bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cybernetics of Tao
Authors: Ye Zude , Yolles Maurice
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Taoist thought is not easily penetrable for Westerners, though it has growing importance with the globalisation of Chinese commerce. The purpose of this paper is to explore some aspects of Chinese and Taoist thought, and how they can be expressed in cybernetic terms, using a knowledge cybernetics (KC) schema.

Design/methodology/approach

KC operates through metaphor the role of which is considered with respect to its application to the specific area of urban landscaping.

Findings

A new methodological approach is indicated that is capable of linking Western landscape theory with Taoist feng shui. The traditional approach to critical planning has been in principle enhanced through the idea of landscape canonical harmony that comes from Taoist feng shui. It is also shown that the activity phases in urban landscape design are ontologically different, and use distinct types of energy measures.

Research limitations/implications

The research uses KC as a vehicle for the development of a landscaping methodology that draws on both traditional Western and Chinese Taoist approaches. It requires application to real situations to draw out its practical capacities.

Practical implications

This is apparently the first time that a synergy between Western and Chinese approaches to landscape design and development has been attempted that results in the proposal of a complete methodology.

Originality/value

The successful use of this methodology could demonstrate that Western and Chinese approaches to landscape design are relatable.
Elements of a cybernetic epistemology
Authors: Nechansky Helmut
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate necessary cybernetic structures that allow complex adaptive systems to develop system‐specific behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Following Holland's concept of “adaptive agents”, it is argued that the development of system‐specific forms of goal‐oriented behavior requires a decision to deviate from some default behavior and to trigger any new one, and a mechanism to evaluate the goal‐orientation of this new behavior. Using a functional approach cybernetic structures are developed that are able to carry out these two tasks. Then these structures are added as subsystems to the structure of a simple one‐level adaptive system.

Findings

The paper finds that a hierarchical adaptive system can recognize with a higher level controller, if lower level decisions lead to an insufficient degree of goal‐approximation and can use preprogrammed higher level decisions to intervene on the lower level to trigger new system‐specific actions. An additional controller can evaluate the “success” achieved with these new actions and can select the “best” actions found, i.e. the behavior leading to the highest degree of goal‐approximation.

Practical implications

The paper shows necessary cybernetic structures that are seen as core of all complex adaptive systems able to develop system‐specific behavior. It is suggested that the underlying basic concept of “success” understood as a degree of goal‐approximation holds for any adaptive, learning or otherwise improving endeavor.

Originality/value

The paper is the second in a series of three on a cybernetic theory distinguishing system capable of preprogrammed adaptation, system‐specific adaptation, and learning. It shows necessary cybernetic structures that a system can develop individual actions.
A method for solving nonlinear differential equations
Authors: Ben Zitoun Feyed , Cherruault Yves
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a method for solving nonlinear differential equations with constant and/or variable coefficients and with initial and/or boundary conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

The method converts the nonlinear boundary value problem into a system of nonlinear algebraic equations. By solving this system, the solution is determined. Comparing the methodology with some known techniques shows that the present approach is simple, easy to use, and highly accurate.

Findings

The proposed technique allows us to obtain an approximate solution in a series form. Test problems are given to illustrate the pertinent features of the method. The accuracy of the numerical results indicates that the technique is efficient and well suited for solving nonlinear differential equations.

Originality/value

The present approach provides a reliable technique, which avoids the tedious work needed by classical techniques and existing numerical methods. The nonlinear problem is solved without linearizing or discretizing the nonlinear terms of the equation. The method does not require physically unrealistic assumptions, linearization, discretization, perturbation, or any transformation in order to find the solutions of the given problems.
On neutrosophic paraconsistent topology
Authors: Gallego Lupiáñez Francisco
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Recently, F. Smarandache generalized the Atanassov's intuitionistic fuzzy sets and other kinds of sets to neutrosophic sets (NSs). Also, this author introduced a general definition of neutrosophic topology. On the other hand, there exist various kinds of paraconsistent logics, where some contradiction is admissible. The purpose of this paper is to show that a Smarandache's definition of neutrosophic paraconsistent topology is not a generalization of Çoker's intuitionistic fuzzy topology (IFT) or Smarandache's general neutrosophic topology.

Design/methodology/approach

The possible relations between the IFT and the neutrosophic paraconsistent topology are studied.

Findings

Relations on IFT and neutrosophic paraconsistent topology are shown.

Research limitations/implications

Clearly, the paper is confined to IFSs and NSs.

Practical implications

The main applications are in the mathematical field.

Originality/value

The paper shows original results on fuzzy sets and topology.
Statics and dynamics of hierarchy
Authors: Korn Janos
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe how ordered pairs representing related objects in static state are used to create hierarchical structures yielding rapidly increasing choices of complex objects to be selected by objects in their environment and how “purposive systems” evolve for the production of such structures.

Design/methodology/approach

Basic notions transcending discipline boundaries and natural language formalised into one‐ and two‐place sentences are suggested as related constituents of complexity and hierarchy, the “systemic view”. This leads into sets of ordered pairs and sequences of qualified predicate logic statements forming dynamics of systems.

Findings

Hierarchies in general can be expressed as ordered pairs. An analytical method for showing how ordered pairs are organised into progressively more complex structures of objects and “products” with increased chances of being selected by environmental objects in evolution or design. Correspondingly, groups of purposive systems operating according to algorithms are needed for the production of products or their evolution is left to chance.

Research limitations/implications

The approach uses natural language as the primary model transformed into a formal language for reasoning about outcomes of scenarios with inanimate and animate components with predominantly qualitative properties, emotions and will. The desirability of such an approach, although it matches the generality of the systemic view, needs to be debated.

Practical implications

Once past the test of acceptability and software development, the approach can be used as part of “design methodology” for the design of “systems and products” in the context of human activity and technical scenarios.

Originality/value

The formal language exhibits properties, relations and interactions or impressions of objects of great diversity and variety. It exhibits the effects of these constituents on the production of outcomes based on semantic and mathematical relationships; it is widely applicable and may facilitate the appreciation of how “related objects evolve”.
Review of data, text and web mining software
Authors: Zhang Qingyu , Segall Richard S.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review and compare selected software for data mining, text mining (TM), and web mining that are not available as free open‐source software.

Design/methodology/approach

Selected softwares are compared with their common and unique features. The software for data mining are SAS® Enterprise Miner™, Megaputer PolyAnalyst® 5.0, NeuralWare Predict®, and BioDiscovery GeneSight®. The software for TM are CompareSuite, SAS® Text Miner, TextAnalyst, VisualText, Megaputer PolyAnalyst® 5.0, and WordStat. The software for web mining are Megaputer PolyAnalyst®, SPSS Clementine®, ClickTracks, and QL2.

Findings

This paper discusses and compares the existing features, characteristics, and algorithms of selected software for data mining, TM, and web mining, respectively. These softwares are also applied to available data sets.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations are the inclusion of selected software and datasets rather than considering the entire realm of these. This review could be used as a framework for comparing other data, text, and web mining software.

Practical implications

This paper can be helpful for an organization or individual when choosing proper software to meet their mining needs.

Originality/value

Each of the software selected for this research has its own unique characteristics, properties, and algorithms. No other paper compares these selected softwares both visually and descriptively for all the three types of data, text, and web mining.
Parallelization of an ant‐based clustering approach
Authors: Gemici Gunes Ozlem , Sima Uyar A.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose parallelization of a successful sequential ant‐based clustering algorithm (SABCA) to increase time performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A SABCA is parallelized through the chosen parallelization library MPI. Parallelization is performed in two stages. In the first stage, data to be clustered are divided among processors. After the sequential ant‐based approach running on each processor clusters the data assigned to it, the resulting clusters are merged in the second stage. The merging is also performed through the same ant‐based technique. The experimental analysis focuses on whether the implemented parallel ant‐based clustering method leads to a better time performance than its fully sequential version or not. Since the aim of this paper is to speedup the time consuming, but otherwise successful, ant‐based clustering method, no extra steps are taken to improve the clustering solution. Tests are executed using 2 and 4 processors on selected sample datasets. Results are analyzed through commonly used cluster validity indices and parallelization performance metrices.

Findings

As a result of the experiments, it is seen that the proposed algorithm performs better based on time measurements and parallelization performance metrices; as expected, it does not improve the clustering quality based on the cluster validity indices. Furthermore, the communication cost is very small compared to other ant‐based clustering parallelization techniques proposed so far.

Research limitations/implications

The use of MPI for the parallelization step has been very effective. Also, the proposed parallelization technique is quite successful in increasing time performance; however, as a future study, improvements to clustering quality can be made in the final step where the partially clustered data are merged.

Practical implications

The results in literature show that ant‐based clustering techniques are successful; however, their high‐time complexity prohibit their effective use in practical applications. Through this low‐communication‐cost parallelization technique, this limitation may be overcome.

Originality/value

A new parallelization approach to ant‐based clustering is proposed. The proposed approach does not decrease clustering performance while it increases time performance. Also, another major contribution of this paper is the fact that the communication costs required for parallelization is lower than the previously proposed parallel ant‐based techniques.
How do involvement and product knowledge affect the relationship between intangibility and perceived risk for brands and product categories?
Authors: Laroche Michel , Vinhal Nepomuceno Marcelo , Richard Marie‐Odile
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Intangibility has long been studied in marketing, especially its physical aspect. This paper seeks to verify whether a branding strategy is efficient in reducing the risk perceived by customers.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of university students answered the measurements considering both perspectives (brands and product categories). The paper uses a three‐dimensional approach of intangibility and explores its relationships with evaluation difficulty (ED) and perceived risk (PR). These relationships were tested in two different perspectives: brands and product categories.

Findings

Two analyses were made to test the hypotheses which were generally supported. Several relationships between the variables were found, but three should be highlighted. First, it was shown that brands are more mentally intangible than product categories, which may lead to a difficulty to evaluate. Second, it was found that evaluation difficulty increases the perceived risk in the product category perspective. Third, it was found that higher involvement generates a stronger relationship between evaluation difficulty and perceived risk for the product category perspective.

Practical implications

Theoretical and managerial implications to the literature are discussed along with examples of how managers could use the findings.

Originality/value

The research incorporates prior knowledge and involvement as moderating variables of the proposed framework and reinforces their relevance to the field. The results not only show the importance of branding, but also support the argument of considering evaluation difficulty in future research.
Creating technology‐based merchandising ideas for hair coloring through weak signals, concept optimization and mind‐set segmentation
Authors: Gabay Gillie , Flores Laurent , Moskowitz Howard , Maier Andrea
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a concept‐response segmentation used to identify different customer “mind‐sets”. Based on this segmentation, in a merchandising situation, one can interact with the customer to identify the segment to which the customer belongs and in turn offer the proper product and merchandising.

Design/methodology/approach

The study deals with the creation of new hair products, using both ideation by brand Delphi™ and by experimental design of ideas with conjoint measurement (IdeaMap.Net). It ends with the creation of a merchandising product for hair coloring based on concept segmentation. First the internet was used to facilitate the acquisition and prioritization of new ideas. Then the experimental design of ideas was used to identify which perform well in the body of test concepts.

Findings

Three segments were identified: Segment 1 (54 percent) wants easy to use, high technology, and reliable products. Segment 2 (25 percent) wants to give, and get information about themselves, with respect to hair coloring. Furthermore, they want to make information giving/getting a process, not simply a rapid 1‐2‐3 affair. Segment 3 (21 percent) wants results. They want information, primarily what the product will do for them, what it delivers.

Research limitations/implications

The innovative research deals with the creation of “new to the world” product ideas and the segmentation of respondents into different groups, based on their mind‐sets.

Practical implications

The segmentation results provide the manufacturer and the trade with an opportunity to fine‐tune the development of the new product and its merchandising. One of the recurring questions, however, is how to find these segments in the population? Data mining works by searching for assignment rules that put people into the segments based on a decision rule. The variables used by the decision rule come from external information about the respondent, which the respondent may have provided previously, or patterns of purchases that the individual may have made over time. The objective is to increase the chances of correctly classifying a new individual as a member of one of the three segments, and by so doing present the prospect with a better offer, whether an improved product or shopping experience.

Originality/value

The study deals with the creation of new hair products, using both ideation by brand Delphi™ and by experimental design of ideas with conjoint measurement (IdeaMap.Net). This is a discussion towards high tech in merchandising haircoloring products. It examines new opportunities for development.
Translating barriers into potential improvements: the case of new healthy seafood product development
Authors: Altintzoglou Themistoklis , Birch Hansen Karina , Valsdottir Thora , Øyvind Odland Jon , Martinsdóttir Emilía , Brunsø Karen , Luten Joop
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The aim of this study is to explore potential barriers to seafood consumption by young adults and the parents of young children. Knowledge of these barriers will be used to assist the development of new seafood product concepts that fulfil the needs of consumers.

Design/methodology/approach

To gather this information, 28 infrequent consumers of seafood participated in three semi‐structured two‐hour focus group discussions in Denmark, Norway, and Iceland. The results were then linked to the Stage‐Gate model for consumer‐based new product development (NPD).

Findings

The participants thought of seafood as either healthy or convenient, although there were concerns about the amount of effort required to prepare it. These concerns resulted in an expression of their need for products that are attractive, healthy, palatable, and convenient. In particular, the newly developed products should be accompanied by clear advice on preparation methods and materials. An increase in seafood availability coupled with lower prices would encourage these consumers to add seafood to their diet.

Research limitations/implications

Purchase‐point‐marketing and habitual behaviour were found to implicitly skew planned behaviour.

Practical implications

Inputs for NPD related to convenience, attractiveness, quality, trustworthiness, knowledge and requirements about seafood preparation are discussed.

Originality/value

The present study combines qualitative methods to lead to practical input for NPD focusing on overcoming the barriers that keep consumers from choosing existing healthy seafood products. The importance of the consumers' confidence in their ability to successfully prepare a seafood meal was revealed and can be used in Stage‐Gate based NPD.
The importance of brand equity on purchasing consumer durables: an analysis of home air‐conditioning systems
Authors: Seitz Victoria , Razzouk Nabil , Wells David Michael
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to show manufacturers and dealers of residential air‐conditioning systems how to raise the equity of their brands, enabling them to sell more premium systems and increase their revenues and profit margins.

Design/methodology/approach

For such products the consumer decision‐making process is complex and high involvement, and most purchasers are unacquainted with brands. A self‐administered survey was developed to assess which attributes were most important to consumers, to what degree brand influenced the price they would pay, and where they searched for product information, as well as demographic characteristics.

Findings

In total, 140 homeowners showed that reliability, serviceability and energy‐saving features were the attributes consumers desired most. Brand name communicated quality to them, but was not an important choice criterion. However, consumers were willing to pay more for an air‐conditioner with a reputation for quality. Results also indicated that consumers searched for product information from friends and family, manufacturers' websites and brochures, but not from the Yellow Pages or through salespeople. However, dealers were highly influential during the decision‐making process by helping consumers to refine their choice criteria and choose systems that satisfied their end goals.

Practical implications

If consumers were better informed about the important attributes of a particular brand (reliability, serviceability and energy efficiency), they would be willing to pay more for it. To raise brand awareness, HVAC manufacturers should use broadcast media that include television and radio frequently and seasonally, and supplement them with outdoor or print to gain brand awareness and knowledge, thus increasing the likelihood that brand becomes a criterion in the decision‐making process. All advertising and promotion should steer consumers to the manufacturers' website, which should be filled with home‐owner‐oriented information about the features and, most importantly, the benefits of the brand. Manufacturers can raise brand equity among consumers through comparative executions that spell out the positive attributes of their system versus other brands. This will differentiate their brand(s) from competitors, and position themselves differently in the minds of consumers.

Originality/value

The study showed that brand name was not an important criterion in the consumer decision‐making process for purchasing replacement residential air‐conditioning (HVAC) systems. Since consumers are not knowledgeable about air‐conditioning brands, they assume homogeneity and shop for price.
Determinants of US consumer mobile shopping services adoption: implications for designing mobile shopping services
Authors: Yang Kiseol
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine critical determinants of US consumers' intentions to use mobile shopping services and to provide implications for retailers and mobile marketers in order to offer mobile shopping services that meet consumers' quality expectations.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 400 mobile services users drawn from a purchased consumer panel participated in an online survey. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model was adapted and incorporated with attitude and hedonic performance expectancy. Two steps of structural equation modeling were used to validate the measurement model and test the hypothesized relationships.

Findings

The study found that utilitarian and hedonic performance expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions are critical determinants of US consumers' intentions to use mobile shopping services. Effort expectancy is a driving factor affecting utilitarian and hedonic performance expectancy of mobile shopping services. Further, the study found that the hedonic or entertainment aspect of mobile shopping services is the most critical driver of US consumers' intentions to use mobile shopping services.

Originality/value

The results of the study provide implications for retailers and mobile marketers in designing mobile shopping services based on an understanding of consumers' perceptions of new shopping capabilities.
Letters to my late dog: who's watching information quality?
Authors: Horne Dan
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The outcomes of data‐driven marketing are presumed to be superior but those outcomes are partly dependent on data inputs that are accurate. This paper sets out to highlight problems associated with poor data quality.

Design/methodology/approach

The name of the author's dog was substituted for that of the author on a single data collection form. Over a period of 15 years, the direct mail sent to the author's dog was collected and categorized.

Findings

Over a 15‐year period, both reasonable and unexplainable changes in the content of the marketing effort were found. Analysis showed some consistency but, over time, offers began to appear which showed that the database representation of the “individual” had taken on an interesting life of its own.

Originality/value

Data are the fuel that drives the direct marketing engine. Yet that engine can sputter ineffectively if the fuel quality is inferior. Poor data contain inaccuracies which limit the efficacy and increase the costs of direct marketing efforts. The issue of the data quality needs to be addressed by those who utilize personal data in their efforts to target and communicate with consumers.
Higher education reform in Germany
Authors: Winkel Olaf
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide information about the current reform of higher education in Germany, which can be described as German reading of the Bologna process, about the problems and deficits occurring in this area, and about ways to correct unwelcome developments.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper starts with a review of appropriate programmatic documents, on the one hand, and of the results of relevant empirical studies on the other. On this basis deficits and risks of the German higher education policy are identified and feasible solutions discussed.

Findings

The overloading of the Bologna process with political ambitions, which no longer have a lot in common with the fundamental thoughts formed at a European level, leads in Germany to unwelcome and counter‐productive effects. One of them is that the space for cross‐border activities for learners and lecturers is not expanding but diminishing.

Practical implications

In Germany, it seems to be time to give up the priority of national aims in the area of higher education policy and bring the basic idea of the Bologna declaration back to the fore. For that purpose various course corrections are required.

Originality/value

The paper is among the first to evaluate the effects resulting from the German reading of the Bologna process and to make out the need for action from a comprehensive point of view.
The clash of evaluations
Authors: Brauckmann Stefan , Pashiardis Petros
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The main purpose of this paper is to examine more closely the tension between, on the one hand, forms of internal school improvement based on internal evaluation measures and, on the other hand, control and legitimisation needs grounded on external evaluation measures.

Design/methodology/approach

The clash of these forms of evaluation is at the core of the paper, dealing in particular with the changing evaluation systems in the Cypriot education system. Therefore, the case study approach is utilised here. More specifically, the case of Cyprus is used as a system under transition in order to move from a primarily teacher inspection system, which is externally driven, to a combination of a teacher/school inspection system, which is based on both external and internal processes and is directed at both formative and summative evaluation processes.

Findings

It is asserted that the new proposed appraisal system for Cyprus addresses the deficiencies of the current evaluation system and generally aims at achieving a balance between external and internal processes. Finally, the conditions for the acceptance and successful implementation of new evaluation systems are described.

Originality/value

The results of the study constitute a rich setting of future developments for Cyprus schools with regard to important issues such as school accountability, school improvement, teacher evaluation, internal school evaluation and external inspection, through the proposed appraisal system. Therefore, the paper provides an important source of information for those who have the responsibility of creating educational policy and planning for the years to come in the area of teacher appraisal.
Support personnel in schools: characteristics and importance
Authors: Conley Sharon , Gould Jewell , Levine Harriet
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Despite the critical role of support personnel in education, the literature about their supervision has been less than informative. In an effort to provide additional guidance to school leaders seeking to improve the supervision of such personnel, the purpose of this paper is to examine and compare three distinct groups of support personnel: school custodians/janitors, school secretaries, and paraprofessionals in special education.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper begins with two analyses. One is that of the general importance of the role of support personnel in public schools in the USA. The other consists of a brief argument as to why the literature about the supervision of support personnel has not been overly informative. The paper proceeds with descriptions of three distinct support personnel groups.

Findings

The examination of three support personnel groups highlights the visibility of the school custodian/janitor, the multi‐dimensional responsibilities of the school secretary, and the background of the paraprofessional in special education.

Research limitations/implications

A comparison of three distinct groups of support personnel has implications for their training, compensation and scheduling, and work design and supervision.

Originality/value

The paper content offers an information‐rich and multi‐faceted view of support personnel in schools, with implications for their overall supervision and the importance of their contribution to the organization.
The ethical dimensions of curriculum leadership in Scandinavian countries
Authors: Norberg Katarina , Johansson Olof
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Schooling is a significant tool for fostering future generations, which, in turn, implies that the curriculum is an ethical document. It mirrors the society's notion of what is valuable, useful and necessary from a societal and individual perspective. The purpose of this paper is to address the Scandinavian curricula's ethical framework, which is negotiated by school leaders and educators.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides an overview of the political intentions for desirable socialisation and civic identity represented in Scandinavian curricula, and discusses the implications for ethical school leadership.

Findings

There is a disparity between rhetoric and reality when it comes to a “school for everyone”, since the curricula's promoted content and end are interpreted differently. The paper indicates that an awareness of individual and less conscious internal values and how they steer conduct is significant.

Originality/value

The paper is among the first to address Scandinavian curricula's promoted values and their consequences for ethical school leadership.
The professoriate in the field of educational administration
Authors: Oplatka Izhar
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Based on a qualitative content analysis of 57 curricula vitae of authors who published their work in the major journals of the educational administration (EA) field, this paper seeks to display the career of EA authors and to suggest some epistemological implications for the field.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis is based on both quantitative and qualitative modes of inquiry, according to which the curricula vitae is seen as a document that is susceptible to textual analysis.

Findings

EA authors receive their academic degrees in a host of disciplines from many countries and universities, usually work in the compulsory educational system, and hold many academic roles in their university. They teach courses, conduct research and publish works on a host of topics, three of which are very widespread: leadership, managerial processes, and organisational aspects.

Originality/value

The analysis acquaints the reader with some of many aspects of the professoriate in diverse countries, and helps probe the uncertainty and fragmented nature of the field of EA. It ends with scholarly implications for the recruitment of new field members.
Transaction size effects on consumers' retail payment mode choice
Authors: Abdul‐Muhmin Alhassan G.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the monetary value of a retail transaction (transaction size) impacts consumers' preferences for cash, debit and credit card payment modes.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the analytical and empirical literature on retail payment mode choice and the related literature on differences in payment mode attributes, the author develops and tests a hypothesis that at retail point of purchase, cash, debit and credit card will be preferred payment modes for low‐, medium‐ and high‐value transactions, respectively. The hypothesis is tested in an experimental survey in which a sample of 477 respondents indicate which payment mode they would most likely use for each of ten products that vary systematically in list prices.

Findings

The results offer broad support for the hypothesis. They also show that preferences for debit and credit card payment modes are similar at low transaction values (both are less preferred), whilst those for debit and cash payment are similar at large transaction values (again, both are less preferred). This suggests that electronic payment modes are collectively a substitute for cash for low transaction values, whilst credit cards are a substitute for cash and debit cards for high transaction values.

Research limitations/implications

A key implication of the results is that it may be possible to persuade consumers in the study context to use electronic payments for small‐value transactions by invoking and making salient, convenience considerations that are purported to drive preferences for cash payment for such purchases.

Originality/value

The results also offer an alternative explanation for the continuing dominance of cash transactions in modern economies, and outlines implications for promoting consumer use of electronic payment modes at retail point of purchase.
Early versus potential adopters
Authors: Helena Chiu Yen‐Ting , Fang Shih‐Chieh , Tseng Chuan‐Chuan
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The success of retail service innovations is contingent upon a thorough understanding of the antecedent factors that drive adoption intention. Using the example of a novel kiosk technology, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the antecedents of kiosk use intention and to find out how perceptions of antecedent factors vary among potential and early adopters.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the “Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology” and the technology readiness (TR) concept, the proposed framework identifies several factors underlying adoption intention. The framework is tested on potential and early adopters of a kiosk system recently launched by Taiwan's largest convenience retailer.

Findings

Results show that while performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions and social influence impact overall use intention, the perceptions of these antecedents vary significantly between potential versus early users. Further, individual TR does not intervene with technology perceptions.

Practical implications

Retail practitioners can use the findings to more effectively target these two important adopter segments and to prioritize their technology investments.

Originality/value

Most of extant technology adoption researches assume that factors driving adoption behaviour remain constant as diffusion progresses. This work joins a limited number of studies, which propose a dynamic nature of antecedent factors. The paper shows how perceptions of antecedent factors differ among potential and early users of a novel kiosk system. Overall, this paper emphasizes the need for a more segmented‐oriented approach in the promoting of innovative retail technologies.
An investigation of Chinese consumers' outshopping motives from a culture perspective
Authors: Jian Wang Yong , Doss Samuel K. , Guo Chiquan , Li Wenjing
Published: May 2010

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate Chinese consumers' international outshopping motives from a culture perspective based on Hofstede's four cultural dimensions.

Design/methodology/approach

Four international outshopping motives that may affect Chinese consumer's propensity of shopping abroad were empirically investigated based on a sample of 174 Chinese consumers who participated in a mall intercept survey.

Findings

The results suggest that Chinese consumers' perceived expressiveness of using foreign products, perceived reliability of foreign retail service, and perceived enjoyment of shopping abroad have positive and significant impacts on their propensity of shopping abroad. In addition, their perceived morality to support domestic industries does not significantly affect their outshopping behavior, although consumer ethnocentrism was regarded as an issue in China.

Practical implications

Outshoppers from China are increasingly found in the stores and malls in Western countries. The findings offer an insightful call for retailers and distributors in the West to understand how to make effective marketing strategies to target Chinese outshoppers and how to predict their behaviors when the global market gradually opens to Chinese consumers.

Originality/value

The identified motives represent a deeper understanding of Chinese consumers and their cultural environment.
Services offshoring
Authors: Thelen Shawn T. , Honeycutt Earl D. , Murphy Thomas P.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine if consumers exhibit a country of service origin preference and to understand what service quality attributes consumers perceive to be most important when receiving services that originate from abroad.

Design/methodology/approach

Respondents rated their perception of service quality, measured through an expanded version of the SERVQUAL scale considered appropriate for offshore service encounters, for various countries popular for providing offshore services to the USA. Countries, selected from the A.T. Kearney Offshore Location Attractiveness Index, represented various regions of the world, economic development, cultural distance, and near/offshore locations.

Findings

Results, from both regional and national studies, indicate that US citizens possess a country of service origin (COSO) hierarchy based on perceived service quality. Communication, security, and reliability are the most important service quality attributes for consumers when receiving an off‐shored service. Significant differences were identified among countries for each of these service quality attributes.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that firms need to be aware of consumer attitudes and perceptions about countries considered attractive for offshoring. The most preferred countries to consumers for services offshoring are not necessarily the ones with the highest skilled labor, lowest cost, or geographic closeness to the home country.

Originality/value

The paper extends the concept of country of origin (COO) to services and expands the current knowledge base of consumer opinions about services offshoring.
Comprehension of relationship quality in the retail environment
Authors: Vesel Patrick , Zabkar Vesna
Published: May 2010

Purpose

After almost a decade of relationship quality studies in the retail industry, high consensus exists regarding the dimensions that define the construct. Disregarding epistemological depth of the concept of commitment, however, has led only to its unidimensional operationalization. To improve the retail relationship quality operationalization, this paper seeks to provide theoretical and empirical support that calculative and emotional commitment should be included as dimensions of relationship quality in addition to trust and satisfaction in the retail environment.

Design/methodology/approach

Cross‐sectional telephone interviews with members of a retail loyalty club were conducted in two waves. The first wave included 116 respondents to purify the measurement instrument. The second wave included 416 respondents to estimate the parameters in SEM.

Findings

Empirical findings suggest that in the retail environment, relationship quality as a second‐order factor influences emotional commitment, calculative commitment, and a combined construct of trust and satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

The research is limited to members of a single do‐it‐yourself (DIY) retailer's loyalty club. Cross‐retail industry and cross‐country testing could potentially improve the proposed scale for measuring relationship quality in the retail sector.

Practical implications

Although relatively abstract in its higher‐order factor formation for daily managerial purposes, the paper attempts to discuss managerial implications from the retail point of view in a comprehensive and readable manner. By narrowing the focus to a particular sector and selected dimensions of the construct, the paper helps increase understanding of the central construct of relationship marketing to the managerial sphere.

Originality/value

An important contribution of this paper lies in the selection of dimensions that reflect the relationship quality construct in the retail environment; more specifically, the selection of calculative and emotional commitment. An historical overview of relationship quality studies in consumer markets also provides an opportunity to improve comprehension of the phenomena.
Drivers of customers' service experiences: a study in the restaurant industry
Authors: Walter Ute , Edvardsson Bo , Öström Åsa
Published: May 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify, portray and analyse the frequent drivers of customer service experiences as described by customers in their own words – the voice of the customer.

Design/methodology/approach

A critical incident technique study was conducted, based on 122 interviews, including 195 favourable and unfavourable narratives, about customer experiences. The data were analysed in an inductive manner and the results are presented by means of extracts from the narratives.

Findings

The findings describe the dimensions of drivers of customers' favourable and unfavourable experiences and the frequent drivers, the social interaction, the core service and the physical context.

Research limitations/implications

Customer experiences are processes and include dynamic interactions and the customer as a co‐producer. The study context is limited to the restaurant setting and Swedish customers.

Practical implications

For managers the results suggest that great effort needs to be put into understanding the process of customer experiences and the various interactions involved, especially social interactions and the crucial roles of contact employees and customers involved in these interactions.

Originality/value

The paper provides a detailed description and analysis of the frequent and less frequent drivers of favourable, and unfavourable customer experiences – the constellation of drivers. The findings are illustrated by extracts from customer narratives and show how experiences occur and that experiences are processes occurring in a social and physical environment when people do things together. Furthermore, the paper introduces customer experience to service dominant logic by describing the dynamics of resource interactions in customer experience formation.
Management commitment to service quality and organizational outcomes
Authors: Cheung Millissa F.Y. , To W.M.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the mediating role of effective employee involvement in the links between management commitment to service quality, employees' job satisfaction, and customer perceptions of service performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a review of the literature on service management, the authors identified the role of effective employee involvement in the relationships between management commitment to service quality and employees' job satisfaction and between management commitment to service quality and customer perceptions of service performance. Using a random sampling method, the authors obtained 143 matched frontline employee‐customer dyads in the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

Findings

The results of the structural equations analysis show that effective employee involvement fully mediates the positive effects of management commitment to service quality on employees' job satisfaction and customer perceptions of service performance.

Practical implications

This study confirms that management commitment to service quality alone does not produce positive organizational outcomes, unless linked with effective employee involvement.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the literature on service management by identifying the mediating role of effective employee involvement in the relationships between management commitment to service quality and organizational outcomes.
Examining the application of six sigma in the service exchange
Authors: Noone Breffni M. , Namasivayam Karthik , Spitler Tomlinson Heather
Published: May 2010

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the role of six sigma in the assembly of service components, during the service exchange. Specifically, it seeks to examine whether applying six sigma principles to customer‐facing processes enhances customer satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a field study to examine the relationship between conformance with a standardized service assembly process and customer satisfaction. Data were collected over a two‐month period using participant observation at the front desk of a leading hotel, and were analyzed using logistic regression.

Findings

The results of the study provide a basis for discussion of the issues associated with applying six sigma to the service assembly process. The results suggest that the application of six sigma to customer‐facing processes does not improve customer satisfaction.

Originality/value

Much of the documented success of six sigma has focused on its application to processes with minimum or no customer involvement. In contrast, this paper focuses on the application of six sigma in the service exchange, which typically encompasses a high degree of customer involvement. The paper also adopts a customer‐centric view and differentiates two different processes in a service exchange. This novel view suggests fresh theorizing and research directions. The intent is to encourage discourse among academics and practitioners regarding the applicability of six sigma in a service setting, and identify avenues for future research in this domain.