bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Salesperson profitability in relationship marketing
Authors: Echchakoui Said
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to answer a prominent question that arises for the manager who wishes to recruit a salesperson to maintain and develop a portfolio–customer relationship: Under which condition is this decision profitable for the firm? Though several authors have underscored the importance of the salesperson's role in the creation of purchaser–salesperson relationships, in the author's knowledge, no study has focused on the salesperson's profitability in the relationship approach. This issue is significant for sales managers because the investment in sales force is greater, and the relationship profitability with customers is not guaranteed.

Design/methodology/approach

– Econometric model based on transaction cost economics theory and dynamic exchange between firm, salesperson and a customer. Specifically, this model links between customer life value, firm financial value, salesperson cost and relationship time.

Findings

– Three zones are identified that can characterize the dynamic salesperson profitability. It was shown that only one zone can be profitable to the firm.

Research limitations/implications

– This result is important because it can solve the equivocal posit between scholars with regard to the success or the failure of relationship marketing. This study also specifies the critical retention rate, the critical duration time in which a salesperson begins to be profitable.

Originality/value

– In the author's knowledge, this study is the first to use an exchange model to show in which conditions the salesperson will be profitable in relationship marketing.
Media richness and information acquisition in internet recruitment
Authors: M. Badger Jessica , E. Kaminsky Samuel , S. Behrend Tara
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– Rich, interactive media are becoming extremely common in internet recruitment systems. The paper investigates the role of media richness in applicants’ ability to learn information relevant to making an application decision. The authors examine these relationships in the context of two competing theories, namely media richness theory and cognitive load theory, which predict opposite relationships with information acquisition. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– Participants (n=471) either viewed a traditional web site or visited an interactive virtual world that contained information about an organization's culture, benefits, location, and job openings. Culture information was manipulated to either portray a highly teams-oriented culture or a highly individual-oriented culture.

Findings

– Participants who viewed the low-richness site recalled more factual information about the organization; this effect was mediated by subjective mental workload. Richness was not related to differences in culture-related information acquisition.

Practical implications

– These findings suggest that richer media (such as interactive virtual environments) may not be as effective as less rich media in conveying information. Specifically, the interactive elements may detract focus away from the information an organization wishes to portray. This may lead to wasted time on the part of applicants and organizations in the form of under- or over-qualified applications or a failure to follow instructions.

Originality/value

– This study is among the first to use a cognitive load theory framework to suggest that richer media may not always achieve their desired effect.
The organizing practices of a community festival
Authors: John Lucas Michael
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a part of a research study, undertaken over three years, in which the author observed the organization of an annual, community-based, arts and crafts festival in rural central Sweden. By examining the participation of a specific village community group in the organization of the festival, this paper sets out to explore links between the practices of organizing and the culture of a community group engaged in them.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research study was conducted over three annual cycles of the festival, and its methods reflected the author's position as both a tourist visitor to the festival and a volunteer participant. This paper presents a “thick-description” of the work of a single community volunteer group in the annual organization their village's festival contribution, based on observational and informal interview data from the author's position as a member of that group, and some of the photographic data gathered.

Findings

– The account presented in this paper offers an examination of the annual routines of a small village community group in organizing their contribution to the broader multi-site festival event observed in the research study. The introduction of anthropological concepts linked to ritual practices extends the understanding of organizing in this setting.

Originality/value

– A contribution to the development of an understanding of organizing in recurring, group-organized event settings through a detailed consideration of a micro-level ethnographic study data.
Decision-making as performative struggle
Authors: Merkus Sander , De Heer Jaap , Veenswijk Marcel
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of performative struggle through the use of an interpretative case story focussed on a strategic decision-making process concerning infrastructural development. Performativity is about “world-making” (Carteret al., 2010), based on the assumption that conceptual schemes are not only prescriptions of the world, for the practices flowing from these abstract ideas bring into being the world they are describing. The focus on agency and multiplicity in the academic debate on performativity in organizational settings are combined, resulting in the conceptualization of a multitude of performative agents struggling to make the world.

Design/methodology/approach

– The methodological approach of this paper is based on an interpretative analysis of contrasting narratives that are told by political-executives in a strategic decision-making process. These narratives are based on in-depth interviews and participant observation. The interpretative case story, exhibiting the strategic decision-making practices of Aldermen, Delegates and Ministers – focusses on the moments of performative struggle based on strategic narrative practices.

Findings

– The interpretative case story will exhibit the way in which a multiplicity of agents reflects on the performative dimension of the decision-making process, anticipates on its performative effects and attempts to manipulate the strategic vision that is actualized into reality. Moreover, the agents are not primarily concerned with the actualization of a specific infrastructural project; they are more concerned with the consequences of decision making for their more comprehensive strategic visions on reality.

Research limitations/implications

– The notion of performative struggle has not yet been explicitly studied by scholars focussing on performativity. However, the concept can be used as an appropriate lens for studying meaning making within ethnographic studies on organizational processes such as for instance culture change intervention and strategy formation. The concept of performative struggle is especially useful for understanding the political dimension of meaning making when studying an organizational life-world through the use of ethnographic research.

Originality/value

– The originality of this paper lies in the innovative conceptualization of struggle between a multiplicity of reflexive agents in the debate on performative world-making. Moreover, the incorporation of the perspective of performative struggle within organizational ethnographic research is valuable for the development of organizational ethnographic methodology.
The Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002
Authors: Lander Guy P.
Published: November 2014

The President has signed legislation, the “Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002”, (the “Act”) that amends the U.S. securities and other laws in significant ways. The law changes corporate governance, including the responsibilities of directors and officers; the regulation of accounting firms that audit public companies; corporate reporting; and enforcement. Many of the Act’s provisions will be enhanced by SEC rulemaking and, probably, by stock market listing standards as well. Generally, the Act applies to U.S. and non‐U.S. public companies that have registered securities (debt or equity) with the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Act is lengthy. The implications of the Act will not be fully known until the SEC adopts implementing rules and, thereafter, as interpretations develop, whether by the SEC or in litigation. This memorandum is a summary and not a complete description of the Act. It does not constitute legal advice for any particular situation.
Reporting up‐the‐ladder and the double negative
Authors: Anson Mark
Published: November 2014

On January 23, 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules to implement Section 307 of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act. Section 307 required the SEC to establish “standards of professional conduct for attorneys appearing and practicing before the Commission in any way in the representation of issuers”. The new regulations establish standards for when an attorney is required to report a material securities law violation “up the ladder” of a public corporation as well as providing criteria for a “noisy withdrawal” by a corporation’s attorney. We begin by reviewing the new regulations under Section 307. We then explore the nature of the “double‐negative” within the new regulations and their practical impact. Last we discuss some practical issues associated with “noisy” and “quiet” withdrawals.
Proxy voting: the rules and industry reaction
Authors: Hulick Victoria P.
Published: November 2014

In recent action, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules requiring SEC‐registered investment advisers (“investment advisers” or “advisers”) and registered management investment companies (“investment companies” or “mutual funds”) to adopt and disclose the policies and procedures they use to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities. In addition, investment advisers must disclose to clients how they can obtain information from the adviser on how their securities were voted and registered. Management investment companies must file with the Commission and make available to fund shareholders the specific proxy votes they cast.
Leasehold enfranchisement and graphs of relativity
Authors: Grover Richard
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine a device used in leasehold enfranchisement valuations known as the graph of relativity, which shows the percentage of the freehold value of a dwelling that a lease of a given unexpired term comprises. There are a number of such graphs in existence put forward by practitioners based on their experience and as a result of research but they contain different values. The paper explores why this might be the case and how this issue can be resolved.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper examines the literature on graphs of relativity and the various graphs that have been published and critically examines the methodologies behind them to see if these account for the differences between them.

Findings

– There are different methodologies that have been employed in producing the graphs, including transaction evidence, the opinions of practitioners, and tribunal decisions, and these may account for some of the differences. Many of the graphs are based upon relatively small samples, particularly at specific points on the graphs, so there are likely to be differences as a result of sampling errors. The graphs mix together properties with different characteristics, which could be a further source of variability.

Practical implications

– Further research is needed to produce a more definitive graph of relativity based on a larger sample of properties and that reflects the differences between properties.

Originality/value

– The paper challenges the notion that there is a single graph of relativity in which the length of the lease term remaining is the only significant variable and argues that there are likely to be multiple graphs of relativity that reflect the risks associated with investing in leasehold property.
How small family-owned businesses may compete with retail superstores
Authors: Dessi Cinzia , Ng Wilson , Floris Michela , Cabras Stefano
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the “perceptive concordance” – the proximity of perceptions of the business- between key managers and customers of two small family-owned and managed businesses (“FBs”) and two larger non-FBs in Cagliari, Italy as a preliminary basis for understanding how small retail businesses that are typically family owned have continued to compete and thrive in many Western European cities.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors asked how small FBs have been able to compete in an advanced European economy despite apparent competitive disadvantages relative to large superstores selling the same products. In addressing this question the authors drew on a qualitative research methodology in which the authors interviewed senior managers and surveyed customers of the four businesses and applied an original statistical model to assess the degree of their perceptive concordance with over 100 customers of each business.

Findings

– The study's findings suggest a significant difference between key managers and customers of the sampled FBs and non-FBs in the perceptive concordance of the respective businesses held by those managers and customers.

Research limitations/implications

– Based on the research in this study the authors have developed a number of scholarly and managerial implications in the way that both FBs and non-FBs may retain old customers and gain new ones by anticipating and not merely responding to their product and service preferences.

Originality/value

– This paper extends the literature on customer relations management (“CRM”) in FBs by explaining how small High Street FBs in competitive retail businesses have continued to thrive in Western Europe where owner-managers have developed and successfully leveraged their tacit knowledge of the requirements of repeat customers.
Vertical coopetition in entrepreneurial firms: theory and practice
Authors: Soppe Birthe , Lechner Christian , Dowling Michael
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate vertical interfirm relationships with direct competitors – also referred to as vertical “coopetition” – in entrepreneurial firms. Specifically, this study explores the reasons for why entrepreneurial firms engage in vertical coopetition and how they manage this particular type of interfirm relationship. The paper also shed light on the causes for termination of such delicate relational arrangements.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research design is exploratory. The paper analyze data collected by a survey that was specifically designed for this study. Based on the findings, the paper developed theoretical propositions specifying the conditions under which entrepreneurial firms engage in coopetition, how it is managed, and how it can be sustained.

Findings

– The findings show that coopetition is a ubiquitous phenomenon for entrepreneurial firms, and mainly arises out of a deliberate strategy. In contrast to large firms, entrepreneurial firms tend to manage coopetitive relationships in a central manner. Termination was common among firms facing high risk or when alternative strategies emerged.

Research limitations/implications

– This study provides a fundamental theoretical and evidence-based discussion of vertical coopetition in young firms. By doing so, the authors advance theory development, offer important insights for entrepreneurs seeking to benefit from intercompetitor linkages, and highlight promising avenues for future research.

Originality/value

– The paper makes several important contributions to the coopetition literature. The paper develop a definition of vertical coopetition and study the unique aspects associated with it. In contrast to most previous research in this area, the paper focus on entrepreneurial firms. The evidence-based analysis contributes to a better understanding of the reasons for entrepreneurial firms entering and terminating coopetitive arrangements as well as how they manage these types of collaborations. The paper develops theoretical propositions and generate novel insights into the dynamics and issues that arise with coopetition in entrepreneurial firms.
A comprehensive model of business social responsibility (BSR) for small scale enterprises in Indian context
Authors: Chahal Hardeep , Mishra Sanjay , Raina Swati , Soni Tarun
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to develop comprehensive model of business social responsibility (BSR) for small-scale enterprises (SSEs) in Indian Context.

Design/methodology/approach

– The data were collected from 156 SSE owners/managers using snowball sampling method, operating in three industrial estates namely: Bari Brahmana, Gangyal and Digiana, Jammu, North India.

Findings

– The three-step procedure based on exploratory factor analysis (EFA), item/reliability analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were undertaken to establish the multidimensionality of BSR scale. The empirical results identify five BSR dimensions in SSEs – local community, employees, environment, suppliers and customers.

Research limitations/implications

– The major limitation of the study relates with data collection from only owners’/managers’ perspective, which might have resulted in biased perceptions.

Practical implications

– This study has direct practical implications for owners’ actions in relation to establishing BSR culture and orientation in SSEs. Besides, SSE owners/managers can also be benefited from the study's findings through their increased awareness on the activities that contribute to corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

Originality/value

– The study is based on extant research gap in the literature on significance of CSR practices for SSEs in emerging countries context. This study contributes to existing research on CSR by developing a better understanding of the role of owners in establishing BSR culture in the SSEs.
The use of internships to foster employability, enterprise and entrepreneurship in the IT sector
Authors: Galloway Laura , Marks Abigail , Chillas Shiona
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to report a study of the role of internships for IT students and for the IT sector. The contribution of internships for career-readiness, and for the development of existing IT organisations and the creation of new ones is explored.

Design/methodology/approach

– Surveys of interns and managers from host firms were conduced, followed by in-depth interviews with six interns and five organisations.

Findings

– Internships are useful for increasing enterprise and employability skills and commercial awareness for IT students. IT organisations also benefit in that internships are used to recruit fresh talent. Findings regarding entrepreneurship were disappointing, with little reportage of ambitions to create new firms, nor awareness of the high likelihood of self-employed contractual work in the sector.

Research limitations/implications

– Implications for research include that self-employment and business ownership are not always “successful” entrepreneurial outcomes born of agency. This requires further study.

Practical implications

– Development of opportunities for experiential, real-world learning for IT students is implied, as is increased educational focus on employability and enterprise skills to best advantage students for the realities of employment in IT. There is a strong suggestion that much more needs to be done in terms of encouraging entrepreneurship.

Originality/value

– The paper reports the potentials of internships to interns and to organisations, and through combining these perspectives, provides comment on the utility of internships for the IT sector as a competitive, opportunity-rich global industry.
What matters in business incubation? A literature review and a suggestion for situated theorising
Authors: Theodorakopoulos Nicholas , K. Kakabadse Nada , McGowan Carmel
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to provide a critical assessment of the literature on business incubation effectiveness and second, to submit a situated theoretical perspective on how business incubation management can provide an environment that supports the development of incubatee entrepreneurs and their businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper provides a narrative critical assessment of the literature on business incubation effectiveness. Definitional issues, performance aspects and approaches to establishing critical success factors in business incubation are discussed. Business incubation management is identified as an overarching factor for theorising on business incubation effectiveness.

Findings

– The literature on business incubation effectiveness suffers from several deficiencies, including definitional incongruence, descriptive accounts, fragmentation and lack of strong conceptual grounding. Notwithstanding the growth of research on this domain, understanding of how entrepreneurs and their businesses develop within the business incubator environment remains limited. Given the importance of relational, intangible factors in business incubation and the critical role of business incubation management in orchestrating and optimising such factors, it is suggested that theorising efforts would benefit from a situated perspective.

Originality/value

– The identification of specific shortcomings in the literature on business incubation highlights the need for more systematic efforts towards theory building. It is suggested that focusing on the role of business incubation management from a situated learning theory perspective can lend itself to a more profound understanding of the development process of incubatee entrepreneurs and their firms. Theoretical propositions are offered to this effect, as well as avenues for future research.
Exploring the impact of interface signs’ interpretation accuracy, design, and evaluation on web usability
Authors: Nazrul Islam Muhammad , Tétard Franck
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this empirical study was to address two important concerns of Web usability: how user-intuitive interface signs affect Web usability and how applying semiotics (i.e. the doctrine of signs) in user interface (UI) design and evaluation helps to improve usability.

Design/methodology/approach

– An empirical research approach is followed here to conduct three user tests. These tests were conducted on a Web application with 17 test participants. Data were gathered through laboratory-based think-aloud usability test, questionnaires and interviews. Following an empirical research approach, statistics and user behavior analysis were used to analyze the data.

Findings

– This study explores two important concerns of UI design and evaluation. First, users’ interpretation accuracy of interface signs impact on Web usability. The study found that users’ interpretation of signs might be accurate, moderate, conflicting, erroneous or incapable; user-intuitive interface signs led participants to interpret signs’ meaning accurately; and users’ inaccurate interpretation of one or a few task-related interface sign(s) led users to usability problems, resulting in participants performing tasks with lower task-completion performance. Second, considering semiotics perception in UI design and evaluation is important to improve Web usability. This study showed that interface signs, when re-designed considering the semiotics guidelines, have increased the end-users’ interpretation accuracy and the interface signs’ intuitiveness. This study also provides a small set of semiotics guidelines for sign design and evaluation.

Originality/value

– This study empirically demonstrated that signs’ intuitiveness impact on Web usability and that considering the semiotics perception in sign design and evaluation is important to improve Web usability. These outcomes are valuable in a number of ways to HCI researchers and practitioners: the results provide awareness of the importance of user-intuitive interface signs in UI design; practitioners can easily adopt the concept of interpretation accuracy classification to conduct a sign test to obtain an “overall impression of interface signs’ intuitiveness”; practitioners can easily adopt the methodological approach followed in this study to conduct usability test without additional resources; and the results raised important fundamental questions for future research such as “what does a practitioner need to be aware of when designing or evaluating interface signs?”
Building trust by signaling trustworthiness in service retail
Authors: Kharouf Husni , J. Lund Donald , Sekhon Harjit
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of retailer trustworthiness in driving customer trust and the subsequent impact on loyalty. The authors position trustworthiness as a mediator in the link between retail strategies and the development of trust. They model customer loyalty to the service retailer as a function of the trust created through trustworthy perceptions.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors validate their model using 420 survey responses from customers in a service retail setting. Nine research hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Alternate models are estimated, and the results provide support for the theory-based trustworthiness mediation model.

Findings

– Trustworthy behaviors first build trustworthiness, which then translates into customer trust and ultimately has a positive impact on both behavioral and attitudinal loyalty.

Research limitations/implications

– The research highlights the importance for retailers to signal their trustworthiness to build customer trust and loyalty. Researchers should measure trustworthiness perceptions when examining customer relationships and managers should plan strategically to develop both trust and trustworthiness with their customers.

Originality/value

– This study is one of the first to investigate the mediating effect of trustworthiness on customer loyalty in service settings. While past research has investigated dimensions of trustworthy behaviors, none has included a measure of trustworthiness perceptions and consumer trust in the same theoretical model. The results of the research provide important insights for both researchers and managers.
Recommendations as personalized marketing: insights from customer experiences
Authors: Shen Anyuan
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is an exploratory study of customers’ “lived” experiences of commercial recommendation services to better understand customer expectations for personalization with recommendation agents. Recommendation agents programmed to “learn” customer preferences and make personalized recommendations of products and services are considered a useful tool for targeting customers individually. Some leading service firms have developed proprietary recommender systems in the hope that personalized recommendations could engage customers, increase satisfaction and sharpen their competitive edge. However, personalized recommendations do not always deliver customer satisfaction. More often, they lead to dissatisfaction, annoyance or irritation.

Design/methodology/approach

– The critical incident technique is used to analyze customer satisfactory or dissatisfactory incidents collected from online group discussion participants and bloggers to develop a classification scheme.

Findings

– A classification scheme with 15 categories is developed, each illustrated with satisfactory incidents and dissatisfactory incidents, defined in terms of an underlying customer expectation, typical instances of satisfaction and dissatisfaction and, when possible, conditions under which customers are likely to have such an expectation. Three pairs of themes emerged from the classification scheme. Six tentative research propositions were introduced.

Research limitations/implications

– Findings from this exploratory research should be regarded as preliminary. Besides, content validity of the categories and generalizability of the findings should be subject to future research.

Practical implications

– Research findings have implications for identifying priorities in developing algorithms and for managing personalization more strategically.

Originality/value

– This research explores response to personalization from a customer’s perspective.
Cultural values in financial services advertising: a cross-cultural study of magazine ads in the USA and Korea
Authors: Song Young-A. , Ahn Hongmin , Sung Yongjun
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to examine whether culture impacts the execution of financial services advertising (FSA). Specifically, this study investigates how cultural values are reflected in FSA by comparing magazine ads in the USA and Korea.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study analyzed the content of a total of 1,889 (USA = 1,486; Korea = 403) FSA in print business/news magazines from 2005 to 2009.

Findings

– The finding of this study showed significant cultural differences of FSA in terms of collectivism, high and low cultural contexts, human models/celebrity presence and time orientation between the USA and Korea. However, the difference in individualistic cues between the USA and Korea was not significant.

Research limitations/implications

– Using the integration of multiple cultural frameworks will better explain cultural differences reflected in marketing communication in the financial services (FS) sector. Future research is needed to generalize how such frameworks are reflected in different settings, such as different media or different countries.

Practical implications

– The findings of this study suggest that FSA reflect cultural values, providing further implications for FS companies targeting the global market.

Originality/value

– This study extends the understanding of impact of cultural values on advertising by exploring the FS industry.
Customers helping customers: payoffs for linking customers
Authors: G. Black Hulda , H. Vincent Leslie , J. Skinner Steven
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to examine the relationship between customer networks and intercustomer social support, through the theoretical lens of service dominant logic (SDL). Co-creation and objective performance objectives are analyzed to understand the differential impact of instrumental and social/emotional intercustomer support on performance.

Design/methodology/approach

– A combination of survey and secondary data were collected within a health-club setting to test hypotheses. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings

– A customer’s network ties positively impact his/her intercustomer support perceptions, and this relationship is moderated by tie strength. Further, instrumental support impacts objective performance measures, while social/emotional has a greater impact on affective outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

– As customers become more connected, it is in the interest of the organization to capitalize on these connections. Future research should investigate what types of programming and marketing can directly enhance the number and types of connections customers form with others.

Practical implications

– Service organizations can benefit by fostering environments where customers connect with each other. These connections need not be at a high level; simple, informational connections prove to benefit the organization.

Originality/value

– The present research is designed to add to the research on intercustomer support in the service literature. This study investigates network-level antecedents of intercustomer support. Further, this research connects intercustomer support to objective (firm-reported) measures of performance. Last, this research examines intercustomer support through the lens of SDL and investigates its impact on co-creation outcomes.
China’s research and development system in an international environment
Authors: Pérez Calle Elio
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of the paper is to analyse the current status of the Chinese research and development (R&D) system in a global environment, compared to those of other nations.

Design/methodology/approach

– Extracting meaningful information from organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD) (research intensity), Thomson Reuters (research output), UNESCO and cross-border education research team (C-BERT) (mobility) databases and analysing de facto international standards such as university rankings, the Chinese system is compared to those of other scientific powers (the world top expenders in R&D such as the USA, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and some European nations), both using absolute production values and those relative to the productivity of the R&D workforce, so a general view of such a system is offered to complement previous analyses.

Findings

– A rather utilitarian approach to R&D policy, linked to economic growth, with a strong role of a Government-backed industry and based on applied R&D rather than on basic science, is found. The emergence of China as a scientific power relies heavily on a small number of institutions and efficiency becomes the priority, as confirmed by the growing presence of Chinese universities in university rankings – which is linked to some internationalisation efforts – and by the quantitative analysis of science and technology macro-indicators. Nevertheless, those results still remain modest when the overall size of the Chinese R&D system is considered.

Originality/value

– A general view of the Chinese system is offered in this study by combining both the analysis of the inputs of the Chinese R&D (in a internationally comparable way) system and outputs (up to international standards).
Cloud computing: information professionals’ and educational technology experts’ perspectives
Authors: Aharony Noa
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and personal characteristics such as threat and challenge, self-efficacy and openness to experience, explain information professionals’ and educational technology experts’ perspectives about cloud computing. In addition, the study will investigate any differences between these two tech-savvy groups concerning cloud computing adoption.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research was conducted in Israel during the second semester of the 2013 academic year. Researchers used seven questionnaires to gather the data.

Findings

– The current study found that the behavioral intention to use cloud computing was impacted by perceived ease of use and personal innovativeness. Further, the study demonstrated that respondents’ intentions to use cloud computing are affected by personal characteristics such as threat and challenge, self-efficacy, and openness to experience. In addition, it seems that each group has a different perspective about technology.

Originality/value

– Findings reveal that newest technologies are not the main focus of information professionals. Therefore, if information organizations directors would like their employees to enhance their use of technological innovations, they should expose them to the latest technologies, emphasizing their usefulness, ease of use, and benefits.
Attitude of the Rudjer Boškovic Institute’s scientists to the small screen mobile devices library services
Authors: Pažur Ivana
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to get an insight in users’ opinion on library resources/services on small screen mobile devices. Objectives were to establish which types of small screen mobile devices are used and to find out is there a tendency for using academic and educational contents on such devices. Furthermore, aim was to identify whether the users need mobile friendly library web site and services at all. Also, what library resources/services and to what extent respondents consider as the important ones for mobile friendly customization. Finally the results would serve as an orientation in building mobile friendly library web site and services. The author believed that the users were still unaware of the possibility of accessing library web sites and services through mobile devices in general; therefore, this survey also had a role of raising awareness and stimulating their interest.

Design/methodology/approach

– The survey was focussed on small screen mobile devices with screen size up to seven inches (17.1 cm). Data collection was performed through a questionnaire containing ten questions. The questionnaire was created by LimeSurvey tool, and for mobile optimized version SurveyMonkey.com service was used too. The authors received 295 questionnaires, out of which 285 were taken into account.

Findings

– The survey found that the largest number of respondents own smartphone/tablet/phablet. The results show that small screen devices are, to some extent, used for educational, academic and informational purposes (reading of e-books and e-journals, education, data checking, internet searching and searching of handy information), but non-academic purposes still predominate (texting, reading e-mails, phone calls, taking pictures). Overall 64 percent of the respondents has expressed need for small screen mobile devices customized library resources/services, but there are 30 percent of undecided respondents. Croatian Scientific Bibliography, e-journals database (EZB), online databases, contact information and lecture halls reservations, has been resources/services requested by respondents to be available in a mobile friendly mode.

Originality/value

– The survey examines users’ opinion on a new library service before its implementation. Besides giving us a precise insight into the Rudjer Bošković Institute library users’ interest and needs for mobile friendly customization of existing library resource/service, survey gives a unique insight into the correlation of age and gender of the respondents and their answers to the question about having a small screen mobile device and opinion about the customization of library resources and services. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first users’ survey on this topic in Croatia.
Makers in the library: case studies of 3D printers and maker spaces in library settings
Authors: Michele Moorefield-Lang Heather
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of 3D printing and maker spaces in various library settings. Insights, challenges, successes, projects as well as recommendations will be shared. Commonalities across libraries 3D printing technologies and maker space learning areas will also explored.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper delves into six case studies of librarians that have implemented 3D printers and/or maker spaces in their libraries. The case studies focus on libraries at three different levels: school, public, and higher education with two case studies from each type. The author of this paper will describe the cases, projects, challenges, successes, along with other aspects of 3D printer, and maker space integration.

Findings

– 3D printing and maker spaces, while very popular in the field of librarianship can be incredibly exciting to implement but they come with challenges and successes just like any type of new technology. Librarians have to be fearless in implementing this technology, willing to learn on their feet, and be excited to explore.

Originality/value

– At this time most publications on 3D printing are held in the realm of popular publications (blogs, magazines, zines, etc.). Very little has been written on a wider range of case studies where 3D printers and maker spaces have been integrated into libraries of various types. This paper sets the foundation for further exploration in how 3D printing and maker spaces could be a part of library services.
Multi-entity models of resource description in the Semantic Web
Authors: Baker Thomas , Coyle Karen , Petiya Sean
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The 1998 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) document “Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records” (FRBR) has inspired a family of models that view bibliographic resources in terms of multiple entities differentiated with regard to meaning, expression, and physicality. The purpose of this paper is to compare how three FRBR and FRBR-like models have been expressed as Semantic Web vocabularies based on Resource Description Framework (RDF). The paper focusses on IFLA’s own vocabulary for FRBR; RDF vocabularies for Resource Description and Access (RDA), an emergent FRBR-based standard for library cataloging; and BIBFRAME, an emergent FRBR-like, native-RDF standard for bibliographic data.

Design/methodology/approach

– Simple test records using the RDF vocabularies were analyzed using software that supports inferencing.

Findings

– In some cases, what the data actually means appears to differ from what the vocabulary developers presumably intended to mean. Data based on the FRBR vocabulary appears particularly difficult to integrate with data based on different models.

Practical implications

– Some of the RDF vocabularies reviewed in the paper could usefully be simplified, enabling libraries to integrate their data more easily into the wider information ecosystem on the Web. Requirements for data consistency and quality control could be met by emergent standards of the World Wide Web Consortium for validating RDF data according to integrity constraints.

Originality/value

– There are few such comparisons of the RDF expressions of these models, which are widely assumed to represent the future of library cataloging.
Development of marketing capabilities scale in banking sector
Authors: Chahal Hardeep , Kaur Jagmeet
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of the study is to develop, measure and empirically validate marketing capabilities (MARKCAPB) scale in banking sector.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data are collected from a branch manager and three next senior managers of 144 branches of 21 public and 7 private banks operating in Jammu city, North India.

Findings

– The study finds that marketing capabilities are of multi-dimensional scale, comprising three dimensions – outside-in, inside-out and spanning. Further, the study results demonstrate that all three dimensions are significantly related to marketing capabilities; with outside-in capabilities to be most strongly associated with marketing capabilities development followed by inside-out and spanning dimensions.

Research limitations/implications

– The study focused on only operational perspective of marketing capabilities to develop a reliable and valid measurement scale. Hence, developing marketing capabilities scale from remaining three perspectives – intellectual capital, marketing mix and competition would prove to be an interesting line of future research. Second, as marketing capabilities scale is developed and tested in banks, that too, in a single city of a country (India), it becomes important to examine whether the same scale can be applied to different sectors and countries. Moreover, future research could be carried on at identifying various antecedents that facilitate the development of marketing capabilities.

Originality/value

– This is the first study of this type that contributes to the development of multi-dimensional scale of marketing capabilities in banking sector in Indian context. The study provides banks’ managers with the deeper understanding of how to develop and establish marketing capabilities in an organisation. Besides, it also put light on the significant role of outside-in, inside-out and spanning capabilities that facilitate the managers in enhancing financial performance by focusing on varied sub dimensions such as relationship, regularity, communication (outside-in), Web technology and employee bonding (inside-out), advertising, pricing and product/service skills (spanning).
Analyzing supplier development program enablers using fuzzy DEMATEL
Authors: Routroy Srikanta , Sunil Kumar C.V.
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to identify, quantify and establish relationship (i.e. cause and effect) among various supplier development program enablers (SDPEs) in a specific manufacturing environment.

Design/methodology/approach

– The proposed methodology runs into four phases, i.e. defining supplier development program (SDP) environment, identifying relevant SDPEs, collecting experts’ qualitative opinions regarding SDPEs and analyzing the SDPEs using Fuzzy DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory). The fourth phase is programmed using Matlab 7.10.0 (R2010a). The proposed methodology is implemented in an Indian manufacturing company and the results are analyzed to provide directions for the company while implementing SDPs.

Findings

– The proposed methodology leads to the ranking of SDPEs, classification of SDPEs into cause and effect groups and establishment of interactions for each SDPE using impact relationship map. Of the 20 SDPEs considered in the analysis, “top management commitment” and “mutual visits by competent personnel from both sides” are the two most important SDPEs for implementing SDP in an Indian manufacturing company taken as a case study. The outcomes are verified by consulting the said company’s experts and their validity is confirmed.

Research limitations/implications

– Because the results obtained are specific to a manufacturing environment, they cannot be generalized. However, the proposed approach can be adopted for analyzing SDPEs in any manufacturing environment, provided the set of SDPEs is selected considering its priorities.

Practical implications

– The proposed methodology will identify the SDPEs to be managed for successful implementation of SDPs.

Originality/value

– The proposed methodology has the capability to rank the SDPEs and their interrelationships. This will definitely help supply chain managers to precisely choose and manipulate the SDPEs for successful implementation of SDP.
Firm newness, product novelty and aesthetic failure
Authors: O. Laplume André , K. Srivastava Manish
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine product failures in the consumer technology products industry to explain why some firms experience more aesthetic-related failures than others.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study uses a unique data set of failed high technology consumer products identified by expert product reviewers of 75 online magazines during 2000-2010. The variables are constructed using two coders as well as using an automated content analysis process based on the information provided in the online product reviews. The study tests a hypothesis using multilevel logistic regression techniques on a sample of 606 product reviews of 323 products associated with 171 firms.

Findings

– The study demonstrates that older firms are much more susceptible than younger firms to suffer from aesthetic-related product failures when they pursue product innovations that are new for them. Likewise, older firms suffer fewer aesthetics-related product failures than younger firms when they exploit products that well known to them.

Originality/value

– The study is highly novel in its research setting and empirical approach, and brings valuable insights for researchers and managers regarding challenges associated with aesthetic innovations for young and old firms.