bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Construction logistics governing guidelines in urban development projects
Authors: Janné Mats , Fredriksson Anna
Published: February 2019

Purpose

Although a construction logistics solution is necessary for dealing with the demands in many large urban development projects, there is a lack of research on governance mechanisms for construction logistics solutions. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the initiation and utilisation of a construction logistics centre (CLC) from different stakeholders’ perspectives to suggest governance mechanisms for strategic, tactical and operational levels and to develop guidelines for implementing these governance mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

A single case research design was used. Data were collected through interviews, site visits, observations and documentation from four stakeholder groups.

Findings

There is potential for utilising CLCs in development projects, with positive effects such as consolidation effects and enhanced planning. What is evident, however, is that the design and implementation of the CLCs must be based on a comprehensive stakeholder analysis, as there are conflicting goals between stakeholders. Governance mechanisms, including flexibility in the main contractors’ working construction process, as well as clearly stated roles, responsibilities and communication must be developed to enhance this potential.

Research limitations/implications

The conflicting goals of CLCs are identified and discussed, and the results show the need for further multi-stakeholder analysis of construction logistics solutions.

Practical implications

The experiences from the studied case are developed into practical guidelines to be used in the design of construction logistics solutions in development projects.

Originality/value

This study contributes by taking a multi-stakeholder perspective on CLCs and providing guidelines to be used in the design of construction logistics solutions in development projects.
Development and validation of financial well-being related scales
Authors: Abrantes-Braga Farah Diba M.A. , Veludo-de-Oliveira Tania
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop valid and reliable scales for assessing a driver and two obstacles potentially related to financial well-being (FWB): financial preparedness for emergency, beliefs of credit limits as additional income and risky indebtedness behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

The scales were developed from scratch across six studies, employing a two-step methodology, which encompassed both qualitative (e.g. focus group, interviews) and quantitative (i.e. online surveys) data collection. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were employed to test and validate the proposed scales.

Findings

This study provides a set of three parsimonious, self-reported behavioural measures that could be employed in conjunction with objective economic indicators to identify individuals who are financially ill prepared and potential candidates for delinquency. The three proposed scales achieved satisfactory levels of reliability and convergent and discriminant validity.

Research limitations/implications

The resulting scales still need to be tested for predictive validity and in different consumer groups. The scales were validated in a single culture population (Brazil, a country that presents extraordinarily high credit card interest rates), and they should be tested cross-culturally in countries with different economic and credit policies.

Originality/value

The literature on FWB has traditionally employed objective financial indicators as an attempt to measure the concept of FWB and its elements. Self-reported behavioural measures of such constructs are scant to the point of being non-existent for some elements. This study is the first to offer scales for measuring the elements of financial preparedness for emergency, beliefs of credit limits as additional income and risky indebtedness behaviour.
Credit card literacy and financial well-being of college students
Authors: Limbu Yam B. , Sato Shintaro
Published: February 2019

Purpose

By testing a moderated mediation model, the purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of credit card self-efficacy in the relationship between credit card literacy and financial well-being. The authors further examine if credit card number moderates this effect.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for the study were collected from 427 college students. The PROCESS macros in IBM SPSS Statistics 23 was used to assess the hypothesized relationships.

Findings

Credit card literacy positively influences financial well-being through self-efficacy. However, this effect is stronger when college students own fewer credit cards.

Practical implications

Banks and credit card issuers, policymakers and colleges and universities should place a greater emphasis on credit card literacy programs that enhance students’ general understanding of credit card terms and conditions and confidence in their ability to effectively use and manage their credit cards.

Originality/value

To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the relationship between credit card literacy, self-efficacy and financial well-being.
Multilevel latent class modeling to segment the microfinance market
Authors: Souza Lucas Lopes Ferreira , Bassi Francesca , Ferreira de Freitas Ana Augusta
Published: February 2019

Purpose

Microfinance has become an important way to alleviate poverty. Though four decades have passed since its introduction, its impact is still not entirely clear. What makes it difficult to ascertain its efficacy is the existence of diverse types of microfinance organizations and client profiles. Microfinance institutions must primarily pay more attention to the client, and to the mechanism through which financial services are delivered. The purpose of this paper is to identify the profiles of microfinance customers and the features of their operations.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, multilevel latent class models were estimated to reveal clusters of operations and classes of clients.

Findings

The results show that there are six clusters of operations and four classes of clients in the market, each with distinct profiles and needs. Different strategies are recommended for each cluster and class.

Originality/value

Numerous studies have focused on the importance of getting to know the clients of microfinance programs, but none as yet have used market segmentation as a way to do so. The goal is to generate better strategies to help clients improve their business results. Applying market segmentation to the microfinance market may point to different products for different groups of clients, taking the real needs of each of them into account.
Adoption of mobile banking services
Authors: Giovanis Apostolos , Athanasopoulou Pinelopi , Assimakopoulos Costas , Sarmaniotis Christos
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate which of four well-established theoretical models (i.e. technology acceptance model, theory of planned behavior, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, decomposed theory of planned behavior (DTPB)) best explains potential users’ behavioral intentions to adopt mobile banking (MB) services.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on data from 931 potential users in Greece, the structural equation modeling method was used to examine and compare the four models in goodness-of-fit, explanatory power and statistical significance of path coefficients.

Findings

Results indicate that the best model is an extension of the DTPB with perceived risk (PR). Customers’ attitude, determined by three rationally-evaluated MB attributes (usefulness, easiness and compatibility), is the main driver of consumers’ intentions to adopt MB services. Additionally, consumers’ perceptions of availability of knowledge, resources and opportunities necessary for using the service, and the pressure of interpersonal and external social contexts toward the use of MB are the other two, less important, adoption drivers. Finally, PR negatively affects attitude formation and inhibits willingness to use MB services.

Practical implications

Findings can help marketers of financial institutions to select the more parsimonious model to develop appropriate marketing strategies to increase adoption rates of MB services.

Originality/value

This is the first study that compares the performance of four well-known innovation adoption models to explain consumers’ behavior in the MB context.
Motivations of undertaking CSR initiatives by independent hotels: a holistic approach
Authors: Abaeian Vahideh , Khong Kok Wei , Kyid Yeoh Ken , McCabe Scott
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore how senior managers of independent hotels perceive the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) through a holistic analysis of motivations of undertaking both social and environmental initiatives.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducts qualitative interviews with 22 Malaysian senior hotel managers together with ethnographic observations.

Findings

Emergent themes show that CSR is a dynamic concept involving complex struggles and trade-offs between fulfilling business objectives, paying heed to personal ethical values and considering cultural norms when making decisions regarding the adoption of a range of environmental and social initiatives.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to legitimacy theory by highlighting that in the absence of pressure from key stakeholders for responsible initiatives, managers still proactively engage in CSR initiatives. More surprising still is that they set expectations instead of simply aligning or responding to the key stakeholders’ pre-set demands. Meanwhile, the uniqueness, size and purposeful selection of the sample limit the applicability of the findings to wider geographical and cultural locations.

Practical implications

While Malaysian hotel managers are willing to use CSR practices to demonstrate their commitment to their employees and the local communities where they operate, it is equally important that they utilize other media (such as their websites or social media) for both promotional and legitimacy building purposes. Within the context of growing tourism for economic development, the Malaysian Government can develop more effective strategies, rewards or incentives for encouraging businesses to undertake and improve CSR adoption for sustainability of this industry.

Originality/value

By extending the scope of CSR studies beyond firm performance issues, we attempt to show the wider set of motivations and contexts considered important in determining hotel engagement in CSR programs.
Is consumer forgiveness possible?
Authors: Hur JungYun (Christine) , Jang SooCheong (Shawn)
Published: February 2019

Purpose

This study aims to investigate how consumer forgiveness is formed by examining rumination and distraction by consumers in hotel service failures.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire in the USA. A total of 371 usable responses were obtained. Anderson and Gerbing’s two-step approach was used to assess the measurement and structural models.

Findings

This study suggests that rumination and distraction play significant roles in processing consumer forgiveness. Self-focused rumination and distraction increase consumer forgiveness, whereas provocation-focused rumination exacerbates the negative effects of service failure severity on consumer forgiveness. This study also shows that gender differences exist. Men were more likely than women to link self-focused rumination and distraction to their intentions to forgive a service provider.

Practical implications

This study is helpful for hotel managers to understand the mechanisms of consumer forgiveness in service failures and develop effective recovery strategies. Managers should aim to lessen consumers’ provocation-focused rumination while encouraging self-focused rumination and distraction. In addition, because of the differences in the process of consumer forgiveness between men and women, it is critical to differentiate the two groups in designing targeted recovery strategies for service failures.

Originality/value

This study investigates consumer forgiveness as a behavioral outcome following service failures that may help consumers achieve psychological balance and allow service providers a chance to restore the broken relationship. This study adds new information for understanding consumer responses and provides a basis for effective service management strategies.
Access to skilled labor, institutions and firm performance in developing countries
Authors: Mertzanis Charilaos , Said Mona
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of access to skilled labor in explaining firms’ sales growth subject to the controlling influence of a wide range of firm-specific characteristics and country-level economic and non-economic factors.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis uses a consistent and large firm-level data set from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys that includes 138 developing countries. An instrumental variables model with a GMM estimator is used for estimating the impact of access to skilled labor on firm performance. In order to obtain more robust estimators, the analysis introduces country-level controls reflecting the influence of economic and institutional factors, such as economic and financial development, institutional governance, education and technological progress.

Findings

The results document a significant and positive association between access to skilled labor and firm performance in the developing world. The explanatory power of access to skilled labor remains broadly robust after controlling for a wide range of firm-specific characteristics: sectoral and geographical influences matter. The results also show that the association between labor skill constraints and firm performance is mitigated by country-level factors but in diverse ways. Development, institutions, education and technological progress exert various mitigating effects on firm-level behavior regarding access to skilled labor.

Originality/value

The paper’s novel contribution is threefold: first, it uses joint firm, sector and country-level information to analyze the role of access to skilled labor on firm performance; second, it uses consistently produced information at the firm level from 138 developing countries; and, third, it considers the controlling impact of a wide range of country-level factors that reflect a country’s overall development, institutions and evolution.
The logics of political business in state-owned enterprises: the case of Indonesia
Authors: Apriliyanti Indri Dwi , Kristiansen Stein Oluf
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the hidden process of collusion among power holders in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in an emerging economy, which endures despite comprehensive reforms towards democracy and good governance. Why are mechanisms of checks and balances not functioning in the way they should?

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis is based on in-depth interviews with board members, executives, politicians, bureaucrats and representatives from auditing boards involved in the management of SOEs in Indonesia.

Findings

The findings reveal practices of collective conservatism, reciprocal opportunism and normalisation of corruption. The costs of getting into powerful positions are so high that conglomerate business owners gain control over the management of SOEs. The authors use the terms “wall-building and gatekeeping” to explain such cases.

Research limitations/implications

There is a continuous process of wall building and gatekeeping occurring among business oligarchs, bureaucrats and elected politicians in Indonesia. New entrants into the system are co-opted by the established elite.

Practical implications

This study shows collusion, rent-seeking and corruption among political and business elites as well as top officials in the government hinder good governance reforms in state-owned Indonesian enterprises.

Social implications

Collusion and illicit business practices in SOEs are clearly grounded on wall building and gatekeeping. Tackling this problem is a precondition for good governance and an improved legal and regulatory business environment in Indonesia. The ideal separation of powers and the checks and balances for good governance apparently need more than a democracy to break through. A further strengthening of the free press and critical academics will be one crucial contribution.

Originality/value

There is generally a lack of understanding of the context of corruption, such as the influence of institutional and organisational structures. The topic of corruption is also under-researched due to the difficulty of finding empire evidence. This paper contributes to explaining why new political and organisational structures, such as a democratically elected parliament and a particularly designed corruption eradication commission, are not able to hinder rent-seeking practices and illicit political business in state agencies.
The global influence of oil futures-prices on Dow Jones Islamic stock indexes
Authors: Mongi Arfaoui
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the global influence of crude and refined oil futures prices on Dow Jones Islamic equity indices (DJIMI) during the recent global financial crisis under structural breaks in the conditional volatility of oil futures prices.

Design/methodology/approach

It aims at exploring the long-run and the short-run elasticity and causal relationships using an ARDL bound testing approach and a vector error correction model.

Findings

The main findings confirm the presence of long-run relationship for DJIM emerging markets index compared to other global and sub-regional developed indexes. Speed of adjustment to the long-run equilibrium is moderate and the effect of structural breaks, produced from nonlinear volatility model with long memory (LM), is overall not pronounced for that relationship. Short-run causality is bi-directional but long-run Granger causality does not run from refined oil to the DJIMI and crude oil.

Research limitations/implications

The paper demonstrates the implicit extent of international financial integration of Islamic stock markets in light of the global influence of oil prices.

Practical implications

The findings offer some highlights to researchers, portfolio managers and policymakers.

Originality/value

The paper gives an answer to an identified need to test the position of Islamic equity markets as booming Islamic investment and socially responsible investment areas to the global influence of the new soaring path of oil markets. It uses as well bounds testing approach and tests weak and strong causalities under structural breaks. It considers as well LM behavior in oil prices along with the asymmetry property in oil prices.
Personality traits and internet addiction among
selected financial institution employees
Authors: Sulaiman Ainin , Shin Kay Yin , Rofaie Nina
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between
personality traits and internet addiction behavior. Within the same industry
background, job satisfaction was measured to test whether there is any
mediating effect toward the relationship between personality traits and
internet behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 271 employees from financial institutions was selected, and IBM
SPSS was used to perform descriptive statistic, correlation analysis and
partial regression analysis, to test out three main hypotheses developed in
this study.

Findings

The results indicate that personality traits, namely, agreeableness and
emotional stability are negatively related to internet addiction behavior.
However, job satisfaction does not mediate the influence of personality
traits toward internet addiction behavior, even though the results indicated
personality traits, namely, agreeableness, conscientiousness and emotion
stability are positively related to job satisfaction.

Research
limitations/implications

The main implication includes better understanding on internet addiction
behavior in local context and to predict internet addiction behavior through
personality traits for better outcome of awareness and prevention toward
this psychological disorder.

Originality/value

The study contributes in understanding internet addiction behavior in
Malaysia occupational context, as most of the local researches focused in
validation of measurement tools. Hence, the finding provides an empirical
evidence for organizational psychology study in recognition of internet
addiction as part of occupational hazards.
Stress and neurocognitive efficiency in managerial contexts
Authors: Crivelli Davide , Fronda Giulia , Venturella Irene , Balconi Michela
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test the potential of an innovative technology-mediated mental training protocol for the empowerment of stress management and neurocognitive efficiency in highly stressful professional contexts, with people who occupy top management positions. The innovative protocol specifically combines mindfulness practice and a wearable neurofeedback system managed via smartphone.

Design/methodology/approach

The longitudinal research included pre- and post-training assessment steps in order to test training effects with respect to subjective level and physiological markers of stress, anxiety and mood profiles, cognitive abilities and markers of neurocognitive efficiency.

Findings

Results showed decreased stress, anxiety, anger and mental fatigue; increased participants’ information-processing efficiency; increased electrophysiological markers concerning the balance and reactivity of the mind-brain system; and improved physiological markers of vagal tone.

Research limitations/implications

Though further investigation and replication with larger samples would strengthen present findings, the authors suggest that observed outcomes, together with the limited duration of the overall protocol and of daily practices, make the training a potentially valuable tool especially for people whose professional position imposes time limitations and elevated job duties, thus increasing the risk of drop-out from traditional stress management programs.

Originality/value

The combination of mindfulness-based mental training with the advantages offered by a novel brain-sensing wearable technology allows for overcoming the weak points of traditional approaches (e.g. notable time expense) and optimizing training opportunities and outcomes. Furthermore, this is, to the authors’ best knowledge, the first systematic report of the application of such methodology in an organization and with top management professionals.
Intellectual capital in Indonesia: dynamic panel approach
Authors: Soetanto Tessa , Liem Pei Fun
Published: February 2019

Purpose

Intellectual capital (IC) has been considered as a valuable asset in the wealth creation and sustainability of the company; however, limited and mixed results are found on its impact on firm financial performance and market value (MV). This paper aims to investigate the influence of IC toward MV and financial performance of publicly listed firms in Indonesia. In addition, this research also presents the comparison of the high and low level of knowledge industries regarding IC performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A balanced panel data of 127 firms from 12 industries in Indonesia during 2010 until 2017 was evaluated using dynamic panel regression and administering a well-developed Blundell–Bond instrument (dynamic panel data estimator) to account for endogeneity problem.

Findings

The results of this study showed that IC had a significant and positive impact on firm performance. Specifically, structural capital efficiency and capital employed (CE) efficiency have been contributed to the value creation of the company, after controlling for firm size and type of industry. Different to the theoretical expectation, this research found no significant relationship between IC and MV of the firm. However, when the sample was clustered into high-level and low-level knowledge industry, CE displayed positive and significant relationship in high-level industry.

Originality/value

This research contributes to IC research by having a larger sample of Indonesian firms from all industries except banks and financial institutions and using Modified Value Added Intellectual Capital measurement model. To address the endogeneity problem, dynamic panel regression using system generalized method of moment was applied.
The relationship between environmental disclosure quality and earnings quality: a panel study of an emerging market
Authors: Alipour Mohammad , Ghanbari Mehrdad , Jamshidinavid Babak , Taherabadi Aliasghar
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between corporate environmental disclosure quality (EDQ) and earnings quality (EQ).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses earnings persistence and accruals quality as a measures of EQ. The paper also uses panel data regression to examine the association between EDQ and EQ for a sample of 107 Iran non-financial firms. Two different theoretical frameworks are used to clarify whether and to what extent an association may exist as an explicit relationship between EDQ and EQ.

Findings

After controlling for several firm-specific characteristics, the results show that between 2011 and 2016, there has been a significant positive relationship between EDQ and EQ.

Practical implications

This study sheds light on the relevance of regulating corporate reporting within a setting where companies are already voluntarily reporting on environmental information. Findings have implications for policymakers who have mandated or considering mandating environmental reporting. To the policymakers, in particular, this study highlights the need for incorporating, within the listing rules, minimum requirements in relation to the nature and content of environmental reports.

Social implications

The findings have implications for stakeholders in terms of effective information quality. The findings are important as more environmentally responsible firms may provide higher quality, more reliable and more transparent information to meet the ethical expectations of stakeholders.

Originality/value

This is the first study in Iran that considered the impact of EDQ on EQ. This study contributes to the literature on the relationship between EDQ and EQ by showing that the EDQ in Iran is associated with the EQ.
Explaining reshoring in the context of Asian competitiveness: evidence from a Swedish firm
Authors: Fjellstrom Daniella , Fang Tony , Chimenson Dina
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to arrive at a different understanding of reshoring in Asia vis-à-vis the Western context of competitiveness, through a case study of the Swedish company FM Mattsson.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical studies with semi-structured interviews have been conducted both in Sweden and China to gain an in-depth understanding of the case company’s reshoring activities.

Findings

The findings point at reshoring as a competitive means to respond to the dynamics of internal (firm-specific) and external (country-specific) factors. Reshoring comes as a dynamic process by reshuffling resources inside and outside of the firm that strives for continuous competitiveness. Organizations need to meet the challenges of changing environment, especially the dynamic business competition in Asia, and reshoring is a way.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature by perceiving reshoring as a dynamic process of competitiveness development. Reshoring is not seen as one-off short-term decision-making on cost and location but as a long-term process in response to the dynamic internal and external challenges ahead.
5D BIM: an investigation into the integration of quantity surveyors within the BIM process
Authors: Mayouf Mohammad , Gerges Michael , Cox Sharon
Published: February 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the integration of a quantity surveyor (QS) role and practice within the building information modelling (BIM) process to enable better implementation of five-dimensional building information modelling (5D BIM) (D is a result of the data/information dimension integrated in a BIM model). It proposes the use of a “level of development and level of detail” to provide a structured approach for QSs’ integration within the BIM process for an improved implementation of 5D BIM.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses semi-structured interviews with QSs from academic and industry in the UK. A total of 20 face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with two groups (industrial and academic) of ten participants from the West Midlands region in the UK. The interview questions have focussed on gaining perspectives on BIM, BIM and government protocols for the QS profession, expectations and challenges when implementing 5D BIM.

Findings

The findings show that BIM is perceived differently, and limitation of information obtained from the 3D models in BIM reduce the reliability of 5D BIM for QSs and implementing of 5D BIM needs an understanding of BIM workflow and information requirements.

Research limitations/implications

Although the findings reveal many of the complexities that face QSs within the BIM process and the shortfalls of 5D BIM technology, the results may lack generalisation. Thus, future research seeks to test the proposed framework further.

Practical implications

This paper elicits implications of shortfalls that impact the implementation of 5D BIM technology and the complexities that face QSs within the BIM process.

Originality/value

This paper reveals the need to understand the process of integrating stakeholders and their information requirements for better implementation of technologies within BIM.
The underbanked phenomena
Authors: Xu Xiaoyan
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the “underbanked” – those who already possess bank accounts but are patrons of alternative financial services (AFS) providers at the same time.

Design/methodology/approach

Linking the FDIC unbanked/underbanked surveys of nationally represented households with FDIC bank information and local MSA demographics, demographic and economic profiles of the underbanked households are examined, together with the determinants of their choice of nonbank financial services.

Findings

The author finds that bank fees are associated with the likelihood for households to obtain AFS, especially nonbank credit. Households’ attitudes and experience with banks are important in the choice of getting AFS. Furthermore, most underbanked households used AFS temporarily, partly reflecting rather informed and calculated financial decisions.

Research limitations/implications

The results from this paper provide implications for different types of AFS users. For example, the use of transactional AFS responds to the availability of online or mobile banking; meanwhile, it is also sensitive to branch closure. Users of nonbank credits are likely to be price savvy, and these products serve as valuable alternatives for short-term financing, especially during unfavorable economic situation.

Social implications

Better understanding of the underbanked could help banks tailor to existing clients’ needs, for instance, providing innovative short-term credit products for those with little or impaired credit history. The study also helps policy makers re-evaluate banking regulations since the Great Recession. As regulations squeezed bank profits in certain areas and forced banks to consolidate, come alongside higher bank fees, potential branch closure and loss of service, which ultimately forced banked individuals to the less regulated alternative providers.

Originality/value

The analysis utilizes a comprehensive set of variables, from household social-economic characteristics to local banking industry characteristics, together with households’ subjective opinions of their banking institutions. The focus on the underbanked brings attention to this underserved population and discusses areas where banks can improve. The study contributes to the understanding of AFS users, draws implications for regulation toward banking and shadow banking.
Accountability perception of Thai Government: to whom and what counts
Authors: Komutputipong Natchanont , Keerasuntonpong Prae
Published: February 2019

Purpose

Public sector entities face conflicting demands from stakeholders. The literature suggests identifying and prioritizing stakeholders can improve accountability. Thailand, an emerging economy, and currently under military rule, provides an interesting context to investigate stakeholder tensions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how and why the Thai Government bureaucrats prioritize their stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

The study draws on the managerial branch of stakeholder theory and stakeholder salience theory to examine the importance of various stakeholders and of the stakeholders’ salient attributes perceived by the Thai Government bureaucrats in discharging its accountability. The study uses a survey questionnaire mailed out to the central government departments in Thailand.

Findings

The study finds that single most important stakeholder is the Office of the Auditor-General. The public is perceived as the second. This is dissimilar to the western-centric accountability focus on the public, and challenges claims by the Thai military coup that it will bring democratic rule. “Legal power” supporting the stakeholders’ claims for government accountability is the most influential attribute in determining stakeholder importance and prioritizing attention for government bureaucrat’s discharge of its accountability.

Originality/value

Such findings increase understanding of the applicability of stakeholder theory and stakeholder salience theory in the context of military rule in emerging economy countries such as Thailand. This paper also provides suggestions of how stakeholders may shape their salience in order to gain priority. This also provides an immediate suggestion for reforms of the Thai regulatory frameworks in prioritizing stakeholders and promoting the government’s greater accountability.
A comparative analysis of periodicity in the Arkansas state budget process
Authors: Hoffman Kim U. , Reese Catherine C.
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of changes to the Arkansas budget process brought about when the people of Arkansas voted to move from a biennial to an annual budget period in 2008. The paper describes the legislative changes necessary for annual budget review and explores the impact of annual budget review on revenue forecasting, supplemental appropriations, special sessions, legislative staff workload, executive branch oversight and state spending. This research assesses legislative perceptions of annual budget review across several factors including knowledge of the state budget, ability to check the powers of the governor and overall efficacy of annual budget review.

Design/methodology/approach

This exploratory research uses interview data from the Legislative Fiscal Director and data from an online survey of Arkansas state legislators. The interview and survey data were supplemented by an analysis of documents produced by legislative staff regarding supplemental appropriations, special sessions and state general revenue.

Findings

The Legislative Fiscal Director interview indicates that the change in budget period had little impact on revenue forecasting, special sessions and state government spending, with the exception that supplemental appropriations for Big 6 agencies increased in a statistically significant way following the advent of the fiscal session. The legislative survey finds that the change in budget period is viewed positively by Arkansas legislators. Most legislators indicated that they prefer annual budget review to biennial budget review.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the exploratory approach, the research results may lack generalizability.

Originality/value

This paper surveys legislators on the efficacy of annual budget review which has seldom been done in previous research.
Public value and public sector accounting research: a structured literature review
Authors: Bracci Enrico , Papi Luca , Bigoni Michele , Deidda Gagliardo Enrico , Bruns Hans-Jürgen
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role and impact of accounting within the fragmented field of public value theory literature.

Design/methodology/approach

The work develops a structured literature review (SLR) and seeks to shed light on the state of public value research, with particular emphasis on the role of accounting scholarship.

Findings

The lack of empirical research and the limited number of accounting papers reveal how accounting scholars need to achieve a deeper understanding of the public value conceptualization, creation and measurement process.

Originality/value

The paper develops the first wide-ranging SLR on public value accounting. It is a starting point to develop new research avenues, both in the fields of accountability/external reporting, and management accounting and performance management.
Condition monitoring for airport baggage handling in the era of industry 4.0
Authors: Koenig Frank , Found Pauline Anne , Kumar Maneesh
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a recent study conducted with the objective of addressing the problem of failure of baggage carts in the high-speed baggage tunnel at Heathrow Terminal 5 by the development of an innovative condition-based maintenance system designed to meet the requirements of twenty-first century airport systems and Industry 4.0.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical experimental approach to this action research was taken to install a vibration condition monitoring pilot test in the north tunnel at Terminal 5. Vibration data were collected over a 6-month period and analysed to find the threshold of good quality tires and those with worn bearings that needed replacement. The results were compared with existing measures to demonstrate that vibration monitoring could be used as a predictive model for condition-based maintenance.

Findings

The findings demonstrated a clear trend of increasing vibration velocity with age and use of the baggage cart wheels caused by wheel mass unbalanced inertia that was transmitted to the tracks as vibration. As a result, preventative maintenance is essential to ensure the smooth running of airport baggage. This research demonstrates that a healthy wheel produces vibration of under 60 mm/s whereas a damaged wheel measures up to 100 mm/s peak-to-peak velocity and this can be used in real-time condition monitoring to prevent baggage cart failure. It can also run as an autonomous system linked to AI and Industry 4.0 airport logic.

Originality/value

Whilst vibration monitoring has been used to measure movement in static structures such as bridges and used in rotating machinery such as railway wheels (Tondon and Choudhury, 1999) this is unique as it is the first time it has been applied on a stationary structure (tracks) carrying high-speed rotating machinery (baggage cart wheels). This technique has been patented and proven in the pilot study and is in the process of being rolled out to all Heathrow terminal connection tunnels. It has implications for all other airports world-wide and, with new economic sensors, to other applications that rely on moving conveyor belts.
A block-based inspection policy for a multi-component system subject to two failure modes with stochastic dependence
Authors: Moakedi Hamid , Seyedhosseini Mohammad Seved , Shahanaghi Kamran
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to model a block-based inspection policy for a multi-component system with stochastic dependence. Some components may develop a hidden failure, an occurrence of which neither stops the system nor accelerates the other components’ deterioration. On the other hand, other components may experience three states: healthy, defective and revealed failures. Any revealed failure of each component not only stops the system but also generates a shock to all the other ones, which increases their occurrence rate of hidden, defect and revealed failures.

Design/methodology/approach

A block-based inspection policy is considered to take advantage of economic dependence as follows. In addition to the periodic inspections, the system is also inspected at revealed failures’ moments of each component to detect and fix both defects and hidden failures on all the other components. To calculate the expected total cost, the recursive equations for the required expected values is first mathematically derived. Then, due to computational complexity, an efficient Monte Carlo simulation algorithm is designed to calculate the expected values.

Findings

The proposed approach is illustrated through a numerical example, and the optimal periodic inspection interval over a finite time horizon is obtained via minimization of the expected total cost. Finally, the correctness of the results is validated by conducting sensitivity analysis.

Originality/value

Planning an appropriate inspection policy over a finite time horizon becomes more complicated when considering a multi-component system because different units may experience different failure modes with stochastic dependence.
Are leaders with postgraduate degrees perceived to be more transformational? A quasi-experimental field study
Authors: Mendelson Morris , Alam Jasmine , Cunningham Chris , Totton Adam , Smith Carrie
Published: February 2019

Purpose

Transformational leadership has been shown to have a positive impact on a host of employee level and organizational performance indicators. However, little research has sought to understand some of the antecedents of this style of leadership. The purpose of this paper is to examine the link between having a post-secondary education and perceptions of transformational leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from two surveys issued in a mid-sized energy company located on the eastern seaboard of North America. One-way ANOVA comparing employees’ perceptions of transformational leadership exhibited by their supervisors that either did or did not have a post-graduate degree demonstrated a strong, positive relationship between the attainment of a Master’s degree and perceived levels of transformational leadership qualities.

Findings

The findings of this quasi-experimental field study demonstrated a strong, positive relationship between the attainment of a Master’s degree and perceived levels of transformational leadership qualities.

Originality/value

This study is the first of its kind to demonstrate that more educated managers are generally perceived to be more transformational in their leadership style.
Servant leadership and perceived employability: proactive career behaviours as mediators
Authors: Chughtai Aamir
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of servant leadership on perceived employability and examine the mediating role of three proactive career behaviours, namely, career planning, skill development and networking behaviour in this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for this study were collected from 176 employees who were working in a large food and beverage company operating in Pakistan. Structural equation modelling and the bootstrapping procedure were used to test the research hypotheses.

Findings

Results showed that servant leadership was positively related to career planning, skill development and networking behaviour, which, in turn, were positively associated with perceived employability. Furthermore, it was found that the three proactive career behaviours fully mediated the effects of servant leadership on perceived employability.

Practical implications

The findings of this study indicate that servant leadership can play a key role in enhancing workers’ employability. Thus, it is important that organisations focus on creating conditions, which help them to develop servant leaders.

Originality/value

This is the first study, which has empirically established a link between servant leadership and perceived employability. In addition, it uncovers three distinct mechanisms in the form of career planning, networking behaviour and skill development through which servant leadership can influence workers’ employability.
Personality traits and personal values of servant leaders
Authors: Sun Peter , Shang Sudong
Published: February 2019

Purpose

Servant leaders focus on their direct reports to enable them to grow to be independent and autonomous leaders. The purpose of this paper is to understand the way personal values and personality traits collectively influence this other-centered behavior. This will go a long way to unravel this unique style of leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

The study surveys managers and their direct reports. Leaders rated their personality trait and personal values, while their direct reports rated the leader’s servant leadership behaviors. Age, educational level, conscientiousness, extraversion and neuroticism of leaders were used as controls. The study also checked for endogeneity threats.

Findings

Using a sample of 81 leaders and 279 of their direct reports, the study finds that the personal value of benevolent dependability relates negatively to servant leadership behaviors. In addition, the personality traits of agreeableness and openness/intellect moderate the relationship between benevolent dependability and servant leadership behaviors.

Research limitations/implications

The findings shed important insights into what motivates servant leaders to engage in other-directed behaviors, thereby enabling future research into individual characteristics that define servant leaders.

Originality/value

Although studies have examined how values and personality traits influence leadership behaviors, no research has examined both types of individual differences in a single study. Studies examining the individual differences of servant leaders are few, and this study answers the call by Lidenet al.(2014) to examine individual characteristics that are both personality based (traits) and malleable (values).