bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Automated service quality as a predictor of customers' commitment
Authors: Al‐Hawari Mohammad Ahmad
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The main purpose of this paper is to highlight the significance of automated service factors, customer trust, and delight in customer commitment within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) banking context.

Design/methodology/approach

The relative importance of automated service factors to customer delight, trust, and commitment was examined. The paper then proposed a conceptual model of the relationship between automated factors, customer delight, trust, and commitment within the UAE banking context. A survey was designed and data collected through the mall intercept method. AMOS 6 was used to test the hypothesized relationships.

Findings

Most of the automated factors have no direct relationship with customer commitment, but an indirect one through customer trust and delight. Automated factors have a direct and positive influence on customer delight, which in turn has a direct influence on both customer trust and customer commitment. Customer trust is also related positively and directly to customer commitment.

Research limitations/implications

This research has been applied to the financial institutions in the UAE. Further testing of the proposed conceptual model across different industries and countries is needed to determine the generalizability and consistency of this study's findings.

Practical implications

The proposed model of commitment prediction has the potential to help UAE bank managers to strengthen the customer‐bank relationship and, ultimately, to enhance customer delight, trust, and commitment ratios especially in the light of the credit crunch that most banks in the UAE are facing.

Originality/value

This paper is a significant trial in showing the importance of automated service quality in gaining customers' commitment within the UAE retail banking context.
A macro‐prudential perspective of financial regulation
Authors: Nguyen Tristan
Published: July 2011

Purpose

In the recent financial crisis, many observers have assigned monetary policy a central role in the crisis. Specifically, they claim that excessively easy monetary policy by the Federal Reserve in the first half of the decade helped to cause a bubble in housing prices in the USA. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of monetary policy within the regulatory frameworks of financial markets.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors show within a macroeconomic framework a possible trade‐off between price stability and financial stability by differentiating between a technology‐driven bubble and an animal spirit bubble. In their conclusion: if there is a trade‐off between price stability and financial stability, the central bank will have to make a choice between the two objectives. In that case, the question arises of which of the two objectives should take precedence: price stability or financial stability?

Findings

From this analysis, the authors conclude that a central bank which uses a lexicographic ordering favoring price stability over other objectives is likely to fuel the boom inadvertently (in the case of a technology‐driven bubble) or will decide to do nothing (in the case of an animal spirit bubble) allowing a process of excessive credit creation. The latter seems to be what happened between 2003 and 2008.

Practical implications

If one wants to reduce the likelihood of future major financial busts, it must be accepted that the central banks (especially the Fed and the ECB) cannot only be responsible for price stability. Maintaining financial stability by preventing excesses in financial markets should be an equally important objective.

Originality/value

The paper gives a new perspective on the role of monetary policy within the regulatory framework. With this macroeconomic framework, the authors are able to show possible trade‐offs between price stability and financial stability. The micro‐ and macro‐prudential approach of this paper is a useful contribution to the discussion about regulatory reforms of financial markets.
Strategic illegal insider trading prior to price sensitive announcements
Authors: McInish Thomas H. , Frino Alex , Sensenbrenner Frank
Published: July 2011

Purpose

Using data for actual insider trading cases prosecuted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the paper aims to investigate whether insiders trade strategically to avoid detection.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyzes actual insider trades prior to price sensitive announcements.

Findings

It is found that insiders are more likely to trade on high volume days, which indicates an effort to hide their trades. Further, insider trading raises the number of days with abnormally high trading volume only slightly, again indicating that insiders are avoiding attracting attention. No evidence is found that insider trading intensity increases on the insider trading day closest to the announcement day. The hypothesis that index returns for insider trading days and non‐trading days are the same cannot be rejected, which is consistent with insiders avoiding detection. For stocks sold by insiders, returns are higher for insider trading days than for non‐insider trading days. Hence, insiders are selling on days when the market is up, which tends to hide their trading. But for stocks bought by insiders, returns are significantly higher on insider trading days than on non‐insider‐trading days, indicating that in this case insiders may attract unwanted attention.

Originality/value

The research may be useful to those attempting to detect insider trades.
Supply chain integration and efficiency performance: a study on the interactions between customer and supplier integration
Authors: Danese Pamela , Romano Pietro
Published: July 2011

Purpose

This research intends to investigate whether there are synergies that a firm could or should exploit by simultaneously implementing customer and supplier integration. In particular, the aim is to analyze the impact of customer integration on efficiency, and the moderating role of supplier integration.

Design/methodology/approach

This study analyzes data from a sample of 200 manufacturing plants. Two hypotheses are tested through a hierarchical regression analysis. Customer and supplier integration constructs consider items related to different aspects of the integration (e.g. sharing of production plans and customers' forecasts, feedback on performance, communication on quality considerations and design changes, joint quality improvement efforts, close contact, partnerships). The focus of the integration clearly extends beyond the dyad, as it includes the integration of focal operations upstream and downstream, with both suppliers and customers.

Findings

Supplier integration positively moderates the relationship between customer integration and efficiency, whereas the analyses do not support the hypothesis that in general customer integration positively impacts on efficiency. They also reveal that, when supplier integration is at a low level, customer integration can even produce a reduction in efficiency.

Practical implications

Efficiency performance optimization requires levering simultaneously on customer and supplier integration to foster their interaction, rather than investing and acting on customer integration only. In addition, before deciding whether to invest in customer integration, managers should ascertain the level of supplier integration, since it acts as a prerequisite for the successful implementation of customer integration.

Originality/value

Compared with previous studies investigating the main impact of customer and supplier integration on a company's performance, this research analyzes a model that considers the interaction effect between these integration strategies. This provides a number of original implications for the interpretation of the relationship between customer and supplier integration and efficiency.
Self‐concept and the fashion behavior of women over 50
Authors: Peters Cara , Shelton Jeremy A. , Thomas Jane B.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of the present study is to examine the connection between the self‐concept and fashion consumer behaviors of senior females.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants for the study (n=200) were recruited from 12 chapters of the Red Hat Society located in the Southeastern USA; they completed a self‐administered survey. Relational, individual and collective identities were measured via well‐established, pre‐existing scales. Statistical findings were used to examine how senior females with unique identities (i.e. relational, individual, and collective self‐concepts) differ in terms of their shopping behaviors and fashion orientation.

Findings

Statistical results from this study indicate that apparel purchase decisions for senior females are complex and involve issues beyond style, fit, and price. Information on how the identity groups differed from one another in the various shopping behaviors and their interest in fashion is identified.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides an examination into the complex self‐concept of older females and its link to fashion‐related consumer behaviors. Recommendations on how specific apparel retailers can better target senior females are presented.

Originality/value

Research regarding the complex fashion needs, and purchase decisions of senior females, is sparse. This research contributes to the literature on fashion and apparel by examining how different identities relate to various fashion consumer behaviors for women over 50.
Store attributes influencing relationship marketing: a study of department stores
Authors: Wang Chiu‐Han , Ha Sejin
Published: July 2011

Purpose

Built on De Wulf et al.'s relationship exchange model, the present study aims to examine store attributes as a signal for the process of customer‐retailer relationship building in the context of department store operation in the USA.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of college students at a US university participated in an online self‐administered survey. Exploratory factor analysis identified store attribute factors pertaining to department stores and structural equation modeling tested hypotheses.

Findings

Six store attributes relevant to department store environments were found: post‐transaction service, direct mail, interpersonal communication, merchandise, preferential treatment, and store atmosphere. Four store attributes (direct mail, interpersonal communication, merchandise, and preferential treatment) involve perceived relationship investment, while one store attribute dimension (store atmosphere) directly contributes to perceived relationship quality. Perceived relationship investment positively influences perceived relationship quality, which in turn influences behavioural and attitudinal loyalty intentions. The mediating effects of perceived relationship quality on the perceived relationship investment‐loyalty intention links were confirmed.

Research limitations/implications

The single retail setting and student sample are limitations. Future research should examine store attribute dimensions in different retail and/or service operation settings with more diverse populations.

Originality/value

The current study demonstrated that store attributes (direct mail, interpersonal communication, merchandise, and preferential treatment) promote customer‐retailer relationship building as relationship‐inducing factors in the department store context.
The evolution of an idea
Authors: St. John Burton , Opdycke Lamme Margot
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The aim of this work is to explore Edward L. Bernays' early evolution in thought concerning the rationale for public relations and to briefly discuss how these emergent ideological concepts have proven foundational for contemporary public relations.

Design/methodology/approach

Bernays' ideological development in the decade after the First World War is traced through: his very early tactical work; his exposure to significant writings concerning the use of persuasion to manage the masses; and his own writings.

Findings

Bernays, widely considered a pioneer in the field of public relations, exhibited a somewhat halting evolution in thought concerning the role of the new public relations professional. From 1920 through 1927, he normally described the public relations counsel as using propaganda to move masses toward the acceptance of good causes. However, by the end of the decade, his concept of the public relations person shifted toward emphasizing using propaganda as a pro‐social mechanism to convey the ideas of minority voices to targeted audiences. The latter view is a precursor to modern‐day understandings of public relations as an endeavor that attempts to build mutually beneficial relationships between a client and its relevant audiences.

Originality/value

This paper offers a distinctive look at how, during a crucial decade, a pathfinder in US public relations developed rationales for the emergent field. The exploration of his evolving ideology provides a deeper view of how Bernays contributed to enduring concepts of a socially constructive practice of public relations.
Assessing new employee orientation programs
Authors: Acevedo Jose M. , Yancey George B.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the importance of new employee orientation (NEO) programs, the quality of typical NEOs, and how to improve NEOs.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a viewpoint of the importance of new employee orientation programs, the quality of typical NEOs, and how to improve NEOs.

Findings

Although western organizations are revamping their NEO programs, western culture still seems to foster a mediocre orientation process.

Originality/value

Provides a viewpoint of the importance of new employee orientation programs, the quality of typical NEOs, and how to improve NEOs.
Customer knowledge enabled innovation capability: proposing a measurement scale
Authors: Belkahla Wafa , Triki Abdelfattah
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The present paper aims to propose a measurement scale of the customer knowledge enabled innovation (CKEI) capability.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were generated on the basis of in‐depth interviews with managers and was analysed using the “Sphinx” software.

Findings

A pool of 60 items is proposed for the eventual measurement of the CKEI capability.

Research limitations/implications

The proposed measurement scale is still raw. Further research is needed in order to test its psychometric features as well as to validate its relevance into a general model of customer knowledge management and innovation.

Practical implications

Organizations need to measure the degree to which they are endowed with the capability of managing effectively customer knowledge in order to foster innovation. The CKEI scale is considered as a barometer allowing organizations to evaluate to what extent they are endowed with the capacity of co‐creating value with their customers. The proposed CKEI scale is believed to provide managers with the opportunity to regularly monitor their innovative capability and be close to their customers.

Originality/value

The CKEI capability is proposed as a new construct focusing on integrating both innovation and knowledge‐based capabilities literatures. The CKEI measurement scale is believed to extend these literatures and to add knowledge to these areas of research..
Regulating Hawala: a comparison of five national approaches
Authors: Rusten Wang Jonas
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to compare the regulatory frameworks for informal remittance systems in the UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.

Design/methodology/approach

This study evaluates the effects of the different regulatory frameworks, in terms of level of control and quality of remittance services. It relies on reports from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), law enforcement and regulatory agencies and the World Bank. It also draws heavily on academic literature and migrant household surveys.

Findings

There are major differences between the countries in how to regulate Hawala and other informal remittance systems. Even though all countries have challenges in regulating this sector, it seems that a simplified registration regime for money transfer operators is the most suitable option for improving both the level of control and the quality of remittance services. Looking at regulatory changes during the last decade, it appears that the national policies have converged towards a medium level.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the debate on Hawala regulation by empirically evaluating how successful five different national policies have been. It also presents an updated picture of national regulations by including changes incurred by the EU Payment Services Directive (2007/64/EC), which was implemented in 2009 and 2010.
Land ownership and productivity in early twentieth‐century China: the role of incentives
Authors: Lee Ming‐Hsuan
Published: July 2011

Purpose

This paper seeks to use data from China between 1929 and 1933 and provides new empirical evidence to the debate over the impact of land ownership and land‐renting systems on agricultural productivity.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors estimate the OLS regression to determine the relationship between land ownership (and land‐renting systems) and farmers' productivity.

Findings

The findings suggest that land ownership was not a major factor in determining farmers' productivity; instead, agricultural infrastructures and institutions had the greatest influence on agricultural productivity. Furthermore, different renting systems generated different impacts on farmers' behavior: sharecropping reduced farmers' productivity while fixed rental contracts had no significant impact on farmers' productivity.

Practical implications

This paper has two important policy implications for developing countries. First, agricultural policy that aims to raise agricultural productivity should focus more on improving agricultural infrastructures and institutions than on blindly supporting land privatization. Second, policymakers should promote fixed rental contracts over share contracts because fixed rental contracts were shown to have a smaller adverse impact on farmers' incentives.

Originality/value

This paper uses data from China and provides new evidence on the relative importance of land ownership and agricultural infrastructures/institutions in agricultural production. China is a country with a long agricultural history and a long‐standing well‐developed tenancy system. The case of China may therefore provide answers to policymakers in other developing countries.
Test of a service profit chain model in the Greek banking sector
Authors: Dimitriades Zoe S. , Papalexandris Nancy
Published: July 2011

Purpose

This exploratory research seeks to examine the relationship between employee commitment and financial performance in the Greek retail banking sector.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 331 questionnaires were completed by bank employees. Data were analyzed via confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation and mediation analysis.

Findings

Contrary to expectations, both employee attitudes (affective commitment) and perceptions (morale climate) were unrelated to business financial performance.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the reported findings further.

Practical implications

Current findings might enhance understanding of the relationship between affective organizational commitment and financial performance in Greek retail banking.

Originality/value

The paper extends the existing service profit chain research, offering insights into employee commitment and its relationship with financial performance, in the relatively under‐researched Greek context.
SWFs and the global economy: the impact of the Gulf oil producers
Authors: Rios‐Morales Ruth , Ramady Mohamed , Brennan Louis
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in sustaining global economies. The subject of SWFs has increasingly garnered the concerns of policymakers, market players and scholars for two main reasons: First, these funds represent the largest concentration of capital that the world has ever known, with the Arabian Gulf SWFs becoming increasingly important global players, especially during the most recent financial crises. Second, there is the dominant role of national governments in the management of these colossal funds. This paper assesses the contrasting perspectives on SWFs and analyzes the role they can play in sustaining the global economy by engaging in foreign direct investment.

Design/methodology/approach

Both descriptive analysis and comparative analysis are used.

Findings

SWFs are large and tend to be long‐term investors and have characteristics that are compatible with foreign direct investment (FDI). There is a role for them in sustaining the global economy via FDI. This analysis suggests that only 11 percent of SWFs' investment in FDI is needed in order to counteract the forecast decline of FDI. Initiatives such as the recently established Santiago principles can help to allay the concerns of host and investor nations. This paper concludes that SWFs should be welcomed by market players and policy makers as tools of economic growth.

Practical implications

Current trends indicate that SWFs are playing an important role as a source of foreign investment, and are also reducing the impact of liquidity pressures in the international banking system. The main driving force of their investing in the global market is in securing higher returns. However, there has been unease among Western countries that have concerns that governments could use SWFs to seize control of strategic companies in sensitive sectors, for their own purposes.

Originality/value

The paper assesses the potential contribution of SWFs to FDI and highlights aspects related to fostering a code of conduct that can allay concerns around areas such as transparency, and the extent to which restrictions should be imposed by host governments.
Assessing and measuring sales culture within commercial banks in Jordan
Authors: Deeb Mualla Naji
Published: July 2011

Purpose

This study aims to assess and measure the sales culture within the commercial banks in Jordan, and to provide top management of these banks with the database which may be required for improving the banks' selling effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

The study has been conducted on a convenience sample of 1,000 employees selected from those of all the commercial banks operating in Jordan. Sales culture was measured by using the Sales Culture Index (SCI), consisting of 65 statements. The data required for this study were collected by a self‐structured questionnaire.

Findings

The findings of the study indicate that the overall employees' perception of sales culture in the surveyed banks is moderate. However, the sales culture in the non‐Jordanian banks was stronger than that in the Jordanian banks.

Research limitations/implications

As is the case in any study, some limitations relevant to this study cannot be abandoned. For instance, the findings of this study are based on self‐report perceptions of both the employees and the customers. Data collected by this approach may or may not be accurate to that extent, which reflects the respondents' real feelings.

Practical implications

The results of this study would enable management in the commercial banks in Jordan to design internal marketing programs aimed at building a strong service‐minded sales culture among employees.

Originality/value

This is a first attempt to assess and measure the sales culture in the commercial banks in Jordan.
Financial market governance and the Euro‐Mediterranean Partnership
Authors: Salhi Alexander , Kern Andreas
Published: July 2011

Purpose

In recent years, Mediterranean Partner countries (MPCs) have been ambitious about reforming their banking and financial systems. Former state‐owned banks have been privatised, and restrictions for international capital flows have been lowered to accelerate investment activities and spur regional economic growth. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate these latest developments against the backdrop of the state‐of‐the‐art literature and derive implications for a reformed institutional setting for sound financial market governance in the Mediterranean region.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on recent empirical literature on the relationship between financial development, financial governance, and economic growth, this paper empirically assesses the validity of the so‐called finance‐growth nexus for Mediterranean Partner countries.

Findings

The findings indicate that the current institutional set‐up renders an efficient allocation of savings impossible, and thus represents a strong binding constraint on economic growth. In this regard, it is found that adverse financial governance practices have substantially contributed to this outcome.

Practical implications

This paper argues for upgrading domestic regulatory frameworks before continuing a sequential integration and liberalisation process.

Originality/value

It is thought that this attempt is unique in explicitly formulating a comprehensive role for the Euro‐Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) in assisting MPCs on financial governance issues. In this respect, it identifies prevailing incentive schemes for regional actors and opportunities for the EU to actively support the implementation of a reform agenda for financial institutions in the EMP framework.
The development and market success of eco‐innovations
Authors: Halila Fawzi , Rundquist Jonas
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The study, which compares the success factors for eco‐innovations with those factors for other innovations, is intended to improve understanding of how eco‐innovations achieve market success.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study design is used. Six eco‐innovations cases and six other innovations cases are compared. Data were obtained mainly from interviews with the eco‐innovators and the other innovators, written materials about the innovations, and secondary data from an earlier quantitative study.

Findings

The study shows that there are both similarities and differences in the success factors for the two types of innovations. One similarity is that a network with diverse competences supports successful innovators. However, for eco‐innovators the network is used more for solving technological problems. Other innovators use the network to a greater extent for assistance with financing and marketing. In addition, eco‐innovators have greater difficulty than other innovators in attracting venture capital for development.

Research limitations/implications

The results indicate that an interesting approach for future research would be to take a life‐cycle perspective that identifies the factors that influence the further growth and development of eco‐innovative firms.

Practical implications

The identification of the success factors for eco‐innovations' development may improve their chances of success. Furthermore, the results can help policy‐makers improve the support system for commercialization of eco‐innovations.

Originality/value

As a comparative study of success factors for eco‐innovations and other innovations, the study presents a new way to identify such factors for eco‐innovators.
Challenges of multi‐actor involvement in the public sector front‐end innovation processes
Authors: Hennala Lea , Parjanen Satu , Uotila Tuomo
Published: July 2011

Purpose

Studies with a user approach in a public service context are still rare, making the contribution of this study worthwhile. This paper aims to present a case of facilitating innovativeness by involving stakeholder groups in the development of service production in the public sector. The case is related to the provision of housing and well‐being services to ageing people. The study proposes focusing on the front‐end stage of an innovation process: the ideation phase in a virtual idea generation environment, in which fruitful and fresh ideas that are based on customers' needs are sought for in order to support the innovation process.

Design/methodology/approach

A constructive research approach is applied in this study. Central theoretical building blocks are provided by the extended SECI model as presented by Uotila, Melkas and Harmaakorpi, Amabile's componential theory of creativity and Burt's and Granovetter's arguments regarding structural holes and weak ties.

Findings

Based on the evaluation, it can be argued that the open innovation model and particularly the inclusion of external information and knowledge from potential service users generated, despite some shortcomings, new insights and added to the value of the development process.

Originality/value

The paper proposes a model that can be utilized in facilitating the novelty value of presented ideas in the front end of the innovation process and also critically discusses the challenges of the applied model, especially from the point of view of the brokering function needed during the process.
A conceptual framework of generative customization as an approach to product innovation and fulfillment
Authors: Buffington Jack , McCubbrey Donald
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address the problem in research of a lack of a holistic conceptual framework related to incremental and discontinuous innovation. Too often, the term “innovation” is used without an understanding of how it can be applied in a product design and supply chain fulfillment system. In this study, the goal is to develop a holistic “innovation continuum” to treat innovation as a complex adaptive system (CAS).

Design/methodology/approach

A comprehensive literature review was conducted, and from it, four propositions and a conceptual framework were developed.

Findings

The authors determined that an “innovation continuum” can be established through the use of a complex adaptive system. Two, incremental innovation is determined to possess adaptive qualities, and can be enhanced through the use of collaboration and evolutionary algorithms. Three, discontinuous innovation is established as a creative process enabled through expert designers, and improved through the use of generative design. Next, a supply chain system for incremental innovation can be assisted by the use of adaptive systems, but it is not proven that a generative customization system (for discontinuous innovation) can be improved through the use of a CAS.

Originality/value

The paper has established an “innovation continuum” linking incremental and discontinuous innovation within one holistic system. It establishes the use of evolutionary algorithms to improve the viability of incremental innovation, and generative design for discontinuous innovation. Finally, the concept of generative customization as an end to end product design and supply chain fulfillment solution for discontinuous innovation is established.
The impact of generational differences on the workplace
Authors: Haynes Barry P.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to explore workplace implications of the changing workforce demographic.

Design/methodology/approach

The author identifies the different generations in today's workforce. The workplace expectations of the different generations are explored.

Findings

Corporate real estate (CRE) managers need to establish the different needs of the different generations. In addition, the CRE manager needs to create an environment that allows all generations to coexist in the same workplace.

Practical implications

CRE managers can use the information to assist in alignment of their workplace to the different generational expectations of the workforce.

Originality/value

The paper fills a void by evaluating office occupiers' workplace preferences based on age.
Examining the building selection decision‐making process within corporate relocations
Authors: Nunnington Nicholas , Haynes Barry
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to consider the complex decision‐making process involved in corporate relocation and the validity of a tool designed to improve the objectivity and strategic management of this process and to change the focus of the decision upon the strategic management objectives rather than the real estate deal.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors identify the progression of the decision‐making process; disaggregate components of that process; and evaluate a tool designed to improve the decision‐making process.

Findings

The size of the organisation can have a significant impact on the building evaluation and decision‐making process, smaller firms with less resources are more likely to make the relocation decision based on “gut feeling” rather than detailed evaluation. However, with increased transparency, accountability and corporate social responsibility, decisions based on more rigorous and objective approaches are being demanded. The evaluated tool facilitates a more objective approach and shifts the focus from a real estate to a business decision.

Practical implications

Corporate real estate managers can use the information to evaluate their own decision‐making processes against the framework of the tool and decide if it may be applicable to their context.

Originality/value

The paper fills a void by examining the decision‐making process from a fresh perspective, updates the thinking by providing a contemporary tool which has been beta tested with students and is about to be piloted with corporate clients.
Peer evaluation to develop benchmarking in the public sector
Authors: Cappelli Lucio , Guglielmetti Roberta , Mattia Giovanni , Merli Roberto , Francesca Renzi Maria
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The urgency to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of public administrations has led to the adoption in the public sector – in Italy as well as in other countries – of tools and models inspired by the total quality management (TQM) approach, such as the common assessment framework (CAF). A parallel need was felt within public structures to train people, the “peers”, who aside from being able to implement the self‐evaluation activities of their own administration, also needed to be equipped with the necessary skills to complete external evaluation activities, namely “peer evaluations”, with the ultimate aim of spreading quality management culture and best practices in the field through an approach based on benchmarking. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a survey designed to determine the training requirements that a “peer” should acquire in order to perform “evaluation” activities.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper has strong empirical connotations and is essentially based on, first, a questionnaire given to evaluators/self‐evaluators to identify the problems emerging with the application of the CAF model in administrations that have adopted it. In this sphere a great deal of attention has been paid to – in addition to the preparation of the questionnaire – the delicate task of codifying the answers to open questions proposed to interviewees; and second, the investigation inherent in the current educational choices in Italy in the TQM arena, specifically addressing the public sector.

Findings

Apart from the analysis of data obtained from the investigation, presented with descriptive statistics, the paper identifies the training content necessary: first, to place “peers” in a position to be able to autonomously and fully carry out their evaluation work on the basis of the CAF model; and second, to render the evaluation activities systematically comparable among the various administrations.

Research limitations/implications

At the present time the research deals with the Italian context. However, future investigations involving different European countries could be carried out, taking the present results as a starting point for a benchmarking activity.

Practical implications

The paper puts forward the creation of a “network” of actors who manage all the “peer evaluation” activities, from the provision of the training pack and monitoring the “peer” exchange process, up to benchmarking initiatives and the dissemination of best practices.

Originality/value

The paper presents original data and information in order to identify the training needs of individuals that actually use CAF, starting from the assumption that the training of evaluators is the primary condition for promoting the adoption and diffusion of CAF in Italian public administrations and thus maximizing its benefits.
A systematic benchmarking perspective on performance management of global small to medium‐sized organizations
Authors: Gomes Carlos F. , Yasin Mahmoud M.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to offer small to medium‐sized organizations (SMOs) with global business aspirations an innovative approach to performance measurement and management.

Design/methodology/approach

The first phase of this research is based on a literature review. The second phase capitalizes on the literature review to offer a conceptual framework aimed at improving the performance measurement approach utilized by SMOs. The advocated approach stresses performance measurement, benchmarking, and effective implementation.

Findings

The conceptual approach offered in this study represents the main outcome of this applied research. The advocated approach integrates several frameworks in an effort to address practical concerns related to performance measurement, management, and improvement.

Research limitations/implications

The research offered in this study has practical and theoretical implications. The proposed approach offered by this study should be refined and validated through future research.

Practical implications

The approach presented in this study offers practicing managers a systematic and practical approach to performance measurement, management, and improvement.

Originality/value

The approach offered in this study capitalizes on several methodologies and tools to offer managers a benchmarking‐based performance management approach suitable for SMOs with global operational aspirations.
A theory of benchmarking
Authors: Moriarty John P.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the necessary or sufficient methodological elements contributing to benchmarking's effectiveness and to establish them within an acceptable theoretical framework: a theory of benchmarking.

Design/methodology/approach

A causal approach is applied to organizational benchmarking's current definitions and implementation frameworks. The resulting theoretical framework is compared with current benchmarking praxis to explain its effectiveness and satisfy historical criticisms. Supervenience and entailment relationships between benchmarking parties, within the umbrella of Peircean Causation, determines the feasibility of a benchmarking proposition.

Findings

Benchmarking effectiveness can be established from an organizational axiom and five logical conditions. This paper proposes a new encompassing definition of benchmarking, reduces its typology to a single form, explains current practices and addresses historical criticisms. The logical conditions also explain the effectiveness of business excellence frameworks such as the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and ISO 9000.

Research limitations/implications

A theoretical framework for benchmarking provides a platform for extending the theory of organizational improvement.

Practical implications

A theoretical framework for benchmarking has potential to enhance organizational sustainability by reducing wasted effort.

Originality/value

The research establishes a new definition of benchmarking and the necessary and sufficient conditions for its effectiveness.
Mobile telecommunications gives birth to a fourth generation: an analysis of technological, licensing and strategic implications
Authors: Curwen Peter , Whalley Jason
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the technological, licensing and strategic implications of the move to the fourth generation of mobile telecommunications

Design/methodology/approach

An initial section provides an analysis of what is meant by fourth generation mobile telecommunications based upon a new taxonomy. This is followed by an overview of all countries where Long Term Evolution is being, or has been, introduced, introducing multiple case studies to illustrate the variety of approaches adopted. After a subsequent summary of what is happening in respect of WiMAX, the paper concludes with an assessment of the prospects for fourth generation technology.

Findings

One key finding is that what is commonly understood to be fourth generation technology is in practice 3.9G rather than 4G. Another is that “true 4G” is shortly to be ratified and will gradually be introduced over the next few years, but that it will be used in different ways by different operators in different countries.

Research limitations/implications

Some data for the case studies is hard to establish with certainty.

Practical implications

Very fast mobile networks are already a reality. Ultra‐fast networks will soon appear but only in limited places. Most customers will not notice the difference.

Social implications

Things that are already easy and quick to download on a mobile device will become even easier and quicker to download. Whether this will matter much is a moot point.

Originality/value

The taxonomy of mobile technology is the only one available in the public sector.
Modeling healthcare processes as service orchestrations and choreographies
Authors: Benyoucef Morad , Kuziemsky Craig , Afrasiabi Rad Amir , Elsabbahi Ali
Published: July 2011

Purpose

Service‐oriented architecture is becoming increasingly important for healthcare delivery as it assures seamless integration internally between various teams and departments, and externally between healthcare organizations and their partners. In order to make healthcare more efficient and effective, we need to understand and evaluate its processes, and one way of achieving that is through process modeling. Modeling healthcare processes within a service‐oriented environment opens up new perspectives and raises challenging questions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate one of these questions, namely the suitability of web service orchestration and choreography, two closely related but fundamentally different methodologies for modeling web service‐based healthcare processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a case‐based approach that first developed a set of 12 features for modeling healthcare processes and then used the features to compare orchestration and choreography for modeling part of the scheduled workflow.

Findings

The findings show that neither methodology can, by itself, meet all healthcare modeling requirements in the context of the case study. The appropriate methodology must be selected after consideration of the specific modeling needs. The authors identified usability, capabilities, and evolution as three key considerations to assist with selection of a methodology for healthcare process modeling. Further, sometimes one method will not meet all modeling needs and hence the authors recommend combining the two methodologies in order to harness the benefits of modeling healthcare processes in a service‐oriented environment.

Originality/value

Although literature exists on process modeling of web services for healthcare, there are no criteria describing necessary features for micro‐level modeling, nor is there a comparison of the two leading service composition methodologies within the healthcare context. This paper provides some necessary formalization for process modeling in healthcare.
Enterprise and process architecture patterns
Authors: Barros Oscar , Julio Cristian
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a method to support business process architecture and business process design, and present an application to the domain of public hospitals in Chile.

Design/methodology/approach

This method is based on the formalization of generic architectures and their internal process structure, proposed in this work as architecture and process patterns, which have been developed at the Master in Business Engineering of the University of Chile and validated empirically in hundreds of Chilean firms from different industries.

Findings

The authors have found that the use of architecture and process patterns accelerates the design of such structures until the last level of detail, providing a good and timely basis for information system design and, in particular, were able to develop comprehensive generic process architecture for public hospitals in two months.

Originality/value

The authors' approach considers explicitly the relationships among the architecture elements and process components, providing a systemic view of the business structure and ensuring the alignment between its elements.
Understanding the determinants of business process modelling in organisations
Authors: Eikebrokk Tom R. , Iden Jon , Olsen Dag H. , Opdahl Andreas L.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address a theoretical gap in the business process management (BPM) literature on factors that influence the acceptance and use of business process modelling (PM) in organisations. The paper seeks to contribute to theory building and practice in BPM through better understanding of important determinants of PM adoption and use.

Design/methodology/approach

A combination of literature review and 34 interviews in context was used to develop a PM acceptance model that was subsequently empirically tested using survey data from 74 companies.

Findings

The paper provides empirical insights about how business PM can be influenced by many factors in the organisational context. It suggests that PM is a complex activity mandated by management, but influenced by individual and socio‐political factors.

Research limitations/implications

There is a need for future research to focus on the many opposing forces that influence business PM in organisations. Future studies should analyse influence from different stakeholder groups separately to reveal their relative influence on PM activity and its outcomes.

Practical implications

The paper identifies important forces in the organisational context that managers should focus on in their efforts to successfully implement business PM in their organisations.

Originality/value

This paper uses a triangulation of sources of information to better understand the less‐studied process of PM adoption and use in an organisational context. It contributes to theory building within BPM and to more successful BPM in organisations.