bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A model for addressing stakeholders' concerns about direct‐to‐consumer advertising of prescription medicines
Authors: Hoek Janet , Maubach Ninya
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To explore how a “harm chain” analysis could identify and address stakeholders' concerns about direct‐to‐consumer advertising of prescription medicines (DTCA).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyses the development of stakeholder theory before exploring and discussing the tension between normative and instrumental logic. The authors adopt a utilitarian perspective, which they use to identify the range of stakeholders involved with or affected by DTCA.

Findings

A “harm chain” analysis identifies common concerns held by stakeholders; these include disquiet over the quality of information provided via DTCA and possible derogation of doctors' role as prescribers. The paper outlines prescriptive advertising guidelines that could address these issues, but notes that failure to achieve a satisfactory reduction in harm potential may result in a ban on DTCA.

Research limitations/implications

Although a utilitarian norm will not satisfy all stakeholders' interests, the authors believe that it will produce the greatest reduction in harm, as well as maximising the benefits that can result from DTCA. The conclusions imply the need for independent monitoring of DTCA's effects on stakeholder groups to ensure that regulations governing this advertising are broadly based.

Practical implications

The authors suggest changes to DTCA regulation, specifically the introduction of a “fair balance” criterion and a statement explicitly recognising doctors' role in determining appropriate treatments.

Originality/value

Although the debate over DTCA has been well documented, this paper represents the first attempt to use stakeholder theory to explore the ethical issues associated with this advertising. The analysis produces a decision‐making model that the authors recommend should guide future policy decisions.
Balanced versus focused responsiveness to core constituencies and organizational effectiveness
Authors: Koll Oliver , Woodside Arch G. , Mühlbacher Hans
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To test how responsiveness to key organizational stakeholders (owners, customers, employees) is related to organizational effectiveness (OE). Focused versus balanced strategies of responsiveness are compared.

Design/methodology/approach

Employs Boolean algebra to study performance of 69 companies in three industries over a ten‐year period. Responsiveness to key stakeholders and performance are measured using publicly available data provided by these organizations (Compustat by Standard & Poor's).

Findings

Provides evidence that balanced responsiveness to multiple constituencies is more likely to lead to high OE than focused responsiveness to a single one. Trade‐offs in responsiveness to key stakeholders are found supporting the idea that serving multiple interests is challenging. Most results are not industry‐specific – the usefulness of a balanced strategy of responsiveness may be generalized.

Research limitations/implications

Responsiveness embraces organizational behaviors not covered by accounting information. Development of more comprehensive responsiveness measures may be a fruitful avenue for further research. Analyses are limited to a subset of key stakeholders and three industries.

Practical implications

Provides evidence that organizations avoiding extreme unresponsiveness to any of its key stakeholders are more effective. Aiming for above‐average responsiveness to any constituency only pays off if no other constituency simultaneously enjoys below‐average responsiveness.

Originality/value

This article develops a comprehensive methodological framework to assess strategies comparing balanced versus focused responsiveness to multiple organizational constituencies. Empirical results should be of relevance to strategy practitioners and scholars alike.
An empirical examination of the stakeholder strategy matrix
Authors: Polonsky Michael Jay , Scott Don
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper seeks to examine whether the stakeholder strategy matrix provides useful guidance for managers in dealing with stakeholders. The matrix suggests that strategies for dealing with stakeholders can be determined based on stakeholder ability to cooperate and threaten organisational outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a hypothetical scenario looking at the development of a new environmentally friendly product, where eight stakeholder groups and their influencing abilities are manipulated. Marketers reviewed one version of the scenario and were then asked the applicability of 13 strategies for each stakeholder group described. Mixed design analysis is then undertaken to examine the direct effects and interactions between the four combinations of influencing abilities, the stakeholder group examined or how the strategy suggested impacted on managers' views.

Findings

The research found that there was an interaction effect suggesting that some strategies were more applicable to stakeholders with certain sets of influencing abilities, as the stakeholder strategy matrix suggested. The specific stakeholder group examined also appeared to impact on managers' views, which is inconsistent with the theory.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations are that the research focused on managers' perceptions of the applicability of strategies, rather than the actual success of strategies examined. Research into the effectiveness of actual behaviours would possibly require more in‐depth examination of case studies.

Practical implications

The research suggests that the stakeholder strategy matrix may provide some guidance as to how managers deal with stakeholders. However, it also suggests that managers may be implicitly applying influencing abilities to groups irrespective of their “true” influencing ability. In this case managers are in fact ignoring valuable information when deciding how to interact with stakeholders and therefore possibly using less effective strategies to interact with stakeholders.

Originality/value

The research is unique as it looks at determining whether different types of strategies for dealing with stakeholders are perceived to be more or less effective. This therefore seeks to make stakeholder theory more strategic and applicable in a broader set of contexts. As such the paper would be of interest to managers seeking to understand better how to deal with stakeholders and to theorists seeking to understand better how stakeholder theory impacts on organisational outcomes.
Science, serendipity and the contemporary marketing condition
Authors: Brown Stephen
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this commentary is to summarise developments in the science of serendipity and urge marketers to pay more attention to the incorrigible incalculability of commercial life.

Design/methodology/approach

Explains how luck is a crucial component of business success and argues, citing examples of Shelby D. Hunt and Ted Levitt, among others, that it is perhaps time to abandon our fixation with customer focus and start taking serendipity seriously

Findings

Fortune, clearly, favours the brand. Indeed, the history of management in general and marketing in particular reveals that serendipity plays a significant part in the commercial equation.

Originality/value

Highlights the latter day advances in the science of serendipity.
CRM: conceptualization and scale development
Authors: Sin Leo Y.M. , Tse Alan C.B. , Yim Frederick H.K.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To develop a reliable and valid measuring scale for customer relationship management (CRM).

Design/methodology/approach

A series of studies were conducted for the development and validation of multiple measures for the dimensions of CRM. Once the dimensions of CRM were identified, data from study 1 (n=150 business executives attending a part‐time MBA program) were used to select items based on factor analysis. Then, confirmatory factor analyses was used on data obtained from a mail survey of Hong Kong financial firms in study 2 (n=215) to examine factor structure, as well as to provide evidence of dimensionality, scale reliability and validity. Finally, in study 3, data from 276 business executives attending a seminar on CRM were used to test the scale generalizability of CRM measures in various industries.

Findings

A reliable and valid scale was developed to measure the four dimensions of CRM: key customer focus, CRM organization, knowledge management and technology‐based CRM.

Research limitations/implications

Since this study was conducted in Hong Kong only, the generalizability of the CRM scale has to be tested in other countries. In addition, cross‐sectional data were used in this study. Future studies should collect time‐series data for the testing of the causal relationship between CRM and business performance.

Practical implications

The findings validate the long‐held belief that CRM is a critical success factor for business performance. Firms wishing to improve their relationships with customers need constantly to monitor their behavioral and internal processes. The proposed scale in this study could be used as a diagnostic tool to identity areas where specific improvements are needed, and to pinpoint aspects of the firm's CRM that require work.

Originality/value

This is the first study to provide a comprehensive, psychometrically sound, and operationally valid measure of a firm's CRM.
The effect of market and learning orientation on strategy dynamics
Authors: McGuinness Tony , Morgan Robert E.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this research paper is to define a new construct, organisational change capability, which determines an organisation's effectiveness in implementing marketing strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

A framework is constructed based on a dynamic concept of strategy, implying that strategy implementation is a process of effectively leading and managing incessant organisational change. The new construct is defined by analysis and synthesis of key sources in prior literature on leading and managing organisational change.

Findings

The paper identifies organisational change capability as a distinctive new construct that integrates stages in leading and managing organisational change. The framework shows how the new construct relates to market orientation and learning orientation in jointly influencing the success of dynamic strategy outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is conceptual, and requires empirical development.

Practical implications

The paper helps an organisation to understand the nature of change capability, and its role in effectively implementing marketing strategy.

Originality/value

The value of the paper lies in defining a new, distinctive construct that can be developed as an operational measure of an organisation's capability of effectively implementing marketing strategy.
Antecedents of conflict in marketing's cross‐functional relationship with sales
Authors: Dawes Philip L. , Massey Graham R.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model of the factors that explain the level of interpersonal conflict between marketing managers and sales managers. The paper aims to establish the overall level of interpersonal conflict in the full sample and in the two sampled countries (UK and Australia).

Design/methodology/approach

The study draws on two theoretical frameworks to develop the model, namely structural contingency theory and the interaction approach. More specifically, the conceptual framework uses three groups of variables to explain interpersonal conflict: structural, individual, and communication. Importantly, the study developed and tested nine hypotheses. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the validity of the measures while OLS regression was used in testing the hypotheses. The data were collected from 200 sales managers in the UK and Australia.

Findings

Overall, the study finds that there was a surprisingly low level of interpersonal conflict between marketing managers and sales managers and that there were no differences across the two countries. Of the three groups of variables, the two communication variables – frequency and bidirectionality – had the strongest effects on interpersonal conflict. The next strongest effects were from the individual‐level variables – psychological distance and the sales manager's formal education. The findings also reveal that the level of the sales manager's marketing training and the marketing manager's sales experience had no influence on interpersonal conflict. Two of the three structural variables – use of lateral linkages and being part of a corporation – had the hypothesized negative impact on interpersonal conflict.

Originality/value

This is the first study to use a large empirical survey to examine the marketing and sales dyad. Also, it is one of the few studies to test the effects of communication behviours on peer manager conflict.
An investigation of crossmarket standardisation strategies
Authors: Chung Henry F.L.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The importance of the European Union (EU) to international business cannot be stressed too greatly. Recently it has expanded to 25 country markets. Its total population has reached 455 million people, which is the world's largest economic organisation. Previous international marketing standardisation (IMS) studies focused on the EU are mainly descriptive in nature and they have not specifically examined issues related to firms’ operations in two or more EU country markets at one time. The purpose of this study is to examine issues related to the crossmarket standardisation strategy, i.e. whether a standardised marketing programme and process can be used across the country markets in the EU.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the pair‐wise comparison method originally developed by Sorenson and Wiechmann this study examines the marketing standardisation strategies selection process of 66 New Zealand firms which were concurrently operating in two or more EU markets. In total these firms were operating in 13 different EU country markets.

Findings

The outcomes of this study suggest that, although a complete similarity in the marketing environment is not likely to occur in the EU, it is possible for firms to locate a group of country markets which have shared similar marketing characteristics in the EU region. For instance, country pairs such as UK‐France, UK‐Germany, UK‐Ireland, Germany‐France, Germany‐Italy and Germany‐Sweden could offer some extent of similarity which allows firms to adopt a standardised marketing strategy across these countries.

Originality/value

This study generates a research framework for future studies and firms intending to operate in the EU region. The findings generated contribute to research in the areas of international marketing standardisation and international segmentation.
Factors affecting the termination propensity of inter‐firm relationships
Authors: Ellis Paul D.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The decline of inter‐firm relationships remains an important, although little studied, topic within the channel management literature. Existing research on the topic tends to be fragmentary and largely occupied with the cataloguing of switching incentives and deterrents. This aim of this paper is to articulate a more comprehensive explanation of the process of decline.

Design/methodology/approach

With special emphasis on those channels spanning international borders, this paper outlines a mediational model of termination propensity which exploits the tension between the switching and opportunity costs of maintaining the status quo. Specifically, the study examines how switching motivators and deterrents interact to tip the balance towards, or away from, the inclination to terminate.

Findings

Two significant outcomes are achieved. First, it is proposed that the switching motivators identified in the literature are mediated through clients' satisfaction with their intermediary's current and anticipated performance. Significantly, it is shown that changes in the market, organisational and relational contexts can alter clients' perceptions independently of any changes in actual intermediary performance. Second, and in contrast with the direct links espoused in previous studies, switching costs are predicted to moderate the link between client satisfaction and termination propensity.

Originality/value

In contrast with past approaches examining a single cause of decline, this study develops propositions outlining a comprehensive, mediational explanation of termination propensity.
Understanding new product project performance
Authors: Pattikawa Lenny H. , Verwaal Ernst , Commandeur Harry R.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the accumulated body of knowledge on the performance of new product projects and provide directions for further research.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a refined classification of antecedents of new product project performance the research results are meta‐analyzed in the literature in order to identify the strength and stability of predictor‐performance relationships.

Findings

The results reveal that 22 variables have a significant relationship with new product project performance, of which only 12 variables have a sizable relationship. In order of importance these factors are the degree of organizational interaction, R&D and marketing interface, general product development proficiency, product advantage, financial/business analysis, technical proficiency, management skill, marketing proficiency, market orientation, technology synergy, project manager competency and launch activities. Of the 34 variables 16 predictors show potential for moderator effects.

Research limitations/implications

The validity of the results is constrained by publication bias and heterogeneity of performance measures, and directions for the presentation of data in future empirical publications are provided.

Practical implications

This study helps new product project managers in understanding and managing the performance of new product development projects.

Originality/value

This paper provides unique insights into the importance of predictors of new product performance at the project level. Furthermore, it identifies which predictor‐performance relations are contingent on other factors.
Business communication in interactions between Mainland Chinese and Western firms through Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries
Authors: Trimarchi Michael , Liesch Peter W.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper aims to analyse the nature of business communication and its influence on relationships development between Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries sourcing from Mainland Chinese sellers involved in manufacturing for sale to Western buyer firms.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study‐driven methodology with purposeful sampling is applied to yield maximum variation in the sampling to elicit underlying tendencies and generative mechanisms that exist within and across the multiple cases of relationships.

Findings

The paper finds that Mainland Chinese sellers and Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries tend not to have the close ties that might be expected. Mainland Chinese sellers constrained their use of social information, requiring Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries to use commercial information transfers to evaluate the trustworthiness of their Mainland Chinese partners. An ingroup/outgroup bias exacerbates the modesty bias of the Mainland Chinese and also hinders learning through the transfer of technical information within these Chinese interactions. On the other hand, Western buyers tend not to prefer social information interactions with their Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries, requiring these intermediaries to emphasise commercial information interactions to evaluate the trustworthiness of their Western buyers.

Research limitations/implications

This research uses a restricted sample of case study respondents. Representative sampling across multiple contexts will assist in testing the generality of the findings.

Practical implications

For the West to source increasingly attractive manufactures from Mainland China, Hong Kong intermediaries will remain fundamentally important even though this creates further interactions. The aggregate of these multiple exchange arrangements is less problematic than would be the case if Western business were to deal directly with the Mainland Chinese.

Originality/value

This article sheds light on the nature of business communication interactions in a group of relationships between Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries and Mainland sellers, and buyers from the West. Implications for relationships development among the Chinese and Western actors are identified with propositions framed to guide further investigation.
Advertiser satisfaction with advertising agency creative product
Authors: Hill Railton M.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to explore the satisfaction response in the context of an applied creative, business‐to‐business, professional service – that of advertiser satisfaction with agency creative services.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is a based on a longitudinal questionnaire survey of advertising managers.

Findings

The paper finds that the disconfirmation of expectations model, previously utilised largely in goods categories and in consumer services, can be successfully applied within advertising creative services.

Research limitations/implications

Use of the key respondent method; the ability of managers to comply with the very specific conditions set out for choice of campaign; memory: the assumption that respondents could remember which campaign they had referred to in their initial questionnaire responses when completing the second questionnaire.

Practical implications

Advertisers commit very large resources on the basis of their satisfaction with agency generated creative ideas, at a time when such product appears in a highly undeveloped, relatively intangible state. The study tests how satisfaction is formed in this context.

Originality/value

The paper has an application of the disconfirmation‐based model of customer satisfaction to advertising creative product. The literature on advertising creative ideas as a product category (and to “applied creative” products in general) is very limited.
Marketing action in networks
Authors: Mouzas Stefanos
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to describe and explain how organizations develop and implement marketing action within their surrounding business networks.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is an empirical case study research that covered periods 1993 to 1998 and 2002 to 2003 in manufacturer‐retailer networks in Germany. A conceptual model is developed and its applicability is illustrated.

Findings

The paper finds that marketing action is seen as an inventive stream of finding and doing what is possible for each organization in its respective network. Whilst organizations react to events as they unfold, marketing action in networks takes the form of creating and exercising a number of options that best reflect organizations' strengths and their capacities derived from network membership.

Research limitations/implications

Although based on marketing episodes related to the development and introduction of new products in a manufacturer‐retailer network, the proposed model has far wider managerial implications. The efficiency of the model is achieved through the reduction into three generative stages of the complexity of marketing action in networks.

Practical implications

The model is explained in some depth, and its practical implications explained via the case study.

Originality/value

The development of a model of marketing action in networks based upon a network/option view of business‐to‐business marketing.
Power and control in international retail franchising
Authors: Doherty Anne Marie , Alexander Nicholas
Published: January 2007

Purpose

As international retailers continue to employ franchising as a major method of market entry, the control of these international retail franchise networks becomes of significant importance. The aim of this paper is to examine the methods by which UK‐based international fashion franchisors control franchisees and their international franchise businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper employs a qualitative methodology and a multiple case design. Six UK‐based fashion retailers with international franchise operations form the empirical basis of the study.

Findings

The franchise contract, support mechanisms, franchise partner selection, the franchise relationship and the use of master/area franchising were found to be the major methods by which international retail franchisors exert control over their franchise networks. While coercive and non‐coercive sources of power were identified in the form of the franchise contract and support mechanisms, the paper also identifies sources of relationship power and organisational power.

Practical implications

The paper provides practical information to existing international franchisors and those firms considering the move into the international marketplace via the franchise mode of operation. By highlighting additional sources of power in the form of organisational and relationship power, franchisors are offered further means by which to control their international businesses than hitherto identified in the international franchise literature.

Originality/value

Traditional franchise research suggests that there is a dichotomy in the sources of power available to franchisors, that is, coercive or non‐coercive sources of power. While acknowledging the existence and importance of these sources of power and their related methods of control, this paper adds further dimensions to the academic debate by introducing relationship power and organisational power. Therefore, franchise partner selection, the franchise relationship and the use of master/area franchising emerge from the qualitative findings as further control mechanisms available to international retail franchisors.
Deriving and exploring behavior segments within a retail loyalty card program
Authors: Allaway Arthur W. , Gooner Richard M. , Berkowitz David , Davis Lenita
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Despite the proliferation of retail loyalty programs, little is known about differences in the behavior patterns of the consumers within them. There may be several unique segments within a loyalty program, and significant managerial implications may accrue from identification of these segments and analysis of differences among them. This paper aims to investigate the potential for deriving meaningful, managerially relevant customer segments within a retail loyalty‐type program.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from the one‐year test of a retail loyalty card program by a major US retailer were used to derive patronage‐based segments and explore determinants of segment differences and strategy implications. A numerical taxonomy process was used to group 57,650 loyalty‐card program members into distinct segments. Cluster analysis was used to generate a range of potential market structures on a set of managerially relevant variables. The most appropriate market structure was selected using scree testing and discriminant analysis. Each of the resulting six segments was named profiled. Finally, a set of patronage‐related variables was regressed on to the clusters using multinomial logistic regression.

Findings

The results indicate that, at least for this card program, clearly defined segments with unique patronage profiles do exist both descriptively and statistically; only a small percentage of loyalty card program members demonstrate behaviors that can be considered truly loyal; and different marketing strategies appear appropriate to try and increase patronage among the segments based on their profile characteristics.

Originality/value

This study should prove valuable to academic researchers as well as managers. It is the first effort to generate meaningful, rigorously derived segments within a large loyalty program. It shows that behavioral variables can yield managerially relevant segments, and that the segments appear to call for individualized strategy initiatives.
Embodying experience
Authors: vom Lehn Dirk
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to argue that social interaction fundamentally underpins how people examine, experience and make sense of museum exhibits. It seeks to reveal how people collaboratively view and make sense of artwork and other kinds of exhibit, and in particular how the ways of looking at and responding to exhibits arise in social interaction.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis inspects in detail video‐recordings of visitors' conduct and interaction at exhibits. It draws on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis to reveal the social and sequential organisation of people's verbal, visual and bodily action and interaction.

Findings

The study finds that people explore museums and examine exhibits with companions while other visitors act and interact in the same locale. Which exhibits visitors look at and how they see and experience them is influenced by and arises in social interaction with others, be they companions or strangers. People display and share their experience of exhibits with others through verbal and bodily action and interaction.

Research limitations/implications

The findings bear on current debates in marketing research. They suggest that there is a lack of understanding of people's experience of exhibits in museums. They show how video‐based studies can address this gap in marketing research. Further studies are currently being conducted to shed light on the quality of people's experience at the exhibit‐face and how it may be enhanced by the deployment of interpretation resources, such as labels, touch‐screen and handheld systems.

Practical implications

The findings may have some implications for the work of curators, designers and exhibition evaluators. They suggest that social interaction needs to be taken into consideration when designing and deploying exhibits and interpretation resources, such as labels, touch‐screen information kiosks, hand‐held computers, etc.

Originality/value

The paper uses visual/video‐recordings as principal data and illustrates its findings by virtue of visual material. It introduces video‐based field studies as a method to examine cultural and visual consumption in museums. It employs an analytic and methodological framework from ethnomethodology and conversation analysis that previously have found little application in marketing and consumer research.
Mismatched perceptions and expectations
Authors: Saunders Mark N.K. , Skinner Denise , Beresford Richard
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To explore potential mismatches between stakeholders' perceptions and expectations of key and technical skills needed for an advanced modern apprentice within the UK.

Design/methodology/approach

Using data collected from the automotive sector, the template process is used to establish lecturer, student and employee stakeholder group's expectations of a person taking up employment alongside an advanced modern apprenticeship or as an advanced modern apprentice. Perceptions of the extent to which expectations are met and their relative importance are assessed.

Findings

All stakeholders acknowledge that a skills gap exists across key and technical skills. However, whilst students focus on technical skills, lecturers and employees place greatest emphasis on key skills and their ability to transfer them.

Research limitations/implications

Although this research is based on the UK automotive sector, the findings emphasise the importance of key skills and understanding as part of students' learning. Research is needed to establish why students appear to undervalue these and establish whether similar patterns exist in other sectors.

Practical implications

The voluntarist approach to UK vocational education and training has, when combined with the need for further education colleges to be economically viable, resulted in courses that appear attractive but do not always meet the automotive sector's needs. Research is needed to establish whether this is occurring across other sectors.

Originality/value

This template process offers a new technique to explore stakeholders' perceptions and expectations. The findings provide new insights into the mismatches between expectations of the stakeholders in vocational education and training.
HRD in France: the corporate perspective
Authors: Weil Amandine , Woodall Jean
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To explore and describe the roles, activities and strategies of French human resource development professionals.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based primarily on exploratory and descriptive research. A range of secondary sources on European and French human resource development is critically reviewed to generate a number of research questions designed to identify the corporate perspective on human resource development by means of cases drawn from six organizations located in Eastern France.

Findings

These confirm the lack of a clear understanding of human resource development on the part of French companies; the wide range of activities that is considered to fall within human resource development; an emerging interest in management development, career development and skills forecasting, but a neglect of training evaluation; the similarity of human resource development practitioner roles to those elsewhere in Europe; growing evidence of the involvement of line managers in human resource development activity, and a strong commitment to the strategic significance of human resource development.

Research limitations/implications

The study was based on an opportunity sample of just six companies in Eastern France, and may therefore not be representative, but it does provide findings that expand upon and also qualify earlier research.

Practical implications

This study provides new knowledge and understanding of the context and practice of human resource development in France and makes a number of suggestions for further research.

Originality/value

This paper provides original research based on recent cases of corporate human resource development practice, and should be of interest to scholars of international human resource development.
Changes in HRM in Europe
Authors: Nikandrou Irene , Apospori Eleni , Papalexandris Nancy
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To examine HRM strategies and practices and HRM position within organizations in various cultural, economic and sociopolitical contexts from a longitudinal perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses the 1995 and 1999 Cranet data in a longitudinal methodological framework to explore the changes and trends in 18 European countries with regard to certain HRM issues between the points of time when measurements took place. Country is the unit of analysis, and cluster analysis is used for each of the two waves of data to classify countries into relatively homogeneous groups/clusters.

Findings

The overall picture is that the 18 countries form two major clusters. Countries in Europe can be systematically clustered in a North/West‐South/East distinction, regarding HRM practices. There is no indication of convergence between the major clusters. However, movement from one cluster to another was observed, with Italy and East Germany moving to the North‐western cluster.

Research limitations/implications

The level of analysis, which is HR practices at a national (average values) and regional level, is a methodological limitation of the present study. Analysis at this level conceals qualitative differences between countries, which are important in the contextual paradigm.

Practical implications

The issue of convergence in HR practices has important implications for HR managers in multinationals who operate in Europe and the transferability of HR practices.

Originality/value

This paper addresses the issue of whether over time there is an increasing “Europeanisation” (convergence) of HRM practices in Europe or not, by studying HR practices in 18 European countries.
Working students at Greek universities
Authors: Mihail Dimitrios M.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Greece has the highest youth unemployment rate in the European Union. Even though it is clear that persistent unemployment requires bold measures in engaging young educated Greeks in the labour market, there is no coherent policy targeting that population group, especially university students. This research paper aims to explore the idea of restructuring the internal labour market in Greek universities by expanding services and offering part‐time job positions to their students.

Design/methodology/approach

In assessing the feasibility of such a project a survey was conducted involving 237 undergraduate students majoring in business management and 22 administrative executives at the University of Macedonia, Greece.

Findings

The survey's main findings indicate that there is a tendency to match job openings with skills supplied by students in a work‐school programme focused on campus part‐time jobs.

Research limitations/implications

A large‐scale national survey involving students from various academic disciplines and executives from different universities would result in a more informed discussion on institutions that promote youth employment.

Originality/value

This study has shown that a work‐study programme promoting work opportunities on campus is plausible in Greece and might have great value for key stakeholders – students and universities.
Career management in transition: HRD themes from the Estonian civil service
Authors: Rees Christopher J. , Järvalt Jane , Metcalfe Beverley
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To explore, through a case study, some of the key career‐related HRD issues that senior managers are currently facing in the Estonian civil service.

Design/methodology/approach

Presents primary empirical research into career management in the Estonian civil service since 1991, that is, in the post‐Soviet era. The research involved in‐depth interviews with a group of 12 senior staff employed by the Estonian civil service.

Findings

The interview data reveal the ways in which downsizing and de‐layering in the Estonian public sector have led to shortened career paths, increased functional flexibility, increased spans of control and shifts towards open job systems.

Research limitations/implications

The research explored career‐related issues solely within the Estonian civil service. Further research would be needed in a wider range of organisations and countries before the transferability of the findings could be established to transitional economies more generally.

Practical implications

Provides practical insights into the difficulties of career management in transitional economies situations from an HR perspective.

Originality/value

Offers a valuable contribution by demonstrating that, within certain parameters, Western‐based career management strategies and techniques may be adapted to fit transitional public services in Estonia but only as one element of a comprehensive HR modernisation programme.
MBA for small firms and microenterprises? Development issues
Authors: Lynch Paul , Baty Richard , Abdullah Farouk , Seaman Claire
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To report on an investigation amongst small firm owner‐managers in the service sector into potential demand for an MBA.

Design/methodology/approach

Relevant recent literature is critiqued concerning small firms and learning, and MBAs and small firms. A description is given of the research methods employed involving a mail questionnaire sent to 600 small and microenterprises eliciting 99 completed questionnaires, and follow‐up interviews with a sample of 20 respondents.

Findings

Identifies a potential market for an MBA tailor‐made to the requirements of a “learning segment” of small firm owner‐managers. Finds owner‐managers have sophisticated product requirements to be satisfied which would necessitate significant changes in higher education course provision and processes.

Research limitations/implications

The research was not concerned with investigating price. Bridging the gap between meeting the educational needs of small firms and higher education provision would help to address issues of social exclusion and potentially enhance the competitive economy.

Practical implications

Higher education institutions need to make significant changes to course provision and teaching, learning and assessment processes in order to develop an MBA product appropriate for the small firm market.

Originality/value

Assists with planning and designing a small firm MBA. Furthers debate concerning small firms and lifelong learning in order to develop a more competitive economy.
Managing human resources in a multinational context
Authors: Sumetzberger Walter
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To develop more sensitivity for different patterns of human resource management in multinational companies.

Design/methodology/approach

Systemic approach; the concepts and models are based on the evaluation of consulting projects in the field of human resource management.

Findings

A concept of four typical varieties of human resource management, a model and important aspects for designing the cooperation processes between human resource departments and company management in multinational companies.

Originality/value

This paper provides a complex mindset about human resource management in a multinational context, which is a prerequisite for designing constructive cooperation processes between human resource departments and company management and for increasing the effectiveness of human resource activities.
Methods to enhance reflective behaviour in innovation processes
Authors: Verdonschot Suzanne G.M.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This study aims to trace methods that help to develop the reflective behaviour that is necessary for identifying and describing learning processes in organisations that focus on improvement and innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

An extensive literature review results in the characteristics of reflection when reflection is used to trace learning processes in innovation. This results in five characteristics. Literature on research methodology is reviewed in order to find methods that promote this reflective behaviour. These methods are analysed to find out to what extent they contain the characteristics for reflection in innovation processes.

Findings

The literature review leads to five elements that characterise reflective behaviour in innovation processes. It offers a description of several methods that can be used to identify learning processes. The main conclusion is that hardly any method contains all five characteristics for adequate reflective behaviour.

Research limitations/implications

The current study mainly reviewed research methodologies and no other methods that actively promote reflection.

Practical implications

The findings offer concrete guidance for practitioners how to encourage reflective behaviour and innovation processes.

Originality/value

The paper refers to the interest of both research and practice. From the research point of view it presents a variety of methods for analysing learning processes in order to deepen our knowledge with respect to these processes. From the practice point of view, it offers concrete methods that enable participants to develop reflective skills that help them to become more knowledge productive.
Assessing the impact of entrepreneurship education programmes: a new methodology
Authors: Fayolle Alain , Gailly Benoît , Lassas‐Clerc Narjisse
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Facing the multiplication of entrepreneurship education programmes (EEP) and the increasing resources allocated, there is a need to develop a common framework to evaluate the design of those programmes. The purpose of this article is to propose such a framework, based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB).

Design/methodology/approach

TPB is a relevant tool to model the development of entrepreneurial intention through pedagogical processes. The independent variables are the characteristics of the EEP and the dependent variables are the antecedents of entrepreneurial behaviour. To illustrate and test the relevance of the evaluation methodology, a pilot study is conducted.

Findings

Data are consistent and reliable, considering the small scale of this experiment. The EEP assessed had a strong measurable impact on the entrepreneurial intention of the students, while it had a positive, but not very significant, impact on their perceived behavioural control.

Research implications/limitations

This is a first step of an ambitious research programme aiming at producing theory‐grounded knowledge. Reproduction of the experiment will allow researchers to test how specific characteristics of an EEP influence its impact and how the impact differs across several cohorts of students. Those comparisons will serve to improve a priori the design of EEP.

Originality/value

The new methodology is built on a robust theoretical framework and based on validated measurement tools. Its originality is about a relative – longitudinal – measure of impact over time and a particular use of the theory of planned behaviour which is seen as an assessment framework.
IRFOC induction motor with rotor time constant estimation modelling and simulation
Authors: Radwan E. , Mariun N. , Aris I. , Bash S.M. , Yatim A.H.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To provide a new and simple inverse rotor time constant identification method which can be used to update an indirect rotor field oriented controlled (IRFOC) induction motor algorithm.

Design/methodology/approach

Two different equations are used to estimate the rotor flux in the stator reference frame. One of the equations is a function of the rotor time constant, rotor angular velocity and the stator currents. The other equation is a function of measured stator currents and voltages. The equation that uses the voltage and the current signals of the stator serves as reference model, however, the other equation works as an adjustable model with respect to the variation of the rotor time constant. Voltage signals used in the reference model equation are obtained from the measured DC bus voltage and the inverter gating signals. The proposed scheme is verified using a MATLAB/SIMULINK model for two different motors and experimentally using a DSP development tool (MCK 243) supplied by Technosoft S.A.

Findings

The proposed estimator was able to successfully track the actual value of the inverse rotor time constant for different load torque and speed operating conditions. Increased oscillations in the estimated inverse rotor time constant appeared at lower speeds (below 10 per cent of rated speed) due to drift in a PI regulator (used at the estimator side), which was tuned under rated operating conditions and using parameters nominal values.

Research limitations/implications

This estimation scheme is limited when near zero speed operation is demanded; otherwise it gives a simple and practical solution. A suggested way out of this, is to provide a self‐tuning controller that can automatically adjust even for zero speed operation, or to automatically disconnect the estimator and take the most updated value as long as the operating speed is below a predetermined value.

Originality/value

This paper presented a new inverse rotor time constant estimator for an IRFOC induction motor application and in conjunction rotor flux was estimated without voltage phase sensors.