bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Second Circuit rules securities fraud claim of mutual fund shareholders relating to affiliated transfer agent arrangements may proceed, but upholds dismissal of breach of fiduciary duty claim
Authors: Dodds William K. , Vargo Brian S.
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explain a February 2010 US Second Circuit Court decision in Operating Local 649 Annuity Trust Fund v. Smith Barney Fund Management LLC that supported fund investor plaintiffs who alleged that fund advisors accepted undisclosed compensation from a transfer agent to the funds, but affirmed a district court dismissal of a shareholder claim alleging breach of fiduciary duty under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explains the background to the Second Circuit Court decision, including the advisors' hiring of a transfer agent, the advisors' creation of their own shareholder affiliate, the advisors' alleged concealing from shareholders of critical aspects of the new transfer agent affiliate's subcontracting arrangements with original transfer agent, and the earlier District Court decision.

Findings

The Court's opinion emphasized the fiduciary duty and disclosure obligations of investment advisers to mutual funds, noting that CAM, acting through SBFM, owed a “duty of ‘uncompromising fidelity’ and ‘undivided loyalty’ to Funds' shareholders.” The Court agreed with the district court that Section 36(b) does not permit the plaintiffs to seek damages that “inure to their own benefit and not to the Funds'”. As a result, the Court affirmed the District Court's holding that the Section 36(b) claim must be brought derivatively.

Practical implications

This case is a reminder that when proposing to provide a service “in‐house” a fund adviser should have a solid business rationale for doing so and should engage in a full dialogue with the fund's board regarding the proposal. Failure to disclose material information regarding such an arrangement could be significant in the context of a Section 36(b) claim, as well as a claim under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Originality/value

The paper provides practical guidance from experienced financial services lawyers.
Governance: a review and synthesis of the literature
Authors: Ruhanen Lisa , Scott Noel , Ritchie Brent , Tkaczynski Aaron
Published: November 2010

Purpose

Despite the proliferation of the governance concept in the broader academic literature, there is little agreement on definitions, scope and what actually constitutes governance. This is arguably due to the fact that empirical research on the topic, with some exceptions, is generally limited to case studies without use of any common conceptual framework. This is certainly the case in other fields of study and is becoming increasingly obvious in tourism research also. Therefore, the purpose of the paper is to explore and synthesize the governance literature with the objective of identifying the key elements and dimensions of governance.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the two “parent” bodies of literature originating in the political sciences and corporate management fields of study, the paper provides a review and synthesis of the governance concept with the objective of identifying the primary elements and factors that have been employed in studies of governance to date.

Findings

A review of 53 published governance studies identified 40 separate dimensions of governance. From this review, the six most frequently included governance dimensions were: accountability, transparency, involvement, structure, effectiveness and power.

Originality/value

A synthesis of the governance literature has not been undertaken to date, either in the tourism literature or in other fields of study, and in doing so the authors provide a basis for tourism researchers to draw on a set of comparable conceptual dimensions in future research. Comparable dimensions which can be replicated and tested in empirical research will add additional depth and rigor to studies in this field.
Analysing tourism stakeholders networks
Authors: Presenza Angelo , Cipollina Maria
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the variety of relations existing in tourism networks, identified as complex and mutable entities, where a vast range of stakeholders coexist.

Design/methodology/approach

After a deep review on stakeholder theory, the research applies techniques of network analysis to a case study. Specifically, the analysis focuses on 354 hospitality firms acting in Molise Region (Italy). Each operator was asked to judge the importance to collaborate with other stakeholders to enhance the effectiveness of their management and marketing activities. The answers highlight the degree of preference among stakeholders and the resulting information is the level of confidence in the network.

Findings

Results confirm the importance of intensifying relationships between tourism companies themselves and between them and policy makers. It appears that public stakeholders are more important for both management and marketing activities than private sector, since they place a much higher position in the scale of preference.

Research limitations/implications

The paper provides a starting‐point for further research about non‐quantitative destination performance measurement, such as trust and commitment between the stakeholders in tourism destination, and the use of network analysis' techniques.

Practical implications

Destination managers and policy‐makers may use techniques of network analysis to elaborate useful information for planning and managing the relationships inside the tourism network.

Originality/value

The paper offers a novel approach for developing network analysis in tourism network literature. It explores non‐quantitative destination performance measurements and uses management and marketing activities to analyze relationships between public and private stakeholders.
Park visitors' perceptions of governance: a comparison between Ontario and British Columbia provincial parks management models
Authors: Buteau‐Duitschaever Windekind C. , McCutcheon Bonnie , Eagles Paul F.J. , Havitz M.E. , Glover Troy D.
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to compare visitor perspectives of the governance of two of Canada's largest park systems: the parastatal model of Ontario Provincial Parks and the public and for‐profit combination model of British Columbia Provincial Parks.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors developed an electronic survey based on the ten UNDP criteria of governance: strategic vision, accountability, transparency, consensus‐orientation, public participation, efficiency, effectiveness, responsiveness, equity, and rule of law. The survey was administered to park visitors for both park systems in the summer of 2008 and spring of 2009 (British Columbia Provincial Parks n=112, Ontario Provincial Parks n=255).

Findings

Researchers determined that the ten governance sections of the survey actually form 11 governance factors. Data suggested statistically significant differences in regards to the visitors' perceptions between the two park systems. Specifically, visitors to Ontario Parks ranked all 11 criteria of governance higher, closer towards good governance, than did visitors to British Columbia Parks (p<0.001).

Practical implications

These results suggest that the Ontario Parks parastatal model is closer to the ideals of good governance as perceived by the park users, when compared to the British Columbia parks' public and for‐profit combination model. This paper also provides future policy makers with a new understanding of the multiple factors that affect visitors experience and perceptions of protected areas.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies to investigate visitors' perceptions of two commonly used protected area management models. These research findings contribute to the debate regarding which protected area management model is superior when compared using the UNDP governance criteria.
Improving tourism destination governance: a complexity science approach
Authors: Baggio Rodolfo , Scott Noel , Cooper Chris
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The growing interest in complexity science as a framework for understanding social and economic systems has had, in recent times, an influence on the study of tourism destinations. This paper aims to describe this approach and discuss its theoretical and methodological implications in terms of destination governance.

Design/methodology/approach

Traditional research has adopted a reductionist approach to modelling tourist destinations: variables and relationships are embedded in simplified linear models that explain observed phenomena and allow implications for management or forecasting of future behaviours. In comparison, this paper adopts an adaptive management approach. Rather than imposing lines of action to force the evolutionary path of a system, the effect of different management actions are modelled, producing experimental results that provide information about the system that is being managed, and used to refine strategies and governance styles. Complex systems provide a theoretical framework in which this adaptive philosophy is naturally embedded. After a brief overview of the complexity framework, the paper discusses its validity and applicability to the study of tourism systems by using a set of network analysis methods and numerical simulations.

Findings

This paper discusses a new perspective useful for the study of tourism destination governance, providing insights into its organisational structure and dynamic behaviour.

Originality/value

The paper proposes a philosophy and practical toolset to analyse and understand a tourism destination and the relationships between its stakeholders. It discusses the implications of this new approach with regard to the governance methods.
Roles and opinions of primary and secondary stakeholders within community‐type destinations
Authors: Franch Mariangela , Martini Umberto , Buffa Federica
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify primary and secondary stakeholders for the development of community‐type destinations and to analyse how the difference in power characterizes them with regards to how they value specific rules and how they estimate trust and control in the destinations. From this analysis it is possible to draw useful indicators for the definition of the destination governance.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the form of a literature review and field research. The literature review considers network approach and stakeholder approach in order to analyse the actors involved in the tourist offer (size of the network and characteristics of the nodes) and their influence reputation for identifying primary and secondary stakeholders within the destination. The field research is carried out in two community‐type destinations in the Alps. In both destinations, tourism is the main economic activity, as it involves a multiplicity of public and private stakeholders; the two destinations do differ for some important factors, like the kind of DMOs and the path of tourism development.

Findings

The research identifies and investigates primary and secondary stakeholders within community‐type destinations and their opinions about the involvement of public and private actors for the development of the destinations and their judgements regarding trust and control.

Research limitations/implications

Results are limited to two community‐type destinations.

Originality/value

The research adopts an innovative methodology to identify primary and secondary stakeholder of community‐type destinations and highlights some indicators for the definition of the destination governance (e.g. level of community participations, role of private and public actors, influence of trust and control).
Supporting distributed team working in 3D virtual worlds: a case study in Second Life
Authors: Minocha Shailey , Morse David R.
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on a study into how a three‐dimensional (3D) virtual world (Second Life) can facilitate socialisation and team working among students working on a team project at a distance. This models the situation in many commercial sectors where work is increasingly being conducted across time zones and between multiple teams. Collaboration in these geographically distributed teams is virtual rather than through face‐to‐face interactions. The paper investigates how a virtual world such as Second Life compares to other collaboration tools such as instant messaging or Skype; and the challenges that students experience in becoming acquainted with and working in Second Life.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper has employed a qualitative research methodology involving data collection through group interviews, epistolary (email) interviews and semi‐structured individual interviews. The data have been analysed by applying the inductive analysis technique.

Findings

The analysis is presented through answers to questions which educators may have about the effectiveness of virtual worlds in supporting collaboration in virtual teams.

Research limitations/implications

The paper highlights the pedagogical role of 3D virtual worlds in supporting communication, team working and community building. The methodology will be of interest to researchers in the area of virtual worlds as there is little guidance in the literature about how to evaluate student experiences of these environments.

Practical implications

The research reported in this paper is timely and significant in view of current business scenarios such as the challenges of a globally distributed work‐place, the need to offer training to develop employees' skills of working in distributed environments and to meet changing market needs. Furthermore, the research will support the development of a coordinated response to the Leitch review of skills in the UK, which identified issues of resource‐intensive travel, global warming and the need for businesses to be seen as “green” for customer attraction and retention.

Originality/value

The paper discusses the role of 3D virtual worlds in supporting student team projects involving students who are geographically dispersed. The sense of visual presence and of place in a 3D world can make socialising in a virtual world, a more “human” experience than in 2D environments such as web sites, e‐mail, wikis and blogs, and even phone or video‐conferencing. The research reported in this paper could enhance uptake of 3D virtual worlds by organisations facing the challenges of facilitating socialisation and knowledge sharing in a distributed workforce.
New technologies in Portugal: regular middle and high school
Authors: Florentino Teresa , Sánchez Lucas , Joyanes Luís
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to elaborate upon the relation between information and communication technologies (ICT), particularly web‐based resources, and their use, programs and learning in Portuguese middle and high regular public schools.

Design/methodology/approach

Adding collected documentation on curriculum, laws and other related articles; the paper also includes statistical information based on collected data from questionnaires carried out in some main Lisbon parishes. The students and teachers universe in Portugal are about 110,420 people for regular public middle and high schools. In total, 1,120 questionnaires were collected and treated as samples.

Findings

According to the questionnaires, technologies are quite accepted in schools. Use and quantity of resources restrain learning evolution with recent technologies. Combining theoretical knowledge and on‐field perceptions, analysis and evaluation leads to the conclusion that there are some evident discrepancies when ICT is analyzed across the curriculum, with quantities and use of ICT resources. Web‐based technologies seem to be insufficient inside schools and their use is low.

Practical implications

Including and adapting ICT with programs and curriculum are goals to reach in the years to come. Better understanding of ICT equipment and use in Portuguese public schools for middle and high levels.

Originality/value

There are only few or rare questionnaires related to ICT in Portugal and this kind of research should be more frequent and comparing with other countries and situations. Recently, some studies were carried out on e‐learning subjects. This paper can help educational entities better understand perceptions, gaps and directions to go in the future.
Reaching the hard places
Authors: Quinn Diana
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine current approaches to teaching used in academic development services and consider the diversity of their learners (academic faculty). Faculty engagement with teaching issues and innovations remains a concern for the higher education sector. The academic population contains large numbers of “hard to get at” people, struggling with workload and access issues.

Design/methodology/approach

An additional online resource for academic development, called In a nutshell, has been developed and trialed for three years in a variety of contexts. These resources incorporate voices into concise online presentations with links to further resources. Academic viewers can, in private, participate and make informed decisions about whether they need to learn more about a topic, or not.

Findings

A measurable improvement in faculty engagement with teaching issues and innovations has been detected that can be directly and indirectly attributed to this change in academic development approach. Usage data and user feedback supports the hypothesis that In a nutshells have had an impact on adult learners. Requests by faculty to collaborate on the production of new In a nutshells also indicate engagement. Positive changes in teaching and learning performance indicators are supportive.

Research limitations/implications

The study provides evidence to support the use of concise, flexible and asynchronous online approaches as components of a structured academic development program that provides mandated and non‐mandated learning opportunities for university faculty. The addition of this approach can increase the reach of academic development to include those who can be traditionally hard to reach such as sessional faculty, workplace supervisors and time‐poor, full‐time academics. The concept has recently been extended to create concise learning support that engages and empowers new students to develop new skills.

Practical implications

A streaming server and software is required. Multiple versions of the material are created to ensure accessibility. The time commitment required to invest in initial production of high‐quality product is high; however, this is counter‐balanced by the re‐usability and outreach of the approach.

Originality/value

Partial alignment of learning design and user feedback to an inclusive adult motivation framework indicates that although In a nutshells do meet most requirements of the framework, complementary activities that build the competence of faculty are needed to be linked to In a nutshells to ensure that all targeted adults are motivated to learn.
Topic‐based web site summarization
Authors: Zhang Yongzheng , Milios Evangelos , Zincir‐Heywood Nur
Published: November 2010

Purpose

Summarization of an entire web site with diverse content may lead to a summary heavily biased towards the site's dominant topics. The purpose of this paper is to present a novel topic‐based framework to address this problem.

Design/methodology/approach

A two‐stage framework is proposed. The first stage identifies the main topics covered in a web site via clustering and the second stage summarizes each topic separately. The proposed system is evaluated by a user study and compared with the single‐topic summarization approach.

Findings

The user study demonstrates that the clustering‐summarization approach statistically significantly outperforms the plain summarization approach in the multi‐topic web site summarization task. Text‐based clustering based on selecting features with high variance over web pages is reliable; outgoing links are useful if a rich set of cross links is available.

Research limitations/implications

More sophisticated clustering methods than those used in this study are worth investigating. The proposed method should be tested on web content that is less structured than organizational web sites, for example blogs.

Practical implications

The proposed summarization framework can be applied to the effective organization of search engine results and faceted or topical browsing of large web sites.

Originality/value

Several key components are integrated for web site summarization for the first time, including feature selection and link analysis, key phrase and key sentence extraction. Insight into the contributions of links and content to topic‐based summarization was gained. A classification approach is used to minimize the number of parameters.
Towards flexible and lightweight integration of web applications by end‐user programming
Authors: Han Hao , Tokuda Takehiro
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a method to realize the flexible and lightweight integration of general web applications.

Design/methodology/approach

The information extraction and functionality emulation method are proposed to realize the web information integration for the general web applications. All the processes of web information searching, submitting and extraction are run at client‐side by end‐user programming like a real web service.

Findings

The implementation shows that the required programming techniques are within the abilities of general web users, and without needing to write too many programs.

Originality/value

A Java‐based class package was developed for web information searching/submitting/extraction, which users can integrate easily with the general web applications.
“Adjustment” of the independent expatriate – a case study of Doug
Authors: McKenna Steve
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the idea of expatriate adjustment through naturally occurring data. Specifically, through an investigation of three e‐mails sent to the author by a friend, Doug, the paper explores the notion that adjustment is a fluid concept and that through qualitative research methods it is possible to appreciate the expatriate experience in the context of an expatriate's “whole life” of experiences. This is in contrast to positivist approaches to the study of adjustment which offer limited snapshots of adjustment at particular moments in time.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper investigates three e‐mails sent by Doug to the author. The e‐mails constitute a form of naturally occurring data, and through forms of narrative analysis the e‐mails are able to be examined to throw light on the process of expatriate adjustment.

Findings

The paper highlights ways in which qualitative research methods generally, and specifically when used in relation to expatriates, enable a fuller understanding of the processes of “adjustment” that expatriates experience and its relationship to their life as a “work in progress”. This type of research approach and analysis complements the more positivist study of expatriates. In some aspects it supports research findings on adjustment, but it serves to humanize the independent expatriate and their experience.

Research limitations/implications

The research is a case study of only a single subject. The paper suggests the potential for using naturally occurring data in the study of expatriates and independent expatriates in particular.

Practical implications

Stories of the experiences of expatriation offer insightful and “real” access to the lived experience of the expatriate. In this sense, they can be much more powerful than other forms of cross‐cultural training.

Originality/value

The paper highlights the importance of naturally occurring data and the need to consider “whole lives” in the past and present, of research “participants”.
An exploration of adolescent snacking conventions and dilemmas
Authors: Bech‐Larsen Tino , Boutrup Jensen Birger , Pedersen Susanne
Published: November 2010

Purpose

Snacking has been characterized as normatively unrestricted and identified as one of the main causes of adolescent obesity. The purpose of this paper is not to question the relation between obesity and snacking, but to ask to which extent adolescent snacking is socially unrestricted and to explore adolescent perceptions of the potential conventions and dilemmas involved in snacking.

Design/methodology/approach

Referring to previous research in food choice dilemmas and conventions, the paper starts out by discussing potential implications for adolescent snacking in different social contexts. Following this, the design, implementation and results of three focus groups, aiming at an exploration of adolescent snacking perceptions is described.

Findings

By identifying two distinct forms of adolescent snacking, i.e. “in‐between meals” and “fun snacks”, the results of the focus groups falsify the perception of snacking as socially unrestricted and offer some interesting insights into the conventions, personal dilemmas and intergenerational conflicts which characterize adolescent snacking.

Social implications

The classification of snacking as unrestricted of social norms is both unwarranted and counterproductive to the understanding – and subsequently the mitigation – of the relation between snacking and obesity.

Originality/value

Apart from falsifying the classification of snacking as unrestricted of social norms, the study contributes by devising a focus group design for elicitation of social norms and dilemmas. Recognizing that the study is just a first step towards a comprehensive understanding of adolescent snacking and that facilitation of healthier snacking behaviors requires such an understanding, recommendations for further research are given.
Banking on the youth: the case for finer segmentation of the youth market
Authors: Foscht Thomas , Maloles Cesar , Schloffer Judith , Chia Swee‐Lim , “Jay” Sinha Indrajit
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences among the different subgroups of the youth market in the context of their financial interests and usage. The study examines what determined their choice of banks. It also looked at what factors influence their satisfaction, loyalty, and behavioral intentions with regard to their banking needs.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a multiple‐item survey instrument, 242 Austrian respondents were queried on what factors affect their choice of banks, their choice of financial services, usage patterns, satisfaction, loyalty, and behavioral intentions. Descriptive analysis, factor analysis and cluster analysis were employed in the study. Different tests such as chi‐square tests, discriminant analysis and ANOVA were used to validate the chosen cluster solution.

Findings

Differences were found among the four clusters in terms of their interest in financial services, their usage, and their likelihood of switching. In addition, determinants of satisfaction, loyalty, and behavioral intention were primarily affected by satisfaction with employees and services rendered. The results indicate that as young people reach certain milestones, their needs become more multifaceted. Consequently, banks should be aware of these changing needs.

Originality/value

This paper treats the youth market as a heterogeneous group rather than homogenous as many studies usually treat this age cohort. Moreover, given that many banks are trying to “grow” markets, the paper looks at how the determinant factors change from one stage to another. Financial institutions will benefit from the insight derived from this paper in crafting their marketing strategies. It indicates what seems to be important to each age group in increasing their satisfaction level.
A study of financial awareness among youths
Authors: Nga Joyce K.H. , Yong Lisa H.L. , Sellappan Rathakrishnan D.
Published: November 2010

Purpose

Credit card bankruptcies in Malaysia trebled from 2006 to 2007 and study loan defaults increased by 103 percent in the same period. In response to this, the paper aims to investigate the level of general financial and product awareness among young adults. The two research questions addressed are: how do demographic factors (age, gender and education level) influence the general financial awareness, and whether undertaking a business degree promotes greater financial and product awareness amongst youth today.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey method was employed using a sample of 280 students at a private higher education institution in Subang Jaya, Malaysia. The study also develops valid and reliable scales for general financial awareness and financial product awareness. Hypothesis testing was conducted using multivariate analysis of covariance.

Findings

The findings of the study revealed that the level of education and majors influence general and financial product awareness among youths. Also, males were found to have higher levels of financial awareness compared to females.

Research limitations/implications

Future research is required to investigate whether family background has an impact on personal finance knowledge.

Practical implications

By identifying the specific areas where financial product awareness may be lacking, the paper may assist educators, regulators and financial institutions to design financial planning courses in helping youths to achieve greater financial freedom and be better equipped for retirement.

Originality/value

This paper also develops reliable and valid measurement scales for both general and financial product awareness which were not evident in previous studies. The paper's findings may prompt the educational institution and government authorities to be concerted in promoting financial planning awareness nationwide.
The influence of vicarious role models on purchase intentions of Botswana teenagers
Authors: Makgosa Rina
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how vicarious role models such as television celebrities and entertainers influence purchase intentions of teenagers in Botswana.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey research design was used. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 200 senior secondary school students using a structured questionnaire. The measures used in the questionnaire were adapted from previous scales.

Findings

The results reflected that there is a relatively high level of vicarious role model influence of television celebrities and entertainers among teenagers in Botswana. Similarly, the results of regression analysis demonstrated that television celebrities and entertainers as vicarious role models positively influence teenagers' purchase intentions, especially their switching behavior and response to the problem.

Research limitations/implications

By examining how vicarious role model influence of television celebrities and entertainers affects the purchase intentions of Botswana teenagers, this study has not only studied a cultural context that has not been investigated before but also enriches the existing body of research on how young consumers acquire purchase‐related behavior.

Practical implications

Based on the findings of the current study, marketers could safely use vicarious role models such as celebrities and entertainers when designing television advertisements aimed at the teenagers segment.

Originality/value

It is widely held that teenagers learn a significant proportion of their purchase behavior through direct and indirect contact. Hence, various socialization agents that influence teenagers' purchase behavior have been studied using western samples. The paper is one of the few that have contributed knowledge about how the purchase behavior of teenagers in an African context is influenced by television celebrities and entertainers as socialization agents.
The effect of Malaysian teenagers' ethnicities, influence strategies and family purchase decisions of mobile phones
Authors: Fikry Amily , Jamil Norina Ahmad
Published: November 2010

Purpose

This paper aims to diagnose the differences among the Malaysian teenagers' ethnicities, influence strategies and family purchase decisions of mobile phones.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 700 questionnaires were distributed to respondents aged 13 to 17 years in private secondary schools in Malaysia to analyze their influence in family purchase decisions. At the end of the paper, the research and practical implications are discussed and opportunities for future research are provided.

Findings

Malaysian teenagers' ethnicities have no significant differences on family purchase decision and bargaining strategies. However, there is a significant difference between teenagers' ethnicity and persuasion strategies.

Research limitations/implications

Results are limited to the use of survey method that focuses on individual unit of analysis (i.e. teenagers) in private secondary schools only. This may limit the generalization of the study.

Practical implications

Marketers should consider using a marketing mix based on ethnic segmentation, especially when marketing mobile telecommunication products to Malaysian teenagers.

Originality/value

This paper shows that even though the influence of teenagers in family purchase decision has occurred for decades, very little attention has been given to understanding the behavior of the teen market in the context of a developing country, i.e. Malaysia. This paper attempts to provide new insights in understanding teenagers' behavior by examining the influence of Malaysian teenagers towards their family purchase decisions.
The state of the journal: four years of publication
Authors: Mukherjee Avinandan
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the development and progression of the International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing and include comments on its future direction.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the approach of an essay format.

Findings

The journal has published key papers in pharmaceutical and healthcare research and continues to develop an interdisciplinary character with contributions from scholarly and practice‐oriented sources.

Originality/value

The paper provides a contemporary appraisal of the status and positioning of the journal.
Patients' willingness to pay for diabetes disease state management services in Australian community pharmacies
Authors: Hanna Andrew , White Lesley , Yanamandram Venkata
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether and how much patients would be willing to pay for diabetes disease state management (DSM) services in community pharmacies, and also to determine the relationships between willingness to pay (WTP) and different clinical/socio/demographic characteristics of patients.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 130 diabetic patients recruited from 14 pharmacies across Sydney, Australia completed self‐administered questionnaires. SPSS 16.0 was used to assess WTP in four scenarios (50 and 100 percent improvement in diabetes control after a 30 minute initial and 30 minute follow‐up consultation, respectively). Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques (regression) were used to analyse data.

Findings

Patients are willing to pay a median of AUS$30 for 50 percent improvement and AUS$40 for 100 percent improvement per 30 minute initial consultation, and AUS$20 for 50 percent improvement and AUS$30 for 100 percent improvement per 30 minute follow‐up consultation. Although results varied across scenarios, WTP generally increased when: patients' income is greater than AUS$150,000; frequency of patients' diabetes‐related hospitalizations is between 2 and 4; and patients' perceptions of pharmacists' ability are higher. The remainder of the variables tested are not significantly associated with WTP.

Practical implications

The findings demonstrate that most patients are willing to pay for diabetes DSM services in community pharmacies, and there is a great opportunity for pharmacies to expand their clinical services in this area.

Originality/value

The key contribution to the literature is the data relating to the willingness of Australian diabetic patients to pay for pharmacy‐delivered disease management support, and how this varies across people with different clinical/socio/demographic characteristics.
The adoption of technology orientation in healthcare delivery
Authors: Lee Olivia F. , Meuter Matthew L.
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of technology through the study of electronic health record system in delivering patient‐centered services. The goal is to identify the antecedents and consequences of adopting a technology orientation (TECHOR) approach in a large‐scale hospital and healthcare system.

Design/methodology/approach

A grounded approach is used whereby extensive literature review and field studies were conducted over a two‐year period. The three major field research activities included observation on hospital premises, semi‐structured interviews, and focus group discussions with hospital employees from a large‐scale hospital and healthcare system.

Findings

The findings reveal that TECHOR is institutionalized as a result of its demonstrated effectiveness in delivering patient‐centered services with improved cost effectiveness, efficiency, safety, and quality control.

Research limitations/implications

Empirical testing of the presented framework is an important future research direction to validate the current qualitative investigation.

Practical implications

By understanding the driving forces and consequences of TECHOR, healthcare managers can better understand and manage their technology initiatives. Such effort will help healthcare organizations to create new services in meeting evolving demands and establishing long‐lasting competitive advantage.

Originality/value

This paper fulfills a research gap by presenting a firm‐level construct crucial to successful planning and implementation of technology‐enabled health services.
How do customers and pharmacists experience generic substitution?
Authors: Gill Liz , Helkkula Anu , Cobelli Nicola , White Lesley
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The substitution of generic prescription medicines for branded medicines is being practiced in most westernised countries, with evidence of a strong focus on evaluating and monitoring its economic impacts. In contrast, the purpose of this paper is to explore the generic substitution experience of customers and pharmacists in a pharmacy practice setting.

Design/methodology/approach

The study applied a phenomenological method using the narrative inquiry technique combined with critical event analysis, in order to understand the generic medicine experience as perceived by customers and pharmacists as key substitution actors. Interviews were conducted with 15 pharmacists and 30 customers in Australia, Finland and Italy, using a narrative inquiry technique combined with critical events and metaphors.

Findings

The findings show that customers, with poor awareness of generic prescription medicine when offered as a substitute, were likely to become confused and suspicious. Pharmacists related how they felt challenged by having to facilitate generic substitution by educating unaware customers, in isolation from both the prescribing doctor and the government/insurer. They also experienced frustration due to the mistrust and annoyance their customers displayed.

Social implications

The findings suggest that to increase generic substitution, open dialogue is paramount between all the participants of this service network, along with the development of targeted promotional materials.

Originality/value

Little is known about how customers and pharmacists experience the service phenomenon of generic medicine substitution. This paper explores how the key actors at the point of substitution make sense of the process. Additionally, the methodology provides a technique for obtaining a deeper understanding of both the customer and pharmacist experience of generic medicine, along with insights into how the uptake of generic medicine might be improved.
Meaningful difficulties in the mapping of social enterprises
Authors: Dart Raymond , Clow Erin , Armstrong Ann
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight conceptual and technical difficulties in mapping “social enterprise” and “social purpose business” organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reflects on the design and administration of a social enterprise population survey in Ontario, Canada.

Findings

Numerous approaches used to frame social enterprise organizations were seriously flawed and fundamentally problematic, and criteria to distinguish social enterprise from other organizations were seemingly arbitrary, unstable, or unworkable.

Originality/value

This paper both contributes to those attempting to empirically research social enterprise organizations, and to the broader discussion concerning whether social enterprise is usefully approached as a distinctive organizational form.
Challenging social enterprise debates in Bangladesh
Authors: Therese Hackett Michelle
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to highlight key issues for the social enterprise field in Bangladesh, which are not sufficiently addressed in current social enterprise debates and discourse.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews key economic and political debates in the current social enterprise literature. It then attempts to demonstrate how these are insufficient for critical analysis of social enterprise in Bangladesh. The paper draws on field research and literature on the Grameen social enterprises to inform this argument.

Findings

The paper finds that this review of the main debates in a Bangladeshi context raises many pertinent and urgent questions about the role of social enterprise in addressing: complex market failures; the boundaries of the field in the informal and formal sectors; the conflicts caused by contending political objectives and donor/creditor expectations; and broader development issues.

Research limitations/implications

The paper focuses on the economic and political factors, which differ between Western and developing world environments. It does this with the specific example of the Grameen Energy and Grameen Bank social enterprises from Bangladesh. Whilst this is sufficient to support the paper's aim, it limits the scope of the findings.

Originality/value

This paper highlights a gap in the literature which has had little attention in academic or practitioner fields of social enterprise.
Ethical climate in nonprofit and government sectors: the case of Japan
Authors: Laratta Rosario
Published: November 2010

Purpose

This is a study of ethical climates in nonprofit and government sectors in Japan, the aim of which is to determine the extent to which similarities (and differences) exist in ethical climate dimensions, what drives the differences and what are the implications for the sectors in this country.

Design/methodology/approach

Using survey data and structural equation modeling techniques, the factors structure equivalence and measurement invariance of ethical climates in the two sectors were tested. The original sample was made by 1,012 participants (500 public officials and 512 nonprofit executive directors). Due to some missing values, a net sample of 441 questionnaires (for nonprofit) and 321 questionnaires (for government) were used for the final analysis.

Findings

Results of this study indicate that there was a significant overlap in shared perception of all ethical climates in the two sectors. There should be an effort to continue building on these commonalities so as to provide an effective framework to build trusting relationships between the two sectors.

Practical implications

This study provides important insights that would allow policy makers in government to better understand the implications of using nonprofit partners to deliver services. It would also provide a theoretical and empirical starting point from which government‐nonprofits relationships in Japan can be better understood.

Originality/value

This was the first time that such a type of research was conducted in Japanese nonprofit and government sectors. Furthermore, among all the empirical studies on ethical climate, this is based on one of the largest sample of respondents in both sectors.
A typology of online buyers for French wine web sites based on electronic service quality dimensions
Authors: Bressolles Grégory , Durrieu François
Published: November 2010

Purpose

Using customers' evaluations of electronic service quality (e‐SQ), the purpose of this paper is to analyze internet buyer behavior and propose a typology of online buyers for wine web sites based on e‐SQ dimensions.

Design/methodology/approach

In all, 1,813 French internet customers filled in an online questionnaire after completing a specified task on 18 selected web sites selling wine directly to customers.

Findings

Analysis of the results confirmed the structure of the NetQual scale for wine web sites using structural equation modeling and identified three groups of customers: the “disappointed” the “reassurance seeker” and the “opportunist”.

Research limitations/implications

This study has some limitations. One of them is related to the fact that the target population is representative of the French internet buyer population and not of the customer profile for the web sites analyzed. Future research should integrate customers of the different web sites analyzed and, in order to have an intercultural comparison, non‐French wine web sites should also be included in future studies.

Practical implications

The seven dimensions of the NetQual scale are important for consumers when they evaluate wine web sites and contribute to identify three groups of internet buyers of French wine web sites. For each group, this study provides recommendations for practitioners in order to transform visitors into buyers.

Originality/value

The increasingly systematic use of the internet in consumers' decision‐making processes, combined with the growth in the number of wine web sites, has led researchers and practitioners to examine service quality issues in an online context. Existing typologies do not take into account the importance of e‐SQ dimensions. This paper's typology shows how these dimensions contribute to differentiating the groups.