bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Managed University
Authors: Parker Martin , Jary David
Published: January 2008

The paper will take a critical look at the changing face of British Higher Education and relate this to contemporary work on the sociology of higher education (Becher, 1989; Rustin, 1992) and public sector management (Farnham and Horton, 1993). The huge expansion of the numbers of students in higher education and the changes in funding criteria has been paralleled by changes in the organisational contexts within which that teaching takes place and these will be the focus of the paper. In general we will suggest that the two key results of external pressures are moves towards greater managerial control and a diminishing sphere of academic professional autonomy (Miller, 1991; Wilson, 1991; Trow, 1993). These changes are reflected and reinforced by administrative structures like modularity which are rhetorically grounded in notions of student/consumer choice but in practice also erode the “responsible autonomy” (Friedman, 1977) that professional academics have historically exercised over their labour process. This ‘marketisation’ of the external and internal contexts of HE is equivalent to the process that has been happening in other public sector organisations for the last ten years (Farnham and Horton, 1993). The valorisation of ‘management’ that it implies has obvious resonances in contemporary writing on organisations which seeks to replace administered bureaucracies with flexible, mission driven, loose‐tight structures.
The Coordination of Service Delivery in the Mixed Economy of Welfare: Toward a Typology of Roles and Relationships
Authors: Osborne Stephen P.
Published: January 2008

Voluntary and Non‐Profit Organisations (VNPOs) in Europe are taking on increasing responsibility for the delivery of social services to local communities. In Britain this has resulted largely from the changing legislative context of public services, exemplified by the ‘purchase‐provider split’ in community care brought about by the recent NHS and Community Care Act.
A Contracting Market for Social Housing?
Authors: Putt Tom , Smith Bowers Bill
Published: January 2008

The draft Local Government Act 1988 (Defined Activities) (Housing Management) Order 1994, introduces not only a new cumbersome title to public sector management, but also a bureaucratic debacle.
Delayering in the Police Force: A Structural Response to Cost, Quality and Public Accountability
Authors: Carter Peter , McGoldrick Ann
Published: January 2008

Despite a decade of economic liberalisation, the police service has been largely spared any reform of its State monopoly position. Removed from the constant need to maintain a competitive edge which spurs the private sector, the police service has found itself undermined by the same problems as other State monopolies: high and rising costs, top‐heavy bureaucracy, a lack of flexibility and a propensity to favour ever greater increments in resourcing. New working practices and methods are slow to be implemented because of the inherent conservatism of the structure. There is now considerable pressure to review performance in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and value for money whilst providing a quality service.
Professionals, Quality and the Marketing Change Process
Authors: Kitchener Martin , Whipp Richard
Published: January 2008

The election of the Conservative Government in 1979 heralded a diversion from the post‐war, Keynesian public policy model which envisaged incrementally expanding, centrally‐funded service provision (Hall, 1988). Largely in response to mounting financial crises, and building on earlier managerialist initiatives (eg. Griffiths, 1983), a new public sector management paradigm began to emerge at the beginning of the 1990s (Booth, 1993). This new paradigm, which was informed by the New Right's ‘public choice theory’ emphasised: fiscal re‐organisation, privatisation, the separation of purchaser and provider roles within quasi‐markets and the sovereignty of the customer (Butler and Vaile, 1991; Thompson, 1992). These ideological and structural changes are now recognised as a significant break with the past (Fitzgerald, 1993), and even John Major acknowledges the programme as a ‘revolution in progress’ (Major, 1989:1). Importantly, the reformers have often ritualistically, cast aside traditional, public sector and professional values (Pollitt, 1990a; Hood, 1991). In their place, a diffuse set of management ideas have been imported from the private sector. These have subsequently been aggregated and termed the “New Public Management” by commentators such as Harrow and Wilcocks (1990) and Steward and Walsh (1992).
Communication between Professionals and Innovation Management in NHS Trusts
Authors: Bower D. Jane
Published: January 2008

This study examined te impact of the changing structural and regulatory environment on the process of biomedical innovation management within the NHS.
Differences in Professional and Managerial Paradigms of Quality of Healthcare
Authors: Potter Christopher , Morgan Philip
Published: January 2008

The many changes in the NHS resulting from recent legislation, including allowing hospitals to “opt out” and become NHS trusts, coupled with a new culture of managerialism, emphasising service quality, employee commitment and value for money has led to an increase in service monitoring and inspection. It has also led to an increasing emphasis on quality and indirectly has brought professionalism and managerialism into direct conflict with each other (The Griffiths Report, 193 and Working for Patients, 1989).
Patients as Consumers: A Case of Packaging Only?
Authors: Symonds Anthea
Published: January 2008

This paper is concerned with three main issues; firstly, an analysis of the identity of a ‘consumer’; the change in the power structure of the traditional professional/client relationship which this predicates; and finally, an exploration of the place of consumer power in the public health services.
Researching Co‐production in Services for Older People
Authors: Wilson Gail
Published: January 2008

The nature of co‐production can be most easily understood with reference to the output of universities. The final output (pass or fail degrees) cannot be achieved without the work of the customers (defined as students) as well as of academic and other staff.
Strategic Choice and the Development of New Forms of Employment Relations in Public Service Sector
Authors: Kessler Ian , Purcell John
Published: January 2008

The paper puts forward an analytical and conceptual model for studying the exercise of strategic choice and the development of new forms of employment relations in the public service sector. It then seeks to present some findings from the initial phase of a three year ESRC funded project related to research questions generated by this model.
Privatisation and Industrial Relations: A Literature Review and a Case Study
Authors: Pendleton Andrew
Published: January 2008

One of the most striking features of the period since 1979 in the UK has been the dismantling of the public sector. From small beginnings at the beginning of the 1980s privatisation in its various forms has come to affect every area of state activity. Most prominent has been the sale of public corporations and utilities, such as British Telecom and British Gas. These initiatives had reduced employment in the state sector by well over one million by the end of the 1980s (see Beaumont, 1992:36– 37). Besides asset sales the other main form of privatisation (in terms of a direct transfer of activities from public to private sector) has been competitive tendering and private contracting in local government, the National Health Service, and parts of central government. Recently, the Government has suggested that ‘market testing’ of this sort will be extended to all public sector activities (see Citizens' Charter). In addition to these direct forms of privatisation residual parts of the public sector have been subject to what might be called ‘quasi‐privatisation’ in the form of agency status for much of central government and self‐governing trust status for NHS hospitals and services, characterised by contractual relationships in place of direct control via management hierarchies, and the weakening of democratic accountability via elected politicians (see Stewart and Walsh, 1992). Some observers have suggested that a fundamental transformation of the state is occurring with the state retreating from direct provision of services and activities (Lewis, 1993).
The Restructuring of Non‐teaching Jobs in Schools: The Two Pronged Attack of CCT and LMS
Authors: Sinclair Jackie , Seifert Roger , Ironside Mike
Published: January 2008

This paper is based on ESRC funded research conducted at the Centre for Industrial Relations at Keele University, and which broadly concerns the impact of industrial relations in schools, arising from education reforms, particularly the shift to Local Management of Schools since the early 1990s. We focus here upon school employeesotherthan schoolteachers.
Public Sector Pay: Decentralisation v Control
Authors: White Geoff , Fox Roger
Published: January 2008

The period since 1979 has seen a radical restructuring of public sector industrial relations. Not only has the size of the sector fallen, from over 30% of the workforce in 1979 to just under 22% in mid‐1993, although the sector still employs 5.4m people (Economic Trends, 1994). There has also been major organisational change. Apart from the major transfers of public sector staff to the private sector via privatisation, those remaining in the public sector — now largely the public services — have been subjected to major organisational changes. These organisational changes have been driven by Government policies based on concepts of financial accountability and market forces to cut waste and improve efficiency. A major concern has clearly been a reduction in public expenditure, the major part of which is salary costs. However, the linkage between the various strands of Government policy concerning the public sector have not always been clear cut — decentralisation and organisational innovation have not always been clearly connected to public sector pay policy. On other occasions changes in reward management have been predicated on organisational changes.
Reinventing the Wheel? Privatisation and the Crisis of Public Service Trade Unionism
Authors: Foster Debbie , Taylor Graham
Published: January 2008

The ideology and practice of trade unions in the public services has traditionally reflected the organisational culture of the ‘public service’ state agencies in which they organised. The neo‐liberal state restructuring of the 1980s contested traditional notions of ‘public service’ and attempted to impose new cultural definitions of ‘public service’ based on economic and political individualism. This paper explores the struggle over the meaning of ‘public service’ in the context of trade union campaigns against the privatisation of the water industry and the introduction of compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) in local government. The authors develop the argument that these campaigns highlight both the weakness and contradictions of traditional forms of public service trade unionism and the possibilities and dangers for public service trade unions in the deregulated and privatised public services of the 1990s.
Nursing Pay Policy: Chaos in Context
Authors: Thornley Carole
Published: January 2008

This paper stems from aspects of on‐going research into nurses' pay, grading and training, building upon fieldwork and documentary research conducted in the course of completing an ESRC‐funded doctorate and preparing a commissioned research report for the ILO (jointly with David Winchester). The paper focuses on causation behind the current chaotic state of government pay policy with respect to nurses' pay and seeks to enrich the current debate around attempts to decentralise pay for nurses (and for the NHS and public sector more generally). In particular, it is argued that government policy in the 1980s and early 1990s has built on and exacerbated past policy problems and has exhibited a number of fundamental contradictions, predicated upon differing representational forms for nurses (professional associations and unions, and TUC‐affiliated unions) and the more general unwillingness of successive governments to act as ‘model employer’ with respect to actual outcomes in nurses' pay. It is concluded that the current policy preoccupation with decentralisation must be understood in the light of underlying continuities, but represents a reactive and flawed approach.
Vector Model Representations of Work Cells
Authors: Rowley Jennifer , Workman Clive
Published: January 2008

The latter part of this century has seen a radical shift in organisational theory, from the mechanistic and scientific, towards views of organisations in terms of human relationships and the fulfilment of psychological needs.
Understanding Customers' Views: An Example of the Use of Repertory Grid Techique
Authors: Goffin Keith
Published: January 2008

Repertory grid technique is a well‐known and important tool for market research. Frost and Braine (1967) went as far as to say: “In our view, the Repertory Grid represents an approach of such fundamental importance that we regard it as having as much potential in market research as any technique since the invention of the questionnaire”. Grid technique has typically been used for identifying ideal product attributes. This article, however, gives an example of how the method was successfully used to investigate customers' views on a complex concept.
A Survey of Current College Alcohol Abuse Programmes, Attitudes, and Training Needs
Authors: Sharma Sarla
Published: January 2008

College students and their alcohol use have been the subject of numerous studies over the last three decades and have received an increasing amount of attention (Engs, 1977; Hanson and Engs, 1984; Gadaleto and Anderson, 1986; Downs, 1987; Thompson and Wilsnack, 1987; Janosik and Anderson, 1989; Tryon, 1992). Studies on student alcohol use began appearing in the literature in the mid‐1970's (Penn, 1974; Rouse and Ewing, 1978; Newton, 1978). Subsequent studies (Scheller‐Gilkey, Gomberg, and Clay, 1979; Heritage, 1979; O'Connell and Patterson, 1989) have documented consistently high levels of alcohol consumption and a serious abuse problem on college campuses. Although some studies (Condon and Carman, 1986; Hanson and Engs, 1986) indicate that overall consumption has reached a plateau, Gonzalez (1986) reported that 89% of male students and 86% of female students surveyed drank alcohol, and many suffered from alcohol related problems. Further, both recent survey data (Eigen, 1991) and participant‐observer studies (Moffatt, 1989) suggest that collegiate drinking is a very serious health concern. Moffatt found that to a great extent college students' lives revolved around the acquisition and consumption of alcohol and constituted students' favourite collective activity. Surveys revealed that no other population group in the United States has a more serious drinking problem than does the college student population (Gonzalez, 1986). Both men and women drink more as they progress through the college, and those who drink more also experience more alcohol‐related problems (Gonzalez, 1989).
Accounting Curriculum in the Twenty First Century as Viewed by CPAs
Authors: Hussain Inam , Al‐Darayseh Musa , D'Ouville Edmond
Published: January 2008

Accounting education is passing through a critical stage. In 1988 the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) voted overwhelmingly to require 150 semester hours of education, including a baccalaureate degree, for new members from the year 2000. AICPA together with the National Association of State Boards of Accounting (NASBA) is working to require the 150 hours education requirement to sit for the CPA examination. Twenty four states have passed various versions of this law; many more are in the process of passing it.
Propositions and a Model: Do Excellent Market Oriented Firms Who Deliver Quality Service Perform Better?
Authors: Caruana Albert
Published: January 2008

Excellence and quality would be regarded by most managers as worthy objectives. These managers would also, in all likelihood, agree on the importance of imbuing their organisation with a market orientation, and believe that these factors contribute to corporate performance. A sterner interpretation of this, however, would necessitate a more in‐depth understanding of these constructs. What is excellence? Is there a link between excellence and a market orientation? Is the market oriented service firm more concerned with understanding and managing customer expectations and delivering a reliable service? How do these variables affect corporate performance? While there are studies linking a number of these individual constructs to performance, (Berry and Parasuraman, 1991; Peters and Waterman, 1982; Narver and Slater, 1990; Narver, Park and Slater, 1992; Jaworski and Kohli, 1993) less work appears to have been done on investigating the more complex relationships between these constructs. The objectives of this article are to propose the existence or otherwise of relationships between excellence, market orientation, expectations management practices, “being reliable”, and corporate performance, and, to suggest ways in which these can be studied in service firms.
Combatting Absenteeism in the Workplace
Authors: Sadri Golnaz , Lewis Mark
Published: January 2008

There is evidence to show that human capital represents “our greatest competitive potential…”, hence, absenteeism removes our primary competitive weapon. The tangible cost of absenteeism in the US is estimated to be over $40 billion per year. This figure does not include intangible costs such as reduced efficiency, loss of morale, supervisor's overload, and missed opportunities. There is clearly a need for effective methods of reducing employee absenteeism. The present article reviews the literature on absenteeism, with the aim of answering the following three questions: (1) How should an organisation define and measure absenteeism?; (2) What are the underlying causes of absence?; (3) Which are the best methods that an organisation might adopt to reduce absenteeism?
Enhancing Entrepreneurial Spirit: A Resolve for University Graduates
Authors: Poon Teng Fatt James , Hee Ang Teo
Published: January 2008

The growing importance of entrepreneurship is the result of a global awareness of increasing competitiveness in the business environment. In Singapore, the SME Master Plan (1989) emphasises entrepreneurship as “a key component of the strategy to develop Singapore into a major node in global business and a total business centre.” Much has been reported in the press about entrepreneurship. The article “So You Think We've Arrived?” (Straits Times, 3 Jan 1993) says it all. In the past, Singapore had the temporary sensation of plenty and peace. Singapore industrialised and attracted multinational corporations (MNCs) to leap‐frog the region. This has enabled Singapore to grow at a phenomenal rate. Now, the region has awakened. Our neighbours have learned and are now more competitive to demand a share of the market. The challenge for tomorrow is a more competitive business environment. Our Senior Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, has emphasised that about 15 to 20 percent of Singapore's better graduates must venture abroad if Singapore is to become a developed country (Straits Times, 23 Apr. 1993). Thus, the emerging need for an entrepreneurial spirit has begun and is more real now than ever.
New Developments in Corporate Diversification Strategies
Authors: Brost Michael A. , Kleiner Brian H.
Published: January 2008

Although there are many variations in the definition of diversification, it would be only appropriate to provide some form of definition for the reader. Corporate diversification in its broadest sense can be defined simply as the entering into a new business activity by an existing business entity. This definition is expounded upon by many of the leading corporate diversification researchers to include references to the method of entering the new business (whether it be through acquisition, internal development, etc.), the driving forces behind the diversification (i.e., synergy, resource sharing, risk reduction), and the levels of relatedness between the company's present product line and market to that of the new businesses' products and markets.
Management Strategies in the Banking Industry
Authors: Lester Dennell R. , Kleiner Brian H.
Published: January 2008

In the past decade many events have affected the financial services industry, especially for the banking segment. “Events such as deregulation of deposit rates, the fall of geographic barriers, an economic downturn, and increasing non‐bank competition, have all caused the banking industry's policies and leadership practices to be re‐evaluated by such authorities as shareholders, directors, regulators, and management itself” (Want, 1990). Also, due to industry pressures, many banks are having to stretch themselves into market sectors and services that would otherwise have been unheard of just a few years ago. Tough times have arrived, and throughout the industry banks are seeing slower growth in loans, deposits, and fee income. Overall, these changes have required some type of reaction from the banking industry in order to survive. “Conventional reactions to these types of industry changes could entail any of the following: cost cutting, revamping of the organisational structure, acquisitions of other financial institutions, sale of marginal businesses, elimination and reduction of support staff functions, new technologies and training efforts to improve operational efficiencies, and new marketing strategies” (Want, 1990). While any one of these strategies may be successful for some organisations, they can result in a detriment to others. “A key success factor in using these strategies is not to use any one of them in isolation. In fact it is suggested that a combination of strategies be used to incorporate one corporate strategic plan” (Want, 1990).
What Managers Should Know to Start a Business In India
Authors: Shah Raj , Kleiner Brian H.
Published: January 2008

Competition in the United States has led many large companies and small enterprises to consider global alternatives. They have set up industrial relations over different parts of the world in the form of joint ventures.
What Managers Must Know To Conduct Business in Denmark
Authors: Stefan Margaret , Kleiner Brian H.
Published: January 2008

Denmark is the smallest of the three Scandinavian countries and is located in Northeast Europe. Sweden is located to the North of Denmark, Germany to the South, the Baltic Sea is on the East, and the North Sea is on the West side of Denmark. Denmark consists of the peninsula Jutland, North of Germany, 5 main islands (Bornholm, Falster, Funen, Lolland and Zealand), and 480 smaller islands. Approximately 100 of the islands are inhabited. Denmark has two self‐governing provinces: Faeroe Islands and Greenland.
New Developments in Measuring Corporate Performance
Authors: Jacobs William L. , Kleiner Brian H.
Published: January 2008

Value systems in the traditional American business are primarily designed around the profit oriented philosophy. Measures that focus on non‐financial performance are generally pushed aside or ignored. Bonuses and other incentive programmes reward performance for short term quarterly financial results rather than long term overall performance. Performance measures such as customer service, environmental awareness, ethics, citizenship and employee relations have not been widely used to evaluate a firm's performance. Because non‐financial measures are not easily quantifiable, they are considered less important in judging a company. Firms that do track non‐financial areas never give these areas the same weight as financial measures. When conflict arises between the two areas, financial considerations generally prevail.
New Developments In Budgeting
Authors: Wilhelmi Michael , Kleiner Brian H.
Published: January 2008

Budgeting is used to assist in strategic planning. It is the process of allocating resources to selected activities or programmes. The search for better methods of allocating and controlling the expenditure of funds has always been very important to managers. With corporations realising decreasing revenues and governments confronted by huge deficits, budgeting is more difficult than ever. The old methods no longer are suitable for most organisations [p. 104]. This article addresses the newest forms of budgeting‐Zero‐Base Budgeting (ZBB) and Activity‐Based Budgeting (ABB).
Internal Organisational Domain and Competitive Strategy
Authors: Drago William A.
Published: January 2008

Popularity of the resource‐based theory of the firm has brought renewed interest in internal organisational domain as an important contributing factor toward organisational success. Generally, this research has taken the perspective that a direct link exists between internal domain and performance. An underlying premise of this view is that competitive direction is simply a reflection of the parameters of this domain. This study investigates the strength and direction of the link between internal domain and competitive direction to determine the significance of this assertion.
Electronic Mail: An Issue of Privacy Versus Property Rights
Authors: Tavakolian Hamid
Published: January 2008

Do you use Electronic mail (E‐mail)? Do you know if anyone other than the intended recipient is reading the mail you send? And, what would you do if it fell into the wrong hands? Employees around the world use E‐mail more than a million times a day (Elmer‐Dewitt, 1993). E‐mail is used for a multitude of purposes including telling jokes, discussing confidential matters, or even spreading gossip that could be potentially offensive if overheard by the wrong person. E‐mail is more convenient for most to use rather than having to pick up the phone or wander down a hall to tell someone something. A common misconception many have concerning the use of E‐mail is that it is as private as mail or a phone call (Elmer‐Dewitt, 1993).
Participation Effects on Workplace Attitudes
Authors: Hodson Randy
Published: January 2008

Increased worker autonomy and participation are being proclaimed as the foundation for economic competitiveness in the 1990s (Reich, 1991). Management has been generally favorable towards such strategies and surveys of workers also indicate widespread support (Hackman, 1990). However, trade unionists fear that these new organizations of work are, at least in part, being sponsored by management in an attempt to undermine unions and manipulate workers (Grenier, 1988; Parker, 1985). More cautious forms of this argument propose that participation schemes are initiated to extract from workers the important “working knowledge” (Kusterer, 1978) and “tricks of the trade” (Thomas, 1991; Hodson, 1991) that are often workers' resource in bargaining with management over wages and conditions. Participation schemes may also lead to the unraveling of “informal agreements” between workers and front line supervisors concerning work effort and work procedures that both labor and management would prefer to keep hidden (Thomas, 1991:8).
Supervision — A Key Resource in Modern Manufacturing
Authors: Senker Peter
Published: January 2008

Manufacturing has changed considerably in Britain in the last several years. There have been changes in management style, in particular from the authoritarian style traditional in Britain to more participative, open styles which emphasize communication upwards, as well as from the top of the hierarchy downwards. Senior managers now try to be more responsive to ideas from more junior management, supervisors and the shopfloor, although the industrial relations climate has changed eroding the influence of workers on output.
Dimensions of Working Hard: How Effort Affects Sales Performance and Job Satisfaction
Authors: Brown Steven P. , Leigh Thomas W.
Published: January 2008

Questions regarding what motivates people to perform their best and feel good about their jobs are of enduring interest to managers and researchers. Understanding the motives that impel top performance and make work satisfying can facilitate superior organisational performance and development of a healthy and productive organisational culture. Developing accurate models of the role of work‐related effort in generating performance and attitudinal outcomes is central to such an understanding and is the focus of our research. In particular, we have studied how effort affects work performance and job satisfaction in personal selling contexts.
Caveat Emptor Applies to the Consumption of Published Empirical Research Results, Too
Authors: Hubbard Raymond , Murray Lindsay R.
Published: January 2008

As a consumer of research published in scientific journals, do you ever wonder what degree of belief you should place on the results being presented? Alternatively, and perhaps more importantly, do you ever think whether the findings would apply in your own organisation to guide business practice? Clearly, these are important considerations.
Business Information Technology Degree Courses: A Progress Report
Authors: Skok Walter
Published: January 2008

Business Information Technology (BIT) is a relatively new and still developing concept, which is offered as an under‐graduate programme of study at an ever‐increasing number of educational institutions. Kingston Business School has been at the forefront of such developments and offers a four year ‘thick’ sandwich BSc (Hons) BIT course, which has a one year industrial period and consists of the following three central study themes: — Business Strategy, Operations and Environment — Information Systems/ — Information Technology (IS/IT) — Quantitative Decision Methods and Analysis This paper concentrates on the Business and IT aspects of the course and considers the experiences and lessons learnt over the last six years in order to attempt to answer the question: ‘what exactly is BIT?’ It concludes that the essence of BIT is the close integration of the above study themes in order to produce knowledgable, adaptable graduates, who have the technical and inter‐personal skills to work successfully in a rapidly changing business environment. The author is involved in course development, collaboration with business partners and a significant amount of BIT course teaching, particularly on the final year.
SOUTH KOREAN BUSINESSES' PERSPECTIVES ON REUNIFICATION
Authors: Chan Marjorie
Published: January 2008

The efforts of Korean reunification would involve greater difficulties than those experienced by the Germans in their reunification efforts. Eberstadt (1992) enumerated these difficulties as follows based on a comparative analysis:
MEASURING AND MANAGING BUYER‐SELLER RELATIONSHIP LIFE CYCLES
Authors: Palmer Adrian
Published: January 2008

Relationship marketing has received a lot of attention recently as a “Big new idea”. Unfortunately, the term currently means different things to different people. At one extreme, it is seen tactically as little more than the creation and manipulation of databases, something that is almost synonymous with Direct Marketing. At the other extreme, relationship marketing is viewed as a philosophy that goes to the heart of business by putting customers — and their changing needs — as the focus of everything an organisation does. Instead of organising around brands, companies organise around the need to sustain the confidence of their customers and gain an increasing share of their wallet. In the research to be discussed here, relationship marketing is interpreted as business strategy which is aimed at turning casual, discrete transactions between buyers and sellers into an ongoing relationship through tactical devices such as database marketing and loyalty programmes.
MANAGING CUSTOMER — CUSTOMER INTERACTIONS WITHIN THE SERVICE EXPERIENCE
Authors: Jones Peter
Published: January 2008

Groonroos (1990) notes that in the traditional literature on marketing the concept ‘marketing management’ is used to describe the practical applications of marketing and he suggests that this is perfectly appropriate in the case of consumer goods. However, he goes on to argue that in a service context the whole organisation has to be supportive to marketing and he concludes that marketing is an integral part of any theory of service management. One of the central themes in the rapidly growing services marketing and management literature (Berry and Parasuraman 1993) is the nature of the interactions and relationships between the service provider's personnel and the customer. Such a theme has been defined in a variety of ways. There has been considerable interest, for example, in the ‘Service Encounter’ or ‘Moment of Truth’ (Carlzon 1987) i.e., in the direct face‐to‐face contacts between the customer and the employers of the service firm whilst Solomon et.al., (1985) argue that this encounter has a major impact on service differentiation, quality control, delivery systems and customer satisfaction. Gronroos (1990) takes a longer term view in developing a relationship definition of marketing as being concerned “to establish, maintain and enhance relationships with customers … at a profit so that the objectives of the parties are met” (p.138). Bateson (1989) recognises the importance of the service encounter but also stresses that the non face‐to‐face interactions and the quality of the service environment must also be considered. This leads him to suggest that any conceptualisation of services marketing should include all kinds of possible interactions and that consideration should also be given to the ‘service experience’ rather than just to the service encounter.
An Analysis of Advertising Across Product Categories and Countries
Authors: Sadri Golnaz , Harich Katrin R.
Published: January 2008

Due to an increasingly international marketplace with multinational companies selling their products around the world, the issue of advertising products across countries has received considerable attention. In the academic literature, two basic and opposing approaches to international advertising can be identified. The localisation (adaptation) approach requires that advertisers focus on the differences between countries in order to develop advertising messages that are tailored to local markets. Proponents of this approach emphasise cultural uniqueness. In order to be successful, advertising needs to reflect differences in needs, wants, values, traditions, language, and economic variables (Britt, 1974; Nielsen, 1963; Unwinn, 1974; Ricks, Arpan & Fu, 1974; Ricks, 1983). The standardisation (globalisation) approach, on the other hand, focuses on the similarities between countries and develops global advertising campaigns which eliminate the need for adaptation to local conditions. Proponents of this approach see the world as a “global village” in which the differences between countries are diminished and where consumers have developed similar needs and wants, independent of location (Fatt, 1967; Elinder, 1965; Levitt, 1983; Lynch, 1984).
Promoting Continuous Improvement: Control Features of Innovative Organisations
Authors: Murray Lindsay R.
Published: January 2008

Today the customer is truly king. In what was dreamt about only a short time ago, customers are not only obtaining value priced products, they are of high quality, matched increasingly to their specifications or needs, and accompanied with higher levels of service. “Satisfying the customer” has truly become the maxim of the 1990s for many companies.
ALTERNATIVE RESEARCH PARADIGM IN ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE: THE CASE FOR RESPONSIVE FOCUSING
Authors: Herbert Wilson E.
Published: January 2008

Since the late 1970s, observers of accounting and finance research have noted a growing gap between extant academic research and the needs of practitioners. In accounting, for example, both industry leaders and academic leaders have voiced their concern over this increasing gap between research and practice (see Baxter, 1988; ICAS, 1988). A major view suggests that the methodological precepts of most extant accounting/finance research are constructed in abstruse mathematics based on hypotheses far removed from reality; in consequence, many practitioners have remained sceptical, unable to express an opinion and have withdrawn from the decision making process (Allen, 1992). Over a decade earlier, Carleton (1978) in his Presidential address to the Financial Management Association (FMA) made an indicting observation that ômost contemporary theory and research in corporate finance do not even deal with what in the abstract are the central problems in corporate financeö. The gap between research and practice and the need to dovetail research to issues which are close to the needs of financial practitioners have been echoed by other academics (see Herbert and Wallace, 1996).
AN OVERVIEW OF SINO‐AUSTRALIA TRADE AND INVESTMENT
Authors: Haier Zhang , Sheehan Brian
Published: January 2008

People's Republic of China's (P.R.C.) view of its relationship with other countries has changed totally in recent years. It is now steering a “middle path” with the extreme attitudes of the past being overcome. PRC President Jiang Zeming in a speech during his recent visit to Russia said, “it has become a proven fact that neither confrontation nor alliance conforms to the fundamental interests of the two peoples”. Former slogans, popular in 1960's/1970's, such as “Down with US imperialism and Soviet revisionism! and phrases like “comrade plus brother and friendship built up by blood and flesh”, are no longer heard in recent years.
SIMULATION — A POWERFUL TOOL IN RESEARCH RELATING TO MANAGEMENT DECISIONS
Authors: Proctor R.A.
Published: January 2008

Not only is the computer and its associated software a powerful research tool but it has been argued also that the utilisation of Information Technology makes an important contribution to competitive advantage (e.g., Keen 1986; Remenyi 1988; Earl 1989). In particular it is important to note the impact, in this respect, of end‐user computing — the capability of users to have direct, hands on control over their computing needs — the rapid growth of which has been fuelled by the advent of personal computers and fourth generation languages (Gerrity and Rockart 1986; Alavi, Nelson and Weiss 1988). End user computing presents three kinds of competitive benefit to the individual, group or organisation: efficiency benefits, effectiveness benefits; and transformation benefits (Arkush and Stanton 1988; Porter and Gogan 1988).
THE ROLE OF STAFF EXPECTATIONS IN THE GOVERNANCE OF THE NON‐ PROFIT FIRM
Authors: Moser Steven B. , Nicholson Mary L.
Published: January 2008

While most nonprofit organisations provide guidelines to be followed by their governing bodies in terms of responsibilities and duties, implementation of these guidelines is often problematic (Harris, 1989; Herman & Heimovics, 1991). The board of trustees of the non‐profit organisation has one responsibility: to keep the organisation on a straight course for the long term good of the whole; that is, to see that the organisation fulfils its mission (Zander, 1993). But evidence suggests that this description is more straightforward than actual practice would suggest.
Micro‐Macro Linkages in Higher‐Performance Employment Systems
Authors: Brown Clair , Reich Michael
Published: January 2008

Our analysis of Japanese and US employment and wage systems examined institutional constraints upon firms' human resource systems, especially for high performance workplaces. We also examined the effect of firms' practices upon macroeconomic policy and outcomes. In this paper, we focus on two of the interactions between firm practices and institutional structures:
20 Years Later — What Have We Learned on the Measurement of Organizational Effectiveness Since Steers Model?
Authors: Baruch Yehuda
Published: January 2008

In his seminal work, published in the ASQ (1975), Steers identified the main problems concerned with the measurement of organizational effectiveness (OE). He suggested a general model for the understanding of OE, and pointed out specific aspects as possible constituencies of OE. The present paper survey recent developments in relation to the nature and notion of OE and suggests a set of criteria mat could be used for the measurement of OE. The ideas are based on a content analysis of 46 papers which were published during the last five years in established academic journals. These papers referred to various definitions and methods of measurement for OE. In conclusion, then, OE should be measured by a multiple set of components, with reference to the multidimentionality of the OE (eg. dependence on culture environment, sectorial belonging, purposes of the work), and the availability of measurement tools.
Reshaping Work Organization in British Firms
Authors: Wright Martyn
Published: January 2008

There has been much discussion of the reform of work organization in British companies in recent years. Much of the debate has been informed either by case studies of a small number of sites, or by large scale data sets which have been collected by postal questionnaire. This paper presents findings on the reorganization of work which are drawn from a new qualitative, longitudinal study. Fifty mainly highly unionized British firms were interviewed in 1979 and 1991. Questions were asked about matters such as the introduction of new working practices and evidence of improvements in productivity. This new data set complements a number of previous studies by offering a combination of aggregate sample findings along with individual case examples.
Organising Employment for Higher Performance in the UK Television Industry
Authors: Ursell Gillian
Published: January 2008

“Man is the measure of all things”, to paraphrase the Sophists. Alternatively, one could invoke the Marxist assertion of the social and relative character of the concept of value. Certainly, such a perspective can be found woven into this present paper, on the changes wrought since the mid‐80s in the United Kingdom television industry, in pursuit of “higher performance”.
HRM in the New Economic Environment: An Empirical Study of India
Authors: Sparrow Paul R. , Budhwar Pawan S.
Published: January 2008

This paper is developed from the second author's ongoing Ph.D. research, which focuses on the managerial thinking (personnel specialists) about strategic management of human resources from a cross‐cultural viewpoint between India and Britain. The Indian Personnel Specialists are under a severe pressure to bring about large scale structural changes in their organisations to cope with the challenges thrown by the recent liberalised economic policies. The role of Human Resource (HR) function has become more important than ever in such conditions. An attempt is therefore made to analyse the HR function in India in the changing economic environment. The influence of a number of national and contingent variables on the HR function is therefore studied to place it against the worldwide patterns of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices.
Perspectives on Employee Performance
Authors: Stannack Peter
Published: January 2008

This paper describes a research project which was designed to identify
The Link Between HR Strategy and Training: An Examination of French and UK Organisations
Authors: Tregaskis Olga
Published: January 2008

Training and development has traditionally been excluded from strategic organisational issues. However, increasing competition and the conceptualisation of human resources as a source of competitive advantage is beginning to change the status quo. Much has been written on the need to be strategic with human resources through the matching of business objectives and human resource strategies (Beer, et al, 1984; Boxall, 1992; Fombrun, et al, 1984; Schuler and Jackson, 1987, 1989). This paper argues that one of the key elements in achieving the alignment of people related activities and corporate objectives is training and development. In addition, that country of operation is a mediating factor in this relationship. Therefore the aim of this paper is twofold; first to examine the relationship between HR strategy and training and development practices; second to examine the role of national context in shaping these practices. Data from the Price Waterhouse Cranfield Survey in addition to qualitative data from interviews is used to explore the nature of these relationships.
Strategic Interventions? Realising the potential of strategic training and development for high performance
Authors: Blundell Brian , Daunton Lyn , Saunders Mike , Townley Bob
Published: January 2008

The attitude of owners and senior managers in small and medium sized businesses towards training and development is a significant factor in determining the provision of opportunities for human resource development and, therefore, the growth in the supply of a skilled and competent workforce.
The Perception of Training and Development for a High Performance Economy in the People's Republic of China
Authors: Branine Mohammed
Published: January 2008

This paper is an eye‐witness account of how training and management development policies are put into practice in Chinese state‐owned enterprises. Observations are made on how training is perceived and implemented in an era of fast socio‐economic change. The contribution that western countries could make and the obstacles that could be met, as a result, are also discussed. Thus, it is argued that there is an emergent urge for the development of adequate training programmes that could meet an increased need for skilful and efficient managers who would be able to cope with the reforms. However, the characteristics of the Chinese approach to training and management development could make it difficult to transfer management skills and knowledge that are wanted from the West. Evidence for these observations is drawn from the author's involvement in a major United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the design and teaching of management strategy and human resource management courses to cohorts of managers from selected Chinese foreign trade corporations.
The Distribution of Financial Participation Schemes in British Workplaces
Authors: Whitfield Keith , Poole Michael
Published: January 2008

Financial participation schemes have become much more prevalent in recent years. It is clear that many organisations view them as an important component in the search for competitive advantage. However, their distribution is far from universal and many firms have decided not to deploy them. For example, the third Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (WIRS 3) indicated that 57 percent of establishments possessed no profit‐sharing scheme and 66 percent possesses no share‐ownership scheme. Moreover, it is clear that not only does the penetration of different schemes vary but so does the pattern of their distribution.
Linking Corporate and Reward Strategies for High Performance: The Case of the NHS
Authors: Bradley Paola
Published: January 2008

Current management thinking centres on the concept that the “customer is king”. However, poor performance by demoralised staff erodes service quality and customer satisfaction. Success depends on employees' enthusiasm, dependability and their effectiveness.
The Case for Employee Empowerment as a Means of Enhancing Organisational Performance
Authors: Gardiner Penny
Published: January 2008

The potential for increasing organisational performance by empowering employees at all levels of the workforce and providing opportunities for participation and learning is now being recognised by many organisations. Empowerment is normally instigated by management as part of a necessary organisational change. It attempts to allow individual employees to contribute to the process of making decisions relevant to their own work and is normally a part solution to the flattening of organisational structures; where middle management layers are removed, the responsibility for decision making and problem solving must be shifted.