bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Facilities management driving green building certification: a case from Finland
Authors: Aaltonen Anna , Määttänen Eeva , Kyrö Riikka , Sarasoja Anna‐Liisa
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The aim of this study is to identify and understand the role of facility services in the environmental performance of existing office buildings.

Design/methodology/approach

The study observes how a facilities management (FM) service provider develops its service processes to meet environmental efficiency objectives. The environmental objectives are adopted from a commonly used green building rating system. The developed processes and services are then analysed and tested against a case facility.

Findings

The results indicate that FM service processes have both direct and indirect influence on the building environmental performance metrics. The results show that, by relatively light changes and modifications to the FM service processes, quite extensive environmental benefits can be achieved.

Research limitations/implications

The study is preliminary and the results are based on the single case study. Only one service provider was assessed. Moreover, the case study represents a situation where all FM services are provided by one service provider.

Practical implications

FM providers readily hold a great portion of the data required for green management. It can be argued that FM services play a central role in the environmental performance of an office building and FM organizations can significantly support client organizations in their efforts to minimize their total environmental impact.

Social implications

The majority of carbon dioxide emissions caused by buildings are created during the operating phase of existing buildings. In other words, the way a building is managed and maintained has a major impact on the environmental performance of the building.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the discussion on the role of FM in climate change.
Maintainability analysis of an offshore gas compression train system, a case study
Authors: Hussin Hilmi , Mohd Hashim Fakhruldin , Halim Ramli Omar , Muhammad Afdhal Ghazali Syed
Published: May 2013

Purpose

This paper aims to propose a practical method of performing maintainability analysis of an offshore system at operation phase having some improvement trend.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis follows a systematically developed method of analyzing maintenance data, identifying critical factors affecting system performance, and developing suitable downtime distribution model with some applications of statistical analysis techniques and expert opinion.

Findings

Improvement in spare part logistics is found significant in reducing downtime thus should be well feedback to design and plant engineers so that it can be incorporated in new offshore system. The downtime models developed based on the steady state analysis and expert input are found to be practical for prediction of the system maintainability performance.

Research limitations/implications

The analysis focuses on the downtime which includes the repair, logistics and administrative delay time. At the operation phase, plant personnel are mostly interested in the availability and downtime performance of the system thus this study provides an excellent example of how the analysis can be done practically and effectively.

Practical implications

Maintainability analysis at operation phase is crucial to assess and predict the maintenance system performance and provide valuable feedback to the design phase and existing plant for further improvement. The methodology developed here is practical hence can assist plant personnel to perform maintainability analysis effectively.

Originality/value

This paper present a generic method of analyzing maintainability at the operation phase. The proposed distribution method via steady state and expert input approaches provides a practical method for formulating downtime distribution model when improvement trend exists.
MOOCs and the library
Authors: Massis Bruce E.
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this column is to examine the current discussion of massive open online courses (MOOCs) and the library's involvement in this worldwide movement.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the form of a literature review and commentary on this topic that has been addressed by professionals, researchers and practitioners.

Findings

The study finds that MOOCs may offer colleges the opportunity to accept the democratization of learning for all who wish to engage. Librarians have a chance to extend their influence in the development of MOOCs as an integral component in this new model.

Originality/value

The value in addressing this issue is to suggest the benefits that the library can bring to this burgeoning form of online learning.
Can the world run on renewable energy? A revised negative case
Authors: Trainer Ted
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The discussion of climate change and energy problems is generally based on the assumption that technical solutions are possible and that the task is essentially to determine the most effective ways. This view relies heavily on the expectation that renewable energy sources can be substituted for fossil fuels. The purpose of this paper is to improve on an earlier attempt to estimate the investment cost that would be involved in deriving total world energy supply from renewable sources.

Design/methodology/approach

This discussion improves on an earlier attempt to estimate the investment cost that would be involved in deriving total world energy supply from renewable sources. It takes common assumptions re future energy demand and estimates of future output and capital costs of major renewable energy sources and explores four strategies for supplying global energy demand in 2050.

Findings

This paper finds that the greenhouse and energy problems cannot be solved by action on the supply side, i.e. by technical developments which promise to provide quantities taken for granted in energy‐intensive societies. This general “limits to growth” perspective is that these and the other major global problems can only be solved by action on the demand side, i.e. by moving to ways, values, institutions and systems which greatly reduce the need for materials, energy and ecological resources.

Research limitations/implications

Confidence in the conclusions is limited mainly by the lack of evidence at this point in time on the actual difficulties set by the problem of integrating the intermittent sources, and the resulting need for redundant plant.

Practical implications

Each of the four strategies explored requires large amounts of redundant plant to be able to cope with the intermittency problem. Each leads to total system capital costs which are well beyond affordable levels.

Social implications

The findings add to the general “limits to growth” case that solutions to the global energy and other sustainability problems cannot be achieved within consumer‐capitalist society but must be sought via dramatic reductions in production, consumption and GDP. This would require radical system change from the commitment to growth, market systems and affluent lifestyles, to what is described as The Simpler Way.

Originality/value

It does not seem that this approach has previously been taken to the specific issue of the potential and limits of renewable energy. Little or no attention has been given to the thesis that global sustainability and justice require transition to some kind of Simpler Way.
Accountability and giving accounts
Authors: Hardy Les , Ballis Harry
Published: May 2013

Purpose

Focusing on Sanitarium, a commercial‐charity operating as a department of a church, the paper aims to use Mashaw's taxonomy to examine this organisation's informal reporting in the context of accountability.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts a case study approach and draws on data gathered from primary and secondary archival sources, interviews with key informants, and reports in the public media.

Findings

The paper examines Sanitarium, a hybrid organisation that has made informal account giving its primary means of reporting to constituents and the general public. It reveals that while the informal reporting blurs the boundaries of reporting regimes, the informal account always discloses something more, has the spirit of accountability and provides insight into the organisation that otherwise would not be accessible. The paper shows the usefulness of applying Mashaw's framework to examine the accountability practices of organisations in the third sector.

Originality/value

The paper extends understanding into the nature of accountability by highlighting the contribution of informal account giving, the role of stakeholder perceptions in determining what counts as accountability, and the benefits of using a framework that can be applied to all commercial organisations, including faith organisations. The paper focuses on an area of study that has been acknowledged as under‐researched and contributes to the knowledge of accountability in religious organisations.
Environmental dynamism and entrepreneurial orientation
Authors: José Ruiz‐Ortega María , Parra‐Requena Gloria , Rodrigo‐Alarcón Job , García‐Villaverde Pedro M.
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the antecedents of entrepreneurial orientation (EO). Specifically, the authors aim to analyze how firms' capabilities influence the relationship between firm environmental dynamism and entrepreneurial orientation. The study seeks to provide a better understanding of antecedents of EO, helping to fill in the gap that exists in the EO literature and explain how certain internal and external factors, independently and jointly, influence EO.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical study is conducted on a sample of 253 firms from the information and communication technology (ICT) industry. In order to test the proposed model, a hierarchical regression analysis was developed.

Findings

A positive effect of environmental dynamism, technological capabilities and marketing capabilities on EO was detected and it was possible to observe how technology capabilities improve the positive effect of environment dynamism on EO.

Originality/value

The most important contribution of this paper is to demonstrate that the direction of the moderating effect of capabilities on environment dynamism changes depending on the capabilities that are analyzed. While the technology capabilities improve the positive effect of environment dynamism, the marketing capabilities worsen the effect of environment dynamism on EO.
Organizational change and psychological reactance
Authors: Nesterkin Dmitriy A.
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the resistance to change in the organizational contexts where a soon‐to‐be‐implemented change initiative infringes upon freedoms of the employees. Specifically, the role of affect was explored within the framework of psychological reactance theory, delineating salience of affect as a driver of the intention to restore one's threatened freedoms. Additionally, the roles that emotional intelligence and interpersonal justice play in lowering the activation of reactance were examined.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper that connects self‐determination, reactance, organizational change, emotional intelligence and justice literatures to explain how psychological reactance may be energized and de‐energized in the context of on‐going organizational change.

Findings

The study suggests that organizational change is likely to undermine employees' freedoms, which will arouse negative affective states. The latter are likely to energize reactance – a motivational state directed to restore the threatened freedoms. Negative affect and reactance may be mitigated by implementing and sustaining socially supportive and interpersonally just organizational environment, led by an emotionally intelligent management staff.

Originality/value

This work is the first that investigates how and under what circumstances organizational change is likely to activate employees' psychological reactance. Furthermore, the study presents two new methods that may be used by managers to mitigate change‐driven reactance and the negative affect that energizes it.
The quintessence of a therapeutic environment
Authors: Haigh Rex
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the necessary primary emotional development experiences for healthy personality formation.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a critical synthesis of psychoanalytic theory.

Findings

Five experiences are judged necessary for health “primary emotional development”: attachment, containment, communication, inclusion and agency. These can be deliberately recreated in therapeutic environments to form a structure for “secondary emotional development”.

Practical implications

The ways in which these qualities of a psychosocial environment can be produced are described.

Social implications

Failure to recognise the importance of these qualities of an environment can cause unhealthy, or frankly toxic, psychosocial environments in various settings.

Originality/value

This is the author's original work, and has relevance for all psychosocial environments.
The evolution of a therapeutic community for offenders with a learning disability and personality disorder: part two – increasing responsivity
Authors: Taylor Jon
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe practices introduced to a therapeutic community (TC) to promote responsivity for men with learning disability and personality disorder.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a descriptive paper.

Findings

The paper describes modifications to the working practices of a therapeutic community which have been found to increase the ability of offenders with a learning disability to engage in treatment.

Originality/value

The literature describing interventions for offenders with learning disability and personality disorder is sparse. This paper provides an overview of practices that have supported offenders with a learning disability to engage in treatment designed to address both their risk and their interpersonal styles of relating.
Application of lean manufacturing using value stream mapping in an auto‐parts manufacturing unit
Authors: Singh Harwinder , Singh Amandeep
Published: May 2013

Purpose

This paper aims to address the application of lean manufacturing using value stream mapping (VSM) concepts in an auto‐parts manufacturing organization. Using value stream concepts, both current and future states maps of the organization's shop floor scenarios have been discussed to identify sources of waste between the existing state and the proposed state of the selected organization for improving its competitiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

VSM process symbols were used to discuss lean implementation stages in the auto‐parts manufacturing unit. Current states of the selected manufacturing unit were prepared with the help of VSM symbols and improvement areas were identified. A few modifications in current state were made and, with these modifications, a future state map is suggested.

Findings

After comparison of the current and future states of the selected manufacturing unit, it has been found that there was 69.41 percent reduction in cycle time, 18.26 percent reduction in work in‐process inventory and 24.56 percent reduction in production lead times for the replacement ball product. While for Weldon ball end product 51.87 percent reduction in cycle time, 21.51 percent reduction in work in‐process inventory, 25.88 percent reduction in lead time was noted.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this case study are valid due to limited selection of products only.

Originality/value

This paper depicts a true picture of the implementation of lean manufacturing tools in an organization.
Lean production and business performance: international empirical results
Authors: Losonci Dávid , Demeter Krisztina
Published: May 2013

Purpose

This paper aims to identify factors that considerably impact business performance of lean manufacturers (companies with extensive use of lean tools and excellent operational performance).

Design/methodology/approach

IMSS IV (International Manufacturing Strategy Survey) data bank is used for statistical analysis. It contains 711 valid observations from 23 countries from the time period between 2005 February and 2006 March. Out of the 711 responding organization data of 453 firms are analyzed. Quantitative analyses are done by cluster, ANOVA, and regression analyses.

Findings

Many factors influencing business performance of lean producers are outside of the scope of Operations Management (e.g. market dynamics, new entrants, and customization). Production's contribution to business performance is limited to product/service positioning, supplier and capacity management.

Research limitations/implications

The most important limitation is that the database used in the study was created for more general purposes. Although our results do not show any difference among industries, we only consider cultural impact at regional level. The explanatory power of our model reveals that we could have overlooked many important factors (e.g. innovation capability of business unit, firm role in the supply chain), so further research (e.g. review of strategic management literature) is required to enhance the reliability of variables.

Originality/value

Empirical results regarding improvements in business performance of lean companies are ambiguous. The study highlights key areas of lean production that contribute to superior business performance. It will help managers to explore both operational and business benefits of lean implementation.
New approaches for new media: moving towards a connected methodology
Authors: Barden Owen
Published: May 2013

Purpose

Defining and describing research methodologies is difficult. Methodologies have similarities and resonances, and overlapping characteristics. Familiar labels of case study, action research and ethnography may not be adequate to describe new and creative approaches to qualitative research. If we simply transfer old ways to new contexts, we risk limiting our understanding of the complexities of real life settings. The call to set aside old dualisms and devise new methodological approaches has been sounded. Accordingly, this article sets out to describe a fledgling new methodological approach, and how it was operationalized in a small‐scale study of digitally‐mediated classroom learning.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology combines elements of action research and case study with an ethnographic approach. It was devised for a study of the use of Facebook as an educational resource by five dyslexic students at a sixth form college in north‐west England. Its flexibility and attention to detail enabled multiple data collection methods. This range of methods enabled meticulous analysis of many of the group's online and offline interactions with each other and with Facebook as they co‐constructed their group Facebook page.

Findings

Reflexively combining elements of case study, action research and ethnography thus helped capture the “connected complexities” (Davies) of this contemporary classroom setting. This is necessary if researchers are to obtain any meaningful understanding of how learning happens in such contexts.

Originality/value

The author hopes to contribute to the discourse on qualitative methodology and invites other researchers studying similar contexts to consider a similar approach.
To an audience of “I”
Authors: Duggan Shane
Published: May 2013

Purpose

This paper attempts to conceive the “narrated event” by considering the use of open‐ended a‐synchronous “blogs” in a current PhD study looking at the perceptions of 30 senior secondary students over their final year of secondary schooling.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper discusses the role of identity‐play in the construction of narrative accounts and specifically, how those accounts, when solicited in a blog study, might come to represent a “performance” of the narrator.

Findings

The implications of how we, as qualitative researchers, obtain our data places limitations on what kind of voice we allow the subjects of our enquiry. “Agency” requires dialogic interaction which “brings self and other together so that they may question, debate, and challenge one another” (Conquergood). Not only the ear, but also the voice of the listener thus bind the extent to which the subject can narrate their own stories. Thus, the subject is reflective, she constructs a dialogue where “underneath the self which acts are little selves which contemplate and which render possible both the action and the active subject” (Deleuze).

Originality/value

By employing dialogic/performative narrative methods (Riessman), along with online methods (Fielding), this paper positions online blogs within the broader methodological discussions around identity and narrative by facilitating a conversation between subjectivity, trustworthiness, the value of blogs as meaningful data, and how a conceptualisation of blogs as narrative performance helps give agency to those “tellings”.
Facing the methodological challenges of re‐using previously collected data in a qualitative inquiry
Authors: Foster Dennis James , Hays Terrence , Alter Frances
Published: May 2013

Purpose

This paper aims to assist researchers considering the benefits and constraints of re‐using previously collected data (sourced from media in the public domain) as the sample for a grounded theory qualitative research inquiry.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper identifies what were perceived by the researchers as methodological challenges, encountered in the context of a study using grounded theory methodology. The seven areas included: the re‐use of qualitative data, forming the research question, developing the research approach, refining the methodology, ensuring data quality, maintaining methodological integrity, and developing ethical boundaries. It outlines the process of working through these challenges and explains the solutions adopted throughout the course of the research project.

Findings

The findings from this study indicate that while re‐using data can be perceived as a constraint in qualitative research, what is not adequately taken into consideration is the actual quality of the archival material that forms the body of collected data. The researchers also illustrate the benefits of using rich archival material in the context of a single research project and caution that the re‐use of previously collected data is not a soft option, nor does it offer a fast track to completion.

Research limitations/implications

Solutions to challenges described in the article may not be immediately applicable to other research contexts or archives of data.

Practical implications

Researchers can adopt approaches similar to those outlined in the paper to assess the applicability of archives of previously‐collected qualitative data as the sample for complementary or supplementary research.

Originality/value

The paper presents solutions to seven commonly perceived challenges to the re‐use of previously collected data as the sample for qualitative research.
Visual ethnography and refugee women: nuanced understandings of lived experiences
Authors: Lenette Caroline , Boddy Jennifer
Published: May 2013

Purpose

This paper aims to reinforce the significance of visual ethnography as a tool for mental health promotion.

Design/methodology/approach

Visual ethnography has become an established methodology particularly in qualitative studies, to understand specific themes within participants’ everyday realities. Beyond providing a visual element, such methods allow for meaningful and nuanced explorations of sensitive themes, allowing richer sets of data to emerge rather than focussing on conversations alone. The participants in this study evaluated how far they had come by exploring complex circumstances using visual ethnographic means.

Findings

Research with single refugee women in Brisbane, Australia, demonstrates how discussing photographs and creating digital movies yielded a sense of achievement, pride and accomplishment, health and wellbeing, and ownership for some women, while for others it was a burden.

Originality/value

Studies with single refugee women have been scarce with limited use of visual ethnographic methods. Visual ethnography is particularly suited to understanding refugee narratives, as complex experiences are not always conveyed through textual representations alone.
E‐Shariah in Malaysia: technology adoption within justice system
Authors: Satirah Wan Mohd Saman Wan , Haider Abrar
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The marriage between information and communication technology (ICT) and law has brought forward a significant change in the administration of justice. This paper aims to present the scenario of technology adoption in the court of law with special reference to Malaysia. It also aims to illustrate the intelligent use of technology to advance the pace of the administration of court reflected in w‐Shariah project in Shariah Court systems in Malaysia through various electronic applications, and finally propose an ICT adoption framework based on an information systems (IS) theory.

Design/methodology/approach

This research adopts a qualitative case study approach to explore the scenario of information technology (IT) adoption in the court of law in Malaysia through semi‐structured interviews, observation and document reviews. Data gathered provide an understanding of how technology is used in the court workflow as well as the whole life‐cycle management of records in Shariah Court. This case study covers the management of records in Shariah courts of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. It involves personal observations on the whole life‐cycle of court room technology management.

Findings

Five e‐Shariah modules were applied in 110 Shariah courts in Malaysia in 102 locations nationwide, using the electronic government network called EG*Net. E‐Shariah applications managed to standardize work environment in Shariah courts and link all the business processes on a single channel. Case clearance rate has risen significantly since then.

Research limitations/implications

This research is limited to the electronic applications in Shariah Court system, the secondary legal system in Malaysia after the Civil Court system. It is suggested that the future research is done to the Civil Court system, to complement the current research; in order to have a complete IS perspective on the overall legal system in Malaysia.

Social implications

This paper proposed a technology adoption framework for electronic court management, which can be used by the policy makers for the enhancement of justice system. This research provides a foundation for practical technology adoption in courts.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates how ICT allow for better management of court management within institutionalization theory. It presents various kind of technology adoption in courts, including video conferencing with high‐tech video presenters and monitors, recreation of crime scene, electronic filing system, electronic case management and electronic court records management and systematic information storage and retrieval system. It discusses the three isomorphic pressures (coercive, normative and mimetic) that influence the technology adoption process. A research framework is presented which is expected to benefit the policy makers and judicial practitioners.
Livelihoods or ecopreneurship? Agro‐economic experiments in Hambantota, Sri Lanka
Authors: Palmås Karl , Lindberg Jonas
Published: May 2013

Purpose

In the context of contemporary debates on ecopreneurship and sustainable livelihoods, this article seeks to compare two programmes to promote a certain type of agro‐economic practice among rural farmers. By following the successes and failures of these programmes, the text interrogates how such initiatives are evaluated by the surrounding community of aid agencies and governmental bodies.

Design/methodology/approach

Deploying the theoretical notion of “performativity”, as used within economic anthropology, the article posits that the above‐mentioned programmes can be construed as economic experiments. More specifically, the text compares two concurrent initiatives: One ecopreneurial experiment instigated by a social entrepreneur, and one livelihoods‐focussed experiment instigated by an aid agency. The case study is based upon material from a three‐year ethnography of entrepreneurship‐promoting programmes in Hambantota, Sri Lanka.

Findings

While the ecopreneurial venture fails, the livelihoods‐based initiative proves successful in demonstrating its economic validity. The case study indicates that, in the context of modes of evaluation focusing on day‐to‐day incomes of farmers, it may be difficult for ecopreneurs to make room for ecological experimentation.

Originality/value

Having identified this “ecopreneur's dilemma”, the article prompts scholars and policy‐makers to investigate it further, and potentially re‐examine how the livelihoods agenda is implemented in practice.
Bank regulation and supervision in 180 countries from 1999 to 2011
Authors: Barth James R. , Caprio Gerard , Levine Ross
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss and provide new data and measures of bank regulatory and supervisory policies in 180 countries from 1999 to 2011.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors' approach is based upon the quantification of hundreds of questions, including information on permissible bank activities, capital requirements, the powers of official supervisory agencies, information disclosure requirements, external governance mechanisms, deposit insurance, barriers to entry, and loan provisioning, to form indices of key bank regulatory and supervisory policies.

Findings

It is found that the regulation and supervision of banks varies widely across countries in many different dimensions. Furthermore, there has not been a convergence in bank regulatory regimes over the past decade despite the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Research limitations/implications

The data are based on survey responses and this requires that the answers be accurate. To better ensure this is the case, several checks were made to ensure greater accuracy in all the answers. Using this database one can perform various statistical analyses in attempt to determine which bank regulatory regimes work best to promote well‐functioning banking systems.

Originality/value

The authors' data and measures are new and unique so as enable policy makers and researchers to examine cross‐country comparisons and analyses of changes in banking policies over time.
Exchange rate flexibility in Latin America
Authors: Ghosh Amit
Published: May 2013

Purpose

Exchange rate regime decisively impacts key policy objectives such as financial stability, inflation control, etc. The purpose of this paper is to overview the evolution of exchange rate regimes spanning 12 nations in the Latin American region over the last two decades and estimate the degrees of influence of other major currencies on each nation.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the methodology developed by Frankel and Wei, the de facto extent of exchange rate flexibility is discerned for these nations and put into perspective with that of the IMF exchange rate regime classifications.

Findings

An increase in flexibility is found from the 1990s to the 2000s, especially for inflation targeting nations. However, the results reveal these nations adopt a policy of “guarded caution” and follow more of a de facto managed floating regime that is far from pure floats. The smaller economies of the region still pursue more fixed regimes. While the results correlate, to an extent, with the IMF's classifications, several areas of discrepancy are noted. The findings are robust to several sensitivity analyses.

Originality/value

A discrepancy between the IMF regime categorization and the true regime a country actually follows may cause IMF financial assistance programs to be less effective. Do countries follow regimes they are classified into? The present study gleans deeper into the issue and discerns this. The comparative analysis includes the relatively larger economies of the region as well as the seldom researched smaller ones.
“A big part of my life”: a qualitative study of the impact of theatre
Authors: Walmsley Ben
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact that theatre can have on its audiences, both immediately and over time.

Design/methodology/approach

The article evaluates the existing literature on impact and critically reviews a number of benefits models. Through a textual analysis of 42 semi‐structured depth interviews, the paper deconstructs the concept of impact and rearticulates it in audiences’ terms.

Findings

Impact emerges as a personal construct articulated by audiences in terms of emotion, captivation, engagement, enrichment, escapism, wellbeing, world view and addiction. Impact is ultimately described as a relative concept, dependent on audience typology and perceived by audiences in holistic terms, incorporating both intrinsic value and instrumental benefits. While catharsis is confirmed as a key enabler of impact, flow emerges as both an enabler and a benefit in itself.

Research limitations/implications

As this is a qualitative study with a sample of 42, the results are not representative of theatre audiences in general. Future research might test the findings of this study in a larger, quantitative survey, which might also test the relationships between the emerging variables.

Practical implications

There are significant implications here for theatre‐makers and venues. From a marketing perspective, more sophisticated segmentation of audience databases could uncover ‘value ambassadors’ to spread positive word of mouth about the impact theatre has on their lives. Venues and touring companies could also consider how to prepare audiences for impact more effectively and how to minimise distraction and facilitate audience interaction with artists and theatre‐makers. Obvious solutions here are mood enhancing atmospherics and well trained front‐of‐house staff.

Originality/value

The originality of this study lies in its audience‐focussed approach. Impact has tended to be constructed from the perspective of producers, marketers and academics, whereas this study invites audiences to describe it in their own, authentic vernacular. These authentic insights are of value to academics, producers, policy advisors, funders and marketers working in the arts, because they help shed light on why people attend the arts and the benefits they derive from them.
Plant roles
Authors: Feldmann Andreas , Olhager Jan
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategic role of plants, in terms of the type and level of site competence, the relationship with the strategic reason for location, and the impact on operational performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a survey of 103 Swedish manufacturing plants that belong to global production networks and analyze patterns within this context to identify potential archetypes of plants with respect to plant roles, based on factor analysis and cluster analysis.

Findings

It is found that the areas of site competence can be grouped into three bundles, characterized thematically as production‐related, supply chain‐related and development‐related. The plants fall into three categories: some plants have only production‐related competences, some have competences concerning both production and supply chain, and the third group of plants possesses all three bundles of competences.

Research limitations/implications

The results provide empirical evidence that site competences come in bundles in three steps according to themes rather than individually. No significant relationship was found between the level of site competence and the strategic reason for site location.

Practical implications

The results provide empirical support for the co‐location of product development and production, since plants with full responsibility for all competence bundles significantly outperform plants having only production‐related competences on cost efficiency, quality, and new product introductions.

Originality/value

The authors research patterns of site competence at a more detailed level than before in the related literature, as well as study the impact on performance, which has not been done before.
Cross‐functional integration and functional coordination in purchasing and supply management
Authors: Foerstl Kai , Hartmann Evi , Wynstra Finn , Moser Roger
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a set of nine hypotheses linking four purchasing and supply management (PSM) practices directly to purchasing performance and indirectly to financial performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected data in a global cross‐industry survey of 148 companies, combining primary interview and survey data with secondary data on firm performance, in order to minimize the impact of common method variance.

Findings

Support was found for eight of the nine hypotheses. In particular, a positive impact was found of cross‐functional integration and functional coordination on purchasing performance, and of purchasing performance on firm performance. Both talent management and performance management have a positive impact on cross‐functional integration and functional coordination. Talent management also has a direct impact on purchasing performance, in contrast to performance management.

Originality/value

The association of enhanced PSM maturity levels with financial performance metrics collected from secondary data sources provides robust empirical support for the stated but to this point largely untested positive impact of PSMmaturity on the firm's competitive position.
Supply governance structures for reverse logistics systems
Authors: Aitken James , Harrison Alan
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the changes in governance structures that evolved as reverse logistics systems were developed. The UK car crash repair sector was used as a case study.

Design/methodology/approach

The value‐chain governance framework proposed by Gereffi et al. was used to assess changes in governance systems as firms developed a reverse logistics flow and three transactional variables were used to determine how supply chains are governed and change. Both forward and reverse product flows for two supply chains were assessed to determine what changes in governance of the supply chain took place as reverse logistics operations developed.

Findings

The authors' analysis documents how relationships between the focal firm and other supply chain members altered as the new reverse logistic system developed. The modular governance structure that developed through increased supplier capability coupled with higher levels of knowledge and information codifications were shown to be important factors in the establishment of a reverse logistics system. Supplier capability, knowledge codification and transaction complexity were found to be moderating variables which can enrich the traditional models on buyer‐supplier relationships based on trust and ongoing commitment.

Practical implications

Reverse logistics continues to be a major issue for business. Our findings provide an insight into some of the governance and knowledge management developments as focal firms respond to growing pressures to re‐use materials and parts. In total, six factors were identified which can assist firms in assessing their current governance structures and the development of a pathway for implementation of reverse logistics.

Originality/value

Little research has been conducted into supply chain governance structures needed to manage the new reverse logistics systems for the re‐use, recycling and repair of products.
The service bullwhip effect
Authors: Akkermans Henk , Voss Chris
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how the bullwhip effect, as found in product supply chains, might also manifest itself in services, as well as what policies can be successful for mitigating it.

Design/methodology/approach

A combination of analytic methods was used – inductive case analysis and analysis of data from two service supply chains in the telecom industry.

Findings

Empirical evidence from two cases was examined and provides support for the presence of a service bullwhip effect. Quantitative and qualitative case data were used to explore how this effect manifests itself in services, the distinctive drivers of the bullwhip effect in services, and the managerial actions that can either trigger or mitigate these bullwhip effects. In total, eight propositions are developed and three types of characteristics that potentially make the bullwhip effect worse in services than in manufacturing are identified: the destabilizing effects of manual rework in otherwise automated service processes; the omission of accurate and timely data on rework volumes upstream in the chain, pointing at future bullwhip effects downstream; and the lack of a supply‐chain mindset within the various departments jointly responsible for delivering the service, leading to longer delays in reacting to service bullwhips as they develop over time.

Research limitations/implications

The research is based on two cases within a single industry, limiting generalizability. The propositions developed need testing in a wider set of contexts, including hybrid service and product supply chains.

Practical implications

The implications of this research can help organizations prevent or reduce the negative impact of planned and unplanned fluctuations in their service supply chains.

Originality/value

This paper explores an area that has been well researched in manufacturing, but not in services, and it contributes to both the theory and practice of service supply chains.
Defence logistics: an important research field in need of researchers
Authors: Yoho Keenan D. , Rietjens Sebastiaan , Tatham Peter
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to the special issue on defence logistics. To achieve this, an overview of the field of defence logistics is offered together with a discussion of the historical and contemporary issues that have confronted researchers and practitioners. Current research is described, and a research agenda for future work in the field is proposed.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based upon a conceptual discussion of defence logistics as it has been studied in the past and is being studied in the present, and a reflection on the ways in which past research can usefully inform future research agendas.

Findings

The paper discusses the current state of defence logistics research, and proposes a research agenda for future work based upon the anticipated characteristics of future combat operations.

Research limitations/implications

A future research agenda is proposed that is informed by recent transformations in the conduct of warfare, as well as through anticipated changes in the global strategic landscape. Comparisons are made between defence logistics operations and their commercial counterparts to illustrate where there may be opportunities for adaptation based on the underlying similarities.

Originality/value

This paper discusses the major threads and themes of defence logistics research as a discipline, highlights the changing landscape of conflict in the 21st century and provides a future research agenda for those working in the field.
The value of sharing planning information in supply chains
Authors: Jonsson Patrik , Mattsson Stig-Arne
Published: May 2013

Purpose

– The development of information technology has made it possible for companies to get access to information about their customers
'
future demand. This paper outlines various approaches to utilize this kind of visibility when managing inventories of end products on an operative level. The purpose is to explain the consequences, for capital tied up in inventory, of sharing four different types of planning information (point-of-sales data, customer forecasts, stock-on-hand data, planned orders) when using re-order point (R,Q) inventory control methods in a distribution network.

Design/methodology/approach

– A simulation study based on randomly generated demand data with a compound Poisson type of distribution is conducted.

Findings

– The results show that the value of information sharing in operative inventory control varies widely depending on the type of information shared, and depending on whether the demand is stationary or not. Significantly higher value is achieved if the most appropriate types of information sharing are used, while other types of information sharing rather contribute to decreased value. Sharing stock-on-hand information is valuable with stationary demand. Customer forecast and planned order information are valuable with non-stationary demand. The value of information sharing increases when having fewer customers, and when the order quantities are large. Sharing point-of-sales data is not valuable, regardless of the demand type.

Research limitations/implications

– The use of simulation methodology is a limitation, because the study has to be limited to a specific model design, and because it is not based on primary empirical data. The study is especially limited to dyadic relationships in supply chains, and to distribution networks with a rather limited number of customers.

Practical implications

– Guidance is given about what type of information should be appropriate to share when different types of demand patterns and distribution networks, and how order batch sizes and lead times affect the value of information sharing when using re-order point (R,Q) methods.

Originality/value

– Very limited research providing specific assessments of potential inventory control consequences when sharing planning information in various contexts has been found in the literature. The findings and conclusions also question some previous research on information sharing.
The influence of relational competencies on supply chain resilience: a relational view
Authors: Wieland Andreas , Wallenburg Carl Marcus
Published: May 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this research is to explore the resilience domain, which is important in the field of supply chain management; it investigates the effects relational competencies have for resilience and the effect resilience, in turn, has on a supply chain
'
s customer value.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research is empirical in nature and employs a confirmatory approach that builds on the relational view as a primary theoretical foundation. It utilizes survey data collected from manufacturing firms from three countries, which is analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings

– It is found that communicative and cooperative relationships have a positive effect on resilience, while integration does not have a significant effect. It is also found that improved resilience, obtained by investing in agility and robustness, enhances a supply chain
'
s customer value.

Practical implications

– Some findings contrast the expectations derived from theory. Particularly, practitioners can learn that integration has a limited role in enhancing resilience.

Originality/value

– The study distinguishes between a proactive and reactive dimension of resilience: robustness and agility. The relational view serves as the theoretical basis to explain the effects between three types of relational competencies (communication, cooperation, and integration) and the above-mentioned two dimensions of resilience.