bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cooperation and competition: balanced scorecard and hospital privatization
Authors: Aidemark Lars‐Göran
Published: October 2010

Purpose

In 2000 the Skåne Region (a public authority) and a private contractor made a five‐year agreement for the provision of both in‐patient care and out‐patient medical services to about 30,000 inhabitants in the south‐east part of the region. The Skåne Region is the main provider of health care to about one million inhabitants in the south of Sweden and is responsible for all health care (private and public), including ten hospitals. This paper seeks to answer the question of how the Skåne Region can control and cooperate with a private contractor, entering into competition with the public health care providers in the region.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a longitudinal study conducted between 2001‐2006. It is based on 28 taped interviews with employees responsible for the contracting process, participating observations and comprehensive secondary material. The study presents experiences made by the contractor and the public authority on how to work out and follow‐up assignments within the health care sector regarding patient interest, public interest and professional medical interest.

Findings

Measurement within the frames of the balanced scorecard (BSC) made it possible to control both volumes and health care quality delivered by the private competing contractor. The political purchaser claims that the Skåne Region has established a cost‐effective and successful control system based on trust and measurement.

Originality/value

This paper reports on a control system, between public purchaser and a private provider within health care, that focuses on and follow‐up not only health care production but also health care quality.
The relationship between consumer complaining behavior and service recovery
Authors: Gyung Kim Min , Wang Chenya , Mattila Anna S.
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The goal of the present conceptual paper is to integrate two streams of literature related to service failures: customer complaining behaviors (CCB) and service recovery literature. The suggested conceptual framework intends to broaden the thinking on consumers' complaint handling processes for hospitality institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

A model is proposed that integrates the service recovery and CCB literatures under a single framework. A careful literature review is performed to justify the conceptual framework.

Findings

The framework offers a starting point for broadening the thinking on consumers' complaint handling processes.

Research limitations/implications

Systematic empirical research is needed to test the integrative model.

Originality/value

This paper offers insight for hospitality managers into how to effectively deal with dissatisfied customer experiences.
Organizational justice, employees' ethical behavior, and job satisfaction in the casino industry
Authors: Chen McCain Shiang‐Lih , Tsai Henry , Bellino Nicholas
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The paper aims to examine the antecedents and consequence of casino employees' ethical behavior. In particular, it proposes that both distributive and procedural justice have positive influences on such behavior, which in turn positively affects workers' job satisfaction. The paper aims to help casino management pinpoint areas for enhancing and promoting employees' ethical behavior so as to benefit industry stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire was designed based on a literature review and preliminary conversations with 37 casino employees. These were distributed to frontline casino employees working in the slot and table games departments. Exploratory factor analysis and path analysis were employed to test the proposed model.

Findings

The paper shows that casino employees' ethical behavior was positively influenced by both procedural and distributive justice, with the former a slightly stronger motivator. Of the three proposed determinants of casino employees' job satisfaction, distributive justice had the most strongly positive effect.

Practical implications

This paper suggests that action could be taken by management to enhance employees' perception of both distributive and procedural justice to motivate ethical behavior. Furthermore, casino managers should be aware that distributive justice plays a more important role than procedural justice and ethical behavior in enhancing casino employees' job satisfaction. In making decisions, they should consider outcome fairness to demonstrate distributive justice.

Originality/value

Currently, to the best of the authours' knowledge, there is no study linking both distributive and procedural justice with employees' ethical behavior and job satisfaction within a single framework. In addition, there is no research evaluating how organizational justice influences employees' ethical behavior when interacting with customers. This paper fills this gap.
Interoperability and Open Travel Alliance standards: strategic perspectives
Authors: Nayar Ajith , Beldona Srikanth
Published: October 2010

Purpose

Since the advent of non‐proprietary technologies fostered by the internet, the travel distribution model has been subjected to significant changes. One of the primary changes has been the expanding potential of interoperability between systems brought about the advent of extended markup language‐based specifications developed and published by the Open Travel Alliance (OTA). The potential impact of the underlying technology (web services) in use for developing these standards is significant. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate strategic perspectives from key industry players over the potential of this technology and examine the factors pertaining to their adoption.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for this came from a series of 30‐45‐minute interviews with senior executives of four major travel suppliers (included three major hotel chains and one leading car rental company) as well as three major intermediaries (comprised two global distribution system companies and one major online travel agency). Interviews were guided using two types of signposts – conceptual and industry‐level phenomena.

Findings

Findings indicate that suppliers and intermediaries see distinctive levers of advantage from OTA messaging specifications. While suppliers seek to build flexibility to add/delete channels and subsequently leverage greater control over inventory distribution, intermediaries seek to consolidate on their aggregation capabilities through wider content and enhance dynamic packaging as value for end‐customers.

Research limitations/implications

This is a qualitative study comprising in‐depth interviews with a selected few respondents that limit the generalizability of the results. Additionally, the perspective is limited to the larger players in the travel distribution space.

Originality/value

The study is the first in hospitality/travel marketing literature to examine the issues of interoperability specific to a major initiative such as the OTA.
The application of activity‐based costing to a support kitchen in a Las Vegas casino
Authors: Vaughn Paige , Raab Carola , Nelson Kathleen B.
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The paper aims to examine the activity‐based costing (ABC) method as a feasible and appropriate tool for the casino and hotel industry to apply to support kitchens in order to eliminate the monthly allocation of overhead based on variable costs.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected at a support kitchen in a Las Vegas casino. These data were analyzed by using ABC methods and establishing ABC costs. ABC methods were compared to traditional allocation methods to determine, first, if allocations could be eliminated entirely; and, secondly, to establish if some outlets would be significantly impacted by the accounting change.

Findings

An ABC approach can be applied to support kitchens and total cost (ABC) can be estimated. This approach allowed the casino to eliminate traditional allocation methods based solely on food cost.

Research limitations/implications

ABC was shown to be a powerful technique that can be applied effectively in a support kitchen of a casino. Since this paper involved only a single support kitchen in a single casino, further research should be conducted to confirm that ABC can also be applied in support kitchens in other hospitality industry settings.

Practical implications

The use of ABC techniques confirmed that the ABC process is a useful tool in an effort to abolish allocations and can be applied to the remaining support kitchens. Without the benefit of this paper, restaurant management for individual food and beverage outlets received an unfair share of the overhead and did not have appropriate cost information for bread products.

Originality/value

ABC may be a powerful technique when applied effectively to the food and beverage operations in the field of hospitality.
An examination of the transactional relationship between online travel agencies, travel meta sites, and suppliers
Authors: Christodoulidou Natasa , Connolly Daniel J. , Brewer Pearl
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to explore the ways travel intermediaries (online travel agencies (OTAs) and travel meta sites) used throughout the distribution value chain engaged in relationships with travel suppliers.

Design/methodology/approach

The multiple‐case study approach is suitable in examining contemporary events in their natural context. A commonly reported strength of the case study approach in that a variety of evidence can be used to investigate the subject matter. The data evidence gathered for this paper came from field study interviews and document analysis.

Findings

The results show that the relationship structure has an impact on the type of contractual agreement OTAs and meta sites have with travel suppliers and with each other.

Practical implications

These results can be used by top‐level executives involved in online travel as they research and test how to best craft their relationship and formal or informal agreements with their suppliers, affiliates, and other entities with which they choose to work.

Social implications

Partnerships between travel suppliers and meta search engines could threaten travel agencies and allow travel suppliers a viable means to bypass agencies all together and maintain more control in both the transaction, the relationship building process with customers, and, ultimately, ownership of customers.

Originality/value

Based upon the current state, it is clear that the distribution landscape is in state of flux. Travel meta search engines are gaining traction, both in terms of market share and financial backing. Kayak's recent acquisition of SideStep helps to provide strength to Kayak and will likely be the catalyst for other mergers in due time. All of the major players are jockeying for position. There will likely be consolidation and more new entrants. To remain relevant, one must actively monitor this space, continue to keep abreast of developments as they unfold, and innovate. Most importantly, one must provide unmatched value to win customer loyalty and gain market share.
The performance of Portuguese secondary schools: an exploratory study
Authors: Sarrico Cláudia S. , Rosa Maria J. , Coelho Inês P.
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to measure and compare the performance of Portuguese secondary schools.

Design/methodology/approach

Some data on the schools were collected via an electronic questionnaire sent to 103 secondary schools of the centre region of Portugal; other needed data were available through the Centre Regional Education Authority. Of the 33 schools that participated in the study, there was complete data for 29. A non‐parametric technique, data envelopment analysis (DEA), was used to assess the sample of schools and the results obtained were compared with some preliminary results of a national evaluation programme of schools.

Findings

From the findings, the tentative conclusion is that most schools are following national education policy priorities relating to decreasing dropout rates and increasing completion rates. School performance does not seem to relate to geographic location, size of the school, typology of the school or rotation of its executive committee. The paper concludes by discussing the need for metric benchmarking exercises of the type proposed, to inform schools, evaluators and policy decision makers. Finally, the complementarities between metric and practice benchmarking exercises are argued for.

Research limitations/implications

The paper reports on an exploratory study, and thus it contains limitations which need to be overcome by further work. The sample used is small and self‐selected; the DEA models used are quite simple; also, it would be desirable to compare the results of the DEA, with parametric techniques that have been used to evaluate school performance.

Originality/value

The paper makes a contribution to the understanding of schools' performance management, in order to inform schools, evaluators and policy decision makers.
Determinants of learning performance of business students in a transitional market
Authors: Nguyen Trang T.M. , Nguyen Tho D.
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of instructor capability and learning motivation on learning performance of business students in Vietnam. It also explores the moderating effect of personal development competitiveness on the roles of instructor capability in both learning motivation and learning performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Two phases of study were undertaken. A pilot phase was used to preliminary assess the measures and a main survey with a sample of 1,278 undergraduate business students was conducted to validate the measures and to test the models.

Findings

Instructor capability was found to have a positive impact on learning motivation and, subsequently, on learning performance. The results further show that the impacts of instructor capability on both learning motivation and learning performance are greater in the group of students which has a higher level of personal development competitiveness.

Research limitations/implications

A key limitation of this study is the examination of the roles of instructor capability and learning motivation in learning performance. There can be several other antecedents of learning performance of business students.

Practical implications

The results of this study suggest that university administrators should design suitable recruitment and training policies in order to have instructors with appropriate knowledge and teaching skills. Also, students' personal development competitiveness in learning should be encouraged.

Originality/value

The findings enhance one's understanding of key antecedents of learning performance, as well as the moderating role of personal development competitiveness in the learning of business students in a transition market, Vietnam.
HR manager leadership in quality improvement in a college environment
Authors: Sharabi Moshe
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the influence of the human resource (HR) manager on the quality of service in an academic college, and the human resource management (HRM) outcomes of the process.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper relates to a customer satisfaction survey. More than 120 questionnaires were completed by the customers (Israeli college students) for each service provider (e.g. academic departments, the students' dean, the maintenance and the logistics departments) measuring customer satisfaction via different dimensions of quality.

Findings

By getting involved in the service quality improvement process, the HR manager was exposed to HRM problems such as non‐balanced workload, faulty work planning, lack of knowledge and skills, wrong placements, unclear job descriptions, etc. This information led to meaningful improvement in HRM processes (e.g. training programs, job descriptions, selection and placement and manpower planning).

Practical implications

The paper discusses the HRM practical outcomes of processes carried out to improve the quality of the organizational services. The suggested process and the implications are relevant for every HRM system.

Originality/value

The paper reflects the great affect that a HR manager (as part of the top management) has on the quality of service through HRM processes and practices.
Conflict escalation in dyads with a history of territorial disputes
Authors: Petersen Karen K.
Published: October 2010

Purpose

Building on the steps to war model, this paper seeks to examine the impact that territorial Militarized Interstate Disputes (MID) have on the time it takes a dyad to go to war after it experiences its first MID.

Design/methodology/approach

A model common to epidemiological research, the hazard model, is employed to examine the dyadic relationship from the time of the first MID forward. This is an improvement to dyadic analysis, as most research examines the characteristics of individual MIDs in isolation.

Findings

Dyads with a history of territorial MIDs go to war much more quickly than dyads without a history of territorial MIDs. Future research should explore the relationship between territory, war, and power status to test the assertion that minor power states engage in power politics behavior less frequently.

Practical implications

Conflict resolution measures need to be employed more quickly when states have unresolved territorial issues. Mediation generally does not occur quickly, which may explain why territorial issues are less likely to be referred to mediators and less successfully mediated. The results presented herein highlight the need for flexible, quick responses to certain crises and the need to settle borders and other territorial disputes permanently to avoid war.

Originality/value

The paper tests a critical component of the steps to war model and examines the assertion that the historical relationship between states affects conflict decisions.
Testing relationships between personality, conflict styles and effectiveness
Authors: Barbuto John E. , Phipps Kelly A. , Xu Ye
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to test the direct and mediating effects of personality, conflict management style, and leader effectiveness. This was deemed necessary, given the number of studies testing antecedents and outcomes of conflict management – but never within a single research design.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modeling was used to test a model linking personality, conflict management, and leader effectiveness for 126 managers and 624 employees from various organizations. Subjects completed the Five‐Factor Personality Inventory, Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory‐II, and selected items from the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire that measure leadership effectiveness.

Findings

Findings indicate that an integrating conflict management style fully mediates the relationship between neuroticism and leadership effectiveness and partially mediates the relationship between conscientiousness and leadership effectiveness. Conscientiousness was the best predictor of effectiveness among all variables studied in this research, accounting for 10 percent of the variance.

Research limitations/implications

Future studies should link both antecedents and outcomes to conflict management in the same design – so as not to miss potential mediating effects.

Practical implications

Although the work is preliminary, it appears that conscientious individuals tend to be most effective in organizations.

Originality/value

The work represents the first study linking personality, conflict styles, and effectiveness in a single design.
Ontological content‐based filtering for personalised newspapers
Authors: Maidel Veronica , Shoval Peretz , Shapira Bracha , Taieb‐Maimon Meirav
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe a new ontological content‐based filtering method for ranking the relevance of items for readers of news items, and its evaluation. The method has been implemented in ePaper, a personalised electronic newspaper prototype system. The method utilises a hierarchical ontology of news; it considers common and related concepts appearing in a user's profile on the one hand, and in a news item's profile on the other hand, and measures the “hierarchical distances” between these concepts. On that basis it computes the similarity between item and user profiles and rank‐orders the news items according to their relevance to each user.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper evaluates the performance of the filtering method in an experimental setting. Each participant read news items obtained from an electronic newspaper and rated their relevance. Independently, the filtering method is applied to the same items and generated, for each participant, a list of news items ranked according to relevance.

Findings

The results of the evaluations revealed that the filtering algorithm, which takes into consideration hierarchically related concepts, yielded significantly better results than a filtering method that takes only common concepts into consideration. The paper determined a best set of values (weights) of the hierarchical similarity parameters. It also found out that the quality of filtering improves as the number of items used for implicit updates of the profile increases, and that even with implicitly updated profiles, it is better to start with user‐defined profiles.

Originality/value

The proposed content‐based filtering method can be used for filtering not only news items but items from any domain, and not only with a three‐level hierarchical ontology but any‐level ontology, in any language.
The citation impact of Open Access agricultural research
Authors: Kousha Kayvan , Abdoli Mahshid
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The main purpose of this study is to assess the citation advantage for self‐archived Open Access (OA) agriculture research against its non‐OA counterparts.

Design/methodology/approach

At the article level, the paper compared the citation counts of self‐archived research with non‐OA articles based upon a sample of 400 research articles from ISI‐indexed (ISI, Institute for Scientific Information) agriculture journals in 2005. At the journal level the paper compared impact factors (IFs) of OA against non‐OA agriculture journals from 2005 to 2007 as reported by the ISI Journal Citation Reports. The paper also sought evidence of citation impact based on a random sample of 100 OA and 100 non‐OA publications from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 2005. It used both ISI and Scopus databases for citation counting and also Google and Google Scholar for locating the self‐archived articles published in the non‐OA journals.

Findings

The results showed that there is an obvious citation advantage for self‐archived agriculture articles as compared to non‐OA articles. Out of a random sample of 400 articles published in non‐OA agriculture journals, about 14 per cent were OA and had a median citation count of four whereas the median for non‐OA articles was two. However, at the journal level the average IF for OA agriculture journals from 2005 to 2007 was 0.29, considerably lower than the average IF for non‐OA journals (0.65). Finally it found that FAO publications which were freely accessible online tended to attract more citations than non‐OA publications in the same year and had a mean citation count of 1.73 whereas the mean for non‐OA publications was 0.28.

Originality/value

Self‐archived agriculture research articles tended to attract higher citations than their non‐OA counterparts. This knowledge of the citation impact of OA agricultural research gives a better understanding about the potential effect of self‐archiving on the citation impact.
Government information management during four emergencies in China
Authors: Wan Mingguo
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how emergency management in China was affected by governmental decisions to release or withhold information during a crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

This relationship is studied in four case studies: the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome epidemic, the 2005 Songhua water pollution crisis, the 2008 snow storms and the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.

Findings

In the earlier cases, governmental organizations withheld information in an attempt to retain control over the disaster. The actual effects, however, were often rather unexpected, if not perverse. The control over information eroded citizens' trust in the government's ability to deal with the crisis. This led to behavior on the part of the citizens' that in some cases actually exacerbated the emergency.

Originality/value

These experiences have led to dramatic changes in information disclosure during emergency management, changes that went directly against the dominant practices with the Chinese state apparatus.
Determinants of interest in the acquisition of export skills for Chinese exporters
Authors: Zhou Ting , Lin Gui‐jun , Li Yang
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The paper aims to comprehensively study the current learning environment of export skills in China and to identify the needs of Chinese firms for skills training. Thus, it proposes a conceptual framework of skills identification and ranking model. Another main purpose of this paper is to expand the domain of export skills and knowledge management by including a broader range of the determinants of interests in export skills acquisition and identification than is normally found in the related literature.

Design/methodology/approach

A comprehensive and thorough survey on the learning environment of export skills acquisition was conducted in this study targeting 800 exporting firms in China. Ten propositions were proposed and the data were complemented through correspondence analysis to study the determinants of interest in export skills acquisition among these firms.

Findings

The results indicate that the overall level of export skills for Chinese exporters is somewhat low and little training resources are invested in export skills acquisition. Furthermore, interest in export skills learning is broad based and unrelated to ownership structure. It is demonstrated that Chinese exporters of greater export development and management commitment show more interest in export skills learning. Those of lower export development need more support from government trade agencies, yet in general, government assistance in meeting the demand of Chinese exporters is still insufficient.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to find the best practice.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the intelligence of learning environment, the identification of determinants of the learning interests in export skills and the development of skills training and knowledge management.

Originality/value

This paper can be used by the exporting firms, the universities and government trade agencies to design more effective skill training programs and to guide their resource allocations.
Towards assessing the leadership style and quality of transformational leadership
Authors: Akhavan Tabassi Amin , Hassan Abu Bakar Abu
Published: October 2010

Purpose

Clarifying leadership has been a complicated and difficult task largely because the nature of leadership itself is complicated. Meanwhile, the construction industry stands for one of the most dynamic and complex industrial environments although, not much works has been conducted on leadership in the industry. This paper aims to fill this gap.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a combination of literature review and questionnaire surveys, this paper explores the leadership style as well as transformational leadership quality of the leaders of construction companies in Iran. A quantitative research approach was adopted requiring the development and dissemination of a questionnaire survey. The research was conducted by sending 220 sets of questionnaires to the large construction companies. The analysis methods in this research were based on frequency and co‐relational study.

Findings

The research exposes the level of leaders' orientation for people and task in their leadership style as well as their transformational leadership qualities in regards of developing followers into leaders, inspire followers to go beyond their own self‐interest and give employees empowerment.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should try to address how companies and governments adapt to and shape the environmental and organizational settings in such a way that the context optimally stimulates employees' motivation and participation in leadership practices.

Originality/value

The paper offers insight into leadership style and quality of transformational leadership, focusing on construction firms in Iran.
Does the explicit recognition of the commitment and contribution of staff within an organisation's CSR strategy matter?
Authors: Merali Faruk
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore the possible underlying reasons for the differences in approaches adopted by organisations regarding the inclusion or exclusion of explicit statements in relation to the personal commitment and contribution of their employees within their publicized CSR strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach is based on a longitudinal study involving interviews with 47 UK National Health Service (NHS) managers between 2000 and 2009. Theoretical frameworks and literature related to CSR, organisation culture and institutional theory are drawn upon in an integrated manner to analyse and discuss the findings.

Findings

Although the majority of NHS managers report holding core altruistic values they believe the general public does not recognize this and views them negatively. It is suggested that a combination of direct and indirect strategies aimed at highlighting the socially responsible role of NHS managers and their overall commitment and contribution to the NHS would help challenge the existing negative public image of NHS managers.

Research limitations/implications

The study is based on a relatively small number of London based NHS managers consisting mainly of managers occupying senior and middle management positions and who may not necessarily represent the views of all managers nationally.

Originality/value

Whilst issues related to CSR are of concern to a wide range of organisational stakeholders, there appears to be relatively limited research undertaken in the context of directly exploring issues of concern from the employee stakeholder perspective. Within the context of the aims of this paper, this paper addresses this relative gap. The paper is of interest to a wide range of readers including NHS and non‐governmental organisation (NGO) policy formulators and practitioners; academics and students.
Wal‐Mart's nontraditional banking business and corporate social responsibility
Authors: Yoon Intae , Chung InSoo
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight how a multinational corporation can fulfill its corporate social responsibility while seeking profit by using Wal‐Mart's recent nontraditional banking services as an example.

Design/methodology/approach

A wide gamut of document reviews about migrant workers in the USA and global remittance businesses was used. Remittance cost changes were also tracked among major US remittance operators over the past two years.

Findings

Wal‐Mart's competitive business platform has lowered remittance costs in the USA since it launched the new remittance business two years ago.

Research limitations/implications

In spite of anecdotal evidence, this paper suggests how well‐established multinational business operations can be tools for economic justice across the globe.

Originality/value

This is one of the first reports on the impact of the retailer's nonbanking business on remittance cost and potential for promotion of economic justice for Hispanic/Latino migrants.
Incorporating stakeholder approach in corporate social responsibility (CSR): a case study at multinational corporations (MNCs) in Penang
Authors: Lai Cheng Wong , Ahmad Jamilah
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to gain deeper understanding on how the stakeholders' relationship is incorporated in multinational corporations' (MNCs') corporate social responsibility (CSR) approach.

Design/methodology/approach

Stakeholder theory by Freeman was used as the theoretical framework of this research. A case study of two established MNCs in Penang, Malaysia, were conducted and analysed through within‐case and cross‐case analysis. Three research questions focusing on aspects of CSR (internal and external), concerns of primary and secondary stakeholders based on Carroll's three‐domain approach and factors that influence CSR practices within each stakeholder group were developed.

Findings

A main theoretical contribution of the study found that MNCs in developing countries are increasingly addressing new ways to incorporate CSR internal and external aspects in their operations which will eventually alter the fundamental process of evaluation among their stakeholders. Given the tendency among developing countries to regard all forms of CSR concerns, economic, ethical and legal concerns are equally important. Another main theoretical contribution of this study highlighted that different locality between home country and foreign country operation does affect the CSR work. Findings of this study show that the view of increasing investor clout on CSR in the country where they do business does not affect the MNCs and the influence of CSR activist as top CSR issues does not directly influence MNCs' actual CSR work.

Research limitations/implications

The study has clearly projected the use of stakeholder theory by Freeman. Internal and external aspects of CSR were supported by these organisations as their standard practices. MNCs need to assume these concerns (economic, ethical and legal) for meeting the obligations towards their stakeholders. Stakeholders are significant drivers of CSR which can affect, or is affected by, the achievement of the organisations' objectives.

Practical implications

The study presents practical implications for policy makers and MNCs in developing countries on new ways of incorporating CSR internal and external aspects in their operations and various concerns (economic, ethical, legal) of stakeholders that have been accepted as necessary for the proper functioning of business.

Originality/value

This research paper provides a strong base for MNCs and academicians to understand the various aspects, concerns and factors that influence CSR practices within each stakeholder group.
Preliminary insights on sustainability reporting and assurance practices in Malaysia
Authors: Sawani Yussri , Mohamed Zain Mustaffa , Darus Faizah
Published: October 2010

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the development and evolution of sustainability reporting and assurance practices in Malaysia to identify the current practice and trend of reporting and the level of awareness on assurance on sustainability reporting in Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

Interviews and questionnaire surveys were used to obtain respondents' perceptions on issues related to sustainability reporting and assurance practices among the ACCA‐MeSRA (Malaysian Environmental and Social Reporting Award) participants in 2007 coupled with content analysis of corporate annual reports and other standalone reports.

Findings

Results from the study provide evidence that most of the information relating to sustainability disclosure reported is integrated in the annual report and with no assurance statement due to low level of awareness and the absence of legislative pressure to commission the practice. The study indicates that companies applied selective reporting on issues relating to monetary contribution predominantly due to minority shareholders' insistence on better return for their investment.

Research limitations/implications

The nature of this study is exploratory and focuses on the evolution of sustainability reporting from the current state of corporate responsibility reporting and the availability of assurance practices in Malaysia. Findings in the study revealed several issues that require further analysis to identify significant factors that would influence sustainability reporting and assurance practices.

Practical implications

This study creates interest in the sustainability reporting and assurance practices in the Asian developing countries as its adaptation is far from developed.

Originality/value

This paper presents preliminary insights of the current trend and future direction of sustainability reporting and assurance in Malaysia.
The impact of political forces on urban land ownership reform in transitional China
Authors: Qin Xiaojing
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to critically review the process of urban land ownership reform in China. It seeks to illustrate how the detachment of the concept of land ownership from its significance in a planned socialist state has contributed to the development of a real estate sector, and how the concept of land ownership should now be regarded in the new era of marketization. In particular, it focuses on the widespread influences of political forces in these processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyses relevant legislation enacted within the People's Republic of China. This analysis is undertaken within the context of the social, political and economic changes that have occurred within the country during the period under consideration.

Findings

Two findings emerge from the study. First, an economic‐based notion of land ownership has evolved in China as a consequence of the economic and social changes accompanying the process of economic liberalisation. This reflects the elimination of political forces in defining land values in the new era. Second, however, the involvement of political power in the process of land asset distribution is shown to have led to market distortion. This may, in turn, lead to market failure and social conflict. For the development of a healthy real estate market, the influences of these political forces should, therefore, be restricted through a process of ongoing reforms.

Originality/value

The paper presents a detailed analysis of the impact of political forces on the changed patterns of land allocation in transitional China. The country's unique social background and system of land tenure have not previously been subjected to detailed scholarly attention. The research published in this paper suggests further possibilities for China's continuing system of land ownership reform and also contributes to a redefinition of the concept of land ownership in the new era of marketization and globalization.
Emerging scenarios of Japanese corporate management
Authors: Raj Adhikari Dev , Hirasawa Katsuhiko
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The paper aims to: examine the evolution of Japanese corporate management (JCM); review the Japanese vs American corporate management model; discuss typical corporate strategy of Japanese companies; and evaluate emerging scenarios of JCM.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper mainly reviews past and current literature to discuss emerging scenarios of JCM.

Findings

Driven by persistent pressures from environmental forces in the postwar period, there have been changes in the way of managing ideas, things and people in Japanese corporations in order to cope in the world of competition.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is mainly theoretical and no empirical evidences are presented to explore the situation of JCM in practice.

Practical implications

With growing competition in the domestic and international markets in the recent past, Japanese firms have tried to achieve a new level of industrialization and a rapid technological advancement; they have faced an erosion of traditional values, a growing labor shortage and an ever‐increasing complexity in size and operation. Therefore, this paper is mainly useful to academicians and professional to know about how JCM practices have been changing.

Originality/value

Very few Japanese researchers attempted to write about emerging Japanese management scenario of the prewar period. The paper contributes by exploring different facts about prewar and emerging scenarios of JCM and adds value in this perspective.
Brand valuation of ICT products: the case of Thailand
Authors: Chiaravutthi Yingyot
Published: October 2010

Purpose

The paper aims to adopt the hedonic price approach to quantify the brand equity of information and communication technology (ICT) products, narrowed down to laptop computers, laser printers, liquid crystal display computer screens, and mobile phones.

Design/methodology/approach

The hedonic price model features the list price as the dependent variable of the regression, whilst the measurable attributes of the product and brand dummies are on the right‐hand side. Additionally, the model can be adjusted to measure brand effects on profit margins as well.

Findings

In most of the price and log price models, brand dummies are significant, and positively linked to the consumers' willingness to pay. Nevertheless, amongst the four ICT products in this study, only the laptop brands show positive values. Negative but significant brand dummies suggest that brands are undoubtedly important; however, other features exhibit higher value to consumers.

Research limitations/implications

As is the case with other financial approaches to valuing brands, the results do not explain how to exploit those values; rather, it identifies the brand's position as measured against other brands.

Practical implications

Negative brand premiums imply that brand loyalty is not strong in the market, and that the opportunity exists for a new brand's penetration. The construction of brand premium rankings should prove beneficial to firms who wish to evaluate their current position against other competitors. Regarding the products' features, the results suggest that consumers generally focus their decision to purchase a particular brand on its basic or core features.

Originality/value

The paper proposes another approach to assessing brand equity, namely, in terms of both price and profit margin premiums. Though imperfect, the hedonic methodology is relatively simple and relies on available secondary data.
Preliminary results on the reproduction of a deep‐sea snailfish Careproctus rhodomelas around the active hydrothermal vent on the Hatoma Knoll, Okinawa, Japan
Authors: Takemura A. , Tamotsu S. , Miwa T. , Yamamoto H.
Published: October 2010

Deep‐sea snailfish Careproctus rhodomelas were collected from an active hydrothermal vent using a remotely operated vehicle (R.O.V. Hyper‐dolphin) and a pressurized device (Deep‐Aquarium). Careproctus rhodomelas exhibited a cystovarian‐type ovary containing a small number of developing oocytes at different stages, suggesting that the fish is a batch‐spawner that spawns large eggs (c. 6·0 mm) several times within its life span. In vitro culture of the oocytes in the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin showed that oestradiol‐17β production fluctuated with oocyte development, suggesting that the oocytes were at the vitellogenic stage.
Habitat use and behavioural ecology of the juveniles of two sympatric damselfishes (Actinopterygii: Pomacentridae) in the south‐western Atlantic Ocean
Authors: Medeiros P. R. , Souza A. T. , Ilarri M. I.
Published: October 2010

Spatial distribution, microhabitat use and territorial and feeding behaviours were compared between the juveniles of two sympatric territorial damselfishesStegastes variabilisandStegastes fuscuson a small tropical reef in the south‐western Atlantic Ocean. JuvenileS. variabiliswere most abundant at sites subject to stronger hydrodynamics and with mixed benthic cover, whereas juvenileS. fuscuswere most abundant at sheltered sites with dense turf algae cover. No differences regarding feeding habits were detected, with both species preferentially feeding on turf algae. Also, despite similarities in territory area and agonistic encounter rates, the identity and proportion of intruders involved in agonistic interactions differed significantly between species. These interdependent traits suggest strong asymmetric competition, with juvenileS. fuscusdominating high‐quality sites and evicting juvenileS. variabilisto low quality, marginal areas of the reef.
Extracellular invertase is involved in the regulation of clubroot disease in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: SIEMENS JOHANNES , GONZÁLEZ MARIA‐CRUZ , WOLF SEBASTIAN , HOFMANN CHRISTINA , GREINER STEFFEN , DU YEJIE , RAUSCH THOMAS , ROITSCH THOMAS , LUDWIG‐MÜLLER JUTTA
Published: October 2010

Clubroot disease of Brassicaceae is caused by an obligate biotrophic protist, Plasmodiophora brassicae. During root gall development, a strong sink for assimilates is developed. Among other genes involved in sucrose and starch synthesis and degradation, the increased expression of invertases has been observed in a microarray experiment, and invertase and invertase inhibitor expression was confirmed using promoter::GUS lines of Arabidopsis thaliana. A functional approach demonstrates that invertases are important for gall development. Different transgenic lines expressing an invertase inhibitor under the control of two root‐specific promoters, Pyk10 and CrypticT80, which results in the reduction of invertase activity, showed clearly reduced clubroot symptoms in root tissue with highest promoter expression, whereas hypocotyl galls developed normally. These results present the first evidence that invertases are important factors during gall development, most probably in supplying sugars to the pathogen. In addition, root‐specific repression of invertase activity could be used as a tool to reduce clubroot symptoms.