all over the world including Mexico, India, and People's Republic of China (PRC). Among the various motives for these international outsourcing/sourcing projects, seeking cost effectiveness is very frequently mentioned. However, the cost savings may not be as great as they seem. Although cheaper labour can be obtained, other extra expenses will also occur. Furthermore, the further the distance between the host location and the outsourcer, the more the uncertainties and risks are. These uncertainties and risks may lead to unexpected costs which offset gains from cheaper labour, or even result in losses to the outsourcer.In order to have a complete picture of all the potential costs of the offshore outsourcing projects, companies should adopt a total cost model. However, the systematic utilization of cost measurement in outsourcing is quite rare in practice (Lindholm and Suomala, 2004). The total cost of outsourcing is not widely addressed in the academic literature. As Ellram and Maltz (1995, p. 58) state, \"Most research done on how the outsourcing decision is or should be made focuses at a macro level ...Yet little research has been done to explore how cost is determined in outsourcing decisions\". This is still the case in the overseas outsourcing/sourcing field. Therefore, this research aims at bridging this gap.\nLiterature review: In the transaction cost theory and general purchasing literature, there have been some approaches proposed that aim at modelling the costs occurring during the general purchasing or sourcing process. Transaction cost economics (Coase, 1937; Williamson, 1975) is the earliest theory addressing this topic. However, although many attempts to operationalise transaction cost theory have been made, it seems that due to its complexity, they have only been able to address a few specific transactions (Calfee and Rubin, 1993).From the late 1980s, in the field of purchasing, some researchers began to propose making the supplier selection decision from a total cost point of view instead of just focusing on the purchase price. Monckza and Trecha (1988) introduce the supplier performance index, which is the sum of purchase price and non-performance cost divided by the purchase price. \"Non-performance cost\" refers to the additional costs incurred by the buying organization to correct the deficiencies, when a supplier fails to meet delivery, quality and price requirements. Since, the early 1990s, several authors have proposed the adoption of the concept of total cost of ownership (TCO) into the purchasing field. Smytka and Clemens (1993) divide the total costs into two categories: external costs and internal costs. The external costs include: price; discount term; ordering costs; transportation; supplier visits; tooling and technical support. The internal costs include: inventory cost, delivery expediting cost, line down cost and non-conformance cost. Carr and Ittner (1992) contend that suppliers' value should be defined in terms of the costs of purchasing, the costs of holding inventory, the costs of poor quality and the costs of delivery failure. From another perspective, Ellram (1993) proposes a framework of the cost components that divides the costs into categories of pre-transaction, transaction, and post-transaction. In addition, Ellram argues there are several barriers to applying TCO in practice, including the lack of readily available accounting and costing data due to the allocation mechanism of traditional cost accounting systems. Combining TCO and activity-based costing, Degraeve et al. (2005) develop a framework containing activities, resources consumed and resource drivers for allocating the relevant costs, according to the value chain and purchasing activities. In contrast to TCO, life cycle costing (LCC) (Taylor, 1981; Lindholm and Suomala, 2005; Woodward, 1997; Emblemsvag, 2003) emphasizes estimating costs on a whole life cycle basis and monitoring the incurred cost through a product's life cycle. Additionally, LCC communicates the costs as time-dependent variables and underlines dealing with uncertainty and risk. Different from TCO and LCC, zero base pricing (Burt et al., 1990) focuses heavily on understanding the supplier's cost structure.The above literature addresses sourcing activities in general; there are also contributions specific to overseas sourcing. In the field of global outsourcing/sourcing and foreign direct investment (FDI), many academic efforts have been put into the areas of entry mode selection (Anderson and Gatignon, 1986; Burpitt and Rondinelli, 2004; Elango and Sambharya, 2004), the effect of protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) on global sourcing and FDI (Javorcik, 2004; Seyoum, 1996; Smith, 2001), location selection (Pongpanich, 2000; Burpitt and Rondinelli, 2004; Chadee et al., 2003; Coughlin et al., 1991). Some authors address the topic of performance consequences of global sourcing. For example, Min et al. (1994) underline the risks and complexities involved in the global sourcing process compared with sourcing from a domestic supplier, including political atmosphere, tariff barriers, variations in ethical and quality standards, currency exchange rate, cultural and communication obstacles and so on. Rangan (2000) argues that, while a foreign supplier's production cost levels will generally be lower and the quality of its products may or may not be higher, the transaction cost levels attached to international transactions are almost invariably higher. Mol et al. (2005) state that international outsourcing is a balancing act between lower production costs abroad and lower transaction costs locally. Kotabe and Murray (2004) explore potential limitations and negative consequences of global outsourcing and mention the gradual loss of design and manufacturing abilities because of heavy dependence on global suppliers on an arm's-length basis. However, the topic of modelling the total cost of global sourcing has not been widely addressed.\nMethodology: In order to develop a total cost framework for overseas outsourcing/sourcing practice, this research combined inputs from literature and from practitioners. A review of the general purchasing literature and a specific review of global outsourcing/sourcing literature provided an initial list of costs. Interviews with practitioners from seven manufacturing companies and a consulting company with the experience of overseas outsourcing or sourcing provided practitioner input. The interviews were semi-structured. Each of the discussions was guided by pre-designed questions, but frequent departures from the agenda were made in the interest of exploring new and particularly interesting points raised in the course of each interview. Based on the inputs from both academic literature and interviews, a framework of the total cost of overseas outsourcing or sourcing was developed. The framework was then tested by a case study in a multinational high-tech manufacturer to establish both its feasibility and usability (Platts, 1993).Interviews with industrial practitioners and framework development\nDiscussion: Considering only the price, transport, tax and duty, the direct cost saving of this China sourcing project in Company A was 388,000 GBP per year. When the total cost is considered, the saving is less significant, 294,210 GBP. However, had it not been for a windfall saving due to currency fluctuations, this saving would have been even less. This shows the necessity to carry out total cost analysis for decision-making, especially when the direct cost saving (price, freight, tax and duty) is not significant, say less than 10 per cent. Although some of the additional costs can be relatively easily predicted and will remain fairly stable, there are a number of sources of volatile costs. These costs are difficult to predict and introduce a significant amount of risk into the outsourcing project. The main volatile costs are discussed below.* In this case, because of the character of cabinets, Company A did not take any action to protect the IPR, which is a main concern for many manufacturers when their products are outsourced or sourced to the less developed countries. Protections such as patenting the process for IPR or separating the process and using different suppliers will lead to additional costs. On the other hand, if no IPR protection action is taken, the potential loss may be great.* Currency fluctuation during the past year has brought Company A a benefit of about 27,000 GBP; but this kind of benefit cannot be counted on, as currency fluctuation can also bring the same or even larger amount of loss. Companies should consider hedging to mitigate such risks.* Because of the mature design, the obsolescence risk of the component (cabinets) re-sourced by Company A was nearly zero. Therefore, this major side effect of soaring inventory resulted from offshoring has not appeared in this case. However, with a product that undergoes frequent engineering changes or has large variety and fluctuating customer demand, the risk of obsolescence is much higher, when a large amount of inventory is held.* The component re-sourced, was not technically complicated and it was easy for the supplier to guarantee the quality. However, for other overseas outsourcing/sourcing cases, reliable quality is always a big concern.* Before the re-sourcing project, Company A already had a factory in PRC. With this presence, it was much easier to find local suppliers and provide technology support. Therefore, the expenditure for engineering support turned out to be nearly the same as before.* With a sourcing director who was a Chinese national, the cultural differences which always hinder an overseas sourcing process were greatly relieved.* Located in Shanghai where legal systems are very transparent, Company A encountered no local government corruption. But it may not be the case in other regions of PRC or other developing countries.During the case study, the biggest challenge was the shortage of data. Most of the information needed is either unavailable from the accounting system or buried in the general overhead and not available on the individual project level. For example,* Cost of people's time for supplier selection is not available from the existing accounting system. To quantify this cost, the relevant staffs who were involved in this project were asked to estimate the time contributed to the project. The time was then multiplied by the wage rate of the relevant staff to calculate the staff time cost.* Benefit from payment term changes and capital cost of inventory are not quantified at all in the company. They were calculated by multiplying the tied up capital by the capital cost rate.* Benefit (or loss) from currency exchange rate fluctuation is not quantified in the company. It was calculated by figuring out the gain (or loss) in each calendar month (see the relevant section for detail).* Quality costs were estimated by talking with the operations director in the company to discover what problems had occurred and the cost of dealing with the problems.* Video conference cost and travel expenditure are accounted in the company in the overhead. Video conference cost was calculated as specified in section \"supplier management\". Travel expenditure was quantified by referring to the invoices and receipts documents (e.g. flight tickets, hotel invoices, etc.) in the company.This situation (shortage of data) is consistent with literature (Ellram and Siferd, 1998; Lindholm and Suomala, 2004). In addition, through interviews it was discovered that due to the different goals in different departments, purchasing people still pay much attention to the direct costs such as price, freight, tax and duty. They lack understanding of what costs should be included in the total cost model. This also supports the points from Ellram and Siferd (1998).Another issue emerged from the case study: how to deal with the tradeoff between accuracy and applicability. During the case study process, because of the lack of direct available data and the large number of cost items to be considered, it took nearly two weeks to collect information. The question is when companies are using the model by themselves, will they have time, resource and patience to gather all the information for the long list of cost items? As a purchasing project manager in Company A said:We don't need so scientific a model that several weeks are needed to populate it. What we need is a model which is just accurate enough for our decision-making and does not occupy too much time and resource.Future research, therefore, will endeavour to rate the cost items according to their importance. Hence, during the offshoring decision-making process, management can concentrate on the relatively important cost items and may neglect the less important ones.In the case study, the total cost model was used to estimate the historical cost. Another application of this cost model is to estimate the future cost for the offshoring decision-making and budgeting. How to handle uncertainty is an issue, because a part of the input data have to be defined on the basis of different estimations and assumptions about the development of costs (Lindholm and Suomala, 2005).\nConclusions: Based on the inputs both from academic literature and interviews with practitioners, this research has proposed a total cost framework consisting of the cost items that may occur during the overseas outsourcing/sourcing process. A case study has been carried out to demonstrate the feasibility and usability of the framework. As always, there are limitations to the generalizations that can be made from just one case. However, despite these limitations, we believe this case study has showed the general requirement of modelling the uncertainty and dealing with the dilemma between accuracy and applicability in practice.The above show the first stage of the research. The next step is to create a mechanism for dealing with uncertainty in estimation and to rate the importance of the cost items in the proposed framework. Afterwards, further testing the cost model will be carried out through multiple case studies. With the future research outcomes, we expect to make contribution to both academia and industrial practice in this field.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework of total acquisition cost of overseas outsourcing/sourcing in manufacturing industry. This framework contains categorized cost items that may occur during the overseas outsourcing/sourcing process. The framework was tested by a case study to establish both its feasibility and usability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - First, interviews were carried out with practitioners who have the experience of overseas outsourcing/sourcing in order to obtain inputs from industry. The framework was then built up based on combined inputs from literature and from practitioners. Finally, the framework was tested by a case study in a multinational high-tech manufacturer to establish both its feasibility and usability.\nFindings: - A practical barrier for implementing this framework is shortage of information. The predictability of the cost items in the framework varies. How to deal with the trade off between accuracy and applicability is a problem needed to be solved in the future research.\nOriginality/value: - There are always limitations to the generalizations that can be made from just one case. However, despite these limitations, this case study is believed to have shown the general requirement of modeling the uncertainty and dealing with the dilemma between accuracy and applicability in practice.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Nursing under inconsistent organizational conditions: Evidence of double bind situations?	[ "Nursing", "Double bind situation", "Employee outcomes", "Organizational inconsistency" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Like most organizations, health care organizations often find it difficult to align competing and changing rules, demands, tasks, duties, constraints and norms (hereafter referred to as organizational conditions) in a consistent way, so that they uniformly influence employee attitudes and behavior (hereafter referred to as employee outcomes) in desired directions (Meyer et al., 1993; Siggelkow, 2002). However, inconsistent organizational conditions generally have a negative impact on employee attitudes and behavior: for example, inconsistent conditions negatively affect learning and innovation (Carmeli and Gittell, 2009; Lee et al., 2004), and psychological safety (Edmondson, 1999; Leroy et al., 2012). More in general, inconsistent conditions may lead to symptoms of behavioral disturbance, like anxiety, fear, rigidity, inhibition and aggression (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004; Mineka and Kihlstrom, 1978; Staw et al., 1981).\nOrganizational double bind situation and employee outcomes: The concept of double bind situation has been rather extensively used to theorize about the ways in which inconsistent organizational conditions may affect employee outcomes. In Table I, we have collected 22 definitions of the double bind situation, derived from the management and organization literature that has appeared between 1977 and 2014.\nMethod: Empirical research on the double bind situation, and its effects, has long been the province of experimental psychology. However, reviewers of double bind research have repeatedly emphasized the limitations of the experimental method in bringing out the various interrelated elements of double binding. In addition to experiments, they have advocated an ethological or natural history research approach, taking relationships in real-life social settings as the appropriate level of analysis (Abeles, 1976; Sluzki and Ransom, 1976; Visser, 2010). Our research takes a first step in this direction by surveying nurses in health care organizations, using Bateson's (1972) original seven-dimension definition of double bind situation.\nResults: Before testing our hypothesis, we computed means, standard deviations and reliability coefficients for all study variables (Cronbach's a) (see Table III). The reliabilities for all scales are sufficient or good. Seven scales score a Cronbach a higher than 0.70, while one scale scores slightly below 0.70, where 0.60 is generally regarded as the lowest acceptable minimum value (Hair et al., 2005). We looked at possible improvement of the a of the lowest scale by deleting items, but in the light of its construct validity we have decided to not eliminate any of the scale items.\nDiscussion and conclusions: In this contribution, we have elaborated on the concept of double bind situation to account for the ways in which inconsistent organizational conditions affect negative employee outcomes. In particular, we hypothesized that the higher the intensity, and survival value of a relationship, the higher the degree of incongruence of managerial messages, and threat of punishment, the higher the degree of being prevented from withdrawal from, or commenting on the situation, and the longer this situation lasts, the higher the prevalence of negative employee outcomes will be. From an empirical test using a large sample of Dutch nurses, it appeared that the relationship between three out of seven characteristics of the double bind situation (intensity of the relationship, incongruence of messages and being prevented from withdrawal from the situation, as measured by several proxy scales), on the one hand, and the two employee outcomes, on the other hand, show the expected direction and strength. Our expectation regarding the impact of the seventh characteristic, i.e. long lasting situation, was not supported by the data. Thus the characteristics of the double bind situation appeared to have an impact on negative employee outcomes, but not uniformly so, and with moderate explanatory power. Thus we conclude that, strictly speaking, the hypothesis was not supported, since an interdependent and jointly operative effect of all characteristics of the double bind situation could not be demonstrated.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Health care organizations often experience difficulty in aligning competing and changing demands, tasks and other organizational conditions in a consistent way, so that they uniformly influence employee outcomes in desired directions. The purpose of this paper is to theorize about the ways in which inconsistent organizational conditions affect employee outcomes, the authors introduce the concept of double bind situation, and assess its impact on negative employee outcomes among nurses in Dutch health care organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey was held among 4,018 Dutch nurses as a part of the European NEXT study. Various psychometric scales served as \"proxy\" operationalizations of the characteristics of the double bind situation and employee outcomes.\nFindings: Three of the seven distinguished characteristics of the double bind situation showed the expected direction and strength of impact. Together, they accounted for 20 percent explained variance in employee outcomes. The results suggest that a double bind situation does exist for the nurses surveyed and that three of its seven characteristics have an impact on negative employee outcomes.\nOriginality/value: This study is among the first to empirically assess the impact of the double bind situation in health care organizations. In this way, it contributes valuable knowledge to the development and retention of staff in a relevant public sector, characterized by high personnel turnover and profound organizational change.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Perspectives of increase of university education effectiveness: Use of private educational resources	[ "Effectiveness", "University education", "Private educational resources" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The system of university education is an important component of development of modern economic systems - especially, of the post-industrial type. In the context of the global competition in the world economy, human resources are the most important factors of success and a source of formation of national competitive advantages. The quality and accessibility of the university education determine the perspectives of formation and development of human resources, which are the most important production factor in the twenty-first century.\n2. Theoretical aspects of the study of private educational resources: 2.1 Notion and specifics of private educational resources\n3. Substantiation of increase of effectiveness of university education as a result of use of private educational resources with the help of economic and mathematical instrumentarium: 3.1 Empirical analysis\n4. Discussion: On the basis of the results of economic analysis, it is possible to conclude that there is a strong direct connection between the quantity of private organizations which have their own educational resources, volume of private investments into education, and quality of human resources in the studied countries in 2010-2014. It should be noted that the value of coefficient b in all models of paired linear regression is positive and exceeds 1.\n5. Outlook: Thus, the use of private educational resources opens wide perspectives for increase of effectiveness of university education due to two main reasons. First, the use of private educational resources allows reducing expenses of the state and state universities for the development of educational resources, which reduced the cost of services in the sphere of university education.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the perspectives of increase of effectiveness of university education, related to the use of private educational resources.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In order to determine the dependence of effectiveness of university education on the use of private educational resources, this work uses the instrumentarium of economic analysis - in particular, the method of correlation analysis - for finding the value of the coefficient of correlation and regression analysis for compiling the model of paired linear regression. Using them, the authors determine the dependence of the quality of human resources in the country on the number of private organizations with their own educational resources and on the volume of private investments in education on the basis of the 2010-2014 data. In order to ensure comprehensiveness of research, it was conducted following the example of various countries - USA, India, France, Germany, and Russia.\nFindings: The authors define the notion and determine the specifics of private educational resources, study their structure and sources, and substantiate the increase of effectiveness of university education as a result of the use of private educational resources with the help of economic and mathematical instrumentarium.\nPractical implications: Practical significance of the research consists in the fact that proprietary conclusions, related to the use of private educational resources, are recommended for use in modern universities for increase of effectiveness of the system of university education.\nOriginality/value: The theoretical value of the conducted research is determined by its contribution to the development of the concept of human resources, through substantiation of necessity for use of new methods of their formation by means of use of private educational resources in the system of university education, as well as by its development of the concept of economic effectiveness, through determination of a new factor of effectiveness of university education - the use of private educational resources.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The rebirth of St Pancras: matching service to facilities: Recruitment and induction of customer-service officers have the "wow" factor	[ "Recruitment", "Induction", "Customer services quality", "Rail transport", "Training" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An objective to ensure that customer services at London's newly restored St Pancras International rail terminus match the quality of its facilities has been met in an innovative human-resources initiative created and managed by Echelon Learning on behalf of London & Continental Railways (LCR).\nFour-stage solution: Echelon Learning instituted a four-stage process (see Figure 1) beginning with applicants invited to apply online via:* posters displayed at railway stations;* advertisements (see Figures 2 and 3) in the free London newspaper Metro; and* a dedicated web site.The first stage of recruitment was to assess online the eligibility of candidates, establishing whether they had work permits and no criminal records.Of the several thousand applicants, around 700 were selected for the second stage, where LCR project managers analyzed candidate applications.Particular attention was paid to responses showing evidence of relevant experience, describing candidates' motivation, and analyzing the feedback received on their customer-service performance.The focus inevitably was on a mixture of people with experience of working in areas that demand exceptional personal service - such as the National Health Service, retail and leisure - and with the linguistic skills useful for working at an international terminal such as St Pancras.Stage three was to contact each applicant for a telephone interview. These were conducted by actors, who were trained by Echelon to assess respondents' attitude as well as enthusiasm and commitment to serving customers.A total of 400 people were subsequently invited to attend half-day interview forums for the selection process.Designed to reflect LCR's \"destination brand\", the forums were held at the Emirates Stadium as it offered ideal accommodation and exampled the exciting and prestigious brand proposal that St Pancras International and Ebbsfleet were aiming for.Key aims of the forums were to:* Engage candidates with DVD presentations of the new station, and provide the opportunity to meet existing staff (trained assessors selected as good role models for the brand).* Provide candidates with the opportunity to meet and talk to each other so they could assess for themselves the quality and experience sought by LCR.* Assess candidates across the range of service competencies being sought and the preferred impact styles of each candidate - for example, how active, passive, thoughtful, outgoing each candidate was. Activities assessed observation, articulation both one-to-one and in groups, active participation (again both one-to-one and group), insight, service experience and writing skills. The qualities required to deliver this new service brand were carefully observed by each of four assessors assessing each candidate.* Ensure activities were engaging and entertaining by asking candidates to remodel typical customer-service scenarios that were presented by actors using Forum Theater techniques. Candidates were also asked to listen to a typical \"day in the life\" situation and extract key information for an incident report. Their powers of observation and ability to prioritize action were measured in an observation activity. Importantly, each attended a one-to-one interview to establish his or her personal experience at working with customers and in teams (co-related against answers provided in the online application form).After careful compilation of individual scores and discussion on each candidate by a team of selectors made up of professional Echelon assessors and trained CTRL personnel, 70 to 80 staff were selected for St Pancras and Ebbsfleet, including future managers, team leaders and steady workers.\nThe induction process: The induction process was considered to be vital to engage new starters with the destination brand.The first phase was orientation: new starters were organized into cohorts of ten to 12 and their intake staggered over a period of two months. For the first two weeks, the CSOs were kept in their teams in order to develop close working bonds.The first morning of induction was hotel based; new starters were led through a series of activities by an Echelon assessor who was able to form a bridge between the recruitment and new training process.The story picked up where the interview forums left off, ensuring that new starters would participate in a seamless experience.The DVD presentations of the new brand were replayed but this time posing customer-centric questions for the new starters, such as, \"How do we want our customers to feel on entering this new terminal? How will we approach them? What will we offer?\"Activities about the CSO's role as historian and tourist guide for St Pancras followed with an early visit \"on site\" to view work in progress behind the hoardings.The next few days saw the start of induction proper, with a full program of training that was to last six weeks, beginning with how to work on shift with a mate and how to integrate with the larger team.Reaction to the induction program was positive and some new starters migrated quickly into more senior roles, such as team leader.\nMost technologically advanced railway station in the world: St Pancras is heralded as the most technologically advanced railway station in the world. Digital glass screens behind service desks display customer information. A single departure board has been replaced with customer-information points located around the station as well as small departure boards scrolling train information. A future development will enable passengers to receive information about train-departure times and platform numbers via SMS.CSOs carry PDAs rather than old-style radios, and these act as mobile learning tools for just-in-time updates and training reminders as well as train timetables, station communication and similar data. The devices are further employed to provide a range of urgent-topic solutions such as how to control a crowd, report an incident, meet and greet and so on.Alison Smith, station manager St Pancras and Ebbsfleet international stations, cited the induction and training initiative as playing an important part in the development of the St Pancras International brand.\"With expectations justifiably high, it is vital that station users be met and helped by service staff not only with the right knowledge but also the highest level of inter-personal skills that this job demands,\" she said. \"Echelon's strategy to use actors in such an impressive venue lent the proceedings a real 'wow' factor. It also enabled us quickly to identify and develop the best candidates from so many applicants.\"\nIntegration with existing staff members: The process worked so well that LCR has adopted it for the integration of new recruits with existing staff members.Existing staff attended a parallel assessment process of development centers. These were run alongside the interview forums where, for example, candidates and existing staff participated together in the Forum Theater activities.Additionally, existing staff were assessed against the technological skills required to work in the new station control room. This technical competence activity tested observation and reaction times using a computer-based activity and hazard observation, mitigation and management using a card-sort activity. This was based on health-centered research carried out by Reason and based on the theory that, in identifying and managing hazards, a person can be assessed on the influence of self, task and context in his or her management of hazards.All staff members attending development centers have been offered a one-to-one feedback session, with an opportunity to discuss their results and development needs with an Echelon coach. These reports have been integrated into the forward-development plans for the group.Additional processes provided by Echelon will be used for further development of staff skill sets in brand service development and customer-service training.\nNote: More information is available on the web, at www.echelonlearning.co.uk and www.stpancras.com\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to describe how London & Continental Railways resolved recruitment and training of customer-service officers (CSOs) for the redeveloped St Pancras and new Ebbsfleet international stations within the latest phase of implementing high-speed rail links between the UK and continental Europe.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper details the role of consultant Echelon Learning in creating and implementing an innovative four-stage process to deliver a service to complement the rebranding of St Pancras as a quality leisure and retail destination.\nFindings: - The paper confirms the appropriateness-to-task of the process in both recruitment and induction of CSOs and reveals ongoing commitment to the same.\nPractical implications: - The paper shows how staff induction and training have played an important part in the development of the St Pancras International brand.\nOriginality/value: - The paper highlights how London & Continental Railways was able quickly to identify and develop the best candidates from a large number of applicants.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Entrepreneurial knowledge and start-up behavior in a turbulent environment	[ "Entrepreneurial opportunities", "Entrepreneurial knowledge", "Alertness to business ideas", "Environmental turbulence", "Start-up behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In a contemporary business environment, environmental changes and global competitive environment create opportunities for the start of new ventures (Osiyevskyy and Dewald, 2015). Entrepreneurship scholars focused on the point that organizational emergence and new venture development are the result of environmental turbulence and complexity (Newbert, 2005; Yousaf and Majid, 2016). The entrepreneurship activities are viewed as an active force that positively responds to the environmental turbulence (Shane and Delmar, 2004). By giving priority to the entrepreneurial activities, researchers have argued and documented that new ventures' development occurs in response to the alertness to business ideas and opportunities emerged of uncertainty and turbulence (Osiyevskyy and Dewald, 2015). Prior researchers focus their attention extensively on the antecedents of venture formation and start-up activities (Kam-Sing Wong, 2014). For instance, researchers have primary stance to correlate entrepreneurial start-up behavior with antecedents such as availability of opportunities (Shane and Venkataraman, 2000), entrepreneurial knowledge (De Clercq and Arenius, 2006), alertness to business ideas (Tang et al., 2012), and entrepreneurial behavior (Li and DaCosta, 2015). Yet, there is a lack of research that considers the indirect relationship between environmental turbulence and entrepreneurial start-up behavior. The current study attempts to fill this research gap and provide a theoretical model in order to examine the relationships between the environmental turbulence, alertness to business ideas, entrepreneurial opportunities, and intention toward entrepreneurship, leading to start-up behavior in the context of SMEs in emerging economies.\n2. Literature review: Environmental turbulence refers to the volatile and increasingly diverse events which arise in the environment where a particular industry operates (Kam-Sing Wong, 2014). Jaworski and Kohli (1993) identified two important factors that make an environment turbulent: technological instability and market fluctuation.\n3. Research model: Figure 1 presents the proposed research model for the current study with six variables, i.e. environmental turbulence, alertness to business ideas, entrepreneurial opportunities, intention toward entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial knowledge, and start-up behavior. Figure 1 captures the relationship between all variables in the proposed research model.\n4. Research methods: 4.1 Sample and data\n5. Results and analysis: 5.1 Descriptive statistics\n6. Discussions: 6.1 Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to refine the relationship between environmental turbulence and start-up behavior by considering entrepreneurial-related antecedents (alertness to business ideas, entrepreneurial opportunities, and intention toward entrepreneurship) and moderating roles of entrepreneurial knowledge.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study was conducted through a self-administered survey of owner/managers of SMEs in Pakistan. Correlation, moderated hierarchical regression, and structural equation modeling approach were used for the analysis.\nFindings: The results revealed that environmental turbulence positively affects the alertness to business ideas and entrepreneurial opportunities which, in turn, affect intention toward entrepreneurship. The results also suggested that entrepreneurial knowledge significantly moderates the relationship between intention toward entrepreneurship and start-up behavior.\nResearch limitations/implications: The changes in the market and technologies which shape the entrepreneurial behavior toward start-up activities should be longitudinally observed. The research data came from the owner/managers of SMEs industries; therefore, the findings may not be generalized to other sectors due to industry-specific difference.\nPractical implications: The positive impact of environmental turbulence suggests that turbulence is a presentiment signal, calling upon the entrepreneurs to collect meaningful information as well as identify new opportunities and adjust their capabilities for any challenges and changes ahead.\nOriginality/value: The study confirmed the positive impact of environmental turbulence toward the creation of new ventures in the context of developing economies as well as the moderating role of entrepreneurial knowledge on the relationship between intention toward entrepreneurship and start-up behavior in small and medium enterprises.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Unleashing apprenticeship: from onboarding to professional development	[ "Professional development", "Onboarding", "Apprenticeship", "Cognitive apprenticeship", "NEET", "Collaborative apprenticeship" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The proportion of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) in Korea is about 18.9 per cent, which is higher than the average (15.7 per cent) of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries (Yoon et al., 2017). NEET has characteristics of low in self-efficacy and aptitude and is less interested in self-development and less active in social participation. There are many reasons in which young adults are not actively participating in the labor market, and thus it is important to provide training and education to reduce the barriers from the demand side of the job market (Kim, 2016). How to help youth NEET to get trained and get a job in the real workplace is a critical issue in Korea. The Korean Government has tried to benchmark apprenticeship systems from European countries, since NEET has dropped after Youth Guarantee scheme took off in some European countries. Under the Youth Guarantee scheme, employment, continued education, apprenticeship and traineeship have undertook (European Commission, 2017). Apprenticeships have existed since the late 1800s in some professions such as medicine, music, teaching and science (Premont, 1990). The use of apprenticeships has extended to different fields, practices, government policies and vocational education systems. \"A successful entry into an apprenticeship is an important first step in the occupational career of an adolescent\" (Nagel and Neuenschwander, 2016, p. 7).\nMethods: An integrative literature review was conducted by keyword searching academic databases from the period of 2000 to 2015 such as Inter-science Library, Ebsco Host, Emerald and Korean research databases such as DBpia and KyoboScholar. We selected journal articles and conference papers to analyze and synthesize the new knowledge regarding apprenticeship. Publications from European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) were also used. The following keywords apprenticeship, onboarding, professional development, collaborative apprenticeship and cognitive apprenticeship were searched. An apprenticeship process is investigated based on the relevant literature, and the process will be extended. The articles were selected to review and define the process and activities of cognitive and collaborative apprenticeship and to connect the link from onboarding to professional development.\nThe exploration of the missing link from onboarding to professional development: This study is to explore the conceptual model of the apprenticeship activity that provides stable linkage between work and school by reviewing professional development that can contribute to organizational performance. The purpose of this study is to analyze the concept and the role of apprenticeship, which is financially supported by the government in general and suggest components for an extended conceptual model of apprenticeship from onboarding to professional development.\nOnboarding to professional development: Onboarding\nDiscussions, implications, recommendations: Korean apprenticeship is at an earlier stage compared to European countries. The economic effect of apprenticeship systems implies creating new jobs and increasing youth employment. Apprenticeship practices will help make the smooth school to work transitions for young NEET in Korea and professional development via workplace learning.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the process and activities of apprenticeship from onboarding to professional development.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Literature was reviewed to highlight the important characteristics of cognitive and collaborative apprenticeship, onboarding and professional development.\nFindings: The conceptual model was developed to identify the specific activities of apprenticeship at the onboarding, developmental and proficient phases.\nOriginality/value: This study enlightens the aspects of the way in which apprentices can make adjustments to their organizations and become proficient workforces.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Supply chain partnership assessment of a diabetes clinic	[ "EFQM", "Diabetes clinic", "Healthcare performance", "Supply chain partnership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Diabetes has reached an epidemic proportion in developing countries, such as India (Ramachandran, 2005). The International Diabetes Federation has highlighted that; \"The diabetes epidemic is here and threatens to overwhelm health systems if left unchecked\" (Unwin et al., 2010). The chronic nature of diabetes makes the cost of diabetes management extremely high. This cost of diabetes management can be divided into two categories, namely direct cost and indirect cost. The direct cost is the cost that includes the spend on medicines, diagnostic and hospitalizations. The indirect cost result from, loss of productivity due to frequent absences from work, inability to work because of disability, premature retirement and even premature mortality as a result of complications. In addition to this cost, there is an intangible cost which includes reduced quality of life due to pain, anxiety and stress (Bjork et al., 2000). The studies reveal that the cost of hospitalization, consultation and the cost of medicine have increased over the time (Kapur, 2007; Akari et al., 2013). The researchers have reported that the spend on medicine is higher in the age group of 51-70 years, which might be due to the increased number of co-morbidities (Henriksson et al., 2000; Al-Maskari et al., 2010; Hogan et al., 2003). A systematic review of the literature concludes that there is the considerable impact of diabetes on the cost to society, burden on health systems and productivity of employees (Seuring et al., 2015).\nLiterature review: In recent years, spending on medicine in the USA has risen 13.1 percent on a nominal basis. The main driver of this trend is innovation, higher levels of price increases and lower patent expiry impact. Driven by a wave of recent innovations, specialty medicines now account for one-third of the spending on healthcare. In the USA, Diabetes spending increased 30.5 percent to $32.2bn in 2014 resulting in net spending growth of 22.4 percent (Aitken et al., 2015). Nature of complexity of pharmaceutical products makes the diabetes supply chain complex. It is imperative that drugs be delivered at the right time to the right person in standard conditions (Yousefi and Alibabaei, 2015). The research report rising cost of medicines, as a major cause of not adhering to medication in countries, such as USA and Canada (Law et al., 2012). Cost-related non-adherence is reported as 9.6 percent in Canada and this number is bound to be greater in case of low-income countries, such as India. The impact of cost on disease outcome is more pronounced in the case of chronic diseases like diabetes. The out of the pocket spend on healthcare in India was reported as 89.1 percent by the World Bank in the year 2014. Considering the inability to decrease the cost of the healthcare by traditional means, the attention of policymakers has shifted towards bringing efficiency in the healthcare supply chain (Chakraborty et al., 2014). Thus, supply chain interactions, relationships, value creation activities and collaborative environment along the chain has increased in importance in recent years (Nollet and Beaulieu, 2003). The studies have stated that collaborative purchasing has a direct impact on the cost of medicines and equipment. Medicines represent a considerable portion of healthcare expenditure and reducing this burden; can release resources to improve the quality of healthcare for patients.\nResearch objective: To develop and use SCP assessment framework for a diabetes clinic. The method should cover both enabler and results of the SCP and should be easy to adapt to other healthcare organizations.\nResearch methodology: The reviewed literature suggests EFQM as the preferred method for assessment of the quality of a process. The research proposes a SCP excellence model using the criteria of EFQM business excellence model. The study adopts EFQM criteria for assessment of SCP at the diabetes clinic (Table AI) under study. The study adopts a balanced scorecard approach as suggested by EFQM for development of a framework for the assessment of SCP. For calculation of various weights of the enabler and results, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method was used in the study. An expert working in healthcare supply chain was asked to perform a pairwise comparison of various enablers and results. To check if expert's opinions are consistent in his scoring, Consistency Ratio (CR) propose by Saaty was used.\nResults and discussions: The management was requested to assign a team for further interaction regarding EFQM assessment of the organization. The team was explained about the philosophy of EFQM and trained for the process of assessment. The assessment of SCP of the diabetes clinic was conducted, using the proposed questionnaire. The respondents were asked to provide a response to the questions (five questions for each enabler while three questions for each result) relating to each of the nine sub-criteria. The average response for the sub-categories leadership (50 percent), strategy (80 percent), people (60 percent), partnership and resources (40 percent), process, product and services (50 percent), customer results (60 percent), people results (50 percent), society results (60 percent) and key results (50 percent) found in the interview (Table VII). The average score was multiplied by the weight of the sub-criteria to get the final score for the sub-criteria. The sum of the score of all nine categories gives us the final score of the diabetes clinic (Table VII).\nManagerial implication: The framework suggested in this paper help management identifies the gap area in achieving the better SCP. On the basis of the results of this study, recommended action point for the management are below:\nConclusion: Managing healthcare supply chain is typically a very complex and fragmented process. To reduce the complexity and risk, building an SCP is a necessity, not a choice. This paper proposes a framework to access the performance of SCP by highlighting practical ways to assess both efforts and results. The proposed model is a balanced model between enablers and results and includes multiple assessment dimensions based on the EFQM model. The model proposed in this study is very practical and easy-to-use and can be easily implemented in healthcare like diabetes. This study contributes to supply chain literature by developing a framework for the assessment of SCP in healthcare by identifying assessment dimensions based on the EFQM model. Using these dimension auditors can develop assessment criteria. The framework can be useful when motivating stakeholders to improve the performance of the SCP.\nLimitation of the research: The study uses a diabetes clinic to demonstrate the framework for the assessment of the SCP framework. The diabetes supply chain is very complex in nature and framework needs to address that complexity.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Diabetes is one of the major healthcare challenges in India. The chronic nature of the disease makes the lifetime cost of the treatment exorbitantly high. The medicine cost contributes a major size of expense in diabetes management. To make healthcare available to poorest of the poor, it is imperative to control the rising cost of diabetes treatment. The earlier research works done in this area focuses more on inventory management techniques to control the cost of healthcare. Less interest is shown in the role of better supply chain partnership (SCP) in reducing the cost of procurement of medicine. The purpose of this paper is to develop and use the SCP assessment framework for a diabetes clinic. The approach is generalized enough to be adopted for other similar organization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper adopts self-assessment criteria of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) business excellence model for analysis of SCP in the supply chain of a private diabetes clinic in Varanasi. The paper uses analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method for calculation of weights of criteria.\nFindings: The EFQM-based framework can be adopted as easy-to-use tool to make an objective assessment of the SCP. The proposed model in the study is a balanced model between enablers and results, which includes multiple assessment dimensions. The supply chain performance score of the diabetes clinic under study was found as the Tool Pusher, which means the effort in direction of SCP is not too good. The organization needs to clearly define the SCP goal and analyze the results to identify the gap areas.\nOriginality/value: The study is first of its kind and contributes to the literature by providing non-prescriptive and easy-to-use SCP assessment framework, for chronic disease care. The case study approach provides a procedure for the healthcare organization willing to adopt this approach.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Indigenous development amongst challenges: Munjal Showa Limited and the implementation of total productive maintenance	[ "Indigenous development", "Lean manufacturing", "Total productive maintenance (TPM)", "Low cost automation", "Productivity", "Cycle time reduction", "Cockpit model", "Break down time reduction", "Tool designing", "Manufacturing industries", "India" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: \"Yes, sir,\" the only two words said by Mr Rakesh Atre, General Manager of Business Excellence, Munjal Showa Limited (MSL), Gurgaon, when Mr S. Yamaguchi gave him the vision \"to change the machines\" in late 2000, under the aegis of Mr Y.C. Munjal, MD of MSL. This earmarked the journey to achieve total productive maintenance (TPM) excellence at MSL India. Since the adoption of TPM, MSL has challenged for the TPM Excellence Award and has added a new dimension to the TPM system; setting an example of this unique activity of re-conditioning and manufacturing machines in-house by using TPM and lean methodology, thus killing a lot of painful areas with this versatile concept.\nMSL: MSL was established in 1985, in technical and financial collaboration with Showa Corporation of Japan, the pioneering global leader engaged in the manufacture of shock absorbers. It is an Indo-Japanese joint venture with 39 percent equity partnership of Hero Group and 26 percent of Showa Corporation Japan, which is a Honda subsidiary. MSL is a member of Hero Moto Corp Group, in India. The primary manufacturing plant is spread over an area of six acres, in the industrial area of Gurgaon, Haryana, on the outskirts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, India. The company turnover for the year 2011-2012 was around USD 286.5 million[1] (INR 15,250 million). The company set up its second plant in April 2005 at Manesar, spread over 16 acres of land to produce two-wheeler shock absorbers mainly to cater to the needs of Honda scooters and Hero Moto Corp.The company is one of the biggest manufacturers of shock absorbers, telescopic front forks, struts, gas struts, window balancers/gas springs in the world. Nearly 90 percent of the company's revenues come from the two-wheeler industry, out of which Hero Moto Corp alone accounts for 82 percent. Thus, MSL is assured of a sizeable off-take at all times. In addition to this, MSL products serve as original equipment to a wide range of Maruti Suzuki upper-end cars and export models, Honda City car, complete range of Mahindra two wheelers, Honda Scooters and Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India (Private) Limited. MSL has commissioned its third plant in the holy city of Haridwar in Uttarakhand, with an initial capacity of five million shock absorbers per year to cater to the needs of Hero Honda Motors. The new plant at Haridwar became operational on April 13, 2009. MSL is in the process of putting a fourth plant in the state of Gujarat, scheduled to be commissioned in April 2013.\nThe TPM excellence journey: The first stepping stone - links between Maruti Suzuki Ltd and MSL\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The global manufacturing industry is becoming more competitive. Munjal Showa, a shock absorber manufacturer in India, is using indigenous development of technology by incorporating concepts of lean manufacturing, total productive maintenance (TPM) and low cost automation techniques to increase their competitiveness. This new approach helps the company to reduce cost of manufacturing and to increase the productivity by reducing cycle time and down time. The aim of this paper is to offer an in depth study of the four phases of indigenous development of machines at Munjal Showa Ltd.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper offers an in depth study of the four phases of indigenous development of machines at Munjal Showa Ltd with the benefits and results.\nFindings: - Proper understanding of process requirements and tool designing in accordance with process requirement are the two major factors which help to down size the machine and to identify unnecessary parts. By applying these techniques on BC-21 machine, Munjal Showa is able to reduce the space used by 68 percent, break downs by 93 percent, cycle time by 48 percent and an increase in productivity by 52 percent.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper is looking at only one company as an example which is a limitation and cannot be generalized for all industries.\nPractical implications: - Indigenous development enables company to reduce costs and service machines quickly as they themselves have developed the machines.\nSocial implications: - Physical fatigue of incumbents at the shop floor is considerably reduced by using concepts like cockpit layout and combining of processes on a single machine. Improves job satisfaction and productivity of shop floor employees.\nOriginality/value: - In India, this is one of its kind initiatives taken up by the business excellence team at Munjal Showa Ltd.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Customer retention is not enough	[ "Customer retention", "Consumer behaviour", "Behaviour modification" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Companies spend millions trying to understand and influence customers - to hold on to them and to encourage them to spend more. But to increase the customers' loyalty, companies must do more than track today's typical metrics: satisfaction and defection. For, despite all the money invested to promote loyalty among high-value customers, it is increasingly elusive in almost every industry.\nUnderstanding customers: To influence what customers spend, a company must generally dig deeper than merely finding out whether they like the product or service on offer. A broad measure of satisfaction can tell a company how likely customers are to defect; mobile phone customers, for instance, continually switch providers because of customer service problems. But satisfaction alone does not tell a company what makes customers loyal: the product or the difficulty of finding a replacement, for example. Nor does gauging satisfaction levels tell a company how susceptible its customers are to changing their spending patterns - variations that more often come about as a result of changes in their lives, in the company's offer, or in its competitors' offers. Understanding the other drivers of loyalty, our research showed, is crucial to having an influence on migration.By learning to understand why customers exhibit different degrees of loyalty, and combining that knowledge with data on current spending patterns, companies can develop loyalty profiles that define and quantify six customer segments (Figure 1). Three of them can be viewed as loyalists; that is, they are maintaining or increasing their expenditures. These customers are loyal because they are emotionally attached to their current provider, have rationally chosen it as their best option, or do not regard switching as worth the trouble. The remaining segments - the downward migrators - have one of three reasons for spending less: their lifestyle has changed (as a result, say, of moving or having babies), so they have developed new needs that the company is not meeting; they continually reassess their options and have found a better one; or they are actively dissatisfied, often because of a single bad experience, with a rude salesclerk, for example.For industries that do not have many competitors capable of meeting the basic needs of their customers, active dissatisfaction plays the strongest role in downward migration. As the number of competitors providing a minimum level of satisfaction increases, other factors tend to assume a larger role; customers are more likely to compare the merits of various voice mail options, for instance, once telephones can be counted on to work reliably.Three basic customer attitudes - emotive, inertial, and deliberative - under-lie loyalty profiles[1]. Emotive customers are the most loyal. Feeling strongly that their current purchases are right for them and that their chosen product is the best, they rarely reassess purchasing decisions. These feelings can reflect a product's long record of good performance, but they are often fostered by intangible factors. Soft drinks are a classic example: they are very similar, but nearly half of all people who purchase them have strong favorites. Our research shows that emotive customers generally spend more than those who deliberate over purchases and migrate at a much lower rate. Emotive people are thus, rightly, the marketers' Holy Grail, and companies will find value in increasing the proportion of their customers in this group.Inertial customers, like emotive ones, rarely reassess their purchases, but their inaction results from high switching costs or a lack of involvement with products. Utilities and life insurers are good examples of industries whose customers tend to be inertial. Although these customers are not prone to spend more or less than they currently do, influencing them offers about as much opportunity as influencing emotive customers, largely by making them less likely to migrate downwardly in response to shocks such as price hikes, isolated cases of bad service, and lifestyle changes.Deliberators - both those who maintain their spending and those who spend less - are on average the largest group, representing 40 percent of all customers across industries. The rewards from influencing deliberators can be twice as high as the rewards from influencing emotive and inertial customers. Deliberators frequently reassess their purchases by criteria such as a product's price and performance and the ease of doing business with a company. Emotional appeals will not trump such objective factors, although these customers' requirements vary from person to person. Retail gasoline and groceries are the kinds of products that draw a preponderance of deliberative customers. Deliberators who value convenience and quality in a grocery store, for example, would likely choose a nearby grocer with a gourmet deli. A more value-conscious customer might well choose a more distant store offering better prices. Still, both of those customers would constantly reevaluate their decisions by considering the specific purpose of a trip or new information.Finally, many companies make little effort to meet their customers' changing needs, which (besides those brought on by moving or having a child) might include new financial or insurance products for aging customers and new travel arrangements made necessary by updated corporate-travel policies. Although changing needs are often dismissed as uncontrollable, our work shows that they can be addressed, especially if a company invests in a new product or channel. Meeting these new needs is a smaller but relevant part of the overall loyalty opportunity.\nProfiling customers: Our research also showed that the proportion of people in each loyalty segment differs by industry (Figure 2); we found, for example, that far fewer customers are emotionally attached to their grocery stores than to their long-distance providers. For both mobile phone providers and internet service providers, however, deliberators predominate, so even among different kinds of telecommunications companies, the proportions in each segment can vary a lot.This fact implies that the reasons for migration differ greatly among industries. Deliberative customers, for example, who change their spending patterns because of factors like convenience, account for more than 70 percent of reduced spending by purchasers of casual apparel, but only one-third of reduced spending by mobile phone customers. These differences show why reward programs, appealing to deliberators, for instance, might be highly successful in one industry, but not in another.Although loyalty profiles vary from company to company, each industry has an average behavior pattern that influences the customers' loyalty. These patterns are generally determined by five structural factors: how often purchases are made; the frequency of other kinds of interactions, such as service calls; the emotional or financial importance of a purchase; the degree of differentiation among competitors' offerings; and ease of switching.\nUsing loyalty profiles: Armed with its loyalty profile, a company gains new insights. First, the profile reinforces the point that building loyalty is not just, as the traditional view would have it, about preventing defections and encouraging extra spending; it is about understanding and managing all six loyalty segments. Second, the profile highlights the different tactics required to manage each of the segments and a company's need to carry out a range of actions to reach all of them; a single act rarely increases the loyalty of all customers. Third, when combined with standard customer-value analysis, the profile helps a company base its loyalty-building priorities on the size of each opportunity.One financial institution, for example, aimed all its loyalty efforts at increasing its customers' satisfaction. It did so measurably, made major investments to cut down on service failures (such as unanswered phones), and reduced the number of closed accounts. However, the effect on overall growth was marginal, and the company's loyalty profile shows why: customers are spending less of their money at such financial institutions mainly because their needs are changing - for example, they might be sending their children to college. Deliberative behavior, based on factors like prices and features, ran a close second. Here, as in most industries we studied, downward migration due to dissatisfaction represents a small proportion of the total loyalty opportunity.To create a balanced program that addresses these issues, many companies will wish to start by trying to influence deliberators, since they make up some 40 percent of the overall opportunity. Deliberators are particularly important for industries in which brands are relatively indistinct, comparisons are easy to make, and competitors differentiate primarily on such functional attributes as price.Because deliberators tend to be hardheaded, and the range of attributes they value is wide, it is not always easy to influence them. To take the first step toward understanding what customers value, companies can use their existing market research to determine the importance to their deliberators of attributes such as functional benefits (how well the product works compared with alternatives to it, for example, and whether it is worth the price), process benefits (which improve the way the customer receives it), and relationship benefits (such as being a \"preferred\" customer, who gets special discounts or services).Once a company understands the elements that its customers value, it must take the basic step of fixing any weaknesses (such as uncompetitive prices) in its offer. Beyond such broad changes, companies can create superior value propositions by tailoring other benefits to specific subsegments; if it is too expensive to increase benefits to all of them, for example, a company can first target its most valuable customers. This approach not only reduces the chance they will defect, but also encourages them to consolidate their spending in order to go on receiving benefits, thus encouraging upward migration.One approach that sophisticated marketers take is to expand the deliberators' concerns from, say, price alone to include other factors. Well-structured reward programs often provide the kinds of concrete process or relationship benefits that appeal to many deliberators. Hertz, for example, centrally stores all customer and payment data for the members of its No. 1 Club Gold program, so that customers do not have to fill out repetitive forms every time they rent cars. In this way, Hertz encourages frequent travelers to base their decisions about which car rental company to patronize not only on price, but also on the ability to save time.Of course, benefits are worthless if deliberators do not know about them. Communicating benefits well, we found, can often have the greatest impact, because customers often do not know about offers they could take up or, worse yet, about benefits they already receive. Systematic communication with target customers likely to benefit from specific offers is the heart of successful customer relationship management and can be highly effective in influencing deliberators, who are constantly reassessing their options.Many process benefits that appeal to deliberators help influence inertial customers too. The point is to make it so easy for them to use the product that they do not think about it and, if they do, to make switching seem more inconvenient. Characteristic tactics include automating key interactions, such as bill payments and subscription renewals; storing information needed repeatedly (for instance, addresses or credit card numbers) as many online stores do; ensuring that a company's products work better together than any of them works with products from competitors (by integrating account statements, for example); and offering bundled services (such as a mobile phone and pager package).Deliberative and inertial customers represent, on average, more than half the total. But to influence the full range of customers, a company must also continue its familiar efforts to increase their satisfaction and to build emotional ties with them, as well as meet their changing needs when possible. In all of these cases, a company's loyalty profile helps it target its spending more effectively.Although emotionally loyal customers often constitute a relatively small segment, building emotional ties should be a long-term goal for most companies. Emotionally loyal customers are crucial, for, given their higher spending and lower rate of downward migration, they are the most valuable of all. Our research and client work have shown that even in industries with few emotive customers, such ties can be developed over time. The loyalty profile helps a company determine the extent of this opportunity - and thus the amount of money that should be invested in it.The primary tools for building emotional ties are a coordinated set of actions, including brand communication and delivery, to highlight what is unique about the product. This approach can be implemented broadly, to all customers, or more narrowly, to specific customer segments or affinity groups. The financial-products company USAA, for example, has highly loyal customers as a result of the shared affinity that comes from limiting its membership to US military officers and their dependents[2].A company with many customers whose needs are changing might find it worthwhile to see if it can meet them. Companies can use their market surveys and demographic data to distinguish the changes they cannot address, such as new corporate-travel policies that force customers to cut spending, from those they can, such as the need of aging customers for new financial products. Sometimes, as with efforts to influence deliberators, such needs can be met through better communication about existing products or coordination among different parts of the company - as happens, for example, when financial services providers that administer corporate pension plans capture \"rollovers\" when employees leave their companies and take their pension money with them. At times, however, a company must develop new products: Honda, for instance, created a minivan because loyal customers starting families wanted larger vehicles. On occasion, the moves required to meet changing needs go even further: Charles Schwab is working to increase its customers' loyalty by providing investment-planning services and acquiring the full-service bank US Trust, thus increasing the chances that Schwab will have the products that customers want as they become more affluent.Finally, dealing with even small pockets of dissatisfaction is a necessary part of creating an organizational culture attuned to pleasing customers. Avoiding and addressing service failures, for example, is obviously important; customers who have had them resolved satisfactorily are typically just as loyal, and sometimes more so, than customers who have never had them at all. A company can use its loyalty profile to see how many dissatisfied customers it has and thus how much of its overall loyalty-building budget it should devote to meeting their needs. For some companies, addressing dissatisfaction will be crucial; customer service problems cause half of the downward migration at mobile phone companies, for example. A much lower percentage is more common, however, and many companies will decide to invest strategically - perhaps only to reach the most valuable customers.By using a coordinated approach to understanding the many facets of loyalty and by tailoring tactics appropriately, several companies have reduced downward migration and defection by 20 to 30 percent. Consider the case of the retail bank that saw 50 percent of its annual balances in play because of migration. Even assuming that more than half of the change was due to factors the bank could not influence, and even if it managed to recapture only 20 percent of the rest, its top-line growth, currently in single digits, would rise by three to five points. Similarly, department stores using a coordinated approach have cut downward migration by 25 to 30 percent, leading to top-line gains comparable to a 1 to 2 percent increase in same-store sales, a key retailing metric generally in single digits. For banks and the many other industries with modest price-to-earnings ratios, increasing growth rates by the clearly feasible target of 3 percent should lead, within three years, to a 25 percent increase in market capitalization.By focusing on migration and by understanding the motives that underlie customer loyalty, companies can increase that loyalty in a meaningful way.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Every company knows that it costs far less to hold on to a customer than to acquire a new one. That is why customer retention has become the Holy Grail in industries from airlines to wireless. Yet defecting customers are far less of a problem than customers who change their buying patterns. Today's typical metrics of customer satisfaction and defection do not tell a company how susceptible its customers are to changing their spending patterns. This article seeks to investigate this problem.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The investigation was carried out through a two-year study of the attitudes of 1,200 households toward companies in 16 industries.\nFindings: - McKinsey found that focusing on smaller changes in customer spending can have as much as ten times more value than concentrating on defections alone.\nOriginality/value: - This is important for those companies that wish to retain their customers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Venture capital funds in transition countries: Insights from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia	[ "Macedonia", "Bosnia and Herzegovina", "Small business", "Venture capital funds" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: According to Stiglitz (1999) the last century has been marked by two great economic experiments. The first was the emergence of the Soviet Union in 1917, and the second was the movement away from centrally planned economies, where state ownership prevailed, to a market economy where private ownership prevails. As Ramadani and Dana (2013, p. 218) state: \"Transitional economies provide a particularly fascinating backdrop for the development of entrepreneurship.\" There is no uniqueness about countries that are transitional, as their geographical, cultural, economic and social contexts are quite different. Due to their size, methods of transition and achieved results, many authors pay attention to Russia and China, especially in the first years of transition. Central European countries such as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary as well as the Baltic states, are the focus of research when viewing it from an approaching and entering the EU perspective; this also occurred in Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 and in Croatia in 2013. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro are rarely found in samples of cross-country analysis of transition economies (Dana, 2010; Dana and Ramadani, 2015; Trivic and Petkovic, 2015). At the heart of the transitional process is institutional building as well as entrepreneurship and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) development. SMEs are the dominant form of business organization in both developed and developing economies (Harvie et al., 2013; OECD, 2013) as they play a major role in economic development (International Finance Corporation (IFC), 2010). They account for about 95-99 percent of the total number of enterprises, depending on the country, and are responsible for somewhere between 60 and 70 percent of net job creation in OECD countries (OECD, 2006). \"Across the EU28 last year, some 21.6 million SMEs in the non-financial business sector employed 88.8 million people and generated EUR3,666 trillion in value added. Expressed another way, 99 out of every 100 businesses are SMEs, as are 2 in every 3 employees and 58 cents in every euro of value added. This illustrates how critical SMEs are and reflects the value of the present report\" (European Commission, 2014a, b, p. 6).\n2. Literature review: Today, when the financial crisis and the crisis in the real sector shows no signs of weakening, bank loans are more expensive and often unreachable, particularly for SMEs. In developed countries there are more sources of financing available to SMEs, such as bank loans, leasing, factoring, mezzanine financing, financing from the Stock Exchange, as well as venture capital (Balling et al., 2009; IFC, 2010; Petkovic and Berberovic, 2013). In Bosnia and Herzegovina, companies usually use bank loans as their source of financing (Petkovic, 2010). According to Suklev and Ramadani (2013), based on 119 surveyed SMEs, the Macedonian SMEs use these financing sources: 51 percent use founder's savings; 20 percent families and friends (3F money); 23 percent bank loans and other 6 percent sources. The European Central Bank (2013) published a report on the results of a survey on firms' access to finance. The total sample size was 8,305 firms, of which 7,674 (92 percent) had less than 250 employees. EU SMEs reported a marginal deterioration in the availability of bank loans (11 percent of respondents, in net terms, vs 10 percent in the previous round). The percentage of SMEs reporting access to finance as their main problem remained the same (16 percent). Countries that expect high economic growth present a better investment opportunity for venture capitalists, who tend to invest more in companies that are engaged in information technology, mechanical engineering and biotechnology than in other industries (Schertler and Tykvova, 2009). The venture capital is raised from pension funds, insurance companies, corporations, financial institutions, academic institutions and individuals.\n3. Research design: To deal with the complex research question both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. While the quantitative research was conducted with 828 local companies in B\n4. Findings: 4.1. Venture capital in Bosnia and Herzegovina\n5. Conclusions and future research: The venture capital sector in developed countries has made big strides these last few decades (Alemany, 2006; Berlin, 1998; Global Insight, 2004; Sohl, 2003, 1999; Virtanen, 2001), while in the most of transition countries, it is not yet developed (Fiti and Ramadani, 2013; Ramadani, 2014). Venture capital funds invest in start-up companies and offer benefits to their portfolio companies. The company that is backed by venture capital, usually grows faster, is more innovative, and creates new jobs (Ramadani and Gerguri, 2011; Iakovleva et al., 2013). Based on this, both the central and local governments in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia need to consider the positive effects of venture capital and assist this source of financing by providing a legislative framework which will encourage entrepreneurs and venture capitalist to be more involved in this sector.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on the possibilities and limitations of venture capital formation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia where there has been a lack of success and benefits of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from this type of financing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper provides a rationale for specific methodological choices and justifies its choice. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. The methods section (research design) explains the entry criteria for the study population, specific imaging techniques and methods of data analysis.\nFindings: Venture capital invest in companies in the beginning to achieve an above average return on investment. Unfortunately, there are no officially registered venture capital funds in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For the venture capital funds to operate, it is necessary to adopt regulations governing this area, to create a favorable tax system and introduce a cash basis for VAT calculation for SMEs. The majority of respondents in the research believe that in the establishment of venture capital funds would provide one of the greatest supports by the governments of these countries, analyzing the economic situation in these countries, it is apparent that there is an under-developed legal and tax system, which does not support SMEs. In order to attract foreign and domestic investors, and form venture capital funds, it is necessary to create a favorable business environment.\nOriginality/value: The paper contains novel information and insight into VC funds in two transition economies of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Building trust in internet banking: a trustworthiness perspective	[ "Malaysia", "Trusting beliefs", "Trustworthiness", "Banking services", "Trust", "Internet banking continuance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Internet banking refers to the use of bank's web site through which customers access their banking accounts, conduct financial transactions, and obtain general information on bank products and services. It is a form of \"virtual channel\" that allows customers to interact with a bank in a convenient manner by providing them an opportunity to acquire banking services anytime and anywhere (Casalo et al., 2007). Consequently, internet banking has experienced rapid growth in Malaysia and world over in the recent past. According to Bank Negara Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia, 2012), the penetration of registered individual internet banking users in Malaysia has increased from 9.8 percent in 2005 to 42.9 percent in 2012 (Bank Negara Malaysia, 2012). A ComScore survey report (ComScore, 2011) shows that about 2.7 million visited bank web sites in Malaysia in January 2011, a growth of 16 percent year-on-year, highest among the Southeast Asian countries. Despite this steady growth, there still remain major barriers to the acceptance of internet banking services in Malaysia (Poon, 2007).\n2. Literature review: 2.1. Internet banking adoption and continuance\n3. Research model and hypotheses: Figure 1 presents the conceptual framework of the study. Based on the trust literature, we model competence, integrity, benevolence, and shared values as antecedents of trustworthiness and trust. Further, we conceptualize trustworthiness to influence internet banking continuance through trust.\n4. Method: 4.1. Sample\n5. Results: A PLS path modeling was used for data analysis. The outer-measurement model was used to assess the validity and reliability of the measures. Table II presents the factor loadings, average variance extracted (AVE), composite reliability (CR), Cronbach's a's. Results showed that all constructs as defined in the literature met the necessary thresholds, i.e. factor loadings were 0.7 above, AVE values were 0.5 above, CR values were 0.7 above and Cronbach's a were values were 0.7 above (Hair et al., 2006; Khong et al., 2013). The AVE values of 0.5 and above indicated that convergent validity was achieved by all constructs (Khong et al., 2013). Additionally CR and Cronbach's a of all constructs had values of 0.7 and above implying that constructs had internal consistency and reliability. Common method bias (CMB) was tested using the Harman's one factor test and result revealed that variance explained by the one fixed factor (manifested by 35 indicators) was <50 percent. This result meant that there were no significant issues with CMB (Yap and Khong, 2006).\n6. Discussion and implications: The present study provides empirical evidence for the role of trustworthiness and trust in internet banking continuance in Malaysian context. The results show that trusting beliefs of competence, integrity, and shared values are key determinants of trustworthiness and trust in internet banking continuance. We did not find support for the role of benevolence in building trustworthiness and trust. A possible reason for the same could be that the benevolence is highly intangible and customers may perceive its value as being very subjective. Another reason is that internet banking often employs message-based implementations instead of session-based implementations (Louis and Lombart, 2010). This leads to a perception of security threat and thus benevolence is not well articulated in the internet banking context.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Based on the trust theory, the purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the role of trustworthiness and trust in users' intentions to continue using internet banking. Further, the authors position the trust beliefs of competence, benevolence, integrity, and shared values as key antecedents of trustworthiness and trust.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey was used to collect responses from 227 actual users of internet banking in Malaysian context. A PLS analysis was conducted to explore the relationships between trusting beliefs, trustworthiness, trust, and internet banking use.\nFindings: Empirical findings show that trusting beliefs of consistency, integrity, and shared values determine the trustworthiness and trust in internet banking. Moreover, trust was found to mediate the relationship between trustworthiness and internet banking use.\nPractical implications: The study findings help managers understand the factors that determine Malaysia users trust and trustworthiness perceptions in internet banking. With reports indicated increase in internet banking use in Malaysia, the study findings provide important insights into enhancing users' trust in internet banking for future transactions.\nOriginality/value: Unlike previous studies that have largely focussed on technology factors, this study based on trust theory proposes that trust is important for users to continue using internet banking services. In developing this trust, the authors propose that trustworthiness is of vital importance. Further, the authors propose and show that trusting beliefs of competence, integrity and shared values influence user trustworthiness and trust in internet banking use. Thus, this study extends the understanding of the internet banking use in Malaysian context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Five have a leadership adventure: Exploring childhood fictional influences on the construction of self as a leader	[ "Leadership", "Narratives", "Research" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In western society, starting from an early age, we are constantly exposed to stories, in the form of books or some other medium, visual or auditory. There is evidence that storytelling is used to understand human relationships and help in the process of collective sensemaking and shared group identity (Boje, 1991). In addition to the evidence that stories fulfill an important role in sustaining and evolving western society the promulgation of stories in large organisations such as the National Health Service (NHS) is also well documented. What was missing from the literature was information about whether the stories encountered in childhood continued to influence the adult. The aim of this research project is to explore whether the books we read and the stories we were exposed to as children influence the professional adult we become, with particular reference to the role of leader.I assert that our self-construction and presentation of that self as a leader is informed by the influences from childhood stories. I shall demonstrate the validity of this argument through this dissertation.I begin this study by exploring the literature, first to understand the role of stories in our modern day culture and then to assess whether any previous work could inform this particular subject field. In addition to discussing the role of stories my literature review explores the social effects of reading with particular emphasis on childhood, one example of literary theory is discussed together with stories and their position in the leadership discourse. It was also necessary to understand fiction as a research tool in the social sciences in order to develop my methodology. It was clear that no existing methodological paradigms would be entirely suitable for this project and my theoretical approach and the methodology I developed are described and discussed. One interview provides the data for analysis and the basis for the discussion.\nLiterature review: The role of stories\nConclusion: Throughout this literature search it was a constant struggle to resist the lure of the abundance of work on leadership, constructionism, storytelling and the machinations of organisations. Each topic proffered enticing avenues for inquiry but rarely touched on the crux of my research. Much of the literature hinted at or touched on my research but stopped frustratingly short of supporting or indeed informing my theory.It is well researched and documented that we use stories all the time, as entertainment, in our work to explain events and in understanding the world around us. My presupposition based on this literature review then is that as we are growing up, probably the most experience-rich time of our lives, the stories that we hear and tell would have a greater influence than stories we learn or hear as an adult. As so little work exists in the filed of inquiry it was necessary to develop my own methodology as no established paradigm exists.\nMethodology: Introduction\nAnalysis: Simple thematic analysis\nSection 2: Narrative analysis\nDiscussion: Throughout this dissertation I have tried to demonstrate my position that stories are intrinsic, inbuilt and fundamental to our lives albeit there are many different ways to tell a story. The differentiation between fact and fiction is a difficult if not impossible one to make. My position is that we are influenced by every experience and action we encounter and consequently the books and stories from our childhood must also impact on our adult selves.There are at least two stories running throughout this dissertation, most predominantly Jane's story and the story of the research, additionally there are stories about leadership, management and organisations. This research project and its subsequent writing up have proved to be my personal epic journey \"a perilous journey contains a crucial struggle; success in this ordeal results in the exultation of the hero\" (Jeffcutt, 1994, p. 247).When using a narrative or fiction approach Rhodes and Brown (2005) argue \"that the explicit borrowing from fictional genres evinces the essentially 'written' and fictional status of research papers\". From the theoretical stance that we constantly construct and reconstruct ourselves and our experiences, including the data gathering process and the writing of a research paper, it is evident that all research writing must essentially be fiction or \"made up\" at that point in time. Therefore the use of fiction as a research tool or methodology to interpret and present those findings cannot be argued as \"wrong\" or invalid. Thus by reading research from a social constructionist stance it is not only those written within the narrative paradigms that can be classified as fictional.In discussing the validity of this research I do not assert that this dissertation provides the \"truth\". Interviews are compelling accounts that reflect a story and a way of telling a story based on a unique network of experiences and context of both the researched and the researcher (Silverman, 1993). An interview is a way of creating a new account; one of many possible and it must be recognised as an ongoing composition reflexively linked to the circumstances of storytelling and the interplay of discursive actions (Gubrium and Holstein, 1998). These stories reflect more than just a chronology of events. If reality only happens in the moment then the conclusion of my analysis is only \"real\" in the moment it is written. In discussion with others or in the being read by others it changes and starts to construct another \"reality\". The conclusion here is that there is no way of ever accurately representing anything or any event and therefore fictional-narrative as a research tool is as valid as any other medium.If one accepts that all accounts, verbal and written are constructs within a current context then one must also accept that no two accounts, even by the same person, of the same event or experience will ever be the same. To write or talk about things creates them and in that way this dissertation has created a version of Jane. Any conclusion I might draw from my research can be seen as the beginning of the next story, any further accounts or constructions of this work must read differently, in the same way as a Famous Five story comes to an end but the reader knows the next adventure is just around the corner.It is even more likely that accounts of events from long ago, e.g. in childhood, will be significantly different given the time elapsed since the event and the individuals experiences since they took place. Additionally the interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee, the environment within which it took place not to mention the interviewee's own fears must be taken into account.Reading Jane's interview text and my resultant interpretive reading there are clear links between Jane's adult professional self and the characters in the stories she read as a child. Children's literature, whatever its reason for being created, conveys different messages and creations for the child and the adult. When trying to reread a childhood favourite book the anticipated indulgence in sentimental re-experiencing of our childhood pleasures is rarely found (Armstrong, 2003), the plots that once held us in thrall now appear predictable, slow, sexist and even racist, even allowing for cultural and societal changes. In the same way that our favourite books do not re-deliver or evoke the same feelings as \"when we were a child\" our re-telling of experiences undergo a similar metamorphosis. It becomes impossible to accurately reconstruct them, we have irrevocably changed since it first took place and therefore our intervening experiences have taught us to reflect on and remember these events coloured by these experiences. However it can be argued, and Jane's experiences support the claim, that some messages and learning (as those from other sources) will stay with the child and be carried forward into adult life and the expectations therein. As a very young child Jane enjoyed the excitement and satisfactory outcomes of the fairy tale. Leadership, Jane's aspiration, can itself be read as a fairy tale, as a myth born out of the narratives and the language often used to describe it that reflect tales of quest and achievement.Organisations like the NHS are constantly searching for ways to solve their problems. Over the last ten years leadership has been heralded as such an entity. There is much posturing and a great deal of rhetoric surrounding the subject with training courses and recipes for success. This research has highlighted that it is much more complicated than the senior managers of these organisations perceived; it is unlikely I believe, given the findings from my research that it could succeed, at least not in ways that could be generally understood.Leadership is spoken about with verbose and grandiose language; leaders are exhorted to be charismatic, heroic, create and articulate a vision and lead us all into a new and better era. What does not seem to be the subject of consideration is the complexity of the characters of those leaders. Through the analysis of the research findings I have shown leadership to be a frightening experience. The demands placed on Jane by the organisation are impossible for her to achieve regardless of her position be it Dick, Julian, George, Anne, Timmy, hero or heroine. Additionally the position the organisation places her in, in its position as either parents or villain, actively prevents it.The weight of responsibility and the personal cost to those imbued with the title of leaders is greatly under-rated, as Jane demonstrates when the fear or anxiety become too great she reverts back to the more comfortable manager identity. Leadership while being a risk, or adventure, is a safe risk as the fall back position is one that the organisation does not question; it too perhaps is unable to take that final leap of faith. Jane has taken all the characters from the Famous Five novels and some from her fairy tales with her into her adult world, she uses each one at different times depending on her current needs. Her fundamental needs remain those she found solace for in the fairy tales from her youngest memories, a logical, safe progression through the story towards a predictably happy ending.Reflexive conclusion\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This study proposes to examine whether tales from childhood influence the psyche and self of the adult in their professional role as a leader in a large organization. It is positioned within a social constructionist and postmodernist framework.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The methodology development was challenging; to capture the level of abstraction within which it was positioned. Using narrative inquiry allowed for a less rigid methodology, data collection and analysis. The data were collected using a non-structured single interview with a known subject, the data analysed using an initial thematic analysis followed by an in-depth analysis of the themes against the background of an Enid Blyton novel.\nFindings: - This research project has shown how all are products of their whole life experiences to date; thus the tales from childhood must also impact on adult lives. This project identified links between the adult professional self and the characters in the tales, which were read as children. Leadership can be read as an adventure story or fairy tale, a myth born out of the narratives and language often used to describe it, reflecting tales of quest and achievement.\nOriginality/value: - The interpretations on offer are only one version; another reader or teller would experience a different interpretation; finding her own story, while constructing herself as a researcher, was unexpected and surprising. There are at least two stories running throughout predominantly: the subjects' story and the story of the research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Usage evaluation of electronic resources in academic and research libraries in Ghana	[ "Databases", "Electronic journals", "Usage statistics", "Cost per use", "Electronic resource management", "Full-text downloads" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Information and communication technology (ICT) has impacted how information is organised, preserved, accessed and disseminated. One of the products of this revolution is electronic information resources (e-resources). According to Tripathi and Jeevan (2013) quoting Lee and Boyle (2004), e-resources \"is any cohesive publication in digital form that is being marketed\", or \"any electronic product that delivers a collection of data, be it text, numerical, graphical or time based, as a commercially available resource\" which includes \"full text databases, electronic journals, image collections, multimedia products, collections of numerical data\". Indeed, e-resource is a broad term that describes information resources such as journals/serials, books and indexes among others that are packaged and accessed electronically. For the sake of this research, e-resource refers to online journals. It has also been used inter changeably with the term database.\nAccess and management of electronic resources: Managing the provision and use of electronic information resources has become necessary because of the high investments made toward its provision, as well as its contribution to education and global knowledge. According to Hosburgh (2014), librarians can manage e-resources by using the Techniques for Electronic Resource Management, a guide designed to manage the selection, subscription, renewal and cancellation processes. The guide recommends that for a successful selection, librarians should among other things consider the demand for and the purpose of the journals requested, determine the compatibility of the resource's platform to the existing integrated library system of the library and evaluate the content of the package. Again, librarians should critically examine the contract terms and ensure that the licensing agreement is favourable to them before they subscribe. Marketing and training have been recommended for the promotion of e-resources. Furthermore, librarians should regularly check the various access points, navigation links and full-text access to ensure efficient operation.\nCost of electronic resources: The demand on e-resources comes with challenges in the area of ICT infrastructure, licensing, ownership and long-term preservation; copyright and intellectual property legislation; and collection development and cataloguing issues (Koehn and Hawamdeh, 2010). Since the onset of this new trend in the library and information profession, many studies have been conducted to assess the use of electronic resources. A review of some of these studies reveals concerns in areas of cost of subscription. Even though some researchers have argued that print journals are more expensive than electronic journals because of printing and postage cost components, evidence has shown that the initial expenditure for setting up ICT infrastructure to facilitate the use of electronic resources is very high, especially in the African sub-region (Echezona and Ugwuanyi, 2010). In 2011, a study on Tulsa City-County Library revealed that prices of e-resources \"have steadily increased throughout the past five years\" (Koehn and Hawamdeh, 2010). An earlier report states that academic libraries spend 70-90 per cent of their libraries' budget on e-resource subscriptions (Carrico, 2011). This affirms the view that electronic resources are expensive. It is important to note that the \"Big Deal\" strategy used by publishers to offer one price for a packaged database of e-resources is a contributing factor to the high cost of e-resources (Blecis et al., 2013). This is because libraries end up paying for journals that they never use.\nEvaluating usage of electronic resources: As funding for library resources dwindle, librarians are faced with the task of selecting one journal or database over another. To justify their choice, \"collection managers analyse usage data and cost per use\" (Harrington and Stovall, 2011). Cost per use is a cost-benefit indicator used by librarians to assess the usage of e-resources (Rosenberg, 2008). It is calculated by dividing the total cost of e-resource by the total number of full-text downloads (Lamothe, 2011). Even though some authors such as Conger (2007), Luther (2001) and Medeiros (2007) cautioned against the use of full-text download data to measure value, many others such as Blecis et al. (2013), (Bordeaux et al., 2005), Gatten and Sanville (2004) and Rathemacher (2010) do attest that full-text download statistics is \"a powerful starting point in the evaluation of journals\" (Blecis et al., 2013). Unfortunately, there is no acceptable minimum value by which a cost per use can be rated. This is because each e-resource has its unique context determined by the subscription cost and the number of users (Rathemacher, 2010). To arrive at a benchmark for cost per use, the Houston Public Library in 2003 set $5 as benchmark for cost per use because most of the articles in their databases cost less than $5. The Cancer Research UK, on the other hand, based its benchmark for cost per use on an external factor. It used the cost of obtaining a copy of an article from document supply sources (Rathemacher, 2010). Similarly, the J.N. Desmarais Library of the Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada, matched cost per use against the average cost of ordering an article by interlibrary loan of $15.00. The result was that a vast majority of the journals fell below the benchmark (Lamothe, 2011). The Digital Library in Pakistan, on the other hand, only compared cost per use in 2005 to that of 2006 (Rosenberg, 2008).\nConcerns about usage statistics: Usage statistics is electronically generated by measuring \"how many times online journals are used\" (Rathemacher, 2010). It is free from self-interest and bias which can arise from people's opinion (Blecis et al., 2013), and it is readily available from a large number of publishers (Rathemacher, 2010).\nConsortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Ghana electronic resources: In Ghana, online journals were introduced into most libraries from 2008 with the establishment of CARLIGH in 2004 to promote resource sharing. These e-resources can be grouped into two categories of purchased and free. An annual cost of subscription is shared equally among members. According to Asamoah-Hassan (2014), this mode of cost sharing is supported by the idea that level of usage is not necessarily determined by the size of the institution because \"some smaller institutions are better endowed with modern technology\" (Asamoah-Hassan, 2014). Affiliated members, however, pay for only selected databases per their need, which could cover just one subject area. An average of 29 databases were subscribed by CARLIGH between 2010 to 2015, and from 2013, about 11 out of the 29 databases were being paid for by the Consortium. The second category of databases is the free ones of which members are entitled to when they pay for the purchased ones. Even though these are free for consortium members, they have been paid for by INASP and eIFL, partners to CARLIGH. Selection for what to purchase is usually based on user demand, which is determined by turn away statistics. As a result, the list of e-resources is often reviewed at the end of each subscription period. It is therefore common to find some e-resources dropped and others added to the list. To promote the use of the e-resources, several training workshops and seminars have been organised over the years to build the capacity of members and impact knowledge.\nMethodology: The study was conducted using a quantitative method of research. Usage statistics, specifically full-text downloads of 27 databases were obtained from publishers via email. These databases (named similar as their publishers) are the American Institute of Physics, American Physical Society, Annual review, Beech Tree Publishing, Bentham Science, BPS, Cambridge Press, Cochrane Library, Ebsco, Edinburgh University Press, Emerald, IEEE, IOP, Jstor, NGP (Nature), NGP (Nature and Palgrave), NGP (Palgrave), Oxford Journals, Oxford Ebooks, Palgrave Macmillan, Policy Press, Project muse, Royal College of Physics, Royal Society of Chemistry, Sage, University of Chicago Press and the World Bank eLibrary. Details of these databases with their corresponding statistics are shown in Table I. The data covers usage by an average of 33 registered institutions of CARLIGH. The number of registered members of CARLIGH varied over the years as new institutions kept joining the consortium. In 2010, 26 registered institutions accessed the CARLIGH databases. This number increased to 33 in 2011 but reduced to 32 in 2012. The number went up again to 35 in 2013, then to 37 in 2014 and to 39 in 2015. To find one number to work with, the researcher summed all the number of registered institutions from 2010 to 2015 (i.e. 202) and divided by the number of years under study (i.e. 6) to arrive at an average of 33 registered institutions. To assess the level of usage, full-text downloads of the 10 most used databases have been purposively sampled yearly from the 27 databases over the six-year period (i.e. 2010-2015). Six out of the ten databases have been further analysed to ascertain the cost per use/article from 2012 to 2015. The results have been presented and analysed using descriptive method of analysis of simple frequency count, mean and percentages, while Microsoft Excel was used to organise data into tables and graphs.\nResults and discussion: The study shows a yearly increase in the usage of e-resources from 2010 to 2015 (Table II and Figure 1). This is supported by Cobblah's research, whose findings asserted that CARLIGH's resources are accessed under favourable conditions such as availability of internet connectivity in most libraries, competency of most users in information literacy, high awareness of e-resource provision, high user satisfaction with e-resource subject coverage and usefulness of e-resources to teaching, learning and research. This impressive outcome could possibly be a result of overcoming challenges and limitations predisposed to earlier period of use. Also, increase in membership over the period might have ostensibly contributed to the increase in downloads. Other studies also confirmed this finding. For example, full-text downloads in the University of Dar es Salaam Library, Tanzania, doubled from 2004 to 2005 (Kiondo, 2008). Furthermore, the Pakistan Digital Library recorded a 130 per cent increase in the usage of e-resources from 2005 to 2006 (Musoke and Kinengyere, 2008), and in the Academic libraries in Ethiopia, downloads increased from 4,118 in 2003 to 17,447 in 2004 and 27,631 in 2005 (Megersa and Mammo, 2008).\nConclusion: The need to evaluate the usage of electronic resources to take informed decisions on retention, budgeting and promotion of the resources has been established. Analysing full-text downloads from 2010 to 2015, it has been ascertained that the usage of the CARLIGH-facilitated e-resources has improved over the years; however, the rate of improvement has declined by the year. In view of this, it has been recommended that institutions should step up promotion to sustain the current level of usage. Besides, the libraries should adopt the use of discovery tools to enhance searching the databases. Also, the use of mobile apps by libraries will improve accessibility of resources and services, as recommended by Allison (2013). Findings of the study also shows that October and November record the highest usage within each year, while January and May-August record the lowest patronage, an information that will improve user services.\nFurther research: The following are areas of further research necessary to complement this study:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the usage of electronic resources within the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Ghana (CARLIGH) in order to support subscription and budget decisions. This has become necessary because of the difficulty faced by institutions in paying subscription fee as a result of the continuous increase in subscription fee, financial constraints and high exchange rates.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is a quantitative research of electronic resource use covering six years. Full-text download statistics of ten most used electronic resources accessed by an average of 33 institutions were sampled from 27 databases and analysed to investigate level of usage. Six out of the ten electronic resources were analysed to evaluate cost per use over four years. Sampling was purposive. Data analysis and presentation were conducted using a descriptive method of analysis of simple frequency count, mean and percentages, while Microsoft Excel was used to organise data into tables and graphs.\nFindings: Findings revealed an improved usage of CARLIGH-facilitated electronic resources. However, the rate of improvement declined by the year. Also, October and November recorded high usage, while January and May-August recorded low patronage. Finally, using a mean as a benchmark, it was ascertained that costs per use/article was less than $0.98.\nResearch limitations/implications: Because of limited data evaluated, the research results may lack generalisation; hence, there is a need for further research.\nOriginality/value: This study will be useful in supporting librarians' decisions on continuous subscription, budget justification and promotion.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Improving the efficiency of public administrations through business process reengineering and simulation: A case study	[ "Performance measurement", "Simulation", "Business process reengineering", "Public administration" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Traditionally, the \"efficiency\" and \"effectiveness\" concepts have been typically applied to the private sector, while they have been rarely adopted in the context of the public administrations, which are almost universally designated as ineffective (Mihaiu et al., 2010). Indeed, public organizations have less market exposure than private ones and are, therefore, less motivated to reduce costs and improve their operating efficiency (Rainey et al., 1976). In recent decades, however, the need to improve competitiveness, the concerns about fiscal sustainability and the growing demands of citizens for better public services at lower costs have involved wide-ranging reforms in the public sector in the whole Europe (European Commission, 2007). In the UK, for instance, several efforts have been made to reduce waste, bureaucracy and over-government (Theakston, 1995), as well as to introduce the principles of efficiency, effectiveness and economy in the central government (Thomson, 1992), thus leading to the new public management direction (Hood, 1991, 1995; Pollitt, 1993). In Italy, several reforms to the public administration were progressively carried out starting from the 1990s. Among the most recent ones, the Decreto Legislativo No. 150 (2009) has been introduced with the primary aim to enable the public administration to serve the citizens efficiently, which is a key principle of democracy. Also, such decree should boost the efficiency and productivity of the whole public sector of Italy. Outside Europe, similar reform initiatives were carried out in the USA; the \"National performance review\" (Thompson, 2000) is an example of initiative whose main goal was organizational change in the public administration.\n2. Literature analysis: The analysis of the literature related to this study covers two main areas, namely:\n3. Research methodology: A typical BPR procedure consists of five steps, namely: preparing for reengineering; mapping and analysing the AS IS process; design the TO BE process; implement the reengineered process; improving continuously (Hammer and Champy, 1993; Muthu et al., 2010). In this study, we exploit a slightly modified approach, which includes some of the phases listed above and, at the same time, is supported by simulation. The approach used is depicted in Figure 1 and explained.\n4. Preparing for reengineering: The public administration considered (whose name is omitted for confidentiality) is a municipality in the north of Italy. It currently serves a population of approx. 30,000 resident people, with a significant increase (+12 per cent) since 2012. The municipality was visited the first time in November 2012, with the purpose of gaining a basic knowledge of the activities carried out, the organizational structure, the type of services provided to the citizens and the perceived inefficiencies of the current processes. The visit was led by some representatives of the municipality, namely the secretary-general and two officers.\n5. AS IS process analysis and criticality identification: This step consists of a detailed mapping of the AS IS processes of the municipality and was carried out in November 2012. In the light of the first general aim of the BPR study, the working group suggested to focus expressively on those processes that involve the final customers of the municipality, i.e. the citizens. In this regard, it emerged that the services to the customers are fulfilled by two main business units of the municipality, namely the reception and the office for relations with the public (ORP). Overall, those units employ 12 people as staff.\n6. Data collection: 6.1. Data extraction\n7. Development of the simulation model: 7.1. General overview\n8. Design of the TO BE processes: 8.1. Definition of the TO BE scenarios\n9. Conclusions: 9.1. Summary of findings and practical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a business process reengineering (BPR) approach to a public administration of Italy, to first assess the efficiency of the administration, then to redesign its internal processes, to improve the current performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A detailed mapping of the AS IS processes of the public administration was initially carried out, together with the collection of the relevant data. Then, a simulation model was designed to support the BPR approach. In particular, the model was exploited to assess the performance of the AS IS scenario of the organization, then to investigate numerous TO BE process configurations and evaluate the achievable performance improvements.\nFindings: From the study, it emerged that the current efficiency level of the public administration examined has potentials to be significantly improved. For instance, by maintaining its current workforce, the public administration could consider the opportunity of providing additional services to the citizens or to serve citizens from the neighbouring municipalities. Otherwise, the organization could consider a reorganization and reduction of its current workforce, at the same time keeping the service level to its citizens almost unchanged.\nResearch limitations/implications: Results of this study cannot be fully generalized, since the whole analysis is grounded on specific public administration. Moreover, although the simulation outcomes of the TO BE processes show interesting improvements compared to the AS IS scenario, the TO BE configurations were not (yet) implemented in practice. Therefore, the results provided should be confirmed in future research activities.\nPractical implications: The case study allowed deriving some useful guidelines to improve the efficiency of the public administration examined, as well as to identify some TO BE configurations that could be implemented in practice.\nOriginality/value: Scientific literature includes a limited number of studies that evaluate the efficiency of public organizations in real contexts. Moreover, no studies target public administrations in Italy. Therefore, this case study represents an interesting addition to the literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Developing creative leadership in a public sector organisation	[ "Leadership", "Innovation", "Public sector organizations", "Management learning", "Organisational climate", "Problem-solving" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: British Transport Police is a not-for-profit organisation responsible for policing the national rail network of the UK and employing 5,000 staff and officers divided into seven command units with three additional central support units. The organisation works towards a three year strategic plan and each command unit focuses on objectives of a local policing plan (BTP, 2010). The business is predominantly target driven and the operating environment is heavily regulated with the majority of enforcement activity taking place within a legal framework accountable to courts and government. The early formation of the police service was on a military basis and hierarchical progression through a rigid rank structure retains command levels leading to poor formal communication and leadership styles of managers that are ineffective for twenty-first century policing given the complexity of challenges with which they are faced. UK police services face a dual challenge of increasing efficiency and effectiveness with increasingly limited resources and where improved performance necessitates change to a culture of continuous improvement (Barton and Barton, 2011) supported by performance management systems.\nTheoretical background: Creativity and innovation are essential to adding value in challenging dynamic environments, yet capability and commitment are frequently lacking in practice (Salaman and Storey, 2002). Extant literature suggests two related issues contribute to this problem. First, regardless of recognition that employees in any position and at any level can benefit the organisation by being creative (Madjar, 2005; Madjar et al., 2002) idea generation is not common for most individuals (Egan, 2005). This calls for effective training in creative thinking skills. The commercialisation of creative processes, the selling of the golden egg that will lead to the flourishing of ideas, is potentially damaging, as some may not have effectively tested or understood the theory behind the process (Sternberg and Lubart, 1999). Growing evidence supports the effectiveness of creative problem solving (Puccio et al., 2006) using the Osborn-Parnes (Osborn, 1957; Parnes and Noller, 1973) process. This is very effectively used as a training program employing structured techniques (VanGundy, 1988) to develop facilitation skills for key individuals within organisations. In this way the process becomes embedded into the organisational climate as individuals develop their repertoire of facilitation and creative thinking skills.\nIntervention: Starting from a diagnostic assessment of climate through a KEYS assessment of climate for creativity (Amabile et al., 1996, 1999) organisational barriers to creativity and opportunities for improvement were explored. Reflection by the Area Commander led to powerful insights that enabled the identification of specific improvement strategies to encourage the flourishing of creative ideas, leading to innovative practice and an improved and more cost-effective policing service. Of the stimulant scales, organisational encouragement, work group support and challenging work were all unremarkably mid-range. Both obstacle scales, (lack of) organisational impediments and (lack of) workload pressure, were very-low, as were creativity and productivity criteria (Amabile et al., 1996). Given the emphasis on compliance and control these results were unsurprising in confirming a work environment that was unsupportive of creativity and innovation.\nResults: Evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention at the end of the first year proved highly positive. First, the successes arising from enhancing creative thinking skills are overwhelming. This evaluation process took place at the end of the fifth six-week cycle of the intervention, approximately one year into the process, and provides clear evidence of improvement in the flourishing of creative ideas. At that time approximately 600 new ideas had been generated by participants in the group creative thinking process led by trained facilitators. Of these 52 were in the pipeline to take forward for further planning and 13 had been implemented to date leading to more innovative practice contributing to an improved policing service. Significantly, most suggest improved cost-effectiveness of the service rather than placing increased demands on public resources and associated risks. Some examples of ideas already implemented include:\nDiscussion: This case is exemplary in demonstrating organisational transformation, reigniting the spark for creativity and innovation in a rigid bureaucracy typical of many public sector organisations that struggle to function efficiently or effectively due to resource constraints and increasingly complex challenges and constraints. Central to this is effective leadership, prompted by personal and professional development of the Area Commander. Of particular interest in this intervention is on how this is combined with a bottom-up approach to creative idea generation, involving participants in real issues of strategic concern, and leading to increased effectiveness of the service through interventions that involve minimal cost and many of which are cost negative. Realisation of the need to drive and embed change through leadership and the organisational climate is key to such transformation.\nConclusions: This paper provides evidence of effective intervention led by senior management across multiple levels in the development of creative and innovative capability and commitment, rather than fragmented approaches that address a single level or issue (Loewenberger, 2009). Rarely are individual and organisational interventions implemented simultaneously to overcome cognitive blocks to creative idea generation and organisational barriers. Positive outcomes emerging from simultaneous intervention have enormous implications for the theory and practice of creativity and innovation, at the heart of which is the enhancement of intrinsic motivation through climate change, based on psychological perceptions of the work environment (Amabile et al., 1996). Central to this is an awareness of creative requirement, simply are staff encouraged to be creative in their work (Unsworth and Clegg, 2010). Perceptions of staff that they are free to voice their ideas, and will be heard, is critical in encouraging creativity and innovation (Loewenberger, 2009). Top-down and bottom-up interventions combine effective leadership with creative idea generation at the level of the individual and the group that has had very positive outcomes in terms of the quality and quantity of ideas generated and in a climate that is more supportive of creativity and innovation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to demonstrate the effective development of creative and innovative capability in a rigid bureaucratic public sector environment of an area of the British Transport Police, championed by the Area Commander and informed by extant literature.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The focus is on an intervention that addressed two related issues suggested by extant literature, cognitive blocks to creative thinking and organisational barriers. A diagnostic assessment of the climate for creativity prompted reflection leading to simultaneous interventions, combining supervisory and senior management support with a structured process of creative problem solving focusing on problems generated at a strategic level.\nFindings: This has proved highly effective. At the end of the first year, five six-week cycles had already resulted in more than 600 new ideas, of which 52 were in the pipeline and 13 had already been endorsed. Few required financial investment and have increased effectiveness and optimised use of resources - literally doing more with less. Evidence is emerging of a climate more supportive of creativity and innovation.\nPractical implications: Positive outcomes have significant implications for the enhancement of creativity and innovation through intrinsic motivation. This example has potential for other public service organisations.\nOriginality/value: Simultaneous interventions across multiple levels are rare. That this has been achieved in a rigid bureaucratic environment public sector organisation adds to the unique value of this contribution.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The ISO 26000 guidance on social responsibility international standard: what are the business governance implications?	[ "International standards", "Social responsibility", "Boards of directors", "Sustainability", "Competitive strategy", "Governance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: On November 1, 2010, the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization (2010a) (ISO) launched what it characterized as \"one of the most eagerly awaited ISO International Standards of recent years\" - ISO 26000:2010, Guidance on Social Responsibility (hereafter ISO SR), a document that integrates international expertise on the concept of social responsibility of organizations in society[1]. The formal development of ISO SR began in 2005 under the auspices of the ISO Working Group on Social Responsibility, whose membership, including industry, government, labor, consumers, non-governmental organizations, and service, support, research and others, was the largest and most broadly based in terms of stakeholder representation in the history of ISO standards development[2]. Unlike related ISO standards, however, such as ISO 9001:2008 (Quality Management) and ISO 14001 (Environmental Management), both of which are management systems standards that can be used by organizations for certification purposes, ISO SR is a voluntary guidance standard that is not to be used for formal certification[3]. Rob Steele, Secretary-General of the ISO, commented on the importance of ISO SR in developed and developing countries (International Organization for Standardization, 2010a):The publication of ISO 26000 is eagerly awaited by organizations worldwide, whether they are business enterprises, or public sector organizations. Operating in a socially responsible manner is no longer an option. It is becoming a requirement of society worldwide. What makes ISO 26000 exceptional among the many already existing social responsibility initiatives is that it distils a truly international consensus on what social responsibility means and what core subjects need to be addressed to implement it. In addition, it is based on broad stakeholder input, including developing countries, business, government, consumers, labour, non-governmental organizations and others.\nA primer on the ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility International Standard[6]: This IS SR international standard recognizes that social responsibility should be an integral part of a business enterprise's strategy, with assigned responsibilities and accountability at all levels of the organization, and should be reflected in decision-making and considered in the implementation of operational activities. Furthermore, integrating social responsibility into small and medium-sized firms can be undertaken through practical, simple and cost-efficient actions, and need not be complex or expensive. As pertains to the duties of the state, this IS SR standard cannot replace or alter governmental responsibilities to act in the public's interest, nor does it provide guidance on what should be subject to legally binding obligations of the state. Finally, social responsibility is closely linked to sustainable development, as it is about the inter-dependent economic, social and environmental goals common to all societies. Thus, the principles, practices and core subjects of this IS SR international standard form the basis for a business enterprise's practical implementation of social responsibility and its real contribution to sustainable development.The principles of social responsibility\nThe case for business enterprise implementation of the ISO SR International Standard: There are three fundamental reasons why business enterprises - large, medium and small - would want to implement the ISO 26000 international standard:1. the image of ISO as a globally reputable and credible organization for establishing international technical standards;2. the development of an international consensus among stakeholders regarding the definition and objectives of social responsibility as it pertains to the economic, environmental, and social impacts of business enterprises (in the course of their operations) on society; and3. as a holistic reference for management interested in integrating social responsibility principles into the operations of an enterprise (see Figure 4). Each of these reasons will be subsequently explained in greater detail.ISO reputation and credibility\nAdopting the ISO SR International Standard: business governance implications: Business enterprises that implement the ISO SR international standard are confronted with several governance challenges. First, because the ISO SR international standard is a \"guidance\" document and not a \"management systems\" guideline, it is not certifiable by an independent third-party organization. From a governance perspective, this translates to the international standard being restricted to use as an internal guidance document to be referenced by boards of directors and executive management/entrepreneurs[8]. For business enterprises that are advanced on the learning curve of implementing socially responsible and sustainable practices, this guidance standard may help fill in \"gaps\" in sustainable business operations; for other enterprises, particularly SMEs, who are new to adopting comprehensive policies and implementing socially responsible practices, this guidance standard has the potential to offer significant value to boards and senior management/entrepreneurs interested in adopting \"best practices\". To this end, the ISO SR international standard offers \"The Check Tool\", designed to support the business enterprise in the selection and prioritization process by identifying those issues (six questions per issue, with issues selected where all six questions are answered positively) where a business enterprise can most effectively contribute to a favorable development of society[9].Second, as mentioned above, a business enterprise that publicizes that it is actively utilizing the ISO SR International Standard cannot be thoroughly evaluated by an independent, credible auditor because the standard \"is not appropriate or intended for certification or regulatory or contractual use\". Thus, it would be of value to any business enterprise seriously interested in implementing the ISO SR International Standard to actively integrate a certifiable, internationally recognized, social responsibility guideline or code of conduct when adapting its operations to the ISO SR document, as this will add third-party legitimacy and credibility to its enterprise-wide social responsibility and sustainability activities. Since the ISO SR International Standard is not intended to replace other social responsibility tools and standards (but rather build on already established principles and policies), the Global Reporting Initiative and the United Nations Global Compact are examples of voluntary, certifiable social responsibility and sustainability frameworks[10] that can be seamlessly integrated into a business enterprise's implementation of the ISO SRO international standard (Global Reporting Initiative, 2010).Third, the ISO SR international standard offers a generic, \"one-size-fits-all\" approach to organizations of all types and sizes; it therefore does not take into account specific industry- or sector-based contexts in which business enterprises compete, which is critical for identifying key societal impacts and sustainability challenges. This \"deficiency\" increases the complexity (and costs) of a business enterprise dedicated to adopting and implementing the ISO SR International Standard effectively. It is especially problematic for SMEs, which make up an estimated 97 percent of the world's businesses, where such expenditures and the time necessary to allocate for training and assistance with implementation can be a governance decision-making dilemma. Confronted by high costs and time allocation, SME boards of directors and senior management/entrepreneurs may decide that investing their limited resources in only a voluntary, certifiable social responsibility and sustainability framework, such as the above-mentioned Global Reporting Initiative and the United Nations Global Compact, are how business enterprises receives the highest return-on-investment, i.e. third-party certification - and the subsequent legitimacy and credibility - for their social responsibility and sustainability practices.According to a recent global survey undertaken by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (ISID), Manitoba, Canada, on the impact of ISO 26000 and social responsibility on their operations (Perera, 2008, 2009), SMEs report that:* Over 89 percent of the respondents did not plan to use the standard as they considered it too long and covering too broad a spectrum to serve as a practical guide. For example, the national cleaner production sector commented that ISO 26000 would need to address national and sector-specific concerns if it was to have a wider appeal.* Many SME survey respondents do not consider standards (such as ISO 26000) to be pivotal in raising skills, diversifying product/service offerings and obtaining finance - all essential aspects of business integrity.* Some 45 percent of SME respondents cited a lack of time as a major obstacle to improving social responsibility performance.* Many SME respondents appear to lack the expertise to understand the social responsibility agenda, prioritize it within their business interests, and estimate the time and resources required to address them.* Some 41 percent of SME respondents viewed the increasing social compliance costs as a constant barrier to improving competitiveness and suggested that their outputs did not reach the necessary economies-of-scale to justify investments in social and environmental improvements. This last finding segues into the next business governance challenge.Fourth, because the ISO SR international standard does not provide detailed guidance for implementing operational measures in the industry or sector context, there is no question that the \"cost-of-adaptation\" consideration will be paramount in the governance decision of SMEs in many industries/sectors. To address this challenge to broaden ISO SR adoption (especially among SMEs), one avenue to pursue would be to have industry/sector associations take on the responsibility (and cost) of \"adapting\" the ISO SR international standard to the specific industry/sector context. The Global Reporting Initiative also began its existence as a \"one-size-fits-all\" reporting guideline, but over a period of years recognized the importance of having industry/sector-focused guidelines (Veleva, 2010)[11]. While this industry/sector approach will allow for \"free-riders\" to benefit from the finished guidance product, a convincing argument can be made that the benefits of an enhanced industry/sector-wide image are well worth the positive \"externalities\" accruing to non-industry association members.\nConclusions: After ten years of development, the ISO SR international standard was introduced to a global business community that remains cautiously optimistic at best and highly skeptical at worst. While critics of ISO 26000 have expressed concern that this international standard's issuance would bring on an onslaught of national legislation and government regulation requiring mandated \"ISO 26000 Certification Programs\" (Roberts, 2010), this public policy scenario has not emerged. What is emerging, however, is another market scenario. In the case of larger business enterprises, for example MNEs, these organizations are already vested in international corporate responsibility and sustainability initiatives, such as the Global Reporting Initiative and/or the United Nations Global Compact. For these MNEs, the ISO SR international standard is used as a \"holistic reference\" for social responsibility and sustainability, serving as a guidance document to address minor issues related to policies and practices. In the case of SMEs, because it does not provide detailed guidance for implementing operational measures in the industry or sector context, this lengthy, complex document has a relatively high learning curve cost regarding its implementation of policies and practices. More importantly, it does not provide the legitimacy that accrues from an established social responsibility and sustainability framework or code of conduct that offers third-party certification, such as the Global Reporting Initiative or the United Nations Global Compact. Given the choice, SMEs will naturally gravitate to a \"recognized\" social responsibility and sustainability initiative over one that emphatically cannot under any circumstance receive independent certification and therefore accrue the competitive advantage inherent in publicizing the business enterprise's efforts in this area to stakeholders.In summary, from a general business governance perspective, the ISO 26000 international standard is handicapped by the fact that it is too broad in scope and (thus not able to capture the important environmental context of industries and sectors), it is costly and time-consuming to implement (especially for SMEs), and it is not a certifiable management system standard (therefore requiring another certifiable social responsibility and sustainability initiative to be integrated in with the international standard to allow for \"legitimacy and credibility\" to be publicly conveyed to stakeholders). Given the present restriction on formal certification, this will remain problematic and a perpetual limiting factor in ISO 26000's adoption. This conclusion leads to the following research and best practice questions about assessing the efficacy of the ISO 26000 international standard:* How are business enterprises and stakeholders able to measure the \"success\" or \"failure\" of the integration of the international standard (and other social responsibility and sustainability initiatives) into business operations?* Furthermore, what role does organization size (i.e. SME versus MNE) play in evaluating the social responsibility performance of business enterprises?* Lastly, how will MNEs (that adopt the ISO 26000 standard) influence the social responsibility performance (and subsequent adoption of the ISO 26000 standard) of those SMEs in their supply chains?These and other emerging research questions concerning the ISO 26000 standard and social responsibility practices will provide the intellectual grist for corporate governance researchers and their ultimate beneficiaries, the business enterprises implementing or who have implemented this standard, for the foreseeable future.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - On November 1, 2010, the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO) launched ISO 26000:2010, Guidance on Social Responsibility (hereafter ISO SR international standard), a document that integrates international expertise on the concept of the social responsibility of organizations in society. The purpose of this paper is to identify and critically analyze the reasons for and against business enterprises implementing the ISO 26000 SR international standard.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This analysis identifies the following reasons for business enterprises to implement the ISO SR international standard: first, the positive image of ISO as a globally reputable and credible organization for establishing international technical standards; second, the development of an international consensus among stakeholders regarding the definition and objectives of social responsibility as it pertains to the economic, environmental, and social impacts of business enterprises on society and the natural environment; and third, as a holistic reference for a management team interested in integrating social responsibility principles into enterprise operations.\nFindings: - From a general business governance perspective, the ISO 26000 SR international standard is handicapped by it being too broad in scope to be useful in the context of specific industries and sectors, too costly and time-consuming for many small and medium-sized enterprises to implement, and, unlike most other ISO international standards, it is not a certifiable management system - therefore leading to weaknesses in assessing its efficacy.\nOriginality/value: - This article provides a comprehensive and thorough analysis of the \"strengths and weaknesses\" of the recently published ISO 26000 SR international standard as a viable business governance document.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Living in the present	[ "Management strategy", "Chaos theory", "Complexity theory", "Due diligence" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: April 1, 2030, Jaco Beach: It has been a long time now since actual business strategy was effectively criminalized.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - An article \"from the future\" illustrating the trend away from serious strategy and planning in American companies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Making use of previous learning and work with numerous clients to illuminate certain aspects of the context within which business strategy is formulated.\nFindings: - Fewer and fewer corporations are engaging in serious long-range planning efforts. Wall Street's short-term focus and incursion upon CEO prerogatives may be one reason.\nOriginality/value: - Expresses ideas in a way that the author hopes they have not been expressed before.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Extending the careers of older workers: the role of individual working agreements	[ "Employability", "Older workers", "Flexible working" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An ageing population is a characteristic shared by many developed economies. One obvious consequence of this trend is an increase in the number of older workers. Age equals knowledge, skills and experience. So given the value of these qualities in the workplace, firms should continue to utilize what such individuals have to offer.\nIndividual agreements and older workers: Recent times have witnessed growth in the use of individualized working agreements. Such customization is now more prevalent than the collective practices that widely prevailed before. These agreements are characterized by being:\nIncreasing perceptions of employability: I-deals pertaining to task and work responsibilities appear to be strongly connected with employability. Such agreements:\nWhat companies can do: Firms should focus on negotiating individualized working agreements as a means to boost the employability of older workers. The importance of this will only increase further as the percentage of older employees in the workforce continues to rise. I-deals can help to extend the future time perspective of these workers, increase their commitment and rekindle enthusiasm for learning new capabilities.\nComment: The review is based on \"How do idiosyncratic deals contribute to the employability of older workers?\" by Oostrom et al. (2016). In this article, the need for firms to address the employability of the growing percentage of older workers is addressed. The authors note the importance of recognizing worker heterogeneity and use this as the basis for creating individual working agreements with these employees. Different types of i-deals are described in this engaging piece and their impact on the employability of older workers commented on.\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: An ageing population is a characteristic shared by many developed economies. One obvious consequence of this trend is an increase in the number of older workers. Age equals knowledge, skills and experience. So, given the value of these qualities in the workplace, firms should continue to utilize what such individuals have to offer. Insightful organizations realize this and have begun to devise certain human resource practices with their more senior employees in mind. But results have been inconsistent thus far. This suggests that a different strategy is required. It is normal for people's needs to change as they get older. With age comes heterogeneity. Now this should be noted within the workplace as well as outside of it. In the light of such knowledge, perhaps a more targeted approach could be of greater benefit to senior members of staff.\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" } ]
Conscientiousness and contextual performance: The compensatory effects of perceived organizational support and leader-member exchange	[ "Performance management", "Social skills", "Employee behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Theory and research has distinguished between task and contextual performance (e.g. Borman and Motowidlo, 1993; Campbell, 1990; Coleman and Borman, 2000; Motowidlo and Van Scotter, 1994). Task performance represents a job's substantive duties and tasks that differentiate one job from another. Contextual performance is viewed as discretionary behaviors not formally required by any particular job, yet helping to form the social context of all jobs (Campbell, 1990; Motowidlo et al., 1997; Van Scotter and Motowidlo, 1996).\nContextual performance: Theory and research has distinguished between task and contextual performance (e.g. Borman and Motowidlo, 1993; Campbell, 1990; Coleman and Borman, 2000; Motowidlo and Van Scotter, 1994). Changes in work environments, such as elimination of layers of middle management, the increasing rate of adoption of team-based work structures, and the increasing proportion of service-oriented jobs in the American economy have brought about a shift from hierarchical and bureaucratic organizational designs to flatter, more networked and flexible designs (Cascio, 1995; Capelli et al., 1997). These changes in work environments have contributed to a larger \"social\" component to work performance in many, if not most jobs, leading to a greater recognition of the importance of contextual performance in contemporary organizations. Indeed, over the last decade a great deal of research has focused on contextual performance.At least two separate streams of research have established that contextual performance is itself comprised of two dimensions. One dimension labeled job dedication (e.g. Borman and Van Scotter, 1994; Van Scotter and Motowidlo, 1996) or citizenship behaviors directed toward the organization (e.g. Bateman and Organ, 1983; Organ, 1998; Williams and Anderson, 1991) includes behaviors, such as following rules, working hard, taking initiative and acting in ways to enhance the organization's reputation. The second dimension labeled interpersonal facilitation or citizenship behaviors directed toward organizational members (e.g. coworkers, new comers, supervisors) includes behaviors, such as helping, cooperating, and volunteering.\nSocial exchanges at work: The theoretical basis for this study is derived from the social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) and the norm of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960). The basic premise of social exchange theory is that relationships providing more rewards than costs will yield enduring mutual trust and attraction (Blau, 1964). These social transactions incorporate both material benefits and psychological rewards including status, loyalty and approval (Yukl, 1994). Central to both social exchange theory and the norm of reciprocity is the concept of unspecified obligations. That is, when one party does a favor for another, there is an expectation of some future return. These obligations may be enacted in the form of citizenship behaviors and over time, a pattern of reciprocity evolves, resulting in perceived balance in the exchange relationship (Blau, 1964; Gouldner, 1960; Rousseau, 1989).Exchange relationships with the organization and with one's immediate supervisor are of great significance to employees. As noted previously, central to both the social exchange theory and the norm of reciprocity is the concept of unspecified obligations. With respect to employees' exchange relationship with the organization, one way in which these unspecified obligations develop for employees is through perceptions of organizational support. With respect to employees' exchange relationship with one's supervisor, perceptions of unspecified obligations could develop through the quality of the exchange experience with their leader/supervisor.Exchanges with organizations - perceived organizational support\nConscientiousness and contextual performance: Building on the task versus contextual performance distinction, Motowidlo et al. (1997) introduced a theory of individual differences in task and contextual performance. One of the key propositions of this theory is the comparison of the relative strength of the relations between individual differences and task and contextual performance. Specifically, Motowidlo et al. (1997) specify a stronger link between ability and task performance than between ability and contextual performance. Similarly, they specify a stronger link between personality characteristics and contextual performance than the link between personality characteristics and task performance. Indeed, recent studies have reported promising evidence that personality variables better predict contextual than task performance (e.g. Beaty et al., 2001; Bott et al., 2003; Chan and Schmitt, 2002; Motowidlo et al., 1997).Although Motowidlo et al.'s (1997) theory is less clear about which specific personality characteristics should be considered, there are theoretical and empirical reasons to expect significant relations for several of the Big Five personality dimensions. For instance, those who are high in conscientiousness tend to be dependable, careful, thorough, responsible, organized and planful (Barrick and Mount, 1991). Because highly conscientious individuals are hardworking, achievement oriented, and perseverant, they tend to do what needs to be done to accomplish work. Accordingly, when success at work depends on interdependence, smooth interpersonal relationships, working hard, and showing initiative to solve a problem at work, conscientious individuals are more likely to engage in these discretionary behaviors than less conscientious individuals. Indeed, research investigating the relationship between the five factor personality model and contextual performance has often reported a significant relationship between conscientiousness and contextual performance (e.g. Bott et al., 2003; Chan and Schmitt, 2002; Mount et al., 1998; LePine and Van Dyne, 2001; Van Scotter and Motowidlo, 1996).Compensatory role of perceived organizational support\nMethod: Sample\nResults: Before testing our hypotheses, we performed confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Ideally, one would perform CFA with all the items used to measure constructs examined in the study. In all, we used 66 items to measure job satisfaction, conscientiousness, POS, LMX, and contextual performance directed toward organization and toward supervisor. Given that the number of parameters estimated relative to sample size is an important determinant of convergence, standard errors, and model fit in covariance structure models (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988; Hayduk, 1987; Settoon et al., 1996; Williams and Anderson, 1994), Bentler and associates (Bentler, 1990; Bentler and Chou, 1988) recommended a minimum sample size to parameter ratio of 5:1 to achieve reliable estimates in maximum likelihood estimation. With a sample size of 158 respondents and 66 manifest indicators, the sample size to parameter ratio was almost half of the recommended 5:1 ratio.We used previously validated scales to measure POS and LMX. In addition, previous research has documented the distinctiveness of these two constructs in self-report data (Erdogan et al., 2004, Masterson et al., 2000; Settoon et al., 1996; Wayne et al., 2002; Wayne et al., 1997). Results of these studies ameliorated our concern for the independence of POS and LMX.We used Moorman and Blakely's (1995) sub-scales to measure organization-directed contextual performance. However, we modified Moorman and Blakely's sub-scales of interpersonal helping and individual initiative to measure contextual performance directed toward supervisor as the original items (i.e. Moorman and Blakely's items) were written to measure contextual performance directed toward coworkers and new employees (see measures section for rationale and items used). Therefore, we reasoned that the only scales of concern were those used to measure contextual performance. CFA of these 15 items allowed for a good sample size (n=158) to parameter ratio. When working with smaller samples (small, relative to items), researchers have used similar arguments and strategy, and have limited their investigation of factor structure to only newly created or modified measures as opposed to measures of all the variables included in the study (e.g. Erdogan et al., 2004).Thus, we examined the dimensionality of contextual performance. We entered all items used to measure contextual performance into a CFA and tested two models. The measurement model consisted of two factors, all items measuring organization-directed contextual performance as one factor, and all items measuring supervisor-directed contextual performance as the second factor. The fit statistics indicated excellent fit (kh2(76)=7.82, CFI=0.99, GFI=0.99, RMSEA=0.00). The second model (i.e. nested model) in which organization-directed and supervisor-directed contextual performance fell under the same factor had significantly worse fit (kh2(77)=48.02, Dkh2(77)=40.10, p<0.001). Results of CFA support treating organization-directed and supervisor-directed contextual performance as distinct dimensions of contextual performance. Means, standard deviations, and correlations between study variables are reported in Table I.Hypothesis testing\nDiscussion: The importance of contextual performance for efficient and effective functioning of organizations is widely recognized (Borman and Motowidlo, 1993; Bott et al., 2003; Organ, 1998). Drawing on the social exchange perspective and the norm of reciprocity, we articulated the importance of matching source of support (i.e. leader versus organization) with the target of contextual performance (i.e. leader versus organization). To our knowledge, this study is the first to introduce this idea to the contextual performance literature, and is in response to calls by LePine et al. (2002) for theory-based attempts to identify variables that have differential relationships across dimensions of contextual performance. Our results confirm the usefulness of this approach. As expected, POS explained additional variance in organization-directed contextual performance but not in supervisor-directed contextual performance. LMX evidenced the opposite pattern, i.e. it explained additional variance in supervisor-directed but not in organization-directed contextual performance.Consistent with the social exchange perspective, results of moderated hierarchical regressions indicate that conscientiousness interacts with POS to influence organization-directed contextual performance and that it interacts with LMX to influence supervisor-directed contextual performance. The moderating effect of POS suggests that perceptions of high levels of support from one's organization compensates for low levels of conscientiousness in influencing contextual performance toward the organization. Thus, when employees perceive high levels of support from their organization, even less conscientious individuals who generally are less likely to engage in contextual performance feel obligated to and respond in kind toward the organization through contextual performance.Similarly, the moderating effect of LMX suggests that supportive relations with the leader compensates for low levels of conscientiousness in influencing contextual performance toward the leader. Thus, less conscientious individuals who generally are less likely to engage in contextual performance reciprocate leader's supportiveness by engaging in contextual performance that benefits the leader.In summary, our primary purpose was to develop a more complete understanding of when and why employees decide to allocate discretionary effort toward different beneficiaries. Our results indicate that conscientious individuals are predisposed to engaging in contextual performance toward the organization and toward their immediate supervisor. Individuals who are not predisposed to contextual performance, such as those with low levels of conscientiousness, are likely to engage in contextual performance when they perceive support because such support creates feelings of obligation to reciprocate toward the source of support.Theoretical implications\nConclusion: Given the importance of contextual performance to organizations, understanding factors that influence contextual performance is of interest to scientists and practitioners. Results of this study confirm that conscientiousness influences contextual performance toward the organization and immediate supervisor. More importantly, results indicate that support from the leader and from the organization elicits contextual performance from individuals generally not predisposed to engaging in contextual performance. Given that personality is not amenable to change at least in the short run, investigating other avenues to encourage contextual performance is likely to yield theoretical insights and offer practical value.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to understand when and why employees engage in contextual performance directed toward one's organization and immediate supervisor.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A survey was conducted to measure study variables. Data collected from 158 professional employees were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis and moderated hierarchical analysis was used to test hitherto untested hypotheses.\nFindings: - Results indicate strong support for the hypothesized moderating effects, such that high levels of support compensated for low levels of conscientiousness in influencing contextual performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Although contextual performance is unlikely to influence one's level of conscientiousness, the cross-sectional design of the study does not permit firm conclusions regarding causality for the influence of support on contextual performance.\nPractical implications: - Results indicate that, by providing organizational and supervisory support, organizations will be able to elicit contextual performance from those individuals who lack the personality predisposition to engage in contextual performance. Given the importance of contextual performance, the practical implications of study results are of immense value.\nOriginality/value: - This study makes several contributions. For instance, it extends Motowidlo et al.'s theory to include subjective measures of situational conditions as factors that interact with personality to influence contextual performance. The study responds to LePine et al.'s call for theory-based attempts to identify variables that have differential relationships across dimensions of contextual performance. Drawing on individual difference and social exchange perspectives, this study theorized and found that perceived organizational support moderates the relationship between conscientiousness and organization-directed contextual performance, and that the quality of the leader-member exchange experience moderates the relationship between conscientiousness and supervisor-directed contextual performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring the role of accounting in the People's Commune of China between 1958 and 1966	[ "Political ideology", "1958-1966", "Chinese socialist accounting", "Mao", "Gramsci’s theory of hegemony", "The People’s Commune" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: China is often understood as a nation that possesses a strong tradition of authoritarian government. Political ideologies are highly relevant to an understanding of Chinese socio-economic developments, as ideological changes fundamentally shape different aspects of society, including accounting systems (Yee, 2009, 2012). Research has demonstrated a close link between political ideologies and the development of accounting in China (Ezzamel et al., 2007; Xu et al., 2014; Zhang and Andrew, 2016). Xu et al. (2014) provide a comprehensive account of the influences of Mao's political ideas on the early development of accounting in China from 1949 to 1957 (Xu et al., 2014). This paper expands that research to study the accounting changes during the People's Commune movement, introduced by Mao in 1958 to further reduce the influence of Western countries and to reinforce his leadership of and relationship with the masses. People's Communes, which were established in rural areas in China to administer all social services, including commerce, policing and tax collection (Grasso et al., 2004)[1], were designed as a governance agency to put utopian ideas of communism into practice. A distinctive accounting system was used in this period to promote Mao's ambitious socialist goals.\n2. Gramsci's theory of hegemony: Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) was the founding member and one-time leader of the Italian Socialist Party. Gramsci wrote extensively during his time in prison (1929-1935) on the topic of political hegemony, which has become an influential theory for understanding power struggles in the field of political economy. According to Gramsci, hegemony is considered as a dynamic social relation, rather than a fixed status quo. It involves both domination (by means of coercion) and consent (by means of political and ideological leadership). Gramsci highlights that it is important for the ruling class, once it has gained state power, to continuously obtain the consent of other classes and social forces. This consensus-forming, or building of \"a system of alliances\" (Simon, 1982, p. 23), is an ongoing process that is created and maintained through ideological and moral reforms. The aim is to manage a collective consciousness to advance the will of the ruling class and diffuse it among other subordinate classes. In this process, ideology acts as the driving force for the renegotiation of social consciousness among these diverse classes, which sustains the hegemonic leadership.\n3. Literature review: The traditional view of accounting as a neutral technology has been challenged by researchers interested in the role of accounting in the (re)production of socio-political power (Lehman and Tinker, 1987; Arnold and Hammond, 1994; Cooper, 1995). As Cooper (1995, p. 176) explains, \"ideology is seen as working through accounting to give certain signifiers an authoritative position in terms of their role of helping us to understand the world, and at the same time, to silently exclude other ways of understanding the world.\" This focus is particularly important when understanding the role of accounting in society because of the relevance of specific beliefs or power systems that are embedded in accounting practices (Carnegie and Napier, 1996; Napier, 2001).\n4. The People's Commune: simplifying the accounting system: The PRC was established in 1949, and the period 1949 to 1957 was a time of critical transition for China. The CCP had established a strong and centralised system with impressive economic growth after decades of social fragmentation and civil war, and Mao's leadership was relatively stable during this period (Xu et al., 2014). As noted, Gramsci (1971) argued that it is important for the leading class to continuously refresh their ideology despite holding power. Mao's 1958 political campaign, the Great Leap Forward, may be considered an example of an attempt to refresh and reinforce his leadership in Gramscian terms. The Great Leap Forward movement aimed to transform China from an agricultural nation into an advanced industrial one in a very short period of time[5]. The intent was that Mao's advanced industrial economy would enhance the public's living standards, thereby further reinforcing his leadership. To achieve this goal, Mao planned to expedite the productive forces through industrialisation of economic production in urban areas[6] and collectivisation of agricultural production in rural areas (Mao, 1956, p. 6). The People's Commune was the major platform through which to translate the communist aims proposed in the Great Leap Forward campaign. Mao believed that socialist ends could only be achieved through socialist means, and that the People's Commune was the ideal agency to reconcile these means and ends of socialism (Meisner, 1999). This action had the effect of embedding Mao's extreme communist ideology into everyday life (Meisner, 1999), which is consistent with Gramsci's (1971) reflection that ideology is not to be considered as something that floats above political and practical activities, but instead as something that exists in everyone's daily life. The People's Commune was considered the \"organiser of living\" that would direct the development of socialist China and helping people to commit to Mao's belief in a communist utopia (Meisner, 1999, p. 221).\n5. The simplified accounting system in the People's Commune: This section will examine three specific aspects of the simplified accounting systems used in the People's Commune. It further illustrates the political nature of accounting as it exercised interplaying roles in civil and political society during this accounting evolution.\n6. Discussion and conclusion: Constructing a particular ideology for the ruling regimes has been a fundamental aspect of social politics in China's long history of political centralism (Lieberthal, 2004). Yee (2009, p. 76) elaborated the function of ideological construction as a form of political hegemony:Hegemony is the predominance over other groups or classes obtained by means of winning consent rather than by force, whereas domination is realized essentially through the coercive apparatuses of the state. [...] [T]o secure[...] hegemony, [the state] must continue to exercise what Gramsci called \"intellectual and moral leadership\" and maintain a system of alliances with other social forces through political and ideological struggle.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to consider the role of accounting in the construction and maintenance of political hegemony during Mao's People's Commune movement in China between 1958 and 1966. Drawing on concepts of ideological power and intellectual diffusion in political and civil society from Gramsci's theory of hegemony, it analyses the process by which accounting intellectuals established a set of socialist accounting practices to meet the political challenges of the People's Commune.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Gramsci's theory is adopted to examine how the accounting systems of People's Commune acted as a mechanism that reflected Mao's political ideas.\nFindings: This paper demonstrates that the accounting system that emerged during these socio-political movements served the ideological purpose of reinforcing Mao's political ideology and his hegemonic leadership. Accounting functioned within the spheres of both political and civil society to facilitate a national collective will, and to construct behaviours that satisfied the political requirements of the People's Commune.\nOriginality/value: This paper will contribute to the accounting history in China from 1958 to 1966.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Factors underlying sex preference of domestic servants in Nigeria	[ "Welfare", "Demand", "Family", "Sex preference", "Working women" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Nigeria's socio-economic situation is a dramatic irony. With about 164.3 million people, (National Bureau of Statistics, 2011), the most populous black nation has not been able to transmute her numerical strength into meaningful socio-economic development. In 2011, the national unemployment rate stood at 23.9 per cent. Poverty levitated from 15 per cent in 1960 to 54.4 per cent in 2004 (National Bureau of Statistics, 2011). Close to 65 per cent women live below poverty line. The rise of dual-earner families became inevitable as the breadwinner model waned. As Johnson and Semmence (2006) observe, families may rely more than ever on the woman's wage because of the financial pressures arising from inflation, wage freezes, and unemployment. Also, Tade and Aderinto (2012) aver that the incursion of women into the world of work is purely driven by the need to augment family expenses. This employment rate has increased for mothers than that of other women (Evertsson and Grunow, 2012; Fagan and Norman, 2012; OECD, 2008). However, such economic venture of women is with a price on the domestic front.\nReview of related literature: Families all over the world are undergoing structural and functional changes. Earlier forms of family organisation, such as the traditional breadwinner model is being threatened or redefined by socio-economic realities and modernity. There is a growing embrace of partnership model among families around the globe in which the hitherto split between domestic (women) and public spheres (men) is outliving its usefulness as husbands and wives are becoming economic partners in sustaining the home through female labour force participation. Due to their respective demand for exclusive time commitment, Coser (1974) portrays professional work and families as \"greedy institutions\". The time commitment required of professional work has even escalated in recent years (Jacobs and Gerson, 2004). The decline of men's employment and the resulting need for women's economic contribution for personal and family subsistence has reinforced the breakdown of the \"myth of the male breadwinner\" (Safa, 1995; Thomson, 2009; Warren, 2010). In the new family system, women play the role of taking care of the children and also providing financial support for the family. One of the main reasons why women have to work is that the husband may not be able to provide enough income to meet the cost of living, which keeps rising from time to time (Dodson and Dickert, 2004). There are also women who work to fulfil their personal interest in career achievement (Voydanoff, 2004). Apart from these two reasons, some women feel that they need to work in order to prepare themselves for future insecure scenario, such as death or illness of husband, and divorce (Finkenauer et al., 2004). The combination of increased fertility control and decreased fertility levels resulted in more time that women could devote to work (Percheski, 2008). According to Morini (2007), work is an effective occasion for the emancipation of women in the face of male oppression, albeit within the limits set by the hierarchical organisation of work. And as Deutsch (2007) argues, increasing female economic contributions in the household may be handy to undoing gender discrimination and inequality.\nResearch setting: Ibadan: The research setting is Ibadan, the capital of Oyo state. Oyo State was created in 1976. Ibadan is the largest metropolitan area, by population, in Nigeria, after Lagos and Kano, with a population of 1, 338, 659 according to the 2006 population census figure. Ibadan is also the largest metropolitan geographical area. The ancient city of Ibadan was founded in 1829. Since its establishment, Ibadan has transformed phenomenally in growth and development. There have also been spatial and population expansions. Indeed, according to Udo (1994) defence and economic considerations influenced the location as well as the rapid growth of Ibadan city. The development in Ibadan is a function of the location of the seat of government. The government house is on top of Agodi hill with developmental features more concentrated in the city, thinning outwardly. Aside this, Ibadan has 11 out of the 33 local government areas in the present Oyo state. Hence, it is the political head of other zones in the state. Since the advent of democratic governance in 1999, Ibadan has produced all three executive governors to date. This is partly due to its population strength over other zones.\nMethods: The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods in selecting respondents, administering research instruments for data collection and analysing the results. The use of both methods and mixing the two methods when beneficial has been defined as pragmatism (Onwuegbuzie and Leech, 2005). Thus, both methods were mixed (Cresswell, 2003) to fully capture factors underlying sex preference of DS among working mothers. Data collection proceeded from qualitative to quantitative. This approach was used to strengthen our quantitative instrument through the inclusion of otherwise omitted questions and other issues raised by interviewees.\nResults and discussion: Socio-demographic profile of respondents\nConclusion: The decisions of women and mothers, in particular, for or against employment are not merely based on rational cost-benefit calculations, but also influenced by cultural factors to a significant extent. Hence, culturally shaped role images can result in mothers being stylised as being solely responsible for the care and upbringing of children. (Hennig et al., 2012, p. 514)\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine factors underlying gender preference of domestic servants (DS). Children in domestic service constitute the most common form of urban child labour. Literature has shown that domestic service employment has a gender face with the girl-child more susceptible. This is the gap this research fills.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study employed both quantitative and qualitative strategies selecting respondents and analysing the study. The respondents were employers of DS and were mainly women. Qualitative data were generated from 15 employers reached through the snowball method. The stratified purposive sampling technique was used to identify private and public organisations in the selected localities where copies of a questionnaire were administered.\nFindings: The results showed that factors considered for employing DS are linked to traditional conception of household tasks. Consequently, girls (86.4 per cent) were preferred for performing domestic chores, providing emotional support for employers' children and were viewed as receptive, \"mouldable\", and hardworking to male (11.4 per cent). Not minding these functional roles they perform, some employers reported that female DS could \"snatch\" their husbands, influence their children negatively, and may be spiritually possessed and physically \"unclean\". Male servants were considered foul, repulsive, and revolting to correction; besides, they sexually assault female children of employers; hence they were least demanded.\nResearch limitations/implications: Because of the size of the sample which is small, the research results may lack generalisability. More expansive works are needed in this regard.\nPractical implications: The paper includes implications for policy initiative concerning the plight of working women and security of DS.\nSocial implications: The paper reveals the social factors considered in recruiting DS and their implications on family relations.\nOriginality/value: This paper fulfills the identified gap to study gender preference in domestic servitude.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Going beyond western dualism: towards corporate nature responsibility reporting	[ "Corporate social responsibility", "Corporate social responsibility reporting", "Corporate nature responsibility", "Corporate nature responsibility reporting", "Ecofeminism", "Western dichotomous thinking" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: [...] western culture has treated the human/nature relation as a dualism and [...] this explains many of the problematic features of the west's treatment of nature which underlie the environmental crisis, especially the western construction of human identity as \"outside\" of nature.(Plumwood, 1993, p. 2)\nIntroduction: The twenty-first century witnesses an ecological crisis, which policy makers and governments can no longer ignore (Breyer et al., 2016; Cooper and Senkl, 2016). Global and regional attempts at the policy level, thus evidence concerns to introduce changes, which will steer us away from ecological catastrophe. However limited these attempts may be, they are an indication of an emerging global rethinking in terms of how we - humans - interrelate with the non-human world (commonly referred to as the environment or nature). In this broader context, the impact of corporations and business organisations on the environment has become a major focus of concern (Radford Ruether, 2005). Corporations and business organisations are seen as both, major contributors to the ecological crisis as well as important actors in attempts to stop ecological damage and to reverse it (Maunders and Burritt, 1991; Welford, 1997; Gray and Bebbington, 2000). In the context of debates about the social responsibility of corporations, a corporation's responsibility to the environment and thus the need to operate in a sustainable way are emphasised. Since, especially, the late 1990s, corporations and business organisations have responded to such debates by voluntarily increasing the disclosure of information about their environmental impact through corporate social responsibility reporting (CSRR) (Owen, 1992a, b; Owen and O'Dwyer, 2008)[1]. The literature on CSRR is critical of these attempts and has pointed to the PR nature and legitimation function of CSRR and to managerial capture (see e.g. Gallhofer and Haslam, 1997; Owen et al., 2000; Gray and Milne, 2002; Milne and Patten, 2002; O'Dwyer, 2003; Spence, 2007; Archel et al., 2009; Aras and Crowther, 2009; Burritt and Schaltegger, 2010). Although this literature has provided many relevant insights, there is a need to go beyond current critique and suggestions for change to drive the debate forward. This is especially the case because much of the research on CSRR has adopted what Andrew (2000, p. 203) referred to as \"reformist approach[es] to environmental issues\", which lack critical examination of \"the broader framework and assumptions\" of the cultural practice of accounting. For me, a particularly problematic issue in the context of CSRR research to date is its lack of critical engagement with the Western construction of the interrelationship between humans and nature in critiques of CSRR as currently practiced as well as in proposals for design and praxis more generally. This is somewhat surprising as a critique of Western dualism's impact on accounting as currently practiced and prescribed by various national and global regulators is well rehearsed in the literature. I am therefore interested in revisiting how the Western construction of the human-nature interrelationship, which reflects the dualism inherent in Western thinking, shapes representations of nature in CSRR. My aim is to gain further insights for the critique of CSRR as currently practiced as well as the design of new accountings and the development of a research agenda. Through an ecofeminist lens, I address the following research questions:\nTowards an ecofeminist lens for the critique of CSRR, and the design of new accountings for nature[2]: Research in accounting that mobilises feminist perspectives for a critique of accounting as currently practiced and for an exploration of possibilities for new accountings is rare (Haynes, 2016). And, it is even rarer in the case of work, which focusses on feminist critiques of the Western dualism that shapes accounting as currently practiced[3]. And, to the best of my knowledge, there is no published paper that has developed a critique of Western accounting and the Western dualism it reflects from an ecofeminist perspective[4]. A review of the accounting literature identified three papers published in the 1990s that are especially relevant for my focus - Western dualism in accounting as currently practiced, namely, Cooper (1992)[5], Hines (1992) and Broadbent (1998). Critically engaging with these papers has helped me to better clarify what an ecofeminist lens can add to our understanding of accounting in general and CSRR in particular and encouraged me to develop a vision of what for me constitutes a better[6] accounting for nature. Below I offer a critical appreciation of these three papers, which highlights key contributions as well as key limitations of their analyses. I then make out a case for ecofeminism as a theoretical lens that can build upon but, in important ways, also goes beyond these three papers. I end this section with a sketch of the elements of the ecofeminist lens that frames my critique of CSRR as currently practiced and my suggestions for the design of a better accounting for nature.\nBeyond binaries: applying the ecofeminist lens to the critique of CSRR and the design of new accountings for nature: Insights from ecofeminist theorising for a critique of the accounting - nature interrelationship\nConcluding comments: In this paper, I outlined an ecofeminist lens for the critique of CSR and CSRR. The theoretical lens highlighted how binary or dichotomous thinking had shaped western understanding and representations of the human-nature interrelationship, which are also reflected in accounting representations of nature. As a way of going beyond Western dualism, the ecofeminist lens advocated wholeness, interconnectedness and relatedness and a notion of nature, in which humans are part of nature. I applied this feminist lens to the critique of CSR and CSRR. Based on the insights from this critique, I introduced the concepts of CNR and CNRR in an attempt to go beyond Western dualism. I broadly defined the CNRR for a company as involving the production of a multiplicity of reports written by different authors - one of them being the company itself - from a multiplicity of perspectives that provide relevant information about how well the company had achieved its goal in the context of a concern with CNR. I then offered a preliminary sketch of key elements of CNR and CNRR and considered key aspects of an emancipatory praxis in the context of CNRR. A research agenda was developed to stimulate work that would enhance our understanding of CNR and CNRR and contribute to the further development of this type of accounting.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline an ecofeminist lens for the analysis of accounting, which is applied to: first, the critique of corporate social responsibility reporting (CSRR); second, the elaboration of elements of a framework for a new accounting - corporate nature responsibility reporting (CNRR) - as a response to the critique of CSRR; and, third, the consideration of elements of an enabling and emancipatory praxis in the context of CNRR, including a sketch of a research agenda.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper presents a critical application of aspects of the ecofeminist critique of Western dualism and its emphasis on wholeness, interconnectedness and relatedness, including its particular delineation of nature, to the critique and design of accounting.\nFindings: Insights from the application of an ecofeminist lens to the critique of CSRR raise questions about the suitability of the western notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its associated accounting currently in use. In order to go beyond critique, the paper introduces the notions of corporate nature responsibility (CNR) and CNRR and offers an outline of key elements of CNRR and an emancipatory praxis in the context of CNRR, including a sketch of a research agenda. The author's elaborations suggest that in order to overcome the limitations of CSR and CSRR, a corporation ought to be concerned about its broader and holistic CNR. And, it should provide a CNR report, as part of a holistic CNRR concerned with the performance of the company in the context of CNR.\nSocial implications: Through creating new visibilities, CNRR has the potential to enhance the well-being of people and nature more generally.\nOriginality/value: Ecofeminism's critique of western dichotomous thinking has been given little consideration in prior studies of accounting. The paper thus draws attention to the relevance of an ecofeminist theoretical lens for the critique and design of accounting by focussing on CSRR. The paper introduces the concepts of CNR and CNRR to address the limitations of CSRR as currently practiced.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The influence of socio-demographic variables on customer satisfaction and loyalty in the private banking industry	[ "Private banking", "Customer satisfaction", "Customer loyalty", "Partial least squares (PLS)", "Socio‐demographic variables", "ANOVA" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In this paper we investigate the influence of value and customer satisfaction on customer loyalty in the private banking industry. In order to test for differences in the evaluation of service value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty that are caused by socio-demographic variables, we conduct an analysis of variance (ANOVA). As the majority of customer satisfaction research is concerned with consumer goods or the retail industry (see e.g. Oliver, 1981; Swan and Trawick, 1981) and therefore a low-involvement setting, we are able to make use of a unique data set of 286 usable questionnaires of private banking customers (high net worth individuals, HNWIs) and thus conduct our analysis in a high-involvement context. We use partial least squares (PLS) (see Ringle et al., 2005) for the estimation of the model.The theory of customer satisfaction is based on the confirmation/disconfirmation paradigm which postulates that satisfaction is the result of a comparison between the customer's expectations and the perceived performance. In case the perceived performance is equal to (exceeds) the expectations, confirmation (positive disconfirmation), and thus customer satisfaction will be the result; else, negative disconfirmation, and dissatisfaction will prevail (for an extensive discussion on confirmation/disconfirmation and customer satisfaction see Oliver, 1980, 1981; Swan and Trawick, 1981; Churchill and Surprenant, 1982; Woodruff et al., 1983; Cadotte et al., 1987; Halstead et al., 1994). Customer loyalty is viewed as \"a deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronize a preferred product/service consistently in the future [...]\" (Oliver, 1999, p. 34).However, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty are not ends in themselves but rather have direct economic consequences such as a higher profitability and market share (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993; Anderson et al., 1994). As the acquisition of new customers is costly, companies that generate the main part of their revenues with their existing client base are more profitable than companies that heavily rely on business with new customers (see Anderson and Fornell, 1994; Mittal and Lassar, 1998; Johnson and Gustafsson, 2000). Besides cost savings, loyal customers generate additional sales via repurchasing (Mittal and Lassar, 1998; Johnson and Gustafsson, 2000). Reichheld and Sasser (1990), for example, argue that service companies can nearly double their revenues via the retention of an additional 5 percent of their customers (see also Heskett et al., 1994).The private banking industry is not different in that respect: as word-of-mouth is the main source to acquire new customers, the private banking industry is highly dependent on a satisfied and loyal clientele (Datamonitor, 2006). However, only a limited number of private banking service providers systematically tracks the satisfaction and loyalty of its customer base (Mercer Oliver Wyman, 2005). Hence, it is not surprising that more than 25 percent of HNWIs are dissatisfied with their private banking service provider (Capgemini and Merrill Lynch, 2009). This is even more puzzling as it takes on average 11.6 months to acquire a new customer in private banking (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2003).Our analysis contributes to the literature in the following: first, we show that the assessment of service value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty is influenced by several socio-demographic variables. Consequently, marketing researchers might want to use these socio-demographic variables as controls in their research as they are a potential source of otherwise unobserved heterogeneity and thus wrong conclusions might be drawn. Private banking service providers should take these differences into account as well when approaching their clients or conducting a customer survey. Second, we are able to show that the effect of perceived value on customer loyalty is mediated via customer satisfaction. This is of interest for marketing researchers as customer satisfaction might be tested for mediating effects in future studies. Furthermore, our findings caution not to wrongly conclude that perceived value has no influence on customer loyalty. This finding is relevant for practitioners alike as they should not only pay attention to customer satisfaction but perceived value, too. Third, we are able to use a sample of private banking customers for our research. Due to the confidentiality of the business, the empirical literature is scarce. In summary, our study contributes to the scant private banking literature and offers insights which are of interest to both, practitioners and marketing researchers.The paper is structured as follows: Section 2 provides an overview of current customer satisfaction literature with a special focus on effects caused by socio-demographic variables. Section 3 presents the model and the hypotheses to be tested. Section 4 summarizes the methodology and gives an overview over the sample used for the empirical estimation. Section 5 presents the results of the empirical analysis. The managerial implications as well as implications for further research are discussed in Section 6 while Section 7 concludes.\n2. Literature review: The majority of customer satisfaction literature is concerned with retail settings (see Oliver, 1981; Swan and Trawick, 1981). The few studies that take a look at the financial services industry are mainly concerned with retail banking (see e.g. Caruana, 2002; Chan et al., 2003).Concerning the impact of consumer demographics, one of the first studies by Zeithaml (1985) finds significant effects of gender, age, and income. Since then, potential effects of socio-demographic variables have been of interest in various studies. Homburg and Giering (2001) use automobile purchases to analyze the impact of personal characteristics on the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty. Among the variables they consider are gender, age, and income. Mittal and Kamakura (2001) caution managers not to mistakenly conclude that customer satisfaction does not affect repurchase behavior as differences in consumer characteristics might be the cause of differing relationships between the constructs. One of their findings is that women have a higher probability of repurchasing the same brand for a given level of satisfaction than men. Concerning the level of education, they find that subjects with higher levels of education have a lower likelihood of repurchase for a given level of satisfaction than customers with lower levels of education. They explain this result by people with higher education levels having a greater willingness to search for additional information and superior alternatives. Older customers have a higher probability of repurchase than younger customers for the same level of satisfaction. Lambert-Pandraud et al. (2005) study repeat purchasing behavior in the automobile sector. They consider the impact of demographic variables such as age, education, income, occupation, and gender. Older customers have a higher probability to repurchase the previous brand than younger consumers. They conclude that older customers limit their search for information in their decision-making process. Homburg et al. (2003) test the hypothesis that due to inertia the longer the relationship between buyer and seller, the higher customer loyalty. They conduct their study in a business-to-business context. In contrast to their hypothesis they find that longer relationships do not necessarily lead to greater loyalty. Walsh et al. (2008) analyze the effects of customer demographics in a DIY retailer setting. While they find an effect of income on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, they do not find any impact of age and gender. Walsh et al. (2008) explain their findings by the low-involvement context of their research setting (DIY retailers). For high-involvement contexts, they expect effects of age and gender on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. With regard to the financial services industry, Caruana (2002) finds that retail banking customers exhibit statistically significant lower satisfaction ratings with increasing level of education. Concerning age, younger customers show statistically significant lower mean scores. No effect is found concerning the influence of gender or marital status. Chan et al. (2003) develop the model of the Hong Kong consumer satisfaction index and apply their model to a large sample that covers over 10,000 customers and more than 60 products and services which include banking services (general banking services, time deposits, loans). They directly include demographic variables such as age, gender, education, occupation, and income in their model. However, instead of testing the effect of each of the demographic variables on its own basis, they create a formative construct with the demographic characteristics serving as the indicators. Thus, it is not surprising that they find varying relationships with the other constructs. The only studies conducted in the private banking industry so far are Lassar et al. (2000) and Horn and Rudolf (2011). Both studies are concerned with the measurement of service quality and the comparison of the nordic model by Gronroos (1984) and the SERVQUAL model by Parasuraman et al. (1988). Lassar et al. (2000) include communication, i.e., whether an account executive is responsible for a customer's account or not, and service failure in their analysis. They find that the effect of functional quality on overall satisfaction is influenced by service failure and that the effect of functional quality on functional satisfaction is influenced by whether or not an account executive is responsible for a customer's account. However, customer demographics are not being considered by Lassar et al. (2000). Horn and Rudolf (2011) do not conduct an analysis of potential effects caused by socio-demographic variables. Given this mixed evidence concerning the influence of different customer related variables and the fact that most studies consider product purchases or retail banking services, the present paper analyzes the impact of socio-demographic variables on customer satisfaction and loyalty in the private banking industry, i.e., in a high-involvement context[1] Table I gives an overview of the literature.\n3. Model and hypothesis: We use a simple structural equation model that incorporates service value, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. We keep our model as simple as possible and focus on the effects of socio-demographic variables. ANOVA is used to study differences due to socio-demographic variables.3.1 Service value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty\n4. Data and methodology: 4.1 Measurement models\n5. Results: We estimate the model using the path weighting scheme in PLS (Chin, 1998, p. 309) and standardized variables (mean 0, SD 1). In order to determine the significance of our estimates, we draw 3,000 bootstrap samples (see Efron and Gong, 1983; Efron and Tibshirani, 1993; Yung and Chan, 1999) using the individual-sign-changes option (see Henseler et al., 2009). For the calculation of Stone-Geisser's measure of predictive relevance (see Geisser, 1974, 1975; Stone, 1974), we use an omission distance of D=29 (see Wold, 1982, p. 33; Chin, 1998, p. 318).5.1 Measurement model\n6. Discussion: 6.1 Managerial implications\n7. Conclusion: Customer satisfaction and loyalty are essential for private banking service providers as the main source of customer acquisitions is word-of-mouth of the existing clientele. Moreover, the acquisition of new customers is a lengthy and costly process. Thus, providers should ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty of its existing clientele. In order to do so, satisfaction surveys should include socio-demographic variables that allow to get a differentiated view and to be able to use more sophisticated ways for customer segmentation than just classifying customers as to size of liquid assets. A finer customer segmentation itself allows to create a customized service offering and value proposition for the different segments that help to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - In this paper the authors aim to study the impact of customer demographics on service value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in the private banking industry, i.e. a high-involvement context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors estimate a structural equation model with the help of partial least squares (PLS). In order to examine the influence of socio-demographic variables, they conduct an analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test for differences in the means of the constructs. Furthermore, they conduct an analysis of mediation to test for an indirect influence of service value on customer loyalty.\nFindings: - The authors find that customer satisfaction has a strong positive impact on customer loyalty. However, service value has no significant direct effect on customer loyalty; the impact of service value on customer loyalty is completely mediated by customer satisfaction. With regards to customer demographics, the authors find significant differences in mean scores as to employment status, type of private banking service provider, and size of liquid assets.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Further research should analyse potential moderating effects of different customer-related variables. A replication study should be conducted in order to underline the authors' findings.\nPractical implications: - The authors find significant differences for customer satisfaction and customer loyalty ratings as to employment status and size of liquid assets. Hence, managers should focus on high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals as these segments show higher satisfaction and loyalty ratings. Furthermore, customers should be segmented as to employment status in addition to size of liquid assets.\nOriginality/value: - The authors conduct their analysis in a high-involvement setting. Using a unique sample of 286 questionnaires of private banking customers, they find direct effects of socio-demographic variables on service value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. Thus, the authors' findings have important implications for managers in the private banking industry and marketing researchers alike.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
"One day it will be you who tells us doctors what to do!". Exploring the "Personal" of PHR in paediatric diabetes management	[ "Information management", "Technology adoption", "E-health", "Computer supported collaborative work (CSCW)", "Shared knowledge", "Telemedicine" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: PHR (Personal Health Record) is an acronym which in the past ten years has joined the large family of health information technologies alongside much better known abbreviations such as EMR (Electronic Medical Record), EPR (Electronic Patient Record), EHR (Electronic Health Record), CCR (Continuity of Care Records), and others besides.\n2. Background and related work: health information management across boundaries: Healthcare institutions have undergone major infrastructural changes intended to generate a seamless web of information. Technology has transformed the health services by constantly changing the boundaries among competences and enormously increasing the information systems used in organizational settings (Osterlund, 2008) and the information conveyed and made available in the various healthcare networks (Zuiderent et al., 2003; Mort and Smith, 2009); by redistributing tasks and responsibilities within them (Vikkelso, 2005); and by participating in the construction of fragmented knowledge systems (Bruni et al., 2007). Besides the systems devoted to healthcare professionals, there has been a proliferation of systems designed to enable the latter to communicate with patients. This has generated interest in the boundary which separates doctors/nurses and patients, organizational spaces and personal spaces, and in how information is produced, managed, and exchanged across that boundary. The abandonment of paper-based supports for digital ones enables a new relationship between patient and doctor in which face-to-face encounters become increasingly infrequent and the co-presence of a complex network of persons, technologies, practices, and care spaces becomes increasingly common (May, 2007; Langstrup, 2013). The central topic addressed by studies on the matter is technological support for chronic pathologies (Dorr et al., 2007; Brennan et al., 2009), spaces in which intersect the objectivizing representations of the health practitioners and the meanings that the patients attach to their experiences.\n3. Research context: Type-1 diabetes is a metabolic disorder characterized by an instability of glycaemia in the blood caused by the destruction of the pancreatic cells. It causes a deficit of insulin which must be corrected by injecting synthetic insulin into the organism several times a day. Over time, the management of diabetes has changed radically from a prescriptive and rigid regime of strict diet and constant insulin therapy measured periodically, to increasingly flexible self-management models based on the patient's self-assessment of his/her state of health several times a day with the consequent insulin correction. This model has been made possible by the increasing availability of patient-controlled technologies for diabetes self-management (glucometers, urine ketones testing kits) and for insulin self-dosage (insulin syringes, pens, pumps). In turn, this flexible model requires self-measurement of the glycaemia level, calculation of the amount of carbohydrates in food, estimation of glucose consumption in the day's various activities, adjustment of physical activity, and systematic management of insulin doses.\n4. Research design and methodology: We conducted pre-post analysis on a theoretical sample identified jointly with the clinical referents in the paediatrics department. Selection was made of 12 patients (six females and six males) aged between four and 20 years old (the average age was 12). The selection criteria were the following: at least some years' experience of managing the disease; onset of diabetes before the age of six; close compliance with the prescription to keep a paper logbook; a relatively stable clinical condition. Diabetes onset in pre-school age made it possible to analyse the progressive autonomization of the young patients in management of the disease. The age range selected furnished us with subjects belonging in every age bracket and at different stages of the educational process (nursery, elementary, lower-secondary, upper-secondary school) and with increasing life-spaces outside the home and away from direct control by the family (school, sports activities, evenings out with friends).\n5. Findings: personal health information management between paper and the PHR: The next two paragraphs will report on the two phases of the analysis describing the personal health information management before (Section 5.1) and after the introduction of Diab-PHR (Section 5.2).\n6. Discussion and conclusion: about the \"Personal\" of PHR: The research studied the process and effects of the introduction of a PHR for the management of type-1 diabetes in children and designed to provide the patients and their parents with a self-care tool and telemonitoring functionalities between them and the hospital department. We analysed information management practices and the meanings attached to them within the care network before the system's introduction. We then observed the sense-giving processes enacted to incorporate the new artifact into everyday routine and life-spaces.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Personal Health Record (PHR) systems make possible to integrate data from different sources and circulate them within the illness care and management network. The new arrangements prefigure a redefinition of the relations among healthcare practitioners, patients, and caregivers. The purpose of this paper is to consider the role and the meanings attributed to information when a technical artifact enables new forms of communication within the healthcare management network.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors adopted a qualitative research design, conducting a pre-post analysis on a theoretical sample of patients and of a paediatrics department. The authors selected 12 patients (six females and six males) aged between four and 20 years old.\nFindings: The patients were willing to act as \"stewards of their own information\" (Halamka et al., 2008), but they interpreted this role in terms of restricting access to their information, rather than facilitating its dissemination. In fact, the PHR was symbolized as an instrument to support personal diabetes management but the patients want to preserve their own competence and independent management on the information regarding their \"Personal\" diseases.\nOriginality/value: This work highlights two connotation of \"Personal\" information. The first is the dimension of the right to the privacy of information when it is believed that it may be used to pass judgement on the patient. The second connotation of \"Personal\" is the assertion by patients of their competence and autonomy in interpreting the information on the basis of personal knowledge about their diabetes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The cognitive authority of user-generated health information in an online forum for girls and young women	[ "Information literacy", "Women", "Communication", "Health", "Online communication", "Cognitive authority" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Health communication is often understood as one-way information transmission from health authorities to patients (Johnson and Case, 2012). However, people construct their understanding of health issues with the help of a wide variety of information sources ranging from professional to non-professional sources, and from factual, clinical and technical information to personal experiences and experiences of others (Yates, 2013). With the rise of social media, opportunities have increasingly emerged for people to reach outside their immediate surroundings to find and share information in online environments. While there has been a shift to the real-name web (Hogan, 2013), online environments that allow anonymity are still widely used (see Sharon and John, 2018). Anonymous forums can be particularly useful in obtaining and sharing information on delicate issues or things that are difficult to discuss with people in one's surroundings, such as sexual and mental health, substance use (Abbas and Agosto, 2013; Lenhart et al., 2010) or gender identity (Pohjanen and Kortelainen, 2016).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 The concept of cognitive authority\n3. Research questions: This study examines an online forum users' perceptions of the forum as a source for health information and focuses on their views on the potential cognitive authority of this information. There is no consensus about the meaning of or relationship of the concepts of credibility and cognitive authority. In this empirical study, we take Wilson's (1983) ideas as a starting point and view credibility as the combination of competence and trustworthiness. Cognitive authorities, also in line with Wilson (1983), are understood as sources that are deemed credible and that influence one's thoughts.\n4. Method: 4.1 Context\n5. Findings: Altogether 290 responses were included in the data set. The respondents were predominantly female (n=285). Four respondents said they were male and one did not want to specify gender. The respondents' ages ranged from 11 (born in 2005) to 29 (born in 1987). The majority of them (55.5 percent, n=161) were from 16 to 19 year olds (born 1997-2000) at the point of the data collection. Of the respondents, 29.3 percent (n=85) studied in or were graduated from basic education, 40.0 percent (n=116) a general track of upper secondary school, 23.4 percent (n=68) a vocational track of upper secondary school and 7.2 percent (n=21) studied in or had graduated from higher education.\n6. Discussion: The findings of this study indicate that the Demi forum offers girls and young women the possibility to identify with people with the same gender, age, life situation, thinking and problems, and to receive health information from these others similar to oneself. The forum is seen as an appropriate source for experiential rather than factual information on health issues and, as such, used to find information on sexuality and sexual health, bodily functions, as well as about diet and exercise, for example. Based on the findings, the cues that are used to evaluate credibility, including author-related cues, argumentation and tone, veracity and verification, seem to be connected to the type of information sought (Figure 1). Moreover, views on both the type of information that is sought for and the evaluation of its credibility seem to be tightly linked with conceptions of the forum and related community. A share of the respondents recognized the information obtained to have influence on their thinking or behavior; nearly 60 percent of them had received help to their problems, and 16 percent thought that the information had influenced their health behavior. Thus, the members of the online forum - individually or collectively - can act as cognitive authorities for other users.\n7. Conclusions: The online discussion forum presented in this study is an important source of experiential health information for girls and young women. In this relatively anonymous online environment, they may express information needs that are not considered acceptable or appropriate in their immediate surroundings and receive information from people they can identify with. In general, the respondents view the online forum as a credible source of opinions and experiential information and use a variety of strategies to assess the credibility of the obtained information. These strategies include evaluation of author-related cues, argumentation and tone, veracity and comparison to one's own prior knowledge and verification with the help of other sources. A share of the respondents recognized the information obtained to have influence on their thinking or behavior. In the light of these findings, we may argue that the members of the online forum can act as cognitive authorities for other users either as individuals or collectively.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of one particular online discussion forum as a potentially authoritative health information source for its users. The concept of cognitive authority is used as a starting point for understanding information evaluation in this context. The focus is placed on the types of information users seek for from this forum, the ways they assess the credibility of information obtained, and their views on the impact of this information.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The empirical data were collected with a questionnaire survey from the users of a Finnish online forum for girls and young women (n=290). The data were analyzed qualitatively with content analytic techniques and quantitatively by using descriptive analysis.\nFindings: The forum was found to offer girls and young women the possibility to receive health information from peers. It was viewed as an appropriate source for experiential rather than factual health information and used to find information on sexuality, bodily functions and diets, for example. Author-related cues, argumentation and tone, veracity and verification were recognized as means to evaluate information credibility. Credibility evaluation was found to be linked with conceptions of the forum and the type of information sought. A share of the respondents recognized the information obtained to have influence on their thinking or behavior.\nOriginality/value: Based on the findings, it can be argued that the members of the online forum - individually or collectively - can act as cognitive authorities for other users. The findings cannot be generalized beyond this online forum, to Finnish girls or young women, or even the users of the online forum. However, they provide insights into the ways young people evaluate user-generated information in a particular online setting and domain of knowledge and as such contribute to research on cognitive authority, credibility evaluation and information literacy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Smart experimentation: moving in-market with maximum velocity and minimum risk	[ "Innovation", "Growth", "Business design", "Experiment", "Business Models", "Recession", "Management strategy", "Risk management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Innovation - disruptive, game-changing innovation - is hard. Radical innovation is critical but very difficult, extremely risky and not well suited for today's business climate. Or is it? Is it possible to create and commercialize new-to-the-world business models without taking on high levels of risk? In our work on corporate innovation, we have found a way to de-risk investments in big and bold new concepts through smart experimentation. There is a way to get past the high-risk, high reward fallacy for radical innovation.\n1. Break it down: It's tempting in the age of holistic thinking to believe that a new business model can only be learned in one piece, and sometimes it is necessary to do so. Very often, however, learning is best accomplished by decomposing a problem into building blocks that can be solved one at a time. Deconstruct the radical concept down to individual elements and essential, underlying assumptions. Only when we have learned about every element in the system can we learn at the system level.This is a simple concept in the world of engineering - think of the Wright Brothers getting ahead of their competition - hundreds of people were trying to solve the problem of powered controlled flight at the time. The Brothers won because they addressed the three problems of flight separately:1. propulsion;2. control; and3. lift.The competition, on the other hand, repeatedly (and painfully) tried to build a plane that could fly. While the Brothers were testing wing profiles in a small wind tunnel in the comfort of their garage, everyone else was crashing and trying to figure out which part of the mess was responsible for the failure. The Wright Brothers were pursuing a strategy of low risk-high reward; the rest, in hindsight, a strategy of high risk-low reward.For McDonald's, Redbox was one outcome of a broader question: how can we leverage our large retail estate footprint across the country to create new revenue streams, without affecting our tried and true business? Vending was an answer; a problematic one for McDonald's, who did not have any flight hours in that business. McDonald's could have worked with vendor experts, learned how the industry would handle vending in fast food restaurants and hope that:* the experts' knowledge was transferrable to a situation they had never dealt with before; and* the experts would not call their friends in the industry and let the cat out of the vending machine.Instead, McDonald's created and executed an experiment plan. After finding out that DVD rental was the most attractive option, they tackled the hard questions:1. What assortment should we offer? Given the circumstances that bring customers to our vending location, what specific mission does the rental machine accomplish that is not addressed by, say, Netflix or Blockbuster?2. Given the key benefit that we expect to define in step 1, how, specifically are we going to source DVDs, make them available to our customers, and get them back? How are we going to handle payment?3. Assuming there are satisfactory answers for 1 and 2, what are the key drivers of profitability? How will we make money? How will we remain different from existing competitors? How long can we expect this model to be viable?McDonald's decomposed the design of its vending business into a series of de-risking experiments, in the same way the Wright Brothers decomposed the problem of flight.\n2. Sequence your learning: At a high level, experimentation provides answers to the question \"What needs to be true for this business model to succeed?\" The answer to this question is the set of assumptions that are the foundation to the business model. As it turns out, not all assumptions are equally important.The most important assumptions for disruptive innovation fall into three basic business model categories:1. Do people want it?2. Can we build it?3. Can we make money?Before giving the green light to scaling, all key assumptions in the three categories need to be \"true.\"All three assumption categories are equally important to a successful implementation and ongoing operation. But during the experimentation phase, some are more important than others and should be addressed first. For instance, if we cannot find any way for \"people to want it\" then there is no point working on either of the other two assumption areas. And yet we often see companies being tempted into working on profitability before they work on demand and supply. Only when we have an idea of how much people want it and how we will go about supplying it can we start thinking about profitability - especially when we are creating a novel business model (Figure 1).When Best Buy created its first technology buyback program, it entered an area of business in which it and everyone else was largely unfamiliar: will people want to trade their old consumer electronics? Will they take their old dusty boxes from the garage and bring them to the store? How will Best Buy value the old box? How will we know how much it is worth - on the spot? What will we do with it? Where does it go? Will this business be profitable?Best Buy focused on the first few question first - will consumers sign up?By focusing on a first key assumption - that consumers will be interested in getting rid of their old electronics, Best Buy was able to conduct very simple, fast, and cheap experiments: literally, putting up tents on store parking lots, and directing consumers to the tents via flyers in the store. As it turns out, consumers did bring their old boxes to the tents, and business model designers got to learn in real-time the ins and outs of how to test and appraise them.A couple of additional guidelines to retain from this illustration:* Experiments are hands-on and personal - this is not the work of a third party conducting traditional market research. You needed to be there to run into problems you would have never thought about and find solutions nobody else had to think about until you were confronted with consumers and their old boxes.* Experiments are \"non-corporate.\" They do not follow brand guidelines or communication rules, and they often fall under different legal rules and regulations (e.g. as it happens, putting up a tent in Miami parking lot requires quite a few permits, including one from the fire fighting department). Make sure to setup the proper legal, marketing, and HR frameworks so your experimenters do not have to fight the established business' way of operating.\n3. Iterate with escalating complexity - and with increasingly narrower focus: Rapid iteration is a classic approach to building novel things in many fields. This applies in software - think of spiral development or Agile - but also in other, less intuitive areas, such as the space race. There, the US learned to get into orbit and back on the ground, then to work in the vacuum of space, then to rendezvous in space using the Mercury and Gemini flights. This was a cheaper way (or, should we say, a less expensive way) to appreciate the building blocks required to successfully complete a trip to the Moon than to use the \"real\" Moon rockets. Each flight put lessons from earlier flights to use. How is this applicable to business models?A financial services firm applied iterative learning to improve their vision for providing high calibre financial services for the mass market (families with income ranging from $50K to $70K). This massive segment of people had a desperate need for competent financial planning help and did not have the necessary skills. The financial agent network, meanwhile, was focused almost exclusively the high net worth individuals. The idea was to provide agents an automated, intelligent tool that made the servicing of the mass segment easy and fast while providing a practical financial plan to the consumer based on their needs.In their first iteration of experiments, they did not bother with building a clever tool. They simply had the agents meet with consumers, while an actuary, in real-time, furiously wrote up a financial plan based on the agent interview. They quickly learned that rapport and trust between the consumers was the real value driver. They also mastered the algorithm that would create the financial plan in real time based on a set of fairly simple parameters. For the second, more complex iteration, the agents used the automated algorithm to create the financial plan with the consumers (Figure 2).\n4. Operate at the strategic and tactical levels in parallel: Market reality is often a rude awakening for the initial vision of a breakthrough business model. The initial REDBOX concept was a fully automated, very large kiosk stocked everything a convenience store might sell - from razor blades, to sandwiches to DVDs. And it was a failure. By learning what customers were actually buying, the team evolved the concept to focus on the hottest seller - new release DVDs - very quickly.Some people are great conceptual thinkers; others are great implementers. Good business model experimentations require both. Conceptual thinkers come up with the business model informed by existing data. Implementers crash test the business model against the wall of reality and gather more and better data. Make sure your experimentation team includes both types and set them up to work together! One way to do that is to let them know about this very point.Let us recap our simple recipe for smart experimentation:* Define the business model and surface assumptions - a strategic exercise.* Translate assumptions into tactical, low cost experiments - a tactical exercise.* Use insights from the experiments to recalibrate the business model - a strategic exercise.* Iterate.Be prepared to use both types of conceptual thinkers and agile implementers to make the necessary adjustments to the business model based on market learning.\n5. Create a lab customized for experiential learning: Existing organizational processes, metrics, systems, and structures often make it difficult to perform experiments. For instance, how can we test retail offerings on airline flights in the face of weight limitations, flight attendant union rules, and food service constraints? How discouragingly complex will the capital allocation process in an oil company, designed to de-risk multibillion-dollar decisions, be for someone who is looking to conduct a thousand dollar experiment?What are the obstacles to experimentation in your organization? Identify how existing organizational levers get in the way of experimentation and modify them to make room for it. In the airline example, explicitly define a group of flight attendants responsible for experimentation and a set of scheduled flights to be the laboratories for experimentation. Will it hurt productivity? Yes it will - the experimentation flights will require more time to turn around, for instance - but the costs are circumscribed, measurable, controllable, and low. In the capital allocation example, a parallel, streamlined process for small funds running in parallel with the main process will make experimentation easier.Develop appropriate metrics in your experimentation infrastructure. Left to their own devices, employees will measure how much money they made during their experiment. Unless this happens to be the objective of the experiment, it will be beside the point, or, worse, will be used to justify going forward when there is too little understanding of the business model to have a chance to succeed when scaling. Instead, define the metrics that will best point potential ignorance gaps during the experiment - precisely the kind of metric one would be tempted to avoid if we only care to show \"success.\" In the early stages of Red Box experimentation, it was essential to show what DIDN'T sell as much as what did sell.Make it personal: experiential learning is the most powerful type of learning. Reams of numbers are better at confirming an initial hypothesis rather than helping someone gain radical insight. If you are the one who is building a new business, be part of the experiment - just like the Best Buy creators of the Technology BuyBack program, who stood in their tents in the Miami parking lots to understand the basic building blocks of the business they were creating.\n6. Couple the experience of senior management with the imagination of front line employees: Senior leadership provides experience, range and depth, field vision, and the ability to make it successful, credible, and gain support. In the context of the day-to-day business, leadership teams often carry all the knowledge required to successfully run the operation. For a new opportunity or business model, however, things are not so clear-cut. Knowledge or experience that is not relevant to the core might be relevant to the new area. Ideally, a team staffed with a diagonal cross section of the organization that integrates all of the experience and knowledge we believe to be relevant to the opportunity is best. It is likely to include members of the leadership team because at the end of the day the opportunity has to find a place in the organization, and usually only the top decision-makers have the power to make the required adjustments (Figure 3).Senior leadership can uniquely create safe environments for \"failure\" - learning through experimentation. Experiments require a different mindset than running operations. Few will take the risk of trying different behaviors without reassurance. Sadly, experimentation is often new to the leadership team as well, thus creating a potential Catch 22. If you are experimenting for the first time, do it collaboratively with a mixed team. Learn the mindset of experimentation as you experiment for the first time, on top of and beyond the lessons from the experiments themselves. This first step will go a long way to create a norm that it is OK to experiment when appropriate.Experiments need champions and engagement. Whenever experimentation is warranted, chances are we are dealing with a somewhat exotic opportunity or business model by the standards of our core business. The closer at least one member of the leadership team can stay to the experiments, the lower the chance the leadership team will be simply turned off by the unusual nature of the opportunity. While rank-and-file employees do tend to underestimate risk, leadership teams tend to overestimate it in business areas that are not in the sweet spot of their previous experience. Only by getting close enough to the action, so to speak, do they have a chance to assess real risk accurately.\nConclusion: Radical innovation often requires business model changes. Small upstarts can quickly try different approaches and converge into a successful answer. Large corporations, on the other hand, often run their existing business model too efficiently to do this well. Experimentation as described here offers a \"corporate way\" to rapidly evolve successful new business models. Experimentation itself, however, is not intuitively obvious. At one point, innovation was thought to be an unpredictable and mysterious epiphany in the minds of a few. Today, innovation is systematic and systemic. Similarly, as more and more organizations apply these principles, extracted from the pioneers' initiatives, experimentation will become mainstream.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Companies lose tolerance for risk in tough economic times. The level of risk inherent in new ideas prevents organizations from investing in big, bold innovations that could unlock valuable new sources of revenue and profit. This paper describes how to apply methods extracted from the scientific approach to experimentation to de-risk radical new business model innovations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The ideas presented in the paper were distilled from many years of experience working with organizations such as McDonalds and Best Buy, which have successfully applied the principles of experimentation to developing and launching new business concepts.\nFindings: - Road-tested principles from the scientific method, combined with business acumen, define the new science of systemic innovation. Every bold new business concept should be de-risked and tuned by applying six methods: break it down; sequence learning; iterate; operate at multiple levels of abstraction; create a safe learning environment; and apply experienced hands and new voices.\nOriginality/value: - The paper presents a systemic and rigorous new method for de-risking radical new business concepts based on well-known methods extracted from the scientific lab. The approach is particularly important for large companies seeking new sources of growth while facing intense competition in their core businesses from relatively new players.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Monitoring climate change related biodeterioration of protected historic buildings	[ "Microclimate", "Monitoring", "Biodeterioration", "Biological degradation", "Climatic factors", "Heritage buildings" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Biological deterioration of building materials is a natural process and expected rates of biodeterioration under historic and existing climatic conditions are well known from experience (Brischke et al., 2006; Alfredsen et al., 2014). Norway has a number of heritage buildings dispersed around the country. The buildings have been exposed to varying climatic conditions according to geographic location, but exposure conditions for each building has been relatively stable over time. Various kinds of biodeterioration occur under existing conditions, such as activity of wood-boring beetles (Knudsen, 1967) and wood-decaying fungi (Aandestad and Ryvarden, 1987; Viitanen, 1996). Such damage develops slowly and in a predictable manner (Mattsson, 1993). Based on extensive experience from examination and evaluation, the age of the damage and the deterioration rate can be established (Noetzli et al., 2008; Mattsson et al., 2010; Austigard et al., 2014). Expected rates of mould growth have been described by modelling (e.g. Sedlbauer, 2001; Viitanen et al., 2011), but evaluation of the models has shown that there are still major uncertainties (Thibaut et al., 2017). Viitanen et al. (2010) described a model for prediction of decay with meteorological data as the major input factor. However, the microclimate or in-situ climate in each building part has been shown to be the largest influencing factor on microbial deterioration (Gobakken et al., 2014), and determination of the expected rate of decay in each case requires expert knowledge and experience (Mattsson, 2000).\nMaterials and methods: For a successful surveillance of changes, a comprehensive reference starting point must be established. This demands a thorough examination and documentation of the state of the building and/or of a chosen area within it. The method for the initial condition survey was based on the standard NS-EN 16096:2012 Conservation of cultural property - condition survey and report of built cultural heritage (European Standard NS-EN 16096:2012, 2012). Special emphasis was placed on areas and materials that could be expected to be impacted by climate change.\nResults: One of the most important experiences from the first building surveys is that flexibility is of the essence regarding implementation of the methods and decisions taken on-site. On the other hand, the necessary rigidity must be exercised to ensure comparability between buildings. This requires competence and a multi-disciplinary approach from the personnel involved.\nDiscussion and conclusions: Occurrence of biodeterioration is normal in old buildings. Some damage might have been previously repaired while others might still be untreated. The growth rate of both wood-decaying fungi and wood-boring insects has natural variations in activity and growth rate. If the damage is not sufficiently investigated and understood, important details will be overlooked, making correct interpretation regarding any influence of climate change impossible (European Standard NS-EN 16096:2012, 2012; Mattsson, 2000). It is challenging but crucial to distinguish \"normal\" deterioration of building materials from deterioration caused by climate changes. In addition, it is necessary to see if weather-related damage has developed due to an even, normal exposure or due to one or more extreme weather situations (Figure 4) (Risan et al., 2011).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Expected rates of biodeterioration in heritage buildings under historic conditions are well known. Deteriorating organisms will benefit from a warmer and wetter climate, giving faster and less predictable rates of deterioration. The Directorate for Cultural Heritage in Norway has requested development of a programme for long-term monitoring of climate change impacts to historic buildings. The development process and resulting monitoring system are previously described. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An initial conditions survey is performed, and reference points are chosen in each building. Two microclimatic biodeterioration monitoring panels (MBM panels) are mounted in every building. The MBM panels monitor temperature, relative humidity and wood moisture content, and have standard wooden blocks for investigation of mould growth. The panels will show both the influence of outdoor climate on microclimate inside the building, and the connection between microclimate and activity of degrading organisms.\nFindings: High competence and multi-disciplinary approach from the personnel involved are essential to balance flexibility and rigidity and decide the damages that are probably influenced by climate change. Extensive knowledge and experience in surveys of biodeterioration damages in heritage buildings is necessary to distinguish \"normal\" biodeterioration from biodeterioration caused by climate changes. The MBM panels are essential for possible establishment of causality between damages and climate change.\nOriginality/value: The authors believe that the methods described give the best possible grounds for future evaluation of damages and microclimatic conditions in buildings compared to changes in regional climatic conditions. Establishment of causality between climate change and development in biological deterioration is still a challenging task.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Healthcare libraries in Saudi Arabia: analysis and recommendations	[ "Libraries", "Special libraries", "Continuing professional development", "Change management", "Saudi Arabia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction and aims of the study: The aim of this study was to explore the state of health sciences libraries in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, to investigate their strengths and weaknesses, particularly with respect to information service provision and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), and to make recommendations for future developments.This study has been reported in a PhD thesis (Khudair, 2005), which should be consulted for fuller details.The more specific objectives of the study were:* to explore the current state of health sciences libraries in Riyadh;* to determine the adequacy or otherwise of the health sciences libraries' resources, services, and co-operative activities in Riyadh;* to identify the health professionals' information needs, the information sources used by them, the adequacy of those sources, and the difficulties faced in acquiring information;* to explore the perception of health professionals towards information provision and the use of information and communication technologies in health sciences libraries;* to explore the condition of the health library profession in Saudi Arabia, and the need for programmes of training and professional development; and* to develop an organisational model for improvement of health sciences library practice and information provision and to make appropriate recommendations based on this.\nBackground: healthcare libraries in Saudi Arabia: Historically, health sciences libraries in Saudi Arabia were founded concurrently with the foundation of medical teaching programmes and modern hospitals in major cities. The number of health sciences libraries is increasing with the establishment of new hospitals and universities around the country, the period of major growth being the 1970s (Khudair, 2005).A number of studies have been published on the various aspects of the Saudi health library system (see, for example, AbuOuf, 1995; Al-Ogla, 1998; AlShaya, 2002; Al-Zahrani, 2002; Arif, 1998; Aseel, 1996; and others quoted in Khudair, 2005).These studies point to a number of issues and constraints in the Saudi healthcare library system:* a poor information infrastructure, with limited ICT access;* the lack of a national strategic plan for health information;* relatively little effective use of ICTs, with continued reliance of traditional manual methods, and \"pen on paper\";* limited understanding of ICTs among health professionals and health library staff; and* reliance in many hospital libraries on a basic set of resources.In recent years, there has been a very real concern about the implication of the adoption of various kinds of electronic information services into health sciences libraries. Therefore, the infrastructure of these libraries is becoming a collection of multiple technologies, including online databases, CD-ROMs, internet, etc. However, the weakness of libraries is that generally they have grown up without being carefully planned to fit in with existing facilities and the information and communication technology infrastructure. Moreover, their development has been ad hoc, without proper planning or co-operation with neighbouring libraries (Arif, 1998). This situation has been influenced by the growth and conditions of the parent hospitals and health organisations in the country. Little coordination exists among health provider agencies in Saudi Arabia. Facility and equipment planning in one sector rarely takes the resources of another sector into account, and even within a sector joint use of resources is not widely practised. Duplication of resources and services is the direct result of lack of coordination between provider agencies, and contributes to the escalating cost of health services in the Kingdom.AlShaya (2002) found two major problems, mainly:1. the lack of information sources provided by health libraries in Riyadh to physicians; and2. inadequate information education for physicians.AlShaya (2002) recommended extending physicians' access to electronic information sources, and enhancing information education opportunities for physicians, so they can learn to use IT and electronic information sources. He found that several environmental factors can make quite large differences to the physicians' use of new technologies such as availability and accessibility of electronic information services, status of physicians, and information searching skills and training. AlShaya (2002) saw it as essential to develop and implement national policies and guidelines for the provision of electronic information services in hospital libraries in Saudi Arabia.This was the background to the study reported here. It was focused on 11 healthcare libraries in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. These were:1. King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre;2. King AbdulAziz City of Medicine;3. King Khalid University Hospital;4. King Khalid Specialist Eye Hospital;5. King Abdulaziz University Hospital and College of Dentistry;6. Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital;7. Security Forces Hospital;8. Yamamah Hospital;9. Sulaimanyah Children's Hospital;10. Saudi Centre for Organ Transplants; and11. Al-Iman General Hospital.\nStudy methods: The study used six separate data gathering methods:1. a literature review;2. profiling of libraries and library staff;3. a questionnaire analysis of library users and use;4. interviews with library staff;5. observation of activities and interactions within the libraries; and6. analysis of documents.This mixed approach, which blended quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, was designed to give the richest picture of the situation (Khudair, 2005).Literature review\nStudy results: The results are described and analysed fully by Khudair (2005), and only a summary of the main points is given here, organised into four sections:1. libraries, staff, users, usage;2. education and training;3. information services;4. information and communication technologies.Libraries, staff, users, usage\nRecommendations for improvement: The results of the study, summarised above, show problems in the Saudi health library situation, particularly with reference to the limitations of ICTs, electronic information sources, and proactive information services, with training and CPD, and with strategies and policies for health libraries, especially those that will improve co-operation and networking.Health professionals are expecting faster access to health information and to be able to share such information with other professional bodies and individuals, but this is clearly not possible in the absence of a health information network. Health libraries would benefit from such a network by providing more convenient, accurate, and up-to-date information to all users. On the other hand, health librarians are not satisfied with the current condition of their libraries and services. They expect development related to various issues concerning health sciences libraries in Riyadh (i.e. co-operation, policy, access to electronic sources, development of information services and information networks). Information networks could create and improve co-operation among health libraries in Saudi Arabia and with other health libraries elsewhere.Regrettably, the current computing systems in most hospitals do not facilitate access to the health library database and other databases located in some hospitals and research departments. Furthermore, there is a need for information services' development and the need to draw up a clear plan. In addition, there are some problems facing the implementation of ICT, some of which are the lack of training programmes, lack of co-ordination, and poor management. Health sciences libraries need to develop a type of co-operation, which lasts longer, for continuous development attached to formulated policies upon which librarians and users can rely.The results of the questionnaires and interviews showed that there is strong support for an initiative to provide Saudi Arabian institutions with a National Health Library, a Virtual Health Library, and an Association of Health Information Professionals in the country. Support for these was expressed by both health professionals and health library staff, as being ways of helping to overcome the kind of problems noted above.As a first step towards accomplishing these aims, the study reported here makes two recommendations:1. the creation of a model for organisational change and development, applicable to the Saudi health library situation; and2. the creation of a prototype website for a putative Saudi Health Information Network (SHIN).Figure 1 shows this as a three-stage process. The first stage, the gathering of information on the current situation of the health science libraries, has been described above, and leads to the second stage, the explicit recognition of the factors and constraints in the change process. This is followed by the development of an appropriate model.The main factors, coming from the results described above, may be summarised as:* lack of health information professionals;* weakness of libraries and information services;* digital/information divide amongst health sciences libraries;* information systems implemented are not fully utilised;* users' dissatisfaction with current ICT and services in the health sciences libraries;* difficulties in accessing electronic information resources and weakness in the printed resources collections;* low cooperation among Riyadh hospitals and among health sciences libraries;* lack of studies conducted by hospitals to investigate health professionals' information needs;* centralised and structured bureaucracy in the management of health sciences libraries;* lack of health library staff participation in decision making; and* slow pace of development.In order to include these diverse factors within a single useful model, a suitable framework had to be developed. This was based on the Brown University Library Model Organisation Framework (Brown University, 2000). This was derived in order to examine that library's preparedness for adapting to the constant changes impacting on the academic, research and information environments, and allowing all staff to contribute to change management processes. The conceptual model comprises four major elements, referred to as \"collaboratives\", each focusing on a set of user-centred activities:1. scholarly resources;2. learning and curricular resources;3. access and delivery; and4. organisational support.The Brown model was modified and simplified (see Khudair, 2005, for details and rationale) to provide an \"organisational visionary model\" for the Saudi health library situation, which is shown in Figure 2.This proposed model attempts to represent the main factors in an understandable and usable way. Looking towards the future, health sciences libraries in Riyadh, with the adoption of the organisational visionary model, are expected to move from a traditional organisational structure and modalities towards a continuous spectrum of change. In order to facilitate incorporating technology in the work process, many professional development opportunities should be available. Therefore, predictions should be made to enable the implications of change to be positively managed rather than merely survived; health librarians' participation can effectively manage that change in their own organisations. The environment is characterised by flexibility, collaboration, and interaction across units, with staff and users actively working together to foster an informative and successful environment.However, the change and development process in health sciences libraries in Riyadh needs to be simplified and presented in such a way that the participants in that change will accept and support the process. The technological infrastructure should make possible the support of a wide variety of options for offering various library and information services either within hospital buildings or online. Health sciences libraries development in Riyadh should continue to move to online and electronic resources to enhance remote access, meeting the need for resource access in any place and at any time.The model incorporates a collaborative approach in order to bridge the gap between change decisions and progress in real time. The priority is to participate in changing and improving the current condition of health sciences libraries in Riyadh. This includes management style, advanced technology, improved communication channels, innovation trend, organisational and people development, and teamwork setting. The proposed model attempts to bring together and balance the internal focus of the library staff with an external focus on library users and its mission. It reaffirms the library's traditional mission while proposing changes in how that mission can best be achieved utilising the new technologies and openness to change. The proposed change is to enable hospitals to achieve the libraries' mission of being supportive, responsive to the eminence of healthcare distinguished by its commitment to openness, innovation, and excellence in applying well planned strategies and change practice.The organisational visionary model is proposed for health sciences libraries in order to solve key issues affecting the health sciences libraries in Riyadh. Also, this is to facilitate the utilisation and implementation of new technologies, for example the proposed health information network for Saudi Arabia, discussed below.\nSaudi Health Information Network: In view of the importance of ICT in the healthcare system, it is very desirable that a network is developed to provide health information sources and services that will satisfy the information needs of health professionals in Saudi Arabia. Such a health information network could also help to identify and locate health information resources and services through the internet.The problem facing the health system in Riyadh is that the \"body\" (the health professional) and \"soul\" (the health information professional) are not joined as one to form a single entity. As a result of this separation, health professionals spend a great deal of time in information searching, while the health information professional's role is underestimated. To overcome this problem, as a part of this study, there was developed the design of a prototype of a Saudi Health Information Network (SHIN) interface, instantiated as a website (for details, see Khudair, 2005; Khudair and Bawden, 2004).The proposed service is to offer regularly updated health and scientific articles and publications, and online health guidance relating to patients' particular problems. This network would help health professionals and health information professionals perform effective functions within one setting, which will enhance their information seeking and satisfy their information needs. The proposed network will promote various channels of communication and co-operation in the healthcare environment. Importantly, it will help the healthcare environment to move towards the establishment of a flourishing health information society through popularising the use of electronic resources and highlighting the benefits and advantages of the electronic learning programmes. There will be links to all appropriate health sites, which would be authorised, authenticated and regulated. For example, users might find directories of governmental hospitals, governmental pharmacies, health sciences libraries, and guidance on organising and using personal health libraries. In addition, a web-based health information network prototype could be a key enabler and catalyst for such change in the health profession, because the internet has the capability to meet changes of this kind.This prototype has not yet reached the level of real implementation and evaluation, because of time and resource limitations. Future development will be assessed after the network has been launched and tested by users.\nConclusions: The thorough empirical study, used a variety of methods, allowed a rich and reliable understanding of the Saudi healthcare library environment to be developed. Based on this, a visionary organisational model, to support the management of change, was developed, together with the prototype for a SHIN.Finally, the following specific recommendations could be made.Recommendations for health professionals\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to gain a detailed understanding of the current health library/information environment in Saudi Arabia, to identify problems, issues, and areas for improvement, to make recommendations for improvement, and to instantiate these in models and prototypes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A mixed method empirical approach is used in 11 health libraries, including literature survey, institutional profiling, questionnaire, interviews, non-participant observation, and examination of documents. A model for supporting change management in Saudi health libraries is proposed, and a prototype for a Saudi Health Information Network is developed.\nFindings: - The healthcare libraries are well-used, and appreciated by their users, and the staff are generally satisfied with their work. Problems and issues are identified: use of information communication technologies and digital resources; lack of proactive information services; education, training and continuing professional development for health library work; limited strategic planning and policy for these services. Recommendations are made for improvements.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The empirical research is limited to health sciences libraries in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The prototype health information network has not been evaluated by users.\nPractical implications: - Recommendations are made to enable the government of Saudi Arabia and its various agencies to support improvements in the existing health sciences libraries and information provision.\nOriginality/value: - This is a detailed study of the health library environment in Saudi Arabia, illustrating factors typical of the situation in many other countries. The paper outlines a novel organisational change model and prototype national health information network.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Guanxi and trust in strategic alliances	[ "Guanxi", "Trust", "Strategic alliances", "Role‐based guanxi", "Soil‐rooted guanxi", "Modern history", "Management science", "China" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper reviews the evolving role of guanxi in the Chinese economy. We propose that there are two types of guanxi in the history of Chinese culture: the role-based hierarchical guanxi identified by Confucianism and the soil-rooted egocentric guanxi embedded in individuals' daily life. Based on our historical analysis, we investigate these two types of guanxi in today's Chinese economy. Specifically, we empirically test the effects of role-based and soil-rooted guanxi on trust between alliance partners and demonstrate a positive synergy between the two on building interorganizational trust. In this way, we further the research on guanxi and strategic alliances by distinguishing two types of guanxi in Chinese history and linking both to interorganizational trust in the current business environment.\nGuanxi in Chinese history: In countries deeply rooted in the Confucian culture, interorganizational relationship is often derived from guanxi - the culture-based informal interpersonal relationships that are widely practiced in the business world (Luo, 2002). We begin our discussion with a review of guanxi throughout the Chinese history.Two types of Guanxi in Chinese history\nGuanxi in today's China: While the preceding section discusses Guanxi in Chinese history, we now turn to its role in today's China. Building upon the historical analysis of Guanxi in China, we examine the two types of Guanxi among strategic alliances through the development of interorganizational trust.Guanxi in the relationship of strategic alliances\nEmpirical study: The Chinese automobile industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the Chinese economy. Both the production capacity as well as the domestic market of the auto industry have grown dramatically in the recent 20 years. By the end of 2009, China has overtaken the United States to become the world's biggest auto maker and market (Xinhua, 2010). Not surprisingly, the growth of Chinese industry is aligned with the globalization of the supply chain. Both the investment from international auto suppliers and the development of local suppliers are encouraged (Holweg et al., 2009). Moreover, as suppliers learn from their experience and steadily improve the quantity and the quality of parts production through the years, their ability to attract multiple buyers from the global market increases their bargaining power to negotiate with domestic auto makers (Tang, 2009). Thus, the management of buyer-supplier relationship becomes increasingly critical to the performance of the Chinese auto industry (Zhao and Lv, 2009).We conducted a survey study among automobile parts suppliers in China about their relationship with their buyers. The survey instrument was originally developed in English. Two Chinese native speakers with professional backgrounds independently translated the instrument into Chinese. Despite minor differences in wording, there were no significant conflicts in meanings between the two versions of translation. Differences were resolved through discussion. The final translation was then verified by a third, certified translator.We distributed the survey and collected responses through local agents whose business and personal connections were embedded in the Chinese automobile industry. The survey participants were identified mainly through phone calls to established contacts. The survey were then distributed and returned through emails. In a period of six weeks, 150 completed responses were collected from the general managers or the sales managers with a response rate of 55.4 percent.Measures\nDiscussion and conclusion: Our research contributes to both managerial theory and practice. Overall, our research underscores the importance of examining managerial issues in China through a historical perspective and extends an emerging literature in Chinese management history (Hee and Gurd, 2010; Morgan, 2006; Shen, 2008). More specifically, we distinguish two types of guanxi - role-based hierarchical guanxi and soil-rooted egocentric guanxi following a review of the construct in Chinese history. Both types are important although they have evolved differently through history. While role-based guanxi follows established hierarchy as endorsed by Confucianism, soil-rooted guanxi is developed organically from the daily life of Chinese people. This historical analysis of guanxi leads to our study on its present role in today's Chinese business environment. We specifically investigate these two types of guanxi in our empirical study and differentiate their effects on trust between organizations. Our results suggest that role-based guanxi has a stronger effect on interorganizational trust compared to soil-rooted guanxi. In addition, we find that the two types of guanxi are interactive, leading to a synergistic effect on interorganizational trust.Managerial implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to distinguish different types of guanxi from a historic perspective and to investigate the effects of different types of guanxi on trust between alliance partners through an empirical study.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper first reviews the role of guanxi in Chinese history and identifies two types of guanxi. Next, it reports an empirical study that tests the effects of these two types of guanxi on interorganizational trust through a survey among automobile parts suppliers in China.\nFindings: - First, this paper identifies two types of guanxi: role-based hierarchical guanxi endorsed by Confucianism and soil-rooted egocentric guanxi derived from daily practices of Chinese people. The ever changing social environment in Chinese history supports a spiral development model of guanxi evolution. Each of the two types of guanxi takes a dominant position in different periods of time. Second, a subsequent empirical study demonstrates that, in today's Chinese business environment, role-based guanxi makes a more significant impact on interorganizational trust than soil-rooted guanxi. Moreover, these two types of guanxi produce a positive synergistic effect and facilitate each other in boosting interorganizational trust.\nOriginality/value: - This is the first paper that identifies and empirically tests the effects of role-based hierarchical guanxi and soil-rooted egocentric guanxi. More broadly, the paper highlights the importance of studying guanxi from a historic perspective. It demonstrates how a historical analysis may further the understanding of guanxi and its effect on interorganizational trust in today's business context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Do portable classrooms impact teaching and learning?	[ "Classrooms", "Transportable buildings", "Teaching", "Learning", "Behaviour", "Morale" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Portable classrooms are commonly used in the United States as a means to provide temporary relief of overcrowding conditions in growing schools and districts (Philipp and Wang, 2008; National Center for Education Statistics, 2007). Similar types of portable classroom buildings are also used in England, Australia, Canada, and Israel to resolve problems arising from student population growth over school building capacity (Caravan, 2008; Choremiotis, 1993; Portable building, 2008). Regardless of the logical reasoning behind the use of portable classrooms, school administrators have been accused of poor planning (Gibson and Eatough, 1968; Stoddard, 1997). The pre-fabricated, narrow configurations of most portable classrooms have been described as a major constraint to the visual environment of learning (Heise and Bottoms, 1990). Because of inferior construction quality, many school administrators have been questioned about safety concerns related to portable classrooms, particularly under severe weather conditions (Coles, 1999; Heise and Bottoms, 1990; Kennedy, 2000; Naylor, 1997). The unattractive appearance of portable classrooms remains a focal point of community criticism. It is described by many community members as an eyesore that devalued their properties (Moore, 1999; Taylor et al., 1999). Because many portable classrooms are deliberately hidden behind permanent school buildings, their isolation from permanent buildings poses a security problem for school officials (Heise and Bottoms, 1990). Due to poor quality construction, most portable classrooms deteriorate quickly (Fickes, 1998). Frequently, needed repairs create a burden on school maintenance departments (Callahan et al., 1997; Daneman, 1998; Fickes, 1998). Additionally, portable classrooms create possible health risks (American School and University, 1999), particularly related to poor ventilation associated with breathing difficulties and physical discomfort (Callahan et al., 1999). Therefore, it is not difficult to acknowledge a possible negative relationship between portable classrooms and student attitude, behavior, and achievement. In the same way, one might predict a negative relationship between portable classrooms and teacher morale and overall job satisfaction.\nMethodology: This study applied a research synthesis approach by identifying the most important studies of the field and analyzing their significant contributions. Synthesis was defined by Cooper and Hedges (1994) as a research approach which provides \"information analysis and synthesis, focusing on findings and not simply bibliographic citations, summarizing the substance of a literature and drawing conclusions from it\" (p. 4). McMillan and Schumacher (1997) described synthesis as a systematic research methodology with integrative reviews and aggregate patterns. In criticizing the weaknesses of meta-analysis, Fraenkel and Wallen (2009) supported synthesis as a judgmental review performed \"by judging studies as good or bad and comparing the results\" (p. 177).Some of the most important studies identified in this field employed a mixed research methodology. Others were either quantitative or qualitative studies. In view of the nature of the identified studies in portable classrooms, it was determined that synthesis with its analytical and synthetic nature was the most appropriate approach for this study.White (1994) stated that the goal of research synthesis is not to verify every related paper but \"to avoid missing a useful paper that lies outside one's regular purview\" (p. 44). In identifying studies of portable classrooms' impact on students and teachers, the following criteria were used:* The study explores the impact of portable classrooms on teachers and students.* The study includes a research design with methodology for data collection and analysis.* The findings of the study are based on the result of empirical data analysis.* A conclusion is drawn as a result of the study.* Based on the conclusion of the study, an implication section highlights practical issues confronting school systems.All selected studies were critically reviewed by evaluating the following components: research focus, research questions, research design, participants, instrumentation, procedures, variables, data collection, data analysis, findings, and conclusions. The essential components of each study were recorded and compared. A synthesis of findings provided answers to the following research questions:RQ1. How do portable classrooms impact student attitude, behavior, and achievement?RQ2. How do portable classrooms impact teacher perception, morale, and job satisfaction?RQ3. How do portable classrooms impact health and safety conditions of students and teachers?Strengths and weaknesses of studies were also considered, suggesting directions for future studies. Critical issues related to portable classrooms use were also determined with recommendations for improvement.\nStudying the relationship of portable classrooms on teaching and learning: A review of related literature identified eight significant studies on portable classroom that met the selection criteria for this synthesis. In the studies of Chan et al. (2003) and Chan (2005, 2006), the impact of portable classrooms on student achievement, behavior, and attitude was explored. Along with examining the impact of portable classrooms on student achievement, Krawitz (1987) also investigated how portable classrooms influenced teacher morale. Perceptions of the stakeholders in regards to portable classroom usage were studied in two distinct research projects in California (Heise and Bottoms, 1990) and Oklahoma (Shelton, 2003). Two studies (Choremiotis, 1993; Shendell, 2003) examined the health conditions of portable classrooms in the public schools.Student attitudes, behaviors, and achievement\nFindings: This study was designed to investigate the impact of portable classrooms on student attitude, behavior, and achievement, and teacher perception, morale, and job satisfaction.Additionally, the impact of portable classrooms on health and safety conditions of students and teachers were also investigated. An analysis of the findings of the cited studies generated some interesting answers to the research questions of this paper.Most of the studies on portable classrooms were performed in recent years. Of the eight studies identified, six of them were conducted in the last four years. Four studies investigated the impact of portable classrooms on student achievement, two on student behavior, and three on student attitude. Teacher variables and their relationship with portable classrooms were examined in four studies in the areas of perception, morale, and satisfaction. Three studies reported on the health and safety conditions of portable classrooms. Geographically, three studies were performed in Georgia, two in California, one in Kansas, one in Oklahoma, and one in Ontario. Most of the studies involved either individual students or teachers as units of analysis, with the exception for two studies that identified classrooms as the unit of analysis. A majority of the studies covered portable classrooms in more than one school (Table I).Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed by the researchers in these eight studies (four quantitative, two qualitative, and two mixed method). Quantitative research designs varied from descriptive to quasi-experimental. Qualitative designs included open-ended surveys and person-to-person interviews. In regard to data sources and research instruments, standardized test scores were used as measurement of student achievement in three studies. Established instruments were also used in three studies and in at least three other studies, researchers designed their own instruments for use. In two of the studies, field measurements of classroom conditions were performed by special devices. The treatment of quantitative data included basic descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and analysis of covariance. Qualitative data were categorized and analyzed by searching for themes, patterns, consistencies, and anomalies in all the responses. In some cases, qualitative and quantitative data in the same study were compared to check for consistencies (Table II).Impact of portable classrooms on student attitude, behavior, and achievement\nDiscussion and implications: Despite the negative publicity on portable classrooms, the findings of four separate studies have provided sufficient evidence to support the notion that portable classrooms have no negative impact on student achievement. The impact of the inferior quality of portable classrooms was obviously offset by high levels of teacher morale and job satisfaction.One of the studies investigated the impact of portable classrooms on student achievement through teacher perception. Responding to questionnaires of this type, many teachers tended to take pride in what they believed they could do to help students, regardless of the environment in which students were placed. In fact, many principals chose to assign their best teachers to the portable classrooms.Another study found significant difference in student attitude toward their schools between portable and regular classrooms. Students in portable classrooms indicated more negative attitudes toward their schools than students in regular classrooms. Though this was only found in one of the three studies, the seriousness of the findings should not be taken lightly. Since research has documented positive student attitudes associated with positive student performance and behavior (Abram, 1980; Bowen et al., 2008; Kobus et al., 2007), educators need to try many ways to cultivate a positive environment to support positive attitudes and ultimately, learning and achievement. The manner in which teachers and students are selected for assignment to portable buildings constitutes a topic for future research.Portable classrooms have been associated with all the characteristics of inferior qualities (Heise and Bottoms, 1990; Kennedy, 2000; Naylor, 1997). In fact, through years of continuous improvement, designers and manufacturers of portable classrooms have come a long way to address the drawbacks of previous generations (Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland, 2006). Much has been done to add to the safety, thermal, visual, acoustical, and aesthetic features of portable classrooms. Therefore, researchers must carefully evaluate the physical conditions of all portable classrooms involved in a given study. A portable classroom evaluation instrument designed by Chan (2004) can be used for this purpose.The findings of one study indicated disagreement between school faculty and District Office staff regarding health and safety conditions of portable classrooms. An in-depth investigation of the health and safety conditions of portable classrooms may reveal additional findings. Identifying compliance to health and safety standards would be a fair way to evaluate the conditions of portable classes. In addition, some school districts tend to procrastinate removing their portable classrooms, making temporary portable classroom facilities somewhat like permanent structures on campus. If health and safety are issues in portable classrooms, then, the prolonged stay of portable classrooms in schools will further aggravate the problems.\nRecommendations for future research: Based on this synthesis of studies on portable classrooms, further studies in this field are recommended. Only one study on portable classrooms so far involved principals and central office staff. More administrators, particularly those in the central office, need to be involved in future studies of portable classrooms. Realizing how school administrators perceive planning and management of portable classrooms will certainly add to better understanding of portable classroom issues. Any difference found in the viewpoints of administrators, teachers, and parents will throw new light into resolving possible conflicts. Public opposition to using portable classrooms in schools has been strong. Studies on how the public feels about portable classrooms and how to involve the public in resolving portable classroom issues are important topics for future research. The researcher believes that involving the public in working on portable classroom issues will certainly help secure public cooperation at an early stage.Findings on teachers' responses to portable classrooms are confusing. On one hand, teachers displayed confidence in handling any class in portable classrooms. On the other hand, some of them have expressed their dissatisfaction with being isolated in a less secure physical environment. Yet, to the contrary, some teachers felt good about being assigned to portable classrooms which they referred to as their unique cottages farther away from others, especially administrators. The public often associates student placement in portable classrooms with poor achievement and negative feelings. However, teachers do not necessarily think in the same way. Continued research in this area is definitely needed.Portable classrooms are designed as temporary facilities. However, because of convenience, some school districts have continued to use portable classrooms for extended periods of time. Many portable classrooms have been hauled from school to school year after year resulting in quick deterioration. We can easily identify remarkable differences in the physical conditions of old portable classrooms and those of the newer ones. Researchers need to be aware of the age of portable classrooms and their physical conditions for their studies to be meaningful. Future studies might focus on age as a variable as it relates to building quality or in relation to permanent structures. A useful study might be conducted to determine the rate of deterioration and the effect of deterioration or lack of maintenance have on achievement and school climate.Only four of these eight studies have indicated the employment of variable control in data analyses. In educational studies, variables associated with teacher and student performances need to be properly controlled for the study to be valid. Sophisticated statistical techniques such as multiple regression analysis could help analyze the extent of impact each independent variable has on teacher and student performances. Future studies could be improved by controlling the influence of related variables. Researchers so far have tried descriptive studies, quasi-experimental studies, and qualitative studies of various types in investigating the impact of portable classrooms on teachers and students. A fully controlled experimental study of portable classrooms has yet to be performed. Because of the nature of stringent control, a full experimental study may yield more valid results. Much additional research needs to be performed in portable classrooms as temporary support facilities of the education process. Future researchers may want to consider the following topics for research in this area:* Perceptions of parents on the use of portable classrooms.* Assignment of teachers and students to portable classrooms.* Planning strategies of district administrators on the use of portable classrooms.* Principals' roles in planning and managing portable classrooms in schools.* Age of portable or temporary facilities as a factor of their suitability for educational purposes.\nConclusion: Given that the quality of portable classrooms was generally considered inferior by many, it was anticipated that empirical evidence would reflect negative effects of these classroom environments on both teachers and students. Data analyses indicated that teachers and students were not opposed to portable classrooms. While student behavior could be a problem between the portable classrooms and the permanent buildings, student achievement was not negatively impacted. Though health and safety conditions in portable classrooms were not all satisfactory, most teachers perceived that students in portable classrooms under their care could perform as well as those in permanent classrooms. Their intent of overcoming portable classroom difficulties with unique teaching strategies is clear. In light of the synthesis of findings from these studies, school administrators need to rework their planning for portable classrooms in schools. The entire planning process should start with identification of portable classroom needs as part of the overall capital outlay plan. Planning efforts should include fiscal resources, communication with schools and the public, implementation strategies, maintenance schedules, relocation plans, and plans for ultimate replacement. The synthesis of findings in these studies has generated useful information for successful planning for portable classroom use in public schools.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the possible impact portable classrooms have on the teaching and learning process by exploring current related literature.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper takes a synthesis approach, analyzing current studies to assess the impact of portable classrooms on teaching and learning.\nFindings: - No significant impact of portable classrooms on teacher perception, teacher morale, teacher job satisfaction, student achievement, and behavior is detected. Negative student attitude is found in one of the studies reviewed. Technical testing shows negative relationships between portable classrooms and health and safety conditions, but the permanent structures are sometimes worse.\nResearch limitations/implications: - An experimental study on the impact of portable classrooms on teaching and learning is needed. Analysis of current studies indicate that the impact of portable classrooms on teaching and learning is not as negative as assumed. Still, the negative effects of deterioration or lack of maintenance cannot be underestimated; making implementation strategies, maintenance schedules, relocation plans, and plans for ultimate replacement vital.\nOriginality/value: - This paper represents the first of its kind to synthesize the findings of current studies on portable classrooms. Results are of great value to educational decision makers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A process model for bricolage-based resource co-management for a resource-constrained government IT project: Lessons learned from Taiwan's DOC project	[ "Grounded theory", "Digital divide", "Co-creation", "Alliances", "Organizational learning", "Collaboration", "Case study" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A rising tide of government reform has swept through the world. Facing an increased establishment of public Information Technology (IT) infrastructure and decreased government investment in IT infrastructure because of the global financial tsunami, a large-scale government IT project can no longer be achieved by the central nor local government independently. This is particularly true for an unprecedented government IT project, which needs to build up the levels of resources through a larger coalition (Rangan et al., 2006). Chou and Huang (2012) pointed out that alliance partners can exert collaborative effects that cannot be achieved separately. In addition, Sirmon and Hitt (2003) pointed out that to integrate complementary resources requires both careful and effective management of such collaboration and the relationships that exist in a specific alliance. Collaborative management (co-management) has thus increasingly become much more important in the face of the complexities that exist in the successful management of resources (Zurba et al., 2012). Additionally, entrepreneurs often use bricolage to construct resources when faced with a penurious environment (Baker and Nelson, 2005). Desa (2008) pointed out that bricolage is particularly useful concept to explain how firms develop in economically depressed environments. Accordingly, we believe that the role of bricolage in resource co-management is of critical importance to resource-constrained, large-scale government IT project.\nTheoretical base: The term \"Business ecosystem,\" was first introduced by Moore (1996), who defined the ecosystem as an entity composed of customers, market intermediaries (including agents and channels, and those who sell complementary products and services), suppliers, and of course, yourself. Broadly speaking, a business ecosystem refers to an economic community and involves many companies working together to gain comparative advantage based on their symbiotic relationships (Iansiti and Levien, 2004b; Kim et al., 2010). Additionally, business ecosystem is regarded as a stream of theory in strategic management (Lengnick-Hall and Wolff, 1999). Iansiti and Levien (2004a) argued that the process of ecosystem development is determined by two primary factors, the organizational strategies of the core firm and the role it plays within the ecosystem.\nResource co-management process of bricolage: Although we did not find a process model of resource co-management when developing a theoretical base from integrating relevant research, the generic process of bricolage-based resource co-management can be inferred to consist of four major steps (as denoted by the feedback loop in Figure 1). These steps include: an ecosystem triggered design, resource mobilizing and coordinating, agile adjustment and alignment, and co-creation value. Applying this body of knowledge as a theoretical lens to analyze the case of Taiwan's DOC, a process model of bricolage-based resource co-management is inductively derived to address the research questions set forth at the beginning of the paper. We discuss each major step based on the theoretical base in Figure 1.\nThe research method: Qualitative methodology allows authors to explore in some depth the mechanisms or the processes that underlies the relationship between different variables (Kumar and Worm, 2003). A case study is a particularly appropriate method for this study. To address this research need, we draw on an in-depth case study of an actual resource co-management experience of the case organization (Ministry of Education (MOE)). Research access was negotiated and granted in February 2012, and a total of twelve interviews were conducted with the top managers and staff in charge of DOC project (MOE). In addition, eight the key members from DOC work coordination team (including local government and guidance groups) and cross-ministerial promotion strategy group (convening agency: MOE) were also consulted to validate and complement the DOC project information. The multiple sources provided triangulation of evidence (Stake, 1994), ensuring that facts stated by one organization could be verified by the other and providing multiple perspective on the issues.\nCase description: Case background\nDiscussion: It is impossible to bridge the urban-rural digital divide at one stroke. This study case underwent three different phases of DOC project promotion process, and each promotion phase adopted the same process pattern. As our process model suggests, the generic process of bricolage-based resource co-management can be decomposed into four cyclic steps. Given that our model, a process model of bricolage-based resource co-management (refer to Figure 3), is inductively derived from the Taiwan's DOC case study data, the following stream of reporting reviews the existing literature to corroborate theoretical arguments of our model.\nConclusion: Research and practical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which central government in resource-constrained environments collaborates with local government to utilize the available resources at hand to set up 300 Digital Opportunity Centers (DOCs) in 168 remote areas in Taiwan through co-management to bricolage new resources and new capabilities, gradually bridging the urban-rural digital divide to co-create values for local development.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study adopted an in-depth case study. The authors selected Taiwan's DOC, the largest public information service infrastructure project in Taiwan, to explore issues related to bricolage-based resource co-management.\nFindings: From the integrating relevant literature, the generic process of bricolage-based resource co-management can be inferred to consist of four major steps. Applying this body of knowledge as a theoretical lens to analyze the case of Taiwan's DOC, a process model of bricolage-based resource co-management is inductively derived to address the research questions.\nResearch limitations/implications: A common criticism of this methodology is its lack of generalizability since a case study cannot prove itself in a statistical sense.\nPractical implications: This study is significant in that it provides a comprehensive and empirically supported framework. The authors hope that practitioners who face resource constraints when conducting large-scale IT projects can use the process model developed in this study as a detailed roadmap to identify the most appropriate actions and steps to undertake.\nOriginality/value: This study provides an empirically grounded framework that contributes toward addressing the lack of empirical studies in bricolage-based, resource co-management research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Unions as institutional entrepreneurs: The contribution of unions to the diffusion and adaptation of LGBT diversity initiatives	[ "Diversity management", "LGBT", "Unions", "Lesbian", "Gay", "Institutional entrepreneurship" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the last few decades, both management practices and research have increasingly started recognizing the inclusion of LGBT[1] workers as a key issue (Colgan et al., 2007; Kollen, 2016b; Ng and Rumens, 2017). Management and organizational research has extensively explored the impact on well-being and performance of inclusive organizational policies and practices targeting LGBT employees (Webster et al., 2018), as well as on organizational performance (e.g. Pichler et al., 2018). This research has shown that inclusive practices deployed by companies can indeed improve the working lives of LGBT employees, thus providing the companies with an \"ethical argument\" for their implementation. Furthermore, the research has additionally shown that these practices can have a positive impact on the performance not only of those individuals, but on that of the organization as a whole, thus providing companies with a \"business case\" for the implementation of inclusive practices.\nHeteronormativity and institutional entrepreneurship: Heteronormativity refers to the set of institutionalized symbols, norms and discursive and material practices that create and reproduce the belief that people fall into two distinct and complementary genders (male and female), which align with heterosexuality and predetermined roles in society (Schilt and Westbrook, 2009). Individuals and relations falling outside this \"sex/gender system\" (Rubin, 1998) are perceived as \"pathological, deviant, invisible, unintelligible, or written out of existence\" (Yep, 2002, p. 167). Since sexuality is an ubiquitous phenomenon in all spheres of life (Jackson, 2006, p. 106), heteronormativity permeates transversally all social orders: family, religion, market, organizations, education and mass media tend to replicate a binary and heteronormative conception of sexuality (Yep, 2002). Heteronormativity implies several forms of marginalization and discrimination for homosexual and bisexual employees in the workplace. Common examples include benefits granted by the company to married employees, such as insurance policies, or other partner benefits, which discriminate against same-sex couples (Raeburn, 2004), but also informal discourses, such as homophobic jokes (Willis, 2012), and symbols, like family portraits or wedding rings.\nResearch context: diversity and trade unions in Italy: Although a relatively new concept within Italy, more and more Italian companies and organizations have, within the last decade or so, started to follow some sort of diversity management approach. The main drivers for this trend have been the increased labour market participation of women, an increased influx of immigrants onto the Italian labour market, and EU legislation on anti-discrimination in the workplace (de Vita, 2010). In Italy, the societal discourse on workforce diversity is very much focussed on (cis-)gender issues. Compared to other dimensions of workforce diversity (as in many other national contexts), the organizations' commitment to sexual orientation-related issues of workforce diversity is comparatively low, and issues related to the gender identity of employees are almost totally overlooked (Murgia and Poggio, 2014; Ravazzani, 2016). Ravazzani (2016) shows that the diversity initiatives of Italian companies \"principally aim to address social expectations and mainly focus on the traditional, legally protected attributes of gender, parenthood and disability, reflecting their centrality in the social agenda and legislative make-up of Italy\" (p. 10). The strong influence of the Catholic Church on the public debate in Italy might be one reason for the fact that overcoming heteronormative structures in organizational settings is only seen as being of secondary importance (Gamberini, 2013; Zanola, 2014). In response to pressure from various European institutions, Italy recognized same-sex civil unions in 2016. This has provided some of the benefits, rights and obligations of marriage to same-sex couples, but it does leave open the possibility that some employers might treat same-sex and opposite-sex partnerships unequally (ILGA, 2016). Compared, however, to other countries in Western Europe, the level of acceptance towards homosexuality is still comparatively low (European_Union, 2015). The LGBT Diversity Index, a benchmark tool issued by the employer's association Parks, shows that the number of participating companies (and, within that, companies who have explicitly integrated LGBT issues into their overall diversity approaches), rose from 19 to 42 between 2013 and 2016 (Parks, 2018). However, these numbers still illustrate the marginal position of issues related to the sexual orientation (and gender identity) of employees in Italian diversity practice.\nResearch design and methodology: Following a multiple case study approach (Yin, 2013), the data analysed in this paper have been taken from a larger research project on LGBT diversity management in Italy. Aiming at understanding the role of unions in the process of Italian organizations adopting LGBT diversity management practices, this paper is based on 13 in-depth interviews (see Table I). Our sample comprises seven trade unionists concerned with LGBT rights in the workplace, four LGBT activists holding significant roles in other LGBT associations, the head of an Italian manufacturing company and the industrial relations officer of an Italian bank. The latter two interviewees were working for companies that were driven by unions to sign agreements to extend the rights offered to married employees to LGB employees who had married abroad. The semi-structured interviews focussed on the participant's personal and professional background; the union, association or company that he or she works for; and the way in which he or she relates to companies or unions, and the implementation of LGBT-inclusive policies. The interviews were conducted either face-to-face or via Skype, recorded and transcribed. We performed a theoretical, deductive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006; Guest et al., 2012) of the data, guided by the analytical dimensions identified by Hardy and Maguire (2008, 2017) in their literature reviews on institutional entrepreneurs. In order to understand the unions' role as institutional entrepreneurs, we therefore focussed on their: properties, meaning the \"special characteristics, qualities and abilities\" that \"distinguish institutional entrepreneurs from others in the field, and allow them to envision and promote alterative arrangements\" (Hardy and Maguire, 2008, p. 200); social position (Battilana et al., 2009; Hardy and Maguire, 2008); and intervention strategies, that can be further classified according to the resources they mobilize; the rationales they leverage for institutional change; and the relations they rely on to bring about collective action (Hardy and Maguire, 2008). The interviews were conducted in 2016 and 2017, around the time when civil union (but not marriage) for same-sex couples was introduced in Italy.\nFindings: The findings show how the two Italian trade union departments, theoretically framed as institutional entrepreneurs, deal with heteronormativity in organizations. Since their striving clashes with elements deeply rooted in the Italian institutional context (the clearest example being the institution of marriage, which was not (and still is not) legally available to same-sex partners at the time the interviews were conducted), their working is a divergent institutional change process (Battilana et al., 2009). Drawing on the above-outlined notion of institutional entrepreneurship, we link their actions with their properties, social position and intervention strategies (Hardy and Maguire, 2017).\nDiscussion: Our study has shown that the role unions take in the process of adaptation and diffusion of LGBT diversity management in a continental European context can be theoretically framed as institutional entrepreneurship. As institutional entrepreneurs, these unions contribute towards encouraging companies to further the inclusion of their LGBT employees, and to address discrimination against those employees.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Research on the diffusion and adaptation of LGBT diversity management practices has, until now, rarely considered the role of unions in this process; where it has done, the consideration has largely been cursory or tangential. In order to contribute towards overcoming this research gap, the purpose of this paper is to focus more closely on this issue, within the Italian context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Theoretically based on the notion of institutional entrepreneurship, the paper analyses the ways in which trade unions contribute to the diffusion of LG-inclusive policies. Empirically this study is based on qualitative interviews with representatives from the unions, LGBT activists and individuals from those companies that have received support from the unions in terms of shaping their initiatives.\nFindings: Italian unions act as institutional entrepreneurs in the sexual orientation field by framing the issue of the inclusion of LGBT workers as an issue of including minority groups under the broad umbrella of equality in workplaces, and by cooperating with LGBT associations. The latter provides the unions with two different things. First, with more legitimacy, from the viewpoint of LGBT employees; second, with the specific competencies in dealing with these issues. The accomplishments of the unions consist of arranging single agreements concerning the establishment of \"punishment systems\" for discriminatory behaviours, rather than promoting inclusion-oriented behaviours within the organization.\nOriginality/value: This paper highlights the role of unions, and in doing so, focusses on a hitherto marginalized actor in the process of adapting LGBT diversity initiatives. In focussing on the Italian context, it adds an important perspective to a discourse that has previously consisted of predominantly Anglo-American views.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Investigating the significance of risks in BOT transportation projects in Vietnam	[ "Public private partnership (PPP)", "Built Operate Transfer (BOT)", "Risk", "Analysis", "Assessment", "Priority", "Ranking transportation", "Vietnam" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been adopted worldwide to serve the high demand for infrastructures such as bridges, expressways, power plants, and water plants. According to Ibrahim et al. (2006), PPPs are particularly pertinent to developing countries in order to fulfil the soaring gap between demand for necessary infrastructure and the lack of availability of government funding. This tendency is also more common in emerging economies including Vietnam. As reported by the Chao et al. (2017), in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), around 242 infrastructure projects were procured in 2006 with the participation of private sector, resulting in a total investment of US$71.5 billion.Vietnam is a developing country which is considered to be one of the most dynamic emerging economies in the region of East Asia with a remarkable change over the last 30 years (World Bank Group, 2019). Since a new policy has been launched in 1986, the country has been experiencing a considerable growth in the economy, especially in the construction sector (Nguyen and Chileshe, 2015). In addition to the rapid development in economy and population in Vietnam, there is a great need for infrastructure to satisfy social changes. However, because of inadequate state funds for such investments and limitations on other foreign funds (i.e., Official Development Assistance-ODA), PPPs are considered as an alternative funding source by the Vietnamese government (Likhitruangsilp et al., 2017). Among various forms of PPPs implemented in Vietnam, the majority of transportation projects have been procured through the Built Operate Transfer (BOT) approach. There are currently 70 transportation projects that use the BOT approach in Vietnam, of which three projects are at the preparation stage, 13 projects are in the bidding process for selecting concessionaires, three projects are under construction, 50 projects are in operation, and one project is terminated (Department of PPP Management, 2019).However, many PPP transportation projects in Vietnam have been encountering unexpected problems (Nhat et al., 2014). Likhitruangsilp et al. (2018) observed that stakeholders involved in PPP projects in Vietnam have been experiencing challenges due to exposure to a number of risks throughout the project's development. Van Thuyet et al. (2007) claimed that poor risk management is responsible for problems like cost and time overruns of construction projects in Vietnam. They also explained that in spite of the worldwide adoption of risk management as a fundamental knowledge area in project management, the chance of applying this process is limited and difficult within the context of developing countries, including Vietnam. Although risk management is perceived as a highly important process from the viewpoint of practitioners, the construction industry of Vietnam still lacks in the application of a systematic risk management process (Nguyen and Chileshe, 2015).Previous studies indicate that the lack of risk assessment and management practices (RAMP) in construction industry is a norm, occurring internationally, for both developed and developing countries (Chileshe and Kikwasi, 2014). Especially, within the context of developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa such as Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania, Chileshe and Kikwasi (2014) emphasized that there was a lack of formal RAMP, leading to difficulties in project management and, as a result, to time and cost overruns. Likewise, in Vietnam, previous studies showed that there is still a lack of RAMP in the construction industry. Since PPPs are considered as a high-risk business, RAMP has become very important in improving the success of projects' implementation, especially in a developing country like Vietnam where the majority of transportation projects have been developed through the BOT model.The literature shows that studies conducted on risks in PPP transportation projects in Vietnam are limited, and there are still inconsistencies in regard to risk identification (Le et al., 2019). Specifically, there is a lack of research focusing on risks in specific types of PPP models like BOT transportation projects in Vietnam. Hence, a research gap is identified, which is the need for further studies on BOT transportation projects to enhance the success of project management in this area.As Chan et al. (2010) indicated, in order to successfully implement PPPs it is crucial to have an objective, practical, and reliable risk assessment method, as well as an equitable mechanism of risk allocation. According to Iyer and Sagheer (2009), it is important for risks to be initially ranked and prioritized before being allocated to the most suitable stakeholders. For the BOT model, to achieve success in projects' performance, it is important to effectively detect and control risks within a specific context from the viewpoints of both public and private partner (Aladag and Isik, 2017). In view of that, the following research questions (RQs) are proposed:RQ1. What is the priority of risks in BOT transportation projects in Vietnam?RQ2. Are there any differences in the risk perception between public and private sectors in BOT transportation projects in Vietnam?The results of this study are useful for stakeholders as well as academics in understanding the priority of risks in BOT transportation projects in Vietnam from different viewpoints of public and private sectors. They will help decision-makers to focus management efforts on significant risks (higher priority) where suitable and well-prepared responses to risks may lead to better outcomes for projects. In this way, it will enhance risk management effectiveness and the success of projects. Also, because the research is carried out in the context of Vietnam, the findings provide more opportunities for conducting comparative research with other emerging countries.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Risk management in PPP transportation projects\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Research design and methods\n4. Findings and discussion: 4.1 Priority of risks\n5. Conclusions: Although a large number of studies have been conducted in PPPs, there is still a lack of focusing on risks in BOT transportation projects in Vietnam. Therefore, the study aims to contribute to the body of knowledge in this area. In this study, interviews and a questionnaire survey were conducted to investigate the risk perception of stakeholders in BOT transportation projects in Vietnam. Data analysis was performed through SPSS software with descriptive and inferential statistics. As a result, the top five significant risks are (in descending priority) these: (1) problems with land acquisition and compensation, (2) inappropriate location of toll booths, (3) public resistance to pay, (4) high toll rate, and (5) lack of cash flow. The research findings show that BOT transportation projects are regarded as considerable risky within the viewpoints of stakeholders from both public and private sector. The result from the Mann-Whitney U test shows that no statistically significant differences were observed in the rankings of individual risks between public and private sector except the \"lack of cash flow.\" Also, there is a significant correlation in the overall rankings between public and private sector through the Pearson correlation test.The study contributes to the body of knowledge by exploring the probability of occurrence and the severity of impact of risks in BOT transportation projects in a developing country like Vietnam which is a less studied area. It provides an insight into the perception of stakeholders from public and private sector regarding the level of risks which is very useful for stakeholders for making decisions when they intend to participate in such a partnership. Also, mitigation strategies are proposed for the top five significant risks. The study is useful for stakeholders to have a better understanding of the priority of risks in BOT transportation projects in Vietnam, which could be seen as a valuable reference for stakeholders to make decisions when participating in such projects. Since the current legislation is still at a very early design stage for the procurement of different types of PPPs (Likhitruangsilp et al., 2017, 2018), the study can be helpful in assisting the Vietnamese government to set up suitable policies and frameworks to enhance the success of those projects. Moreover, the research contributes to the cross-validation of earlier findings in previous empirical studies in other developing countries.However, the small sample size could be seen as a limitation of this study. Unfortunately, the PPP model has not matured enough in Vietnam to create an extensive pool of practitioners and thus allow researcher to recruit a large number of respondents who have considerable experience working in such projects. Another limitation of the research is that survey respondents were dominated by the private sector compared to the public sector. Therefore, for academics, there are avenues for further studies based on the identified limitations. Further studies could be conducted to enhance our understanding of risks of BOT projects with larger or more balanced sample with participants from both public and private sector, or with other emerging countries in order to have a comparison within different contexts.Nevertheless, this study advances the body of knowledge and provides insights on the significance of risks in BOT transportation projects in Vietnam that may be exploited for policy development, practitioners' benefit, and scholars' research endeavors.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The Built Operate Transfer (BOT) model has been increasingly used in transportation investments in Vietnam. However, there is still an inadequacy of risk management applications in these projects and lack of research in this area. The study aims to improve the success of projects implemented through the BOT model in Vietnam.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study followed a sequential design including interviews and a questionnaire survey to investigate the perception of stakeholders from public and private sector regarding the probability of occurrence and the severity of impact of risks in BOT transportation projects in Vietnam. Quantitative data from the survey was subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics to explore the priority of risks as well as the differences in the perception between the public and private sectors.\nFindings: The results showed that the top five most significant risks in BOT transportation projects in Vietnam are: (1) problems with land acquisition and compensation, (2) inappropriate location of toll booths, (3) public resistance to pay, (4) high toll rate and (5) lack of cash flow. With the exception of \"lack of cash flow,\" there were no statistically significant differences in the rankings of individual risks between the public and private sector. In addition, there is a significant positive correlation in the overall rankings of all risks for both sectors.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the body of knowledge by exploring the probability of occurrence and the severity of the impact of risks in BOT transportation projects in a developing country like Vietnam which has not been extensively explored yet. Second, it provides an insight into the perception of stakeholders from the public and private sector regarding the level of risks which is very useful for potential stakeholders in making decisions when they intend to participate in such partnerships. Third, it enables the Vietnamese government to establish suitable policies related to such projects. These contributions are very important in improving risk management in PPPs in developing countries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
"A wound that has been festering since 2007": The Burma/Myanmar naming controversy and the problem of rarely challenged assumptions on Wikipedia	[ "Information literacy", "Myanmar", "Asia", "Wikipedia", "Reference", "Encyclopedias", "Burma" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Central to Wikipedia's operation are the debates taking place on its talk pages. It is on these pages that editors thrash out the arguments underpinning the site's representation of knowledge on any given topic. Hence, talk pages provide an important resource for those interested in Wikipedia as a social phenomenon as they record the tensions, struggles, and conflicts taking place within (Tkacz, 2007; Kriplean et al., 2007; Goldspink, 2010; Konig, 2013; Fullerton and Ettema, 2014). However, talk pages are not uniform. Some contain very little content, suggesting that the articles to which they are attached are attracting little attention or what attention they are receiving does not generate much controversy. Other talk pages are voluminous, recording the engagement of numerous editors over substantial periods of time. In this paper, I will examine a particularly long running talk page debate over the choice of Myanmar or Burma as an article title. This debate ran from 2004 to 2015, completely overshadowing discussion on other aspects of the article and helping to generate 13 talk page archives. It spawned a large number of move requests and requests for mediation and in general consumed vast amounts of editor time and energy. At the same time, this was not a particularly acrimonious debate. The co-founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, noted in a comment he left at the page in 2007 that he found the \"discussion to be delightful, rational, kind, thoughtful, and respectful [...]\" (Myanmar, Archive 3, Thank you, Jimbo Wales, 05:57, September 28, 2007). I imagine Wales' appreciation would have extended right down to the very last talk page entry[1].\nAnatomy of a debate: A Wikipedia entry for Myanmar was created on October 17, 2001, by contributor Manning Bartlett (one of the \"pioneer\" generation of Wikipedians). Foreshadowing the debates to come, this stub focused exclusively on the issue of the country's name: \"Burma is the former name of the country now known as Myanmar. The US Government does not officially recognize the military government of Myanmar, and hence has not formally recognized the change of name (which occurred in 1989). The UN, however, officially recognizes the new name\" (available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Myanmar&oldid=238232).\nRarely challenged assumptions: the sovereignty of the nation-state and the ideal encyclopedia: While much of the debate focused on whether Burma or Myanmar was the most common name for the country in the English language, it is unlikely that the debate would have taken on the proportions it did without a deeper difference between the editors for which the debate over which name was used more often was a proxy. This difference revolved around which institution was the legitimate representative of the country's people - the government and state apparatus or the major opposition political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). While the state government declared in 1989 that the country over which it ruled was to be called Myanmar in English, this was contested by the NLD and its charismatic Leader, Aung San Su Kyi. As part of a wider policy of persuading the outside world to isolate the regime, the NLD wanted its allies and supporters to continue using Burma when referring to the country. However, on Wikipedia, it was not enough to argue for such a position (although as we shall see, some did), as it would easily be labeled as advocating for a POV or, in other words, taking a less than neutral stance toward the topic at hand.\nImplications: After reading the entire collection of talk page archives associated with the Burma/Myanmar debate, the thought will probably enter most people's head that it represents a great waste of time, time that the editors could have put to more productive use (actual editing of this or other articles, or engagement with debates on other issues). This is not to say that debate over the issue was not important. Rather it is the duration of the debate and its inability to develop a consensus or deeper understanding of the issue that appears problematic. Such feelings are only enhanced when the conclusion is reached that in fact there is a good case to use both names in the title. However, there are other implications to this debate, other than opportunity cost.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The Burma/Myanmar naming controversy on Wikipedia stands as an exemplary debate at least in terms of the politeness and civility of discourse. It was also one of the longer running debates on Wikipedia beginning almost at the same time as the creation of the article in 2003. But this debate has other lessons for those interested in one of the world's key pieces of information infrastructure. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The author's approach to the study of the Wikipedia talk pages devoted to the Burma/Myanmar naming controversy is qualitative in nature and explores the debate over sources through textual analysis.\nFindings: Editors brought to their work a number of underlying assumptions including the primacy of the nation-state and the nature of a \"true\" encyclopedia. These were combined with a particular interpretation of neutral point of view (NPOV) policy that unnecessarily prolonged the debate and, more importantly, would have the effect, if widely adopted, of reducing Wikipedia's potential to include multiple perspectives on any particular topic.\nOriginality/value: The study clearly shows how editors tend to uncritically reproduce the dominant assumptions of their societies. When combined with positivist readings of NPOV policy, this has grave implications for Wikipedia's potential to open up representation to a wider set of knowledge producers and perspectives. Much of this potential cannot be realized if the assumptions of editors, especially their flawed understanding of NPOV, cannot be challenged effectively.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An improved technique for face recognition applications	[ "Classification", "Back propagation neural network", "Face recognition", "ORL dataset", "Supervised learning", "Yale dataset" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Automatic facial recognition is an important component of the human-machine interfaces. It has a lot of attractions in the area of research since 1990. Although the people are aware of someone with little effort, belated recognition machine is still a problem. Existing systems use recognition, considering the special features of a face with. This can increase the number of errors and the calculation workload. The process requires a long time to compare all the training images with the image input. An extracted image containing noise affects the result of recognition.\n2. Literature review: The study of Nicholl and Amira (2008) focused on automatically estimating the discriminative coefficients in a discrete wavelet transform/principal component analysis (PCA) that deals with inter-class and intra-class standard deviations. Consequently, eigenfaces are selected based on the eigenvalues with discrepancies caused by the illumination factors among trained images.\n3. Back propagation neural network: The architecture of the neural network is inspired by the architecture of biological neural systems, which uses many simple processing steps that work in parallel to obtain high performance. An artificial neural network is a huge parallel distributed processor that naturally tends to store empirical knowledge and make it usable. It looks like the human brain in two ways (Haykin, 1998):\n4. The averaged-feature based method: One of the main approaches, the most widely used in the field of image recognition, is the use of classical classifier models. To train such models, a marked data sample is used, consisting of an array of images and a corresponding array of labels that determine the category to which the image belongs. During the learning process, the data array is divided into two sets the training set and the test set, then using algorithm-specific learning rules, the model parameters are tuned using a training set, to get an image as an input, the output model would produce a label of the corresponding class. This approach is represented by a lot of models. Among which the most widely used is the regression model, an artificial neural network (multilayer perceptron), support vector machines method and decision trees and model ensemble methods, which are combinations of some of the listed models.\n5. Experimental results and discussion: 5.1 Training the face image data sets\n6. Conclusion and future work: The experimental results of the two data sets confirm the acceptance in all 15-image data test. In the training process, the minimal combination of MSE errors and the high accuracy is an important factor in the classification process. The minimum error and the high accuracy can be determined by changing the back-propagation parameters (learning rate, momentum factor and hidden layer neurons number). By being aware of the facial features of the facial expressions, the system allows it to respond appropriately to other facial expressions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The face recognition problem has a long history and a significant practical perspective and one of the practical applications of the theory of pattern recognition, to automatically localize the face in the image and, if necessary, identify the person in the face. Interests in the procedures underlying the process of localization and individual's recognition are quite significant in connection with the variety of their practical application in such areas as security systems, verification, forensic expertise, teleconferences, computer games, etc. This paper aims to recognize facial images efficiently. An averaged-feature based technique is proposed to reduce the dimensions of the multi-expression facial features. The classifier model is generated using a supervised learning algorithm called a back-propagation neural network (BPNN), implemented on a MatLab R2017. The recognition rate and accuracy of the proposed methodology is comparable with other methods such as the principle component analysis and linear discriminant analysis with the same data set. In total, 150 faces subjects are selected from the Olivetti Research Laboratory (ORL) data set, resulting 95.6 and 85 per cent recognition rate and accuracy, respectively, and 165 faces subjects from the Yale data set, resulting 95.5 and 84.4 per cent recognition rate and accuracy, respectively.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Averaged-feature based approach (dimension reduction) and BPNN (generate supervised classifier).\nFindings: The recognition rate is 95.6 per cent and recognition accuracy is 85 per cent for the ORL data set, whereas the recognition rate is 95.5 per cent and recognition accuracy is 84.4 per cent for the Yale data set.\nOriginality/value: Averaged-feature based method.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How to survive mistreatment by customers: employees' work withdrawal and their coping resources	[ "Exhaustion", "Support", "Conscientiousness", "Withdrawal", "Health workers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A study of hundreds of Chinese health workers, including nurses and doctors, has shown how being mistreated by customers can have a negative effect on their performance at work. A research into the responses of care workers at 12 public hospitals in Southern China also showed how both social support from colleagues and a conscientious attitude could reduce the negative impacts.\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 study of the emotional responses to mistreatment by customers in a Chinese hospital showed the negative consequences of their performance at work. The authors showed how workers tended to withdraw from difficult situations that left them in a state of emotional exhaustion. Both social support from colleagues and a conscientious attitude reduced the negative impacts.\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" } ]
How the blockchain enables and constrains supply chain performance	[ "Supply chain performance", "Supply chain management", "Blockchain technology", "Distributed computing", "Enabling and constraining effects", "Performance-related implications" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Blockchain technology (BCT) is gaining momentum, with an increasing number of diverse applications, as well as with more and more actors involved in its applications (Nowinski and Kozma, 2017). It is one of the select, emerging technologies which is expected to enable transformational platform-based business models to enhance competitive advantages (Burkett and Johnson, 2016). Popularly hailed as \"the most important invention since the internet\" (Tapscott and Tapscott, 2016a), BCT has been identified as one of the top ten strategic technology trends (Panetta, 2016). With mainstream adoption of the technology expected within five to ten years, it will be possible to see its widespread applications in terms of monetary remittances, academic credential systems, land title systems, tracking the origin and provenance of products and many more areas (Panetta, 2017). The technology is expected to have profound and disruptive effects on society as a whole and has therefore triggered an international policy response calling for a joint technological infrastructure (Pedersen, 2018).\n2. Blockchain technology, SCM and performance: 2.1 Blockchain technology\n3. Methodology: The approach used in this research is based on a structured literature review which was performed in September 2018. The review followed a three-step approach (Tranfield et al., 2003). In the first step, an advanced search was designed and executed using Business Source Complete as a search engine. In the search, we looked for different keywords in the abstract, including \"blockchain\", \"block-chain\" and \"distributed ledger\". Since the keywords were considered to be synonyms, the terms were separated using the conjunction \"or\". This enabled the collection of a larger sample of relevant literature (Tranfield et al., 2003). This produced a sample of 2,868 papers. Consistent with the research strategy, the sample was then narrowed to focus on scholarly peer-reviewed academic journals in English. This reduced the obtained sample to 257 papers. In order to identify relevant papers which had not yet appeared as academic publications on Business Source Complete, it was decided to supplement the sample with two additional searches. The databases Google Scholar and ResearchGate were used for these searches. As a result of these searches, ten additional papers of potential relevance were added to the sample.\n4. The different blockchain identities: The outcome of our coding produced four enabling and three constraining blockchain identities in relation to how the blockchain was understood to implicate SCM and supply chain performance. Following Morgan (2006), the identities were formulated as metaphors, enabling the researchers to better explore and highlight the complexities of the relationship between BCT and SCM. Table I presents the outcome of the structured review. The different identities and propositions that arose during the analysis will now be presented.\n5. Discussion: The blockchain as an information lighthouse and specifically its ability to enable increased supply chain traceability emerged in the analysis as the most dominant outcome of the technology (see Table AI). In addition, the blockchain understood as an exploitation device figured strongly in the analysis, and here BCT-enabled enhanced contract management and supply chain governance was found to be especially eminent. Less prominent were the blockchain's ability to work as an innovation engine and relationship-building technology. This shows that there is a tendency in the literature to see the blockchain as an opportunity to exploit existing supply chain resources and competencies, and, based on the analysis of the literature sample, it seems that managerial focus is on alignment, systematic improvement and refinement of existing capabilities. This finding relates well to the largely transformative potential which is expected of the technology (Iansiti and Lakhani, 2017). In relation to the eminent traceability focus, we propose that this stems from the key/core innovation of BCT as providing data immutability, something not provided in other supply chain technologies (Mougayar, 2016).\n6. Conclusion: The purpose of this study was to explore how the blockchain enables and constrains SCM and supply chain performance. The study highlights how BCT should be understood to have a multifaceted and diverse impact on SCM and supply chain performance. Specifically, the study develops a set of propositions, each of which highlights a different path of how these impacts might manifest.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand the enabling and constraining roles of blockchain technology (BCT) in managerial work practices and conceptualise the technology-performance relationship in supply chain management (SCM).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A structured literature review and a theory-driven approach are used. A set of propositions are developed, suggesting how the use of BCT in supply chains can be understood to simultaneously enable and constrain SCM and performance.\nFindings: The analysis identifies four enabling and three constraining blockchain identities to explain how the technology either \"facilitates\" or \"impedes\" SCM and supply chain performance. Traceability, which emanates from its ability to provide data immutability, ranks highly as a core innovation of the technology. The blockchain is mainly seen as an opportunity to exploit existing supply chain resources and competencies.\nResearch limitations/implications: One limitation of the research is its conceptual nature. Future research should test the developed propositions empirically. Further research should focus on BCT as an opportunity to explore and as a relationship-building technology. More research is also needed focussing on the complex and simultaneous enabling and constraining effects of BCT in supply chains.\nOriginality/value: The paper shows the important and complex Janus-faced implications of embedding BCT in supply chains and demonstrates how organisational theory can be applied to explore the relationship between blockchain and SCM.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Good news, bad news, and fake news: Going beyond political literacy to democracy and libraries	[ "Democracy", "Misinformation", "Public sphere", "Fake news", "Disinformation", "2016 US Presidential election" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity [...](Dickens, 1973, p. 3).\nIntroduction: Library and Information Science (LIS) has seen an explosion of analyses of and responses to fake news in the aftermath of the 2016 US election: Library Quarterly published two special issues on the \"Aftermath: Libraries, Democracy, and the 2016 Presidential Election\" in July and October 2017 with a dozen articles featuring fake news and about that many more on related issues; Reference and User Services Quarterly published about a dozen articles featuring fake news in Spring 2018 on \"Trusted Information in an Age of Uncertainty\"; Open Information Science has issued a call for papers on the topic (CFP Fake, 2018); the Winter 2017/2018 Progressive Librarian reprinted three American Library Association (ALA) documents responding to the fake news climate along with four related papers on the post-election profession. LIS conferences have been active too. The 2017 Charleston Conference hosted a number of fake news themed sessions, and the ALA gave a highly attended webinar on combatting it (Rose-Wiles, 2018). Fordham University Library sponsored a panel on \"libraries and the post-truth era\" in June 2017 - among many others (Librarianship, 2017; see also CFP ACRL/NY, 2018; CFP ACRL/NJ, 2018).\nFake news: toward a definition: If we have set our collective sights on it, we should be able to delimit what it is LIS is opposing. What then is fake news? Widely used definitions - \"news articles that are intentionally and verifiably false, and could mislead readers\" (Allcott and Gentzkow, 2017, p. 213; see also Lazer, 2018) - are too limited to capture what is actually going on. They disregard both a pluralism of methods and the new environment of fake news that fake news itself makes. Pope Francis (2018) has interestingly helped expand public dialog about it in his message for World Communications Day:In general, it refers to the spreading of disinformation [...] It has to do with false information based on non-existent or distorted data meant to deceive and manipulate the reader [...] serv[ing] to advance specific goals, influence political decisions, and serve economic interests. [...] [It] is \"captious\", inasmuch as it [...] appeal[s] to stereotypes and common social prejudices, and exploit[s] emotions like anxiety, contempt, anger and frustration. [...] Untrue stories can spread so quickly that even authoritative denials fail to contain the damage. [...] [M]any people interact in homogeneous digital environments impervious to differing perspectives and opinions. Disinformation thus thrives on the absence of healthy confrontation with other sources of information that could effectively challenge prejudices and generate constructive dialogue.\nThe bad news: Fake news is a persistent and long-lived phenomenon, with innumerable examples going back as far as the fifteenth century, and frequently arising and re-arising in the wake of a technological innovation: the printing press, postal systems, mass newspapers, film, radio, television, and now software and the web. The methods varied with them: the forged letter, blood-libels against Jews, a newsbook reporting a dragon, pamphlets alleging royal sexual improprieties and other political propaganda, anti-Catholic news stories, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, made-up newspaper illustrations to start a war, Nazi films, Allied \"news\" produced for the Germans during the Second World War, public relations campaigns, and a presidential candidate's child abuse ring run from a DC pizzeria are just a few (Soll, 2016; Groebner, 2017; Poole, 2017; Schama, 1989; Shaer, 2017). Fake news has been with us always it seems, but there is growing evidence that it may well have been the difference that made a difference in the 2016 election: some people believed the fake news stories which tilted conspicuously in one direction, and belief in them accounts for 11 percent of those who abandoned Clinton - a potentially decisive swing in three states she lost by 0.2 points, 0.72 points and 0.76 points (Blake, 2018).\nThe good news: Despite this all is not lost. We should not overlook the importance of our current focus on fake news and its enabling technology (Groebner, 2017) - the importance of truths and facts are often attested to by the experience and consequences of lies as attested to in the experience of the collapse of the regimes of the old Soviet bloc (Shore, 2017). Research shows that motivated reasoning and confirmation bias, while not easy to counter, are not impossible to dislodge (Kraft et al., 2015; Lenker, 2016). And Sunstein (1996) has pointed out that political agreement need not be total; we can and do often find just enough common ground to move forward based on \"incompletely theorized agreements\": \"It is rare for a person or group completely to theorize any subject, that is, to accept both a general theory and a series of steps that connect the theory to a concrete conclusion\" (p. 146)[2]. Many studies find political and civic knowledge not so despairingly low, finding instead \"a citizenry who ground their beliefs and attitudes in reality [and] [...] hold meaningful political attitudes\" (Kuklinski and Peyton, 2007, p. 53). People do update their information and adjust political judgments accordingly, have core values and political ideologies and base choices on them: witness the consistency of African-Americans' interests, opinions and votes (Kuklinski and Peyton, 2007[3], pp. 52-55). The data also show that there are forms of citizen engagement that are still relatively high (Galston, 2001, 2007; Dalton, 2006; Howard, 2006), including among the young (Smith, 2016). Deciding with full information is not everything[4]; there are cognitive shortcuts - heuristics - that, while not perfect, are helpful in guiding political choices (Barry, 1996, pp. 244-248; Crain, 2016; Ryfe, 2005, p. 51). Finally, on the theoretical front, political \"participation and the acquisition of information are activities that are valued intrinsically. [T]he performance of citizenship duties takes on value as an end in itself\" (Barry, 1996, p. 227). That is, the economistic view of the opportunity costs of political preparation and civic participation is misguided. Politics, as Aristotle said, is something people just do.\nDemocracy: The USA has moved away from the business of civic education (Galston, 2001, 2007; Egan, 2018), and in the face of the fake news phenomenon LIS has attempted to fill that void, even if only partially. Whether explicitly or implicitly, this has been done in the interests of democracy and represents a possible turn from the specious neoliberal and instrumental \"value\" of neutrality: that behaving politically is to enact our values instead of acting outside of them (Buschman, 2017; Jaeger et al., 2013). However, Wiegand (2015) has fundamentally challenged the relationship of libraries to democracy in the form of an informed citizenry, democratic developments or even the uninhibited free flow of information. Citing research by a political communications scholar, he concluded that \"Increased funding for [...] libraries will not necessarily result in a more informed citizenry\" (Wiegand, 2015, p. 263). Political knowledge has not gone up - very few can correctly define liberal, or conservative, or identify basic rights - despite the enormous investments in education, the internet and yes, libraries: \"one has to wonder whether [librarianship's] rhetoric as an institution essential to democracy holds up against this evidence\" (Wiegand, 2015, p. 264). However, an analysis notes that Wiegand \"tells a story and draws conclusions about democracy that are broader than the context [he studies]. [...] [T]he relationship between libraries and democracy is both deeper and more complex than Wiegand suggests,\" demonstrated through a variety of democratic concepts and venues he deploys (Buschman, 2018b, p. 34). This leaves us at a confused point where many areas of LIS activity have political content, but those do not correspond to the library-information-democracy narrative that LIS has long promulgated and that Wiegand (2015) has long challenged[6]. What then is the next step? Arguably, our goal should now be a coherent view of what it is we wish to foster: democracy. In short, what is actually existing democracy now? We should better understand its complex nature, and while this effort to delimit democracy cannot be comprehensive or definitive (nothing could be), the attempt to map the relationship between LIS (and what it does) and a contemporary version of democracy is helpful[7].\nDemocracy and libraries: This is where libraries come in. Jacobs (1961) wrote at some length about libraries and their role and placement in communities: they can be part of \"monopolistic [and] monumental cultural centers [that] cloak [...] the subtraction of commerce, and of culture too\" (p. 4) because they de-diversify an area: \"there is no point in bringing [cultural centers] to where the people are, if in the process the reasons that people are there are wiped out and [they are] substituted for them\" (p. 101). Or, libraries can be the primary use and reason people come to an area. They should nevertheless contribute to its diversity; likewise, a branch library can increase an area's convenience, cohesion, diversity and identity (Jacobs, 1961, pp. 159-162, p. 172). The point is that a library's placement and integration with its community can, by itself and in conjunction with what libraries do, help to foster the attributes of her democratic self-government. \"The New York Public Library, on an immensely valuable site, contributes more of value to the locality than any possible profitable duplication of nearby uses - because it is so different, visually and functionally\" (Jacobs, 1961, p. 254). There is a specific way in which Jacobs connected these ideas to political action. Healthy and lively areas that people shape foster the forming of \"communities of interest,\" enabling them to sustain interest groups, support businesses, create or support culture and/or exert political pressure or take political action - sometimes in the interests of preserving the character of their own community (Jacobs, 1961, pp. 119, 124-128). Jacobs herself was central among the \"local campaigners [who in 1962] narrowly defeat[ed] an attempt by the despotic city planner Robert Moses to run a 10-lane elevated highway through the middle of Washington Square Park. For decades, Moses [...] play[ed] god with New York [City]\" (Beauman, 2011).\nConclusion: fake news, libraries and democracy: We seem to have arrived at a point of some remove from fake news. A more rounded, theoretically complex understanding of contemporary democracy - that which we wish to serve by addressing fake news - necessarily complicates our goals and how we understand and meet them. We know the bad news both about the state of democratic, informed citizenry and about the deep social and economic divisions in place. The good news is that LIS has taken a healthy, proactive stance to fake news, and democratic politics and society can change (and have previously). We also have a more nuanced picture of what democracy is now and where democratic change starts. And, that this account by no means leaves libraries behind. Pulling these strands together to address the fake news phenomenon suggests a number of things:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Library and Information Science (LIS) has seen an explosion of responses to fake news in the aftermath of the 2016 US election, political in nature, eschewing \"neutrality\" supporting democracy. The purpose of this paper is to trace the definition of fake news, the challenges, the roots of recent respondes to fake news, notes that the theoretical understanding of democracy must keep pace with these efforts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Conceptual analysis of the LIS literature concerning fake news and its underlying themes; unpacking of actually existing democracy, re-linked to LIS practices.\nFindings: Democracy does not require a space cleared of distorting claims but spaces suited to grappling with them, a call to address fake news, and not simply a matter of clearing up information sources; librarians should prepared to engage at the next level. Libraries stand for the proposition that there is more-true information which is worth accessing, organizing, etc., and for inclusion. Whether explicitly political or not, the imaginative uses to which libraries are put do enrich civil society and the public sphere. Libraries help to counter fake news both through specific educative actions aimed at it and as broadly educative institutions with a coherent notion of their relationship to informational discernment in democracy.\nOriginality/value: LIS discourse on fake news has value, and references democracy, but assumes a set of traditional relationships between informing, libraries and democracy. This paper goes at both the lesser role of informing and highlights the (arguably) greater social role of libraries in democratic society.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]

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