bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Trends in regional industrial growth in India
Authors: Suresh Babu M. , Rajesh Raj S.N.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of regional industrial growth in wake of the competition among Indian states to accelerate the pace of industrialization. The results indicate tendency towards concentration of manufacturing activities even in the reform era.

Design/methodology/approach

The attempt is to compare trends since 1991 to the earlier decade and decipher the extent of the effectiveness of policy changes in disbursing industrial activity regionally.

Findings

The paper finds that organized manufacturing activity is concentrated in few states. The early movers continue to dominate cornering substantial share of the national industrial investments and production. Even in an era of market reforms the trend continues. This indicates a degree of “path dependence” in industrialization in the economy. There seems to be slight dispersal of activities in the unorganized segment. New forms of organization of production have fostered industrial growth in the unorganized segment. However, regions which dominate in the organized segment have been able to increase their share in the value added of the unorganized segment as well.

Originality/value

There is dearth of studies that examine the extent of the effectiveness of policy changes in disbursing industrial activity regionally.
Three‐dimension decision model of introduced management innovation
Authors: Su Jingqin , Lin Haifen
Published: July 2011

Purpose

This paper aims to address why some managers in China pursue innovative opportunities by introducing new management practices while others do not and what characteristics of managers affect their decision of introducing new practices and how.

Design/methodology/approach

Three major activities of managers referring to innovation intention, knowledge acquirement, and risk perception are extracted, a three‐dimension decision figure is established by further combining relevant literature with decision practices. Data on 237 managers from different firms were collected to further examine the model by adopting structural equation modeling, with the purpose of showing affecting paths and internal mechanisms of complex decision making.

Findings

The results indicate that: innovation intention, knowledge acquirement, and risk perception directly affect management innovation decision levels; innovation intention, knowledge acquirement, and risk perception are influenced by entrepreneurial orientation, social networking, and cognitive biases of managers, respectively; besides, the three relevantly independent affecting paths, interrelations also exist across paths; and the three main factors produce both direct and indirect effects, simultaneously.

Research limitations/implications

The research does not investigate other variables that may affect innovation decision, such as contextual elements like competitive intensity, internal elements like organizational structure and culture, and top management teams.

Originality/value

The findings form a basis for further research into how to explore the black box of complex‐decision processes in the specific context of China and holds important implications for management practices.
Comparative analysis of some aspects of assessment of damages for contractual breaches in England and Wales, Australia and New Zealand
Authors: Chetwin Maree
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The paper aims to examine the judicial approach to some aspects of contract damages in England and Wales, Australia and New Zealand.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is an analysis of judgments of the three jurisdictions and academic commentary.

Findings

Generally, there is uniformity in the assessment of damages in the jurisdictions discussed as is illustrated with liquidated damages and the adherence to the judgment of the House of Lords. However, the same adherence is not evident in the case of lower court judgments in the controversial area of “consequential loss”. Although not a remedy, it is an integral part of the assessment of damages process when included in exception clauses.

Originality/value

The research highlights the need for knowledge of the legal issues to ensure that the contract covers what is intended so that a party is not without a remedy when the contract fails.
The use of mediation in preventing homelessness in England
Authors: Ng Patricia
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the appropriateness of mediation as a homelessness prevention tool for statutorily homeless people who are in need of emergency housing assistance from local authorities in England. It is argued that although mediation is potentially an effective method for facilitating communication as a homelessness prevention tool, caution needs to be exercised in its use in attempting to prevent immediate homelessness.

Design/methodology/approach

In‐depth interviews were carried out with five housing law practitioners and six mediators. The paper also draws on observations made by commentators on homelessness legislation as well as ADR. Government papers, including guidance and policy papers and statutes, have been examined.

Findings

Mediation could potentially offer effective assistance to homeless people, although it is questionable whether immediate homelessness could genuinely be prevented. In addition, in order to prevent potentially unlawful decisions being made, local authority officers need to take into account their reactive duties under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002.

Research limitations/implications

Findings from the research address homelessness mediation, an area that requires discussion. More research is needed on the benefits of mediation to homeless people.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to discussions between a range of academics and practitioners interested in the potential benefits of mediation in the context of homelessness work.
Critical yet invisible: the “good wife” in the New Zealand small firm
Authors: Lewis Kate , Massey Claire
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to move away from the studies that have to date only focused on “visible women” (those who are running businesses as owner‐managers or as active partners, i.e. as copreneurs) to a focus on those that are largely invisible. These are the women who are involved in small firms but who are not copreneurs, and who do not have clearly acknowledged and/or formalised roles.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on data collected as part of a research programme that involved 250 in‐depth interviews carried out with owner‐managers in manufacturing and service firms throughout New Zealand over a two‐year period.

Findings

The findings from the interviews suggest that there are many women playing critical roles in New Zealand small firms whose contributions are unacknowledged, and which may be also unseen and unpaid. These women (typically as wives of owner‐managers) are contributing invaluably to the futures and fortunes of those firms – albeit from “behind the scenes”.

Originality/value

In the paper, a descriptive typology of the roles that wives play in New Zealand small firms is put forward. The typology provides a starting point for those wanting to explore similar dimensions of female “invisibility” in other contexts, and will contribute to the body of knowledge related to gender in the context of small firms.
Partitioning service encounters into touchpoints to enhance quality
Authors: McKechnie Donelda S. , Grant Jim , Shabbir Golawala Fatema
Published: July 2011

Purpose

This paper aims to discuss partitioning an air travel service encounter into touchpoints according to elements and phases, which are depth and breadth, respectively, using the conceptual framework of Le Bel. The empirical findings further the dialogue about the service encounter construct.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 12 distinctive touchpoints within the joining and intensive phases of any air travel service encounter are reviewed for importance using travel purpose and nationality as segmentation variables. Respondents participated through an online questionnaire and face‐to‐face approach from a fieldworker; they were not engaged in an air travel service encounter at the time of the study. Data analysis includes descriptive statistics, independent samplet‐tests and paired samplet‐tests where the latter considered a named airline from the region.

Findings

The findings indicate touchpoints to be sufficiently distinctive that partitioning a service encounter provides opportunities for quality improvements directed at customer satisfaction outcomes. Notably, greater importance is typically given to the intensive phase touchpoints than those in the joining phases thus placing more emphasis on activities within service encounters' simultaneous production/consumption. Touchpoint preference is evident for travel purpose and passenger nationality segmentation criteria. When an airline is named, respondents appear more discriminating about touchpoint quality compared to those in generic service encounters.

Originality/value

Academically, partitioning strengthens the links between the service encounter construct and service quality and provides additional information beyond expectations‐perceptions results. Industry value is derived for practitioner marketers when distinctive touchpoints are taken from a partitioned service encounter providing opportunities for segmenting and targeting consumers accordingly.
Do bio‐fuel policies lead to speculative behavior?
Authors: Huang Chia‐Hsing , Ho Liang‐Chun
Published: July 2011

Purpose

This paper seeks to study the impact of bio‐fuel policies on oil and food futures prices from December 6, 2004 to August 1, 2008.

Design/methodology/approach

The daily closing prices of brent crude oil, light sweet crude oil, corn, wheat, soybeans, and rough rice futures from December 6, 2004 to August 1, 2008 are used in this research. The vector error correction model is applied in order to study the impact of bio‐fuel policies on oil and agricultural futures prices.

Findings

Unit root and cointegration tests show that the brent crude oil, light sweet crude oil, wheat, corn, soybeans, and rough rice futures are stationary and have a long‐run equilibrium relationship. Granger causality tests of the four periods shows that the causality relationship between oil futures and food futures changes over time. The first period result shows many Granger causes on several variables at a 5 percent significance level. The second period has more Granger causes at the 5 percent significance level. However, the Granger causality relationships become fewer and fewer in the third and fourth period.

Originality/value

This is the first paper to study the impact of the four major bio‐fuel policies of Brazil, the European Union, and the USA.
Demonstrating genuine interest in students' needs and progress
Authors: Rogers John , Smith Morgan
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the best predictors of student satisfaction with teaching.

Design/methodology/approach

As part of a larger survey around student satisfaction differences in overall satisfaction with the course were compared to age, gender and enrolment characteristics. In addition the relationship between overall satisfaction and other quality teaching indicators was examined to identify those areas that were the best predictors of overall student satisfaction.

Findings

The best joint predictors of overall satisfaction were genuine interest in the individual's learning needs and progress, development of understanding of concepts and principles, clear expectations, the genuine interest of staff in teaching and reasonable workload.

Research limitations/implications

There was a relatively low response rate for the survey (7.56 percent). No data were available on students who had the opportunity but did not respond. Based on demographic data the proportions of students responding to the questionnaire were similar to the overall demographics for the cohort for age, gender, mode of study and study load.

Practical implications

Genuine interest in students' needs and progress can be demonstrated by staff demonstrating empathy, being accessible and approachable as well as encouraging and supportive.

Originality/value

At a time in higher education when the workloads of many academics are increasing this research serves as a timely reminder that students appreciate staff who demonstrate genuine interest in their individual needs.
Student confidence in using and applying research methods whilst studying within a sport and exercise discipline
Authors: Burton Francesca , Schofield Cathy
Published: July 2011

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the confidence of foundation degree (FdSc) and top‐up degree students in using and applying research methods within a sport and exercise discipline.

Design/methodology/approach

Closed questionnaires determined FdSc (n=24) and top‐up degree (n=21) students' confidence in five domains of research methods: using research literature, designing research studies, analysing data, interpreting research findings, and presenting research findings. Confidence was rated using a seven‐point Likert scale anchored by “most confident” (1) and “clueless” (7).

Findings

FdSc and top‐up students were most confident in using research literature and presenting research findings, respectively. Both FdSc and top‐up students were least confident in data analysis. Compared to FdSc, top‐up students were less confident in data analysis (FdSc: 3.4±0.29 vs top‐up: 4.38±0.39, p<0.01), interpreting research findings (FdSc: 2.99±0.39 vs top‐up: 3.62±0.42, p=0.02) and presenting research findings (FdSc: 2.90±0.17 vs top‐up: 3.33±0.15, p<0.01).

Research limitations/implications

These data outline a need to address the teaching of research methods within FdSc and top‐up degrees in order to enhance student confidence.

Originality/value

Research methods are a defining feature of higher education degrees yet remain a challenging subject for many lecturers and students. Progression through FdSc and top‐up programmes provides an interesting transition with regard to research methods due to more diverse student cohorts and different research experiences. Limited insight into the experience and confidence of students studying for sport related FdSc or top‐up programmes, with regard to research methods, is currently available.
The development of a research methods toolkit to support sport science undergraduates and lecturers
Authors: Schofield Cathy , Burton Francesca
Published: July 2011

Purpose

Based on the experiences of those delivering the dissertation module on a level 6 BSc sport top‐up year, where students progress from many further education colleges and higher education institutions, from differing foundation degrees, it was observed that there was a variable comprehension of research methods by the progressing students. It was felt that this lack of knowledge and confidence with respect to research methods had a negative impact on their ability to undertake research and to produce scientific reports for the dissertation. This paper aims to investigate this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

After investigating the levels of confidence of FdSc sport science students and lecturers with respect to their research methods knowledge and understanding, a research methods teaching toolkit was developed using sport‐specific examples and activities to increase the amount of experiential learning.

Findings

The paper finds that in the design and construction of this initial toolkit it has become apparent that there are a vast number of approaches that can be taken to encourage student engagement with research methods within a sport and exercise science discipline.

Research limitations/implications

As the development stage of the toolkit is completed the authors aim to evaluate the toolkit during the next academic year, assessing students' progress by comparison to a matched control group. This will be supplemented by lecturers' evaluation in order to refine the toolkit and make it available in varying formats to all institutions within University of Plymouth Colleges and beyond.

Originality/value

This paper provides information on the development stage of a toolkit aimed at supporting the research methods of sport science undergraduates and lecturers.
Promoting knowledge and understanding in society
Authors: Evans Darrell J.R.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The ability to communicate with society is one of the key skills by which our students can help enhance knowledge and understanding of different subjects within the general population. Unfortunately, up until recently few subject areas have provided tailored training for their students in the art of communicating with different audiences, especially a non‐specialist one. This review paper aims to discuss the rationale for incorporating defined communication skills training (CST) into higher education courses, focusing on medicine, other healthcare professions and science. In addition the review aims to identify example methodologies used for the training and assessment of communication skills.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach taken for this review has been to: identify and review national, subject specific and individual drivers for why higher education should be including CST in their courses and programmes; evaluate some of the published approaches and innovations used to introduce CST into higher education courses; and finally, assess the factors that curriculum designers should consider when incorporating CST into their programmes or modules.

Findings

The review shows that there are a number of important drivers for including CST in higher education curricula, especially training which is directed to communicating with non‐specialist audiences. The paper identifies a number of varied approaches for integrating training into existing and emerging HE courses and modules, aimed at developing both oral and written communication skills.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrates the need for CST in undergraduate courses and acts as a challenge to others to devise strategies to ensure their students are ready and able to communicate with society in the twenty‐first century.
Halal certification: implication for marketers in UAE
Authors: Rajagopal Shambavi , Ramanan Sitalakshmi , Visvanathan Ramanan , Satapathy Subhadra
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce Halal certification as a new marketing paradigm which marketers can use to differentiate their products and services in the current competitive environment.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 151 questionnaires were distributed to the business student population from different universities in United Arab Emirates (UAE). The self‐administered questionnaire required the respondents to answer demographics questions on emirate of residence within UAE, gender, age and nationality, followed by specific questions to determine if respondents actively seek Halal certification for various products and services and if they were aware of brands offering certification. The questionnaire concluded with an open‐ended question to find out what Halal certification meant to the respondent.

Findings

The application of statistical tools indicated that, although the concept of Halal is familiar to the students, their awareness of whether products are Halal certified and their knowledge about Halal brands is extremely low.

Practical implications

This paper suggests a model for marketers to brand their products and services by seeking, highlighting and communicating Halal certification in the UAE and possibly extending to the world markets.

Originality/value

The paper suggests that consumers are not exposed enough to Halal certification and Halal brands through marketing communication and suggests the greater use of marketing and branding to promote and sell Halal products and services. It has immediate practical relevance to marketing practitioners and strategic planners.
Hurricane risk and coastal property owner choices
Authors: Burrus Robert T. , Dumas Christopher F. , Graham J. Edward
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contrast the behavior of a US homeowner exposed to hurricane risk with government policies designed to limit hurricane losses. Owners limit these losses by selecting structural improvements or mitigation and wind and flood insurance.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses mitigation costs, hurricane probabilities, and insurance premiums to frame rational cost‐minimizing choices for the homeowner.

Findings

First, even though nationwide hurricane damage costs are large, the cost‐minimizing response for an individual property owner may be to buy no mitigation or structural improvements, no flood insurance and minimal wind insurance, as probabilities of strong hurricanes striking particular locations are extremely low. Second, additional insurance is a less costly defense than structural improvement, even under much higher insurance premiums and hurricane strike probabilities. Third, federally subsidized flood insurance may reduce the effectiveness of government programs encouraging structural mitigation.

Originality/value

The last few years were underscored by the catastrophic damages of Hurricanes‐Katrina, Ike and Wilma. Enormous costs suffered by the public and private sectors could have been avoided with greater mitigation by homeowners. This paper examines the financial incentives for such mitigation. Those incentives are examined in a previously untested framework.
Reconnecting with poverty: new challenges of disaster management
Authors: Korstanje Maximiliano E.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

It is clear that poverty can be a key factor to take into consideration at time of potentiating or mitigating the unexpected aftermaths of disasters. In some extent, the degree of vulnerability created by poverty leads scholars to preclude material conditions of life plays a pivotal role in disaster rebuilt. Nonetheless, the present paper aims to explore precisely the connection between the false conceptualization of poverty as pathways towards the conditions of disasters with the disaster in such.

Design/methodology/approach

This thesis is that the poverty is a humanitarian disaster often intellectualized as cause of disaster in order for real liable actors not assume their faults. The conceptual contributions of this paper pave the pathways for the advent of a new debate in disaster and recovery issues.

Findings

This paper questions the classical idea that poverty plays a positive role in the process of recovery after a disaster paving the pathways for the triggering of a hot debate in disaster management.

Originality/value

The originality of this work refers to the needs of reconsidering how late‐modernity replicates the conditions for what the disaster has been feasible. Not only this accommodates all our previous belief in how dealing with victims and survivors but explores the cynicism between suffering and mass consumption.
Women and risk tolerance in an aging world
Authors: Faff Robert , Hallahan Terrence , McKenzie Michael
Published: July 2011

Purpose

Using a very large sample of psychometrically derived risk profiles of adult Australians, the paper aims to explore the linkage between financial risk tolerance and gender.

Design/methodology/approach

The key proxy of risk tolerance score (RTS) derives from a 25 question survey devised by Finametrica and used in real client situations. Using multiple regression analysis in which RTS is the dependent variable, the paper tested the importance of gender in explaining cross‐sectional variation, while controlling for a range of demographic characteristics. The impact of gender was further explored through dummy variable enhanced regression analysis constructed to test the increment in each demographic coefficient derived from being female relative to the base case of being male.

Findings

The paper documents strong evidence that women differ from men in their attitude to financial risk taking. In general, women are shown to be less risk tolerant than counterpart males, with this differential varying depending on the demographic feature considered. We also find that marital status, number of dependents, age, education, income, combined income, and net assets are significant determinants of risk tolerance in their own right.

Originality/value

Given the extent to which women have more conservative risk profiles and the extent to which this conservatism is exacerbated with age (given the longevity advantage of women), one would expect to see asset allocation decisions leading to an overall shift to less risky investment portfolios.
Strategizing from the middle in radical change situations
Authors: Besson Patrick , Mahieu Christian
Published: July 2011

Purpose

Research has recognized the importance of middle management in the strategy process. Nonetheless, two questions raised by the involvement of middle management remain largely unexplored; they are central to this study. The first question concerns the conditions of this involvement. Before the 1970s, middle managers were subjected to operational processes. During the 1980s and 1990s they often embodied bureaucratic unwieldiness. How, then, has an actor in an organization migrated from a position excluded from the strategy process to a key position in this process? The second question concerns the functioning of the strategy process itself: what are the conditions of strategic creativity in this type of expanded process? This paper aims to address these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach taken is that of a longitudinal case study.

Findings

On the basis of a seven‐year longitudinal case study of strategy practices in a firm facing radical change, this article pinpoints two research results. The first result shows that becoming a strategist is not the simple result of training in strategy techniques. Involvement in the strategy process goes beyond the cognitive dimension; it entails the construction of new systems of roles and identities, along with development of appropriate dialogue modes. The second result is more interesting, and was largely unpredicted. The observations indicate that to achieve the necessary strategic creativity, the strategizing process itself must be transformed. If strategy is envisioned as an emerging social reality made up of strong situations and interactions between strategists, in a dynamic context structured by role systems, spatial and temporal conditions and discourse, developing a new strategy necessitates transformation of its social fabric.

Practical implications

Understanding the microprocesses at play in the inclusion of middle managers in the strategy process is important to help companies better conceive and apply their policy of including middle managers in the strategy process. This entails the definition of activity content and new skills required, along with career and loyalty building, and of the forms of organization in which middle managers evolve and develop. In this sense, the approach we proposed can be practical for companies and their stakeholders facing these challenges.

Originality/value

The longitudinal and very detailed case study over a long period of middle managers doing strategy during a radical change situation.
Exploring integration approach in related mergers
Authors: Weber Yaakov , Tarba Shlomo
Published: July 2011

Purpose

In mergers and acquisitions (M&As) the culture of the acquired organization often represents a counterculture for the acquiring firm. The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of an acquisition of German FAST by the Israeli firm Aladdin, and exemplifies the post‐merger integration issues that arose as a result of the culture clash between amalgamating entities in the high‐tech industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a qualitative research design because of the need for in‐depth understanding of the processes, local contextualization, causal inference, and the necessity to expose the points of view of the participants. Triangulation was one of the important means of increasing construct validity and substantiating findings and propositions.

Findings

The case study analysis covers the processes that affect M&A performance and elucidates a significance of the post‐merger integration approach that is implemented in cross‐border M&As.

Practical implications

The examination sheds light on the pre‐ and post‐merger processes and provides new insights into both.

Originality/value

The case study describes two international high‐tech companies before their merger, the negotiation process, and the post‐merger integration approach adopted by the acquiring firm. The study extends the existing limited knowledge about integration approach in implementation of international high‐tech mergers.
Whether task satisfaction mediates the effect of fair procedures on citizenship
Authors: Zoghbi‐Manrique‐de‐Lara Pablo
Published: July 2011

Purpose

Despite the large number of empirical studies on employee attitudes and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), the amount of research on the possible role of concurrent fairness and satisfaction in citizenship behaviors (OCBs) has been quite limited. Since it has been suggested that fair systems in an organization could indicate satisfaction, the purpose of this study is to propose using task satisfaction as a mediating variable in the relationship between procedural justice (PJ) and citizenship OC behaviors directed at the organization as a whole (OCBOs).

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from a sample of non‐teaching staff at a university, and structural equation modeling was to be used for testing the relationships. The author argues that when organizational procedures are fairly implemented, they may lead employees to feeling happier about their tasks. Ths task satisfaction, in turn, would create a context prone to encouraging employees' compliance with the organization (conscientiousness) and active interest (civic virtue) in it, as well as tolerance to less than ideal circumstances (sportsmanship). The author suggests that it is in this satisfactory context where citizenship behaviors helping the organization (OCBOs) really occur.

Findings

Sequentialχ2difference test results indicated that PJ positively influenced task satisfaction and had a positive effect on citizenship directed at the organization (OCBOs) through its effect on employee task satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

The study could suffer from mono‐method/source bias, and the university that supplied the sample has certain job conditions similar to those found in the public sector, thus raising concerns about the generalizability of the results.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that the scenario presented in our study leads to new and better understanding of how to promote citizenship directed at the organization (OCBOs). Since PJ predicts citizenship behaviors by eliciting task satisfaction, preparing the workplace with actions designed to “gain” task satisfaction, promote a fair system, and provide fair ways to establish tasks appears to be an efficient satisfaction‐producing strategy in promoting citizenship behaviors (OCBs).

Originality/value

Although fairness and satisfaction have been found to be significant attitudinal predictors of OCBs, no previous empirical studies have examined and supported the mediating role task satisfaction plays in explaining why PJ is able to predict citizenship behaviors directed at the organization (OCBOs).
Corporate online reporting in 2010: a case study in Jordan
Authors: Al‐Htaybat Khaldoon
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The objective of this study is to investigate the current status quo of online reporting in 2010. Further, this study seeks to explain corporate online reporting in Jordan by using companies' characteristics as explanatory factors for any variations in disclosure. Finally, the current findings are set in the context of prior studies in order to determine the existence of disclosure transformation.

Design/methodology/approach

Listed Jordanian companies were investigated to explore the current status of corporate online reporting. An un‐weighted index comprising 70 un‐weighted financial and non‐financial items was employed.

Findings

A total of 175 of 272 companies were found with accessible and active websites. The overall average level of corporate online reporting was 70 percent, as measured by the mean of the overall items of the current index. Variations in corporate online reporting were associated with size, performance, foreign ownership and online company familiarity.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides a comprehensive online disclosure index that can be used to inform Jordanian companies about the format and the content of corporate online reporting. It also offers a solid ground for future research on corporate online reporting. Furthermore, the results of this study indicate that corporate online reporting had been moved forward but there is plenty of room to further explore the field.

Originality/value

This paper provides evidence on the current status quo of online reporting in Jordan as one of the emerging economies in 2010 as a year with great expectations and predictions. This paper is the first to examine several companies' characteristics by using multivariate analyses. This paper also examines the online companies' familiarity for the first time as a potential factor affecting corporate online reporting in the literature. Moreover, the trend analysis shows corporate online reporting has steadily risen over the past few years, which is evidence of disclosure transformation theory in Jordan as it is in other emerging economies.
Optimizing employee time in a purchasing department: a Six Sigma case study
Authors: Martinez Deisell , Gitlow Howard S.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

This paper aims to resolve a staffing solution for a purchasing department at the University of Miami to expand a service request bulk purchasing program that generates savings for the university and respective departments.

Design/methodology/approach

The well‐known lean Six Sigma methodology is applied to yield consistent results and eliminate unnecessary actions (steps/tasks) by the staff.

Findings

The university is able to reduce processing time for a service request from 168 hours to 2.27 by streamlining communication and service request and automating lengthy process steps using a proprietary built workflow intelligence system.

Research limitations/implications

There are limited publications in the field of lean Six Sigma as an approach to staffing solutions.

Originality/value

This paper provides an unexplored practical application of lean Six Sigma to yield a staffing solution.
Determinants of different accounting methods choice in Tanzania
Authors: Waweru Nelson M. , Prot Ntui Ponsian , Mangena Musa
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that determine the choice of multiple accounting methods in Tanzania. The study investigates managers' decisions to choose accounting methods in a positive accounting theory perspective using panel data covering 60 years from 15 companies listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were extracted from the companies' annual reports. Possible determinants of the choice of accounting methods are identified based on the positive accounting theory, including firm size, leverage, internal financing, proportion of non‐executive directors, ownership dilution, and labour force intensity. The study then utilises multiple regression analysis to determine the significant factors influencing the manager's choice of accounting methods.

Findings

The results show that the significant factors are company size, internal financing, proportion of non‐executive directors, and labour force. Contrary to the outcome of prior studies, the authors found that company size and internal financing are positively related with income strategy. The study proves statistically that there is a strong association between choice of accounting methods and income strategy.

Originality/value

The paper makes several contributions to the body of knowledge. First, in the Tanzanian context, it determines the factors which affect choice of accounting methods. Second, the study identifies the proportion of non‐executive directors as a new factor impinging on the choice of accounting policies. Finally, this study shows for the first time that the use of ratio of income‐increasing accounting policies to total number of accounting policies can be used as a dependent variable.
Deconstructing workplace “know how” and “tacit knowledge”
Authors: Flint Kevin J.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

Over the past two decades across a number of sectors of the economy there has been an ever increased interest in attempting to understand the mediation of “tacit knowledge” in developing professional expertise. Much thought has been invested in studies which attempt to resolve the difficulty of revealing tacit knowledge and finding ways of transferring it within institutions and across organisations. But, in general these recent studies, and the approaches they have adopted, do not take sufficient account of the phenomenology of human being, Dasein, which is essentially temporal: the purpose of this paper is to address this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach here is based on a phenomenological and deconstructive study of two small–scale comparative cases of the mediation of tacit knowledge in the development of professional expertise in Higher Education, within the context of social practice and educational practice. The cases will each serve to provide a focus upon professional expertise in teaching in each of these domains of professional practice.

Findings

Deconstruction will serve to illuminate the essential differences between what is observed and re‐presented as episodes of teaching and the complex interplay of temporality that in each case is unique to the individual human being.

Originality/value

In the field of work‐based learning this paper adopts a novel approach. The deconstruction of tacit knowledge against indications drawn from Heidegger's ontology serves to bring into sharp relief the unfolding of essential forms of technology. By focusing the analysis upon the language in which the knowledge is generated and the phenomenology of human being, Dasein, the study will seek to explore some of the implications of attempting to convert “tacit knowledge” into a technology that can be transferred across organisations and institutions. It will illuminate the situation‐specific nature of tacit knowledge as grounds for professional expertise.
Project: a trainee‐oriented training method, an empirical approach
Authors: Brinia Vasiliki
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new trainee‐oriented teaching method: “The Project Method”. The aforementioned method highlights the important role of the experience of the training process and the links between training and the trainees' social life.

Design/methodology/approach

This method draws its origin from the American Pragmatism and the German “Project Education”, while it is based on the principles of Gestalt and cognitive psychology. The application of the Project Method in vocational training is examined through the emotional intelligence skills, that a group of people has developed — and claimed so in a relevant questionnaire — in a seminar concerning the subject of Marketing.

Findings

Through the Project Method's application, the trainees have developed their emotional intelligence skills, and have instilled new pedagogical ideas; providing long‐run benefits to themselves, the enterprises, the society and the economy in general. Research contends that this method is efficient when there are no time constraints.

Practical implications

While the focus is vocational training, the implications have a broader focus, enabling the Project Method to be applied to adults' education.

Originality/value

This paper provides empirical results of the Project Method application in vocational training. The Project Method training provides the effective cooperation of the human resources that is of high importance for the efficiency and the profitability of the enterprises.
Critical social marketing: definition, application and domain
Authors: Gordon Ross
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature and role of the critical dimension social marketing and its place within marketing scholarly thought. It is posited that such activity can be defined as “critical social marketing” and a formal definition is offered.

Design/methodology/approach

The ability of critical social marketing to inform the research and evidence base, as well as upstream and downstream activity is discussed. Scholarly debate on the role of critical social marketing within the social marketing and critical marketing paradigms, both of which heavily inform the concept, are reviewed. The application of a critical social marketing framework to the study of the impact of tobacco and food marketing is examined.

Findings

The paper demonstrates the utility of a critical social marketing framework in real‐world environments. Important considerations on who critical social marketers are and where the concept is located within marketing thought are addressed. The paper concludes by arguing that critical social marketing is a valid and established sub‐set of marketing thought within its own right, and should henceforth be regarded as such.

Originality/value

Offering a definition of critical social marketing formalises its position within marketing thought. Discussing the tensions surrounding the critical dimension of social marketing within the social marketing and critical marketing paradigms demonstrates the difficulty in locating concepts within existing literature. A review of the application of critical social marketing demonstrates its validity. Positing that critical social marketing should be located as a sub‐set within social marketing contributes to the marketing discipline and the organisation of marketing ideas and concepts.
Preventing game over
Authors: Cronin James M. , McCarthy Mary B.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

An effective means to promote optimal nutrition for any group of consumers is to expand nutrition professionals' understanding of the cohort's food choice processes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the situated food choice influences of the videogames subculture; a known consumption enclave for calorie dense low nutrient foods. The investigation is conducted by application of an abbreviated version of Furstet al.'s model of the food choice process as a conceptual framework.

Design/methodology/approach

This investigation uses an interpretive research strategy and adopts a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis. In total, 14 purposively sampled semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews were carried out with members of the videogames subculture.

Findings

Informants' food choices and preferences during social gameplay were strongly influenced by beliefs related to appropriate food behaviour and ideal characteristics of foods suitable for grazing. All informants described some constraints imposed by the physical surroundings and environmental nature of gameplay such as issues of messiness and inability to eat with utensils while gaming. Social structure played an important role in informants' food choices, and much of this structure was built around the hedonic intersection of food and gameplay. Informants' food choices were also influenced by poor cooking abilities and unwillingness to devote much effort to meal preparation during gameplay.

Practical implications

Used in conjunction with theories of behavioural change, the insights gathered here should help inform interventions and communications strategies. Both commercial and social marketing domains have a role to play in positively influencing gamers' diets.

Originality/value

The paper offers social marketers insight into the influences that underpin unhealthful food choices within the videogames subculture and how to positively bring about change.
Conflict analysis study for public engagement programme in infrastructure planning
Authors: Tam C.M. , Tong Thomas K.L.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

Stakeholder management in the form of public engagement in urban planning and infrastructure project impact assessments have become increasingly prevailing. However, the exercise may involve some complex socio‐economic considerations and critical conflict analysis/resolution scenarios. Without a scientific approach, it is difficult to distil a resolution from the chaotic public opinions, especially in those highly controversial issues. This paper proposes the use of conflict analysis to screen out the resolution in a scientific manner.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a case of harbor‐front design in Hong Kong to illustrate how the analysis was carried out to accomplish the objectives.

Findings

The example has illustrated that the conflict analysis has helped resolve a set of major issues in the Hong Kong harbor‐front redevelopment.

Originality/value

The introduction of a structured conflict analysis framework for the government to systematically deal with the conflicting viewpoints from different parties (such as general public and other stakeholders) has been demonstrated, which can be used to map systematically the different viewpoints collected in the public engagement exercise. The results are more convincing and more likely to be acceptable by all the stakeholders.
Effectiveness of infrastructure asset management: challenges for public agencies
Authors: Schraven Daan , Hartmann Andreas , Dewulf Geert
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The aim of this research is to better understand the decisions in infrastructure asset management at public agencies and the challenges of these agencies to improve the effectiveness of their decision making.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a literature review on asset management at public agencies, a case study was used to investigate the decision making of a provincial agency in The Netherlands. A total of 12 semi‐structured interviews with employees of the agency were conducted, amended by an analysis of policy documents, maintenance contracts, inspection reports, and planning documents.

Findings

The research revealed that key challenges to achieving effective infrastructure asset management are: the establishment of alignment between infrastructure objectives, situation and intervention; the formulation of infrastructure objectives; and the management of multiple actors with different interests.

Practical implications

Public agencies should pay more attention to clearly defined infrastructure objectives which are consistent with the agencies' strategic policy goals and interests of multiple stakeholders. That also includes that public agents need to develop new skills and knowledge to cope with the various challenges of effective infrastructure asset management.

Originality/value

The research clustered decisions in infrastructure management into three decision areas and showed that effectiveness of the decision making is constituted through the interrelationship of these areas and depends on clearly defined objectives.