bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Extrinsic cues and perceived risk: the influence of consumption situation
Authors: Aqueveque Claudio
Published: September 2006

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the influence of consumption situation on the use of extrinsic cues, such as price and expert opinion, in the assessment of different types of risk associated to purchase decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

An experimental design was conducted in a sample of 128 postgraduate students, using red wine as product category. The experiment manipulated consumption situation, price, and expert opinion about the product. Different types of risks associated with the purchase decision and purchase intention were then measured.

Findings

Results suggest that consumption situation affects the use of price in the assessment of performance risk, but only in the case of negative expert opinion about the products. Additionally, expert opinion demonstrated to have a strong effect reducing performance risk and increasing intention to buy.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitations of the present research are associated with the exploratory and inconclusive characteristic of the performed mediation tests, and the use of just one product category in the research. Future research should replicate the study in other product categories and include other types of extrinsic cues.

Practical implications

Managers should consider the complex effects of price on the assessment of risks related with a purchase, and the effect of consumption situation on the process. In addition, managers should use positive expert opinions in advertising and point‐of‐purchase material.

Originality/value

The study analyzes the influence of consumption situation on consumers' use of different extrinsic cues to assess risks associated with the purchase of uncertain quality products.
The influence of the country‐of‐origin image, product knowledge and product involvement on consumer purchase decisions: an empirical study of insurance and catering services in Taiwan
Authors: Lin Long‐Yi , Chen Chun‐Shuo
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The main purpose of this study is to explore the influence of the country‐of‐origin image, product knowledge and product involvement on consumer purchase decision.

Design/methodology/approach

Taiwan, China and the USA were the three countries selected for research into the country‐of‐origin, insurance and catering services. Structured questionnaires and convenience sampling were used. Samples were collected from consumers in the Taipei area. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed with convenience sampling method, and 369 effective samples were collected, the effective rate being 92.25 percent. Stepwise regression analysis was adapted to test hypothesis.

Findings

The main findings were listed as follows: the country‐of‐origin image, product knowledge and product involvement all have a significantly positive effect on consumer purchase decision; the country‐of‐origin image has a significantly positive effect on consumer purchase decisions under different product involvement; and product knowledge has significantly positive effect on consumer purchase decisions under different product involvement.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations of the study are: it is unable to infer to national consumers and to other service areas and the explanatory power of some empirical models is relative low. Implications of the study are that: a more thorough structure about consumer purchase decisions should be provided and the relationship between product knowledge and information search quantity should be verified.

Practical implications

Practical implications pf the study are that the company must face competitive strategies from many countries and also the effect of consumer product knowledge on business competitive strategy.

Originality/value

The added value of this paper is to link between theory and practice, and explore the different country‐of‐origin image, product knowledge and product involvement on consumer purchase decisions.
Qualitative research in evidence‐based practice: a valuable partnership
Authors: Given Lisa
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the nature of the qualitative research paradigm, with a particular emphasis on the marginalization of qualitative approaches within the current discourse of evidence‐based librarianship.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents examples of qualitative research in the field of library and information studies, reviews the discourse of EBL as it relates to qualitative research, and also draws on debates in the health sciences on the role of qualitative research in evidence‐based practice.

Findings

EBL levels of evidence must evolve to include qualitative research, as these methods best suit many of the research questions addressed in LIS contexts.

Originality/value

There is currently little acknowledgement of the value of qualitative research for EBL; this paper dispels this notion, and calls for EBL to embrace these methods.
Educating the Millennial Generation for evidence based information practice
Authors: Partridge Helen , Hallam Gillian
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider how library education can best incorporate the profession's emerging interest in evidence‐based practice (EBP) whilst ensuring that the educational experience is meaningful to the contemporary library student.

Design/methodology/appraoch

A learning and teaching model developed by the Queensland University of Technology will be presented as a case study on how the library education curriculum can be developed to incorporate a focus on EBP whilst catering to the unique learning style of the millennial student.

Findings

To effectively meet the needs of the millennial student, library educators must develop their curriculum to include a real world activities and perspective, be customisable and flexible, incorporate regular feedback, use technology, provide trusted guidance, include the opportunity for social and interactive learning, be visual and kinaesthetic, and include communication that is real, raw, relevant and relational.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the current discussion on how EBP can be integrated effectively into the contemporary library curriculum in general, and meet the learning needs of the millennial student in particular.
Convergence in Germany: the Information, Communication and Media Center (ICMC/IKMZ) of Cottbus University
Authors: Degkwitz Andreas
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to ask why the libraries and the computer and media centres of German universities are picking up too little to improve the conditions for learning, teaching and research.

Design/methodology/approach

With the founding of the Information, Communication and Media Center/Informations‐, Kommunikations‐ und Medienzentrums (ICMC/IKMZ), the central services of the Brandenburg Technical University of Cottbus (BTU Cottbus) library, computer center, multimedia center and administrative data processing were combined on a common management level, and the prerequisites for the development of integrated information management were created.

Findings

On this basis the following goal was set: the realization of more efficient organizational structures for a broad spectrum of customer‐ and service‐oriented information, communications and media (ICM) offers for research, teaching and administration.

Originality/value

The paper gives an overview of German discussion on the convergence of services, and presents the ICMC/IKMZ of Cottbus University as an example of a converged institution.
Migration from DOBIS/LIBIS to Horizon at KFUPM
Authors: Khurshid Zahiruddin
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The paper's purpose is to share the difficulties in migration from a legacy system to a new system at the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals Library in Saudi Arabia.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper highlights the local requirements that play an important role in the selection of a new system.

Findings

With full Arabic support and better local vendor support, Horizon could be the dominant system in the regional marketplace.

Practical implications

This case study will encourage those libraries that are still using legacy systems to start planning for migration.

Originality/value

This is the first case study of system migration in the Arabian Gulf region, and provides details ranging from the selection of the system to its successful migration. This paper should benefit libraries – not only in the Gulf region but around the world – that are intending to migrate from a legacy system to a new system.
Streaming audio with synchronized transcripts utilizing SMIL
Authors: Bond Trevor James , Walpole Michael
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe developmental work with SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language) to synchronize transcript captions with streaming audio.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper provides an evaluation of the hardware/software required to digitally record oral histories and the methods developed at WSU to customize the presentation of streaming audio and text.

Findings

Though providing users with streaming media content is not excessively expensive, the multifaceted work‐flow of organizing an oral history project, utilizing digital recording equipment, preparing transcripts, and synchronizing those transcripts with their corresponding audio files, is a complex, labor‐intensive undertaking.

Practical implications

This is an extremely common‐sense discussion of the time and work involved in planning digital projects that involve streaming media with captions.

Originality/value

As many libraries enhance digital collections with streaming media, this article provides one approach not otherwise found in library literature.
Copyright in the networked world: using facts
Authors: Seadle Michael
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this column is to look at how US copyright law deals with facts and what can reasonably be considered as a fact.

Design/methodology/approach

The US statutes and case law are examined, as well as standard practices within academic settings for the use and analysis of facts.

Findings

Using facts may require a risk assessment under certain circumstances. Although facts cannot be protected under US law, compilations of facts can have protection under the European Database Directive, and certain apparent facts, such as normal human body temperature, represent judgments based on extensive research and analysis. It is not always clear when a research result achieves the status of a fact and is therefore exempt from copyright protection.

Originality/value

The use of facts is an essential part of scholarly work and factual compilations are important tools for many scholarly communities. Understanding how far facts may be used and manipulated helps researchers and teachers who have grown anxious about copyright infringement.
An Introduction to JPEG 2000
Authors: Bernier Richard
Published: September 2006

Purpose

Aims to provide the reasons why libraries might consider using JPEG 2000 standard architecture for digital imaging and digital archive projects.

Design/methodology/approach

A summary of the main features of the JPEG 2000 standard.

Findings

This article provides an overview of the JPEG 2000 standard: what it is, how it works, and its benefits.

Originality/value

This paper is useful for information management professionals who seek greater understanding of digital storage standards.
Implementing an Electronic Resource Management System: Brigham Young University’s Experience
Authors: Howland Jared , Wright Thomas
Published: September 2006

Purpose

To discuss the ERM implementation process at Brigham Young University and its generalized implications for other institutions.

Design/methodlogy/approach

A chronological description of decision‐making and steps in the implementation process with corresponding discoveries and benefits.

Findings

Implementing an ERM takes lots of planning, forethought and effort but has been very beneficial in helping BYU manage its electronic resource collections.

Originality/value

The literature has described various ERM systems, difficulties in handling electronic resources and the ERMI standard. The account of an ERM implementation should be helpful to libraries considering implementing an ERM system of their own.
Globalization at crossroads of warfare, revolution, and universalization
Authors: Iqbal Anjum Muhammad
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The proposed paper aims at contributing an objective analysis of the nature, agenda and politico‐economic and strategic dynamics of the contemporary movement of globalization. The paper is going to explore the significant patterns of economic changes, which have culminated into global warfare, resulting from the contemporary world‐level experiences of globalization and the corresponding revolutionary tendencies responses encountered on the global level.

Design/methodology/approach

In this background, the rationale for adhering to the Islamic program of universalization shall be addressed from the point of view of the sustainable development of the Islamic world.

Findings

Because of either the perpetual nature (e.g. in case of Pakistan's debt crises) or recurring nature (e.g. in case of Malaysia's slow down in 1997‐98 and in 2001) of the economic crises of the Islamic countries within the prevailing framework of the capitalistic globalization, the inevitable way out for the realization of the sustainable economic and human development in the Islamic world seems to be offered only by the Islamic program of universalization.

Originality/value

This is perhaps the first attempt to analyze globalization vis‐à‐vis its multidimensional impact on the Islamic world.
Strategic account management: customer value creation through customer alignment
Authors: Philippe Gosselin Derrick , André Bauwen Guy
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop an innovative conceptual view on the management of strategic or important customers in business markets, so‐called (key) account management. Central to this new perspective is customer value creation through external customer alignment. The paper additionally proposes two propositions, based on quantitative empirical analysis and rooted in congruency, transaction cost economy and economic rent generation theory.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is quantitative research based on questionnaire survey.

Findings

The paper's proposition is that account management can create important competitive advantages for companies which can acquire and develop the necessary organisational competences to implement an integrative process through alignment with strategic or important, well selected, customers.

Originality/value

Traditionally, most companies view account management as a sales activity. Views that are more recent consider it as a marketing activity with emphasis on relationship marketing. The paper's approach, however, is to look at account management from an integrated business process perspective, encompassing marketing and sales as development activities as well. Two elements are central in the proposal: customer selection and alignment.
The impact of affect on service quality and satisfaction: the moderation of service contexts
Authors: Jiang Ying , Lu Wang Cheng
Published: September 2006

Purpose

As an alternative explanation of incongruent findings in the literature, the purpose of the present study is to introduce the concept of hedonic versus utilitarian service context as a moderating variable in the relationship between the affect (pleasure and arousal) and perceived service quality and satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

A consumer survey was conducted to test moderation hypotheses, which was analyzed with hierarchical regression equations.

Findings

The results show that pleasure had stronger influences on perceived service quality and satisfaction in the hedonic service context than in the utilitarian service context. Arousal is found to influence perceived service quality and satisfaction in the hedonic service context but not in the utilitarian service context.

Research limitations/implications

It is likely that in hedonic related services, consumers will often use some affective criteria to evaluate service quality, in addition to the traditional service quality measures.

Practical implications

Companies providing hedonic services should modify the content of their services or add novelty stimulus into their services from time to time in order to evoke the most desired consumer emotions and enhance satisfaction.

Originality/value

The proposed moderating effect of service contexts improved predictions and explanations of the theoretical relationship between affect and perceived service quality/satisfaction. It specifies the conditions under which affect will or will not impact perceived service quality and satisfaction.
A confirmation perspective on perceived service quality
Authors: Hamer Lawrence O.
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The paper seeks to provide a theoretical and empirical investigation of the relationship between consumer expectations and consumer perceptions of service quality.

Design/methodology/approach

The theory of cognitive reference points, adaptation‐level theory, and assimilation‐contrast theory are used to formulate hypotheses concerning the relationships between perceived service quality, consumer expectations, and perceptions. These hypotheses were empirically investigated through an experiment that manipulated expectations and perceptions while measuring perceived service quality.

Findings

The principal finding is that consumer expectations are positive predictors of perceived service quality (i.e. higher expectations lead to higher perceptions of quality). Another finding is that the relationship between expectations and perceived service quality is much stronger than prior literature suggests.

Practical implications

The practical implication of this study is that practitioners should seek to actively manage their customers' expectations to increase those expectations.

Originality/value

This paper is valuable to practitioners who are seeking to use expectations to achieve higher perceptions of quality among their customers. It is also valuable to researchers who are seeking to understand the relationship between expectations and quality perceptions.
Developing successful technology‐based services: the issue of identifying and involving innovative users
Authors: Matthing Jonas , Kristensson Per , Gustafsson Anders , Parasuraman A.
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to explore the identification of innovative customers and the effectiveness of employing such customers to generate new service ideas in a technology‐based service setting.

Design/methodology/approach

The first study reported here employs the “technology readiness” (TR) construct and involves telephone surveys with randomly selected Swedish consumers. The second involves a field experiment.

Findings

Findings from Study I suggest that the TR is a useful tool for identifying users who exhibit both innovative attitudes and behaviors. The results from Study II show that users with a high TR are highly creative as reflected by the quantity and quality of new service ideas.

Research limitations/implications

The sample size for Study II was relatively small and making empirical generalizations with confidence should await results from studies involving larger samples. However, in sum the research demonstrates that TR appears to be an effective tool for identifying innovative customers who would be both willing to participate in new service development and capable of generating creative ideas.

Originality/value

Service businesses interested in using customers to help generate new ideas could benefit from this research.
Firm‐specific influences on the internalization of after‐sales service activities in foreign markets
Authors: Morschett Dirk
Published: September 2006

Purpose

This paper proposes identifying determinants of the choice of an organizational mode for providing after‐sales service in foreign markets. It aims to focus on the decision between contractual/equity cooperation and wholly‐owned foreign entities and the influence of firm‐specific variables on this decision.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical study based on 80 German manufacturing companies was carried out. Hypotheses on the influence of certain firm‐specific variables on the organizational mode were developed and tested by binary logistic regression.

Findings

The paper finds that international experience of a company, whether a company already has manufacturing facilities in the specific foreign market, and strategic considerations such as the seeking of global integration advantages and the choice of service as competitive advantage, seems to exert a strong influence on the decision of the internalization of after‐sales service operations. The size of the company and the choice of price as competitive advantage, however, did not display a significant influence.

Research limitations/implications

Since the research is based on a sample of 80 companies from a single country, testing for generalizability of the results to other countries and other industries would seem necessary. Also, the research focused on firm‐specific determinants while an extension into country‐specific and activity‐specific variables would be required to offer a more powerful explanation of the organizational mode decision.

Originality/value

Almost no empirical investigations exist on the provision of after‐sales service in foreign markets. This paper offers first evidence on determinants of the choice between cooperative and fully internalized modes of after‐sales service provision.
Pricing practices of service organizations
Authors: Avlonitis George J. , Indounas Kostis A.
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the pricing policies that service companies adopt along with the pricing information that they gather to set their prices. Despite previous authors' suggestions regarding the need for a coherent process when setting prices, there seems to be a lack of empirically‐based theory on how pricing policies and pricing information might be interrelated.

Design/methodology/approach

Following 26 in‐depth exploratory interviews, additional personal interview data were collected from 170 companies operating in six different services sectors in Greece.

Findings

The paper finds that “list pricing” is the only policy that is adopted by the majority of the surveyed companies. Further, they tend to collect more than one type of information giving particular emphasis on market‐based information. The “customer‐based” information was found to be associated positively with the policy of “cash discounts”, while the “competition‐based” information with the policies of “trade discounts” and “differentiated pricing”. Moreover, the “cost‐based information” is associated positively with the “cash discounts” and “efficiency pricing” policies and negatively with the “loss leader pricing” policy.

Research limitations/implications

The findings refer to the need for a “balanced” market‐oriented and “situation‐specific” approach when setting prices The significance of these findings notwithstanding, the context of the study (Greece) is the most important caveat since it limits the ability to generalize the results in other countries.

Originality/value

The paper represents the first attempt to examine empirically the potential relationship between pricing policies and pricing information.
Exploring managers' perspectives of the impact of brand management strategies on employee roles within a service firm
Authors: King Ceridwyn , Grace Debra
Published: September 2006

Purpose

This study seeks to examine the impact of brand management strategies on the employee role in the deliverance of the service experience consistent with the brand from a management perspective. In doing so, furthers understanding of an area that, to date, has received little empirical attention.

Design/methodology/approach

Case study approach with data gathered via in‐depth interviews with managers of a service organization.

Findings

Several themes identified provided the foundation for discussion, namely, direction, involvement, employee selection, relevance, employee satisfaction, flexibility, management role, comprehension of differences, influencing role, control, foundation, internal marketing, management role, enhancers and element of control. The themes of relevance and comprehension of differences had not previously been considered in the literature and therefore explored in depth.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations of a case study methodology include insufficient precision (i.e. quantifiable), objectivity and rigor. The development of a case study database and the formalisation of the interview process increased the likelihood of trustworthiness and credibility in the results.

Practical implications

Emergence of new themes in relation to the implementation of brand management strategies provided a framework on which managerial implications are identified.

Originality/value

In‐depth interviews conducted with managers that were not experts in the brand management field, yet were responsible for supporting brand management initiatives. The contribution of this paper is embedded in the insights afforded through research in an applied setting, providing an opportunity to identify emergent issues not previously discussed.
A resource allocation model for university libraries in India
Authors: Sudarsan P.K.
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop and demonstrate a performance‐based allocation model for university libraries in India.

Design/methodology/approach

Using economic models with weighted values, a system of allocating funds to university library departments is illustrated.

Findings

The paper finds that many university libraries in India struggle to continue their existing operations and services due to financial problems. Careful budgeting and most appropriate use of financial resources is essential to solve the existing financial problems.

Originality/value

The model takes into account efficiency and equity considerations, which can assist the library in allocating its budget in a transparent and fair manner.
Economics of employee internet management
Authors: Kim Sangkyun
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the economic impact of an employee internet management (EIM) system.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews previous research on economic justification. It implements an EIM system, sniffer, and firewall to monitor real‐time sessions and to record blocked attempts.

Findings

The study finds that management may introduce an EIM system as a productivity control tool and bandwidth management tool.

Research limitations/implications

Impacts of backlash were measured by qualitative questionnaires, so there was a possibility of some aberration. Partial elements limited to monetary factors are used among the various economic factors.

Practical implications

The paper proves that the overall impact of an EIM system has a positive value because filtering mechanisms cause users to lose access to few URLs containing useful information, saves users from various risk points and enhances labor productivity.

Originality/value

The study suggests the impact factors and measurement methods to justify the economic values of an EIM system.
Finding a niche
Authors: Maxymuk John
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to spotlight the numerous ways librarians publish in the electronic environment.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper surveys several web sites written by or about librarians or libraries.

Findings

The study finds that while librarians still publish in traditional print formats, the narrow scope of many of their topics lend themselves to web‐based publishing better.

Originality/value

Even when an author's efforts may result in a book, the narrow focus of a topic, coupled with the stagnate nature of a printed work, are barriers to new or updated information. Web‐based publications, both in tandem and independent of print, provide a dynamic environment to keep information up‐to‐date and current. The web also provides an opportunity to publish material that otherwise would not be published.
The antecedents of organizational commitment: the case of Australian casual academics
Authors: Joiner Therese A. , Bakalis Steve
Published: September 2006

Purpose

Despite the increasing attention of organizational commitment in the management literature, most studies predominantly focus on full‐time workers in traditional work settings. This paper examined the antecedents of organizational commitment among casual academics working in the tertiary education sector in Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey was developed and distributed to casual academics working in a large Australian public university.

Findings

Analysis of the data shows that personal characteristics (gender, marital status, family responsibilities and education), job‐related characteristics (supervisor support, co‐worker support, role clarity and resource availability) and job involvement characteristics (tenure, second job and post‐graduate study at the employing university) all impact on organizational commitment.

Research limitations/implications

Australian tertiary institutions are prominent employers of casual workers, however, very little is known about the work behavior of this group of academics. The results of this study highlight important directions for implementing strategies to increase casual academic's organizational commitment. Organization commitment is important because it is known association with other important organizational variables such as turnover, absenteeism and work effort.

Originality/value

Given the increasing reliance on casual academics in tertiary institutions, this study provides the first step in better understanding the factors that affect the organization commitment of casual academics.
Three Georgias in Atlanta
Authors: Wolverton Mimi
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to look into how universities identify themselves and the audiences they choose to serve, taking into account three specific universities in Atlanta, Georgia.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper gives brief overviews of the literature on differentiation and sustainability and the study, followed by descriptions of the three subject business schools and the geographic context, Atlanta, within which they operate.

Findings

Not every professional school will offer nationally ranked degree programs, but they all can aspire to establish unique, strong programs that are sustainable over time. Gaining a clear understanding of identity and purposefully targeting the audience to be served are important first steps in such an endeavor.

Originality/value

The article holds important lessons for professional schools and colleges that face increasing competition for students within their home arenas.
Too much of a good thing?
Authors: Frankel Marc T. , Schechtman Judith L. , Koenigs Robert J.
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The aim of this article is to compare images of ideal leadership between independent elementary and secondary schools and research universities using a standardized set of values, and to compare these ratings with an empirically‐derived model of effective group leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

Ratings by individuals within independent and higher education on the systematic multiple‐level observations of groups (SYMLOG) constellation of 26 values were compared with each other and the empirical model of most effective team leadership.

Findings

Differences consistent with expectations were noted between the two groups and with the model, confirming and describing what had previously been anecdotal. The independent education ideal was a preference for leadership that nurtures and protects individuals while equitably enforcing rules and regulations, whereas the higher education ideal contained greater elements of collaborative work and shared decision‐making by faculty.

Research limitations/implications

While grouping the data by industry sector, this research says little about possible variations within each group; e.g. between public and private universities or between religiously affiliated and nonsectarian schools. Likewise, the preponderance of subjects are from institutions in the USA, perhaps limiting the usefulness of the findings for other countries.

Practical implications

Leaders or those aspiring to lead in higher and independent education could benefit by balancing their approach between what stakeholders see as ideal and the empirically‐derived model of effectiveness.

Originality/value

This research demonstrates differences in preferred modes of leadership that previously have been only anecdotally conjectured. By finding subtle differences in ideal preference between elementary/secondary schools and research universities, the study further describes possible cultural variation within the education sector.
Climate profile and OCBs of teachers in public and private schools of India
Authors: Garg Pooja , Rastogi Renu
Published: September 2006

Purpose

This research aims to assess the significant differences in the climate profile and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) of teachers working in public and private schools of India.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample comprised of 100 teachers, out of which 50 teachers were from public school and 50 teachers were from private schools. Following data collection, significant differences regarding climate profile and OCBs were examined by using t‐test.

Findings

The findings indicated significant differences in the climate profile of public and private schools. Also, there was significant difference in the exhibition of citizenship behaviors of teachers working in public and private schools.

Research limitations/implications

The research represents the beginning and not an end to the examination of climate of schools as well as exhibition of citizenship behaviors of teachers. The study makes feasible suggestions for improving the climate profile of private schools and citizenship behaviors of teachers. It also implies that to enhance the climate of private schools, appropriate strategy must be followed which can transform teachers to be creative, innovative, and flexible. Also, open communication and appropriate feedback must be encouraged which can build strong relationship between teachers and principal, which is generally stymied by the bureaucratic leadership styles of the principals.

Originality/value

This study provides further groundwork to assist administrators in identifying other areas which are sensitive to climate profile and behavioral aspects of school and aspects which can prevent from tarnishing the image of the school.
Organisational issues for e‐learning
Authors: McPherson Maggie , Baptista Nunes Miguel
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on a research project that identified organisational critical success factors (CSFs) for e‐learning implementation in higher education (HE). These CSFs can be used as a theoretical foundation upon which to base decision‐making and strategic thinking about e‐learning.

Design/methodology/approach

The project reported in this paper adopted a critical research approach aiming at proposing strategies derived from a holistic, consultative and emancipatory perspective. Bearing this perspective, the researchers drew inspiration from CSF management theory. Organisational analysis using CSFs is an established management research method as a means of identifying the essential elements that need to be addressed in order for change processes to be effective. The specific data collection method adopted was focus group interviews.

Findings

The data analysis from focus group interviews with practitioners, administrators and academics revealed 66 CSFs divided into four clusters: leadership, structural and cultural issues (31), design issues (12), technological issues (7) and delivery issues (6).

Practical implications

Stakeholders are prepared to embrace e‐learning, but not in detriment to their profession and their own careers. Thus, if implementation of online learning is to be successful, the way forward seems to be for the “the university” to manage the change process by proposing and agreeing goals through consensual debate, supporting strategies appropriately and then realising these through common commitment.

Originality/value

The research is original since it takes a critical research approach aimed at eliciting emancipatory data directly from practitioners' views, understandings and opinions. The findings are therefore independent of institutional influence and organisational culture bias.
New public management: its impact on public servant's identity
Authors: Horton Sylvia
Published: September 2006

Purpose

This paper introduces the symposium on public management reform and its impact on public servant's identity. It provides both a descriptive and theoretical context within which the other contributions to the symposium can be located.

Design/methodology/approach

It is based on a literature review and a summary of the articles in the symposium

Findings

The paper describes the changes associated with new public management (NPM) and its variants and their impact on systems of public administration and public officials. It also highlights the contribution that cultural and social theories, drawn from anthropology and organisational psychology, make to an understanding of the processes by which public servants’ identity are formed and changed. It complements this with an examination of different models of bureaucracy, which reflect the transition from classical public administration to NPM. These concepts and ideas are developed further in other articles in the journal.

Originality/value

It provides an introduction for readers unfamiliar with the core concepts and ideas associated with individual, group and organisational identity and highlights for readers what is central to the research papers in the symposium.
Civil servant identity at the crossroads: new challenges for public administrations
Authors: Caron Daniel J. , Giauque David
Published: September 2006

Purpose

To compare and contrast the changes introduced in Canada and Switzerland as a result of public management reforms and explore the ethical challenges they entail.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a case study of two countries based in part on secondary sources but also on observations made by the authors.

Findings

The strategies used in each country are different reflecting their distinct political institutions. But there is a commonality, namely the emergence of new ethical problems related to the changes under way. Each country has tackled these new ethical challenges in similar ways. Individual and group behaviour of both Canadian and Swiss civil servants is regulated through “external controls” (codes of ethics, rules of conduct), but also by means of the socialization of new professional values (quality of customer service, flexibility, innovation, creativity, efficiency and effectiveness). These external controls and new values are insufficient, however, to allow civil servants to develop their own capacity for ethical deliberation, an essential condition for enhancing ethical behaviour in modern public administrations.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are not based on a systematic comparative study and can only therefore be interpreted as indicative.

Originality/value

The writers offer an interesting model relating to methods of behaviour regulation in an ethical public service and the need to ensure that the public good and the public interest remain at the core of public servants identity.
Identifying identities: performance‐driven, but professional public managers
Authors: van Bockel Jeroen , Noordegraaf Mirko
Published: September 2006

Purpose

This paper examines the effects of performance driven public services on managerial behaviour and the values that influence individual actions.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach is historical/institutional within a constructed theoretical framework

Findings

Fuelled by the “new public management” movement, public managers are forced to act in performance‐driven ways and instruments like “performance contracts” and “performance‐related pay” are being used to improve managerial behaviour and the professionalism of public officials. Consequently, public managers have acquired personal stakes in public organizations because when they meet organizational targets, they reap financial rewards. More efficiency, lower costs, and less waste, more responsiveness to customers, and increased flexibility are perceived to be good for society. These changes, however, are more than instrumental. They are about changing identities and changing the meaning of acting as a public official. Traditional Weberian ideas about how such organizing furthers the public good have been replaced by a performance‐driven conception of public management, which is strong on organizing, but weak on the public good. The paper concludes that professional public managers must be judged within the context of the “res publica”.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the debate about professionalism within the context of NPM and whether this is compatible with a view of public service as serving the public interest
“Personal excellence” as a value for health professionals: a patient's perspective
Authors: Brophy Sean
Published: September 2006

Purpose

To bring to the attention of health care professionals a framework and set of ideas for conceptualising a typical patient's experience and ways to respond out of a subjective inner quality called personal excellence.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper essays the viewpoint of the author on a selection of his experiences as a patient over 19 hospital admissions during his lifetime. He integrates these findings with his understanding of personal construct psychology, the psychology of change and the Greek philosophical concept of “arete” or excellence.

Findings

The paper offers a theory that patients experience three kinds of emotions or anguish when admitted to hospitals called threat, fear and anxiety. These three ways of interpreting an experience of change are based on the diagnostic constructs of transition from the psychology of personal constructs or the psychology of change. The paper asserts that a holistic approach is more likely to be delivered by health care staff with a calling than those who are merely doing a job or pursuing a career.

Originality/value

This paper is significant in that it draws on authentic experiences of a patient that are conceptualised into a coherent framework and linked to a well‐accepted theory within the science of psychology. Further it offers an alternative to essays on quality that are confined to objective features only. It offers a way, via the philosophical concept of “arete” to tap into the subjective attitudinal dimension of quality that is often the lever or more often the impediment to enabling quality improvement programmes to be effective.
The value of a mission statement in an association of not‐for‐profit hospitals
Authors: Forbes David J. , Seena Siju
Published: September 2006

Purpose

When a mission statement is introduced to enhance the quality of health care management, it is vital to assess the actual impact. This article aims to consider the effect of introducing a single mission statement into an association of 18 not‐for‐profit hospitals by investigating the views of different groups of employees.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explores the impact a mission statement has had by examining questionnaire responses from different groups of staff including the designers of the mission statement and those at the delivery point of services.

Findings

The study's outcomes indicate the value of examining the views of staff that are not in senior management. The evaluation of the mission statement's impact by senior managers was at variance with that of other staff.

Originality/value

The findings highlight the inadequacy of only examining senior management's opinions when considering the benefits of having introduced a mission statement into an organisation. In this study we identify those who originated or contributed to the mission statement in the first place. Once launched, a mission statement can have an impact throughout all staff, and that information needs to be captured in any assessment. This is consistent with the high rating normally given to a mission statement being an aid to motivating all staff. An important dimension of this study is the impact of a single mission statement throughout a group of dissimilar hospitals.
Time thieves and space invaders: technology, work and the organization
Authors: Towers Ian , Duxbury Linda , Higgins Christopher , Thomas John
Published: September 2006

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the shifting boundaries between two experiential categories – home and work – for office workers. The boundaries are both spatial and temporal, and the paper seeks to analyse how certain kinds of mobile technology are being used in such a way as to make these boundaries increasingly permeable.

Design/methodology/approach

The research involved both the collection of quantitative data using a survey tool, and the gathering of qualitative data through in‐depth interviews.

Findings

The paper finds that the mobile technology discussed enables work extension – the ability to work outside the office, outside “normal” office hours. This provides flexibility with respect to the timing and location of work, and makes it easier to accommodate both work and family. But at the same time, of course, it also increases expectations: managers and colleagues alike expect staff to be almost always available to do work, which makes it easier for work to encroach on family time, and also leads to a greater workload. The ability to perform work extension is, then, a dual‐edged sword.

Practical implications

The paper provides both managers and non‐managers with insight into the effects of providing mobile technology to office workers, and suggests some mechanisms to mitigate negative effects.

Originality/value

The paper explores the impact of mobile technologies on non‐mobile office staff.