bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Marketing for survival: a comparative case study of SME software firms
Authors: Parry Sara , Jones Rosalind , Rowley Jenny , Kupiec‐Teahan Beata
Published: November 2012

Purpose

This study seeks to explore the success and failure of two similar small software technology firms from a marketing perspective. Using a dyadic approach, the research aims to compare the degree of customer orientation and innovativeness exhibited in both firms and to understand contributing factors for success and failure.

Design/methodology/approach

A two‐case comparative case study was employed as the primary method of investigation. Participant‐observation in both firms and 22 semi‐structured interviews with owner‐managers, employees and customers provided a holistic approach to how these firms perceived and prioritised marketing and innovation.

Findings

There is a need for small software firms to strike a balance between customer orientation and innovativeness in order to survive. In terms of customer orientation, the findings show that it is not only related to customer contacts and relationships, but is also about delivering on the promise. The small firm's ability to achieve this is highly dependent on managerial style, communication between the firms and their customers, business planning, market research, promotion and firm culture.

Practical implications

The benefits of this study, which demonstrates the stark contrast between successful and unsuccessful behaviour, can act as a useful guide for small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) managers who often have technical but less managerial competencies.

Originality/value

This is a unique study comparing two software SMEs, particularly one which failed and one which succeeded under similar conditions, thus illustrating good practice by contrasting with bad practice. It also contributes to the literature on how SMEs conduct marketing in the software industry and how to secure small firm sustainability and growth in developing regions.
“TOXIC” workplaces: the negative interface between the physical and social environments
Authors: Too Linda , Harvey Michael
Published: November 2012

Purpose

Toxic real estate has been used as a negative phrase to describe non‐performing assets on a firm's balance sheet. Today there is another form of “TOXIC” real estate that needs management's attention, i.e. physical workplaces that are harmful to employees on a day‐in and day‐out basis. Particularly when productivity of workforce is now central to business competitiveness, it is timely to explore the interface between physical and social environments as many of the social/psychological impacts on employees have not been recognized or calibrated. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the links between physical workplace and social behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

In this conceptual paper, current literature relating to corporate real estate and environmental psychology are reviewed to investigate the links between physical workplace and social behaviour. The findings are synthesised to present a framework for understanding the cause of toxicity in the workplace and a self‐auditing preventive strategy.

Findings

This article argued that there is a link between physical workplace and the social behaviour of employees. Arising from toxic workplaces, two dysfunctional social behaviours are highlighted, i.e. bullying and destructive leadership. The paper then presents a logical plan to monitor and remediate these “TOXIC” conditions in the physical environment.

Originality/value

This paper is original in its angle to which social behaviour is juxtaposed against physical environment. In particular, by examining the negative interface, it informs managers of the risks to avoid and therefore identifies the baseline for which the physical workplace must be managed. It also makes a practical contribution by its development of a self‐auditing framework to avoid toxic workplaces.
Innovation: case study among wood, energy and medical firms
Authors: Madrigal‐Sánchez Johanna , Quesada‐Pineda Henry
Published: November 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a best innovation practices framework analyzing the innovation process in firms from the most innovative and the less innovative sectors.

Design/methodology/approach

This case study uses an intense review of literature in the field of innovation practices inside organizations. The field work is based in direct observation of innovation practices intended to identify and select those practices that lead to successful implementation of the innovation process in the participating firms.

Findings

The study recognizes the need of innovation as a tool for sustainable growth for firms. The article also describes the current process used by US government and organizations to measure innovation and presents a list of innovation best practices that have been recognized by each participating firm as key practices to develop innovation.

Research limitations/implications

The framework allows a combination of practices from different industries however it has been studied in specific firms and a larger exploratory/explanatory process should be conducted to generalize the findings.

Practical implications

This paper offers practical insights about practices associated with the innovation process inside firms.

Originality/value

The study aims to develop a best innovation practices framework to be used by the less innovative sectors in order to become successful in the innovation development. These best innovation practices are identified from the most innovative sectors in the country.
Service recovery: a method for assessing performance
Authors: Battaglia Daniel , Borchardt Miriam , Afonso Sellitto Miguel , Medeiros Pereira Giancarlo
Published: November 2012

Purpose

The aim of this study is to propose a method for assessing the service recovery performance of a manufacturing company with value‐added services. Service recovery performance is assessed by an index with value ranges from 0 to 100 percent.

Design/methodology/approach

A tree‐like structure was built to represent service recovery. This structure was weighted according to the degrees of each dimension's relative importance using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. After construction, the dimensions were evaluated by considering how much they were applied during the process; the service recovery index and the gaps between importance and application were determined. The method was tested in a multinational manufacturing company and in two buyer companies.

Findings

It was possible to identify the most important service recovery dimensions from the perspective of a manufacturing company (“speed of recovery”, followed by “empowerment”) and the respective degree of application according to the buyers; the gaps between importance and application were determined, and a set of suggestions for the service recovery process was made.

Practical implications

The proposed method can be adapted for other companies, including those in other industries. Analysis of the degree of the application of the dimensions of recovery can be extended to other customers, which allows for the measurement of service recovery performance.

Originality/value

The recovery service is an organisational process relevant to manufacturing enterprises with value‐added services, which require measurement of their performance. The authors found no other references to a method that allows organisations to assess their performance in relation to recovery dimensions.
Case study analysis of Six Sigma implementation in service organisations
Authors: Chakraborty Ayon , Chuan Tan Kay
Published: November 2012

Purpose

The aim of this research is to explore the implementation of Six Sigma in service organisations. The focus of the investigation is on identifying critical success factors (CSFs), critical‐to quality (CTQ) characteristics, tools and techniques and key performance indicators (KPIs), and also to understand the issues emerging from the implementation process.

Design/methodology/approach

Exploratory empirical evidence is provided through four in‐depth case studies of organisations mainly in Singapore. They include a hospital, a public service organisation, a consultancy service and a hotel.

Findings

The major findings include an understanding about the suitability of Six Sigma implementation in service organisations. Management support and team member support emerged as primary success factors. The CTQs include time and cost, while use of soft tools instead of rigorous statistical tools are preferred by service organisations. At the project level, KPIs are understood more as CTQs. Additionally; various interesting practical difficulties emerged from the case studies.

Research limitations/implications

A main limitation of this study is the small number of organisations studied and that are mainly from a single geographical location. Furthermore, the exploratory nature of the study demands rigorous in‐depth studies. The practical difficulties identified will have major implications for managers. The framework including the CSFs, CTQs, KPIs, and tools and techniques, will be a useful guide for both practitioners and academicians.

Originality/value

There are limited studies about Six Sigma implementation in service organisations. This paper provides a framework and a paradigm shift from viewing its implementation through a manufacturing lens.
Web‐tutorials in context: affordances and usability perspectives
Authors: Lund Haakon , Ole Pors Niels
Published: November 2012

Purpose

The purpose of the research is to investigate Norwegian web‐tutorials in contexts consisting of organizational issues and different forms of usability in relation to students’ perception and use of the system. Further, the research investigates the usefulness of the concepts concerning affordances and different forms of usability.

Design/methodology/approach

The research has employed a variety of data‐collection methods including interviews with librarians, interviews and focus group interviews with students, coupled with tests of their capabilities using the systems. A detailed research design is included in the paper.

Findings

In the organizational context, the research confirmed the importance of a close contact with teachers and disciplines and it was also clearly indicated that disciplines that supported an evidence‐based approach to research were much more active in using the tutorials as part of the requirements. Further, examples of organizational amnesia are discussed, pointing to the necessity for leadership support and systematic knowledge sharing. System Usability Scores are analysed in relation to solution of tasks and interesting relations are analysed. The perceptions of students were also interesting, clearly indicating marked differences in perceptions depending on study year and discipline but also different valuation of the different forms of usability. Overall, the research indicated a discrepancy between design intentions versus use and perception of the tutorials.

Originality/value

The theoretical approach has not been used often in library and information science research and the paper indicates its usefulness for further research. The findings presented in the paper also have implications for the way libraries design and promote information literacy tools.
WikiLeaks comments: a study of responses to articles
Authors: Aharony Noa
Published: November 2012

Purpose

The study aims to explore WikiLeaks' worldwide impact amongst readers of three online newspapers, as expressed through reader comments. There are three primary research questions: are there differences between the three online newspapers concerning the factual information in the comments, the linguistic characteristics of the comments, and the rhetorical and style elements of the comments?

Design/methodology/approach

The study focused on three online newspapers: The New York Times in the USA, The Guardian in the UK and Ynet in Israel, all popular channels of communication in their countries. The researcher examined the comments relating to WikiLeaks and conducted a content analysis on a sample of the comments.

Findings

The main findings suggest that most of the comments were written in an emotional style and with pathos. However there are major differences between comments written to The New York Times and to Ynet.

Research limitations/implications

This research is limited by the extent to which it can be generalised, as it focuses only on WikiLeaks comments written before 1 December 2010.

Originality/value

This paper is the first known exhaustive study that concentrates on WikiLeaks comments. The research findings may encourage further exploration into the nature of the relationship between media texts and reactions to them.
Sentiment analysis of online news text: a case study of appraisal theory
Authors: Soo‐Guan Khoo Christopher , Nourbakhsh Armineh , Na Jin‐Cheon
Published: November 2012

Purpose

Sentiment analysis and emotion processing are attracting increasing interest in many fields. Computer and information scientists are developing automated methods for sentiment analysis of online text. Most of the studies have focused on identifying sentiment polarity or orientation – whether a document, usually a product or movie review, carries a positive or negative sentiment. It is time for researchers to address more sophisticated kinds of sentiment analysis. This paper aims to evaluate a particular linguistic framework called appraisal theory for adoption in manual as well as automatic sentiment analysis of news text.

Design/methodology/approach

The appraisal theory is applied to the analysis of a sample of political news articles reporting on Iraq and the economic policies of George W. Bush and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to assess its utility and to identify challenges in adopting this framework.

Findings

The framework was useful in uncovering various aspects of sentiment that should be useful for researchers, such as the appraisers and object of appraisal, bias of the appraisers and the author, type of attitude and manner of expressing the sentiment. Problems encountered include difficulty in identifying appraisal phrases and attitude categories because of the subtlety of expression in political news articles, lack of treatment of tense and timeframe, lack of a typology of emotions, and need to identify different types of behaviours (political, verbal and material actions) that reflect sentiment.

Originality/value

The study has identified future directions for research in automated sentiment analysis as well as sentiment analysis of online news text. It has also demonstrated how sentiment analysis of news text can be carried out.
Full text coverage of marketing journals in databases
Authors: Jacsó Péter
Published: November 2012

Purpose

The increasing availability of digital editions of journals, and/or the incorporation of the full‐text versions of their papers in the largest aggregator databases, have been the highlights in the coming of age of digital libraries from many perspectives, ranging from collection development to preservation, from ready reference services to creating digital carrels. Full‐text availability of research papers through several digital resources is not merely a great convenience for distributing knowledge, but also an indirect indicator of the acknowledgement of the popularity and importance of journals and other serial publications (such as conference proceedings) in many disciplines where such sources are the primary venues for scholarly and professional publishing. One of the purposes of the author's current research project was to find out how well three business databases reflect the popularity and familiarity of peer ranking and rating through 50 top rated marketing‐focused and marketing‐related periodicals in the full‐text coverage of those journals. This paper seeks to present some results.

Design/methodology/approach

The target journals were selected from the list of 50 marketing‐focused and marketing‐related journals ranked by nearly 630 faculty members from marketing departments of US and international universities in an outstanding large scale survey and research project by Hult et al. The presence and time‐span of coverage of 50 journals and conference proceedings was analysed in three of the largest (partially) full‐text business databases.

Findings

The research found that many highly rated and ranked journals in the sample were absent or very modestly present in the full‐text subset even in the largest and most widely licensed three business databases tested.

Originality/value

The research adds a new dimension to evaluating databases by the specific criteria of full text availability of journals and other serial publications.
Leadership development as a tool for building expertise and knowledge
Authors: Cullens James , Waters Richard J.
Published: November 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to explore how leadership development can be used to support delivery of an organisational and brand strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a case study that demonstrates how a leadership development programme contributed to building, sharing and retaining knowledge and developing expertise in pursuit of the delivery of an organisational and brand strategy at Hays plc.

Findings

Using Eraut and Hirsch's three domains of knowledge as a base, this case study explores how the design of the programme allowed for both individual and social knowledge acquisition and transfer in support of the brand value of expertise.

Originality/value

The case study describes how leadership development can be used as a tool to enhance expertise and facilitate organisational knowledge sharing. It outlines a number of practical steps that HR professionals should consider when designing and implementing similar organisational interventions.
Organizational culture a HR strategy for successful knowledge management
Authors: Patil Sachin K. , Kant Ravi
Published: November 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to explore certain aspects of organizational culture that have a profound impact on knowledge management (KM) and organizational performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study illustrates HR strategies relating to organizational culture that influence the KM process and organizational performance. Data were collected primarily through observations and face‐to‐face interviews with top‐level management, team leaders and general employees. In addition, archival data in the form of annual reports and websites were collected.

Findings

The case study shows that various aspects of organizational culture, such as organization structure, education and training, reward and incentives, open communication, worker involvement and workforce flexibility, can enable organizations to overcome the barriers of KM and achieve competitive advantage.

Research limitations/implications

The case study is based on one organization's experiences.

Practical implications

The results of this study would help organizations looking to develop HR strategies to facilitate KM processes and lead to better competitive advantage.

Originality/value

The paper informs HR managers about how best to manage the workforce and create an organizational culture that will achieve KM success and improved organizational performance.
“Right to Information Act” – a tool for good governance through ICT
Authors: Singh Shalini , Karn Bhaskar
Published: November 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the evolution of Freedom of Information/Right to Information from an international perspective and analyse it as an indispensable tool for good governance through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) with special reference to India.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examines the worldwide occurrence of Right to Information with reference to International Covenants, the genesis of RTI Act in India and the use of ICT in India as a tool for empowering the citizen's.

Findings

The study demonstrates that RTI has far reaching impact and it clearly contributes to a better and informed citizenry however the use of ICT in India can further facilitate the access of such records.

Research limitations/implications

The study focuses on the genesis of RTI from an international perspective but the use of ICT for further facilitating the use of RTI is limited to Indian context.

Practical implications

The paper will outline a detailed analysis on the present usage of ICT and the initiatives taken for facilitating information dissemination and further provide suggestions for the benefit of civil society towards good governance.

Originality/value

The study is the first to address the issue of the implementation of right to information act through the use of ICT and also suggests methodology for its further improvement. Also, the study comprehends the genesis of RTI both from the international as well as Indian perspective.
Privacy in new media in Israel
Authors: Karniel Yuval , Lavie‐Dinur Amit
Published: November 2012

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to draw a new map confronting the issue of privacy in the new media age in general, and in the State of Israel in particular.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents an in‐depth review based on professional literature covering the topics of privacy, new media, social networks, and Israel. The paper considers all citizens of Israel (both Jewish and non‐Jewish), the vast majority (over 80 percent), however, of which are Jewish.

Findings

The study has found that even though Israeli social network users may be aware of online privacy issues, their adoption of online sharing and exposure, while partly due to third person effect, is to a great extent a reflection of the Israeli collective ethos which emphasises the importance of community and emotional and material sharing.

Originality/value

The study proposes a new classification of privacy exposures and violations by analyzing the nature of privacy violations inherent in the new media. The paper then discusses the unique cultural and normative manifestations of this issue in Israeli society.
Regional strategies, liability of foreignness, and firm performance
Authors: Kudina Alina
Published: November 2012

Purpose

This paper seeks to analyze the performance implications of the regional and global strategies pursued by multinational companies. It aims to argue that a firm could experience different performance effects for its intra‐ and inter‐regional operations due to differences in the liability of foreignness between these two levels.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a large sample of multinational enterprises (MNEs) drawn from all triad regions during the period 1998‐2008, the paper uses panel data methods to analyze the relationships in the sample.

Findings

The paper finds significant support for the difference in the effects of intra‐ and inter‐regional operations on performance between firms that operate within their home region and those that venture outside it.

Originality/value

This is one of the first papers to examine an impact of regional sales dispersion on MNEs' performance. An exclusion of home country sales from the home region sales is a novel feature of this research.
A note on geographical diversification and performance of the world's largest reinsurance groups
Authors: François Outreville J.
Published: November 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the relationship between geographical diversification and the underwriting performance for the world's largest reinsurance groups. It also aims to verify that the form and nature of the relationship between diversification and performance follow an S‐shaped curve with increased diversification of the largest reinsurance groups.

Design/methodology/approach

Analysis in the paper is based on the concept of Geographical Spread Index defined and calculated by UNCTAD. Data on largest reinsurance groups in the world are published annually by Standard & Poor's for only a limited number of reinsurance groups. To overcome the small sample problem, a re‐sampling procedure from the original sample, similar to a bootstrap sample, is used to validate the results.

Findings

The results show that, overall, international geographical diversification has a positive effect on a reinsurance firm's underwriting performance but that this relationship is not linear. It rather follows an S‐shaped curve. Although data limitation does not allow more sophisticated investigations, the results reported in this paper are nevertheless significant. It seems that at an early stage of expansion in proximate markets there are efficiency gains for the firm. With increased internationalization there may be a diminution in performance because of higher transaction costs or learning costs for new markets. Further expansion in foreign markets brings back efficiency and higher performance.

Research limitations/implications

Only cross‐section data for a small sample of companies are available and therefore it is not possible to analyze the dynamics of geographical diversification. A firm may deliberately expand for long‐term strategy reasons such as market share even though this is detrimental to medium‐run performance. Also, the analysis cannot provide any answer to the existence or not of a maximum level of international diversification beyond which performance would decline.

Originality/value

In the literature on firm diversification in the financial services sector, product diversification and performance has received significant attention with mixed results but except for a few papers, the internationalization aspect has not been examined. The reinsurance sector is important since reinsurance activities are, by nature, more geographically diversified than other financial activities. Furthermore, the largest European reinsurance groups dominate this worldwide market and many reinsurance companies have, in the past decade, increased their foreign direct investment and acquired other companies in part because of the belief that only very large players will have the cost advantages necessary to remain competitive in global markets.
Large trader reporting rule: a temporary reprieve for broker‐dealers and broadening of exemptions for capital markets transactions
Authors: Sacks Russell D. , Blankenship Michael J.
Published: November 2012

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to describe the temporary and permanent exemptions issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to the large trader identification requirements under Rule 13h‐1.

Design/methodology/approach

Specifically, the paper provides: an explanation of the definition of a “large trader” as defined under Rule 13h‐1; an overview of the recordkeeping, reporting, and monitoring requirements under Rule 13h‐1; an explanation of the two‐tiered temporary exemption issued by the SEC; and an overview of the permanent exemption adopted by the SEC for certain capital market transactions in connection with determining whether a person is a large trader.

Findings

The SEC extended the April 30, 2012 compliance date under Rule 13h‐1 for registered broker‐dealers by 12 months to May 1, 2013; however, broker‐dealers that are either large traders, or have large trader customers that are either broker‐dealers or trade through a “sponsored access” arrangement, must be in compliance by November 30, 2012. The extension affords broker‐dealers additional time to develop, test, and implement recordkeeping and reporting systems required for compliance. Additionally, the SEC issued a permanent exemption for “dribble out” programs or offerings “crossed” on a national securities exchange, which were not originally exempted under the rule. The SEC determined that these transactions should not be counted for the purpose of determining whether a person meets the identifying activity level for a large trader given that the vast majority of primary offerings are excluded under the rule.

Originality/value

The paper provides practical guidance from experienced regulatory lawyers regarding an important proposed change.
Tough on money laundering … and on the EU: UK authorities chart their course on AML policy
Authors: Saunders Martin , Stott Chris
Published: November 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss recent trends in anti‐money laundering enforcement by UK regulatory authorities and the UK's response to recent EU anti‐money laundering regulatory reform proposals.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes HM Treasury's review of the UK's “Money Laundering Regulations 2007,” recent enforcement actions taken by the Financial Services Authority and the Office of Fair Trading, and the UK Government's response to recent proposed revisions to the EU's Third Money Laundering Directive.

Findings

The paper finds that taking action for breaches of anti‐money laundering regulations remains high on the financial crime agenda of UK supervisory authorities. The UK argues against greater harmonization between anti‐money laundering and counter‐terrorism financial measures employed by the member states, believing enforcement powers should remain within member states.

Originality/value

The paper provides expert guidance from experienced financial services lawyers.
Who's in and who's out? CFTC and SEC finalize the swap entity definitions
Authors: Nolan Anthony R.G. , Gault‐Brown Susan I. , Patent Lawrence B.
Published: November 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explain a final rule adopted by the SEC and the CFTC that clarifies Dodd‐Frank Act definitions for the new terms “swap dealer,” “security‐based swap dealer,” “major swap participant” and “major security‐based swap participant (together “regulated swap entities”), and an amended definition of the term “eligible contract participant,” and the implications of those definitions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explains the definitions of “swap dealer,” “security‐based swap dealer,” “major swap participant” and “major security‐based swap participant” and how those definitions affect market participants; extraterritorial reach of regulated swap entity regulation; and the amended definition of the term “eligible contract participant.”

Findings

The adoption of the Final Rule is important to swap market participants because it provides firm definitional guidance on the criteria that make one a regulated swap entity subject to registration with the CFTC and/or the SEC and the many responsibilities, obligations, and restrictions that come with substantive regulation, including capital and margin requirements, business conduct rules, conflict of interest rules, chief compliance officer requirements, reporting obligations, and recordkeeping requirements.

Originality/value

The paper provides practical guidance from experienced financial services lawyers.
Benchmarking for destination management organizations: the case of Swiss cities and Alpine destination management
Authors: Müller Hansruedi , Berger Philipp
Published: November 2012

Purpose

Swiss destination management organizations (DMOs) are usually to a substantial portion supported by public funds. In order to establish political majorities for such public financing, some proof of the impact of the use of these subsidies must be of interest. The main goal of the case study presented in this paper is to develop a comprehensive tool for measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of DMOs.

Design/methodology/approach

By using the structure of the Business Excellence Model of the European Foundation for Quality Management, the tool is mainly based on a system with 80 to 100 indicators. Selected DMOs are examined by a multi‐level methodology. Available information is collected within a document analysis. Subsequently, the directors of the DMOs are interviewed. Collected data are also consolidated by building and calculating comparative budget key figures and by conducting efficiency computations. Two benchmarking phases are conducted in order to develop and test the tool. In a first pilot phase four Swiss cities' DMOs are benchmarked. After an overview and revision of this first phase, a second phase with Swiss Alpine destination DMOs follows.

Findings

Both pilot phases were successfully completed. The two conducted phases of the benchmarking clearly showed that the choice of indicators guarantees a holistic view of the situation of the DMOs. The tested benchmarking tool can be labeled as qualitatively valid.

Originality/value

With the research project as a whole a new and tailor‐made benchmarking tool for DMO could be successfully implemented.
The applicability of the Viable Systems Model as a diagnostic for small to medium sized enterprises
Authors: Burgess Nicola , Wake Nicholas
Published: November 2012

Purpose

This paper presents research into the use of the Viable Systems Model (VSM) in small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Research on the VSM has been focussed on large organisations. The purpose of this paper is to explore the usefulness of the VSM in diagnosing issues of viability in SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

Case study research was undertaken in which semi structured diagnostic interviews took place with SMEs using the VSM as a diagnostic tool. The aim was to investigate whether the VSM would assist in diagnosing problems with viability and whether it could then prescribe and facilitate improvements in operations. Qualitative case study evidence is presented that shows the results of these interventions.

Findings

The paper reports some examples of operational problems that were exposed through the intervention process and shows some general conclusions to support the use of VSM for analysing operations and supporting small business viability. A number of “threats to viability” themes were apparent and these are discussed.

Practical implications

The semi‐structured interview protocol created for the research could be used to diagnose viability issues in other SMEs and thus is of practical relevance to other organisations.

Originality/value

The VSM originates from the theory of cybernetics which can be broadly defined as “the science of effective organisation”. Previous use of the model has focused upon the viability of large organisations; the applicability of the VSM in a small business operational context has received little attention. The paper demonstrates the benefits of the using the VSM to pinpoint problems that threaten SME viability.
A framework for business analytics in performance management
Authors: Schläfke Marten , Silvi Riccardo , Möller Klaus
Published: November 2012

Purpose

Increased business competition requires even more rapid and sophisticated information and data analysis. These requirements challenge performance management to effectively support the decision making process. Business analytics is an emerging field that can potentially extend the domain of performance management to provide an improved understanding of business dynamics and lead to a better decision making. The purpose of this positional paper is to introduce performance management analytics as a potential extension of performance management research and practice. The paper clarifies the possible application areas of business analytics and their advantages within the context of performance management.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper employs a literature based analysis and from this a conceptual argument is established. Finally, a business analytical model is presented to be used to undertake future research.

Findings

The paper clarifies the possible application areas of business analytics and their advantages within the context of organizational performance management.

Originality/value

The main implication is that the paper provides evidence of the use of business analytics for understanding organizational performance. Several insights are provided for management accounting research and education.
An intelligent e‐learning software for learning to write correct Chinese characters on mobile devices
Authors: Tam Vincent
Published: November 2012

Purpose

Learning Chinese is unquestionably very important and popular worldwide with the fast economic growth of China. To most foreigners and also local students, one of the major challenges in learning Chinese is to write Chinese characters in correct stroke sequences that are considered as significant in the Chinese culture. However, due to the potentially complicated structures of Chinese characters together with their stroke sequences, there are very few character recognition techniques that can effectively tackle the involved training task in an efficient and flexible manner. The purpose of this paper is to propose an intelligent and flexible e‐learning software based on learning objects to facilitate the learning of writing Chinese characters in correct stroke sequences.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts an incremental approach in designing the overall system architecture to emphasize on extendibility of the system. The basic features of the system including the evolution and pronunciation of each Chinese character can be embedded as a part of the learning object metadata to enhance students' understanding of Chinese characters. To demonstrate the feasibility of this proposal, a prototype of the proposed e‐learning software was built on smartphones such that students can learn anytime and anywhere.

Findings

From the empirical evaluation of the e‐learning prototype for learning to write correct Chinese characters on mobile devices, it was found that foreign students can learn and practise the writing more effectively anytime and anywhere on their mobile devices after classes. Some initial positive feedback was collected. Furthermore, a more careful and thorough evaluation is planned to be conducted in relevant courses for foreign students in the upcoming Fall semester.

Originality/value

This proposal represents the first attempt to reduce the complexity while increasing the extendibility of the e‐learning software to learn Chinese through learning objects running on smartphones or mobile devices in general. More importantly, it opens up numerous opportunities for further investigations including possible integrations with other existing Chinese e‐learning systems.
Seeking to maintain the integrity of the fair trade model: a case study of Trade Aid importers
Authors: Stringer Christina
Published: November 2012

Purpose

The movement of profit‐orientated corporations into the fair trade value chain has caused some socially orientated fair trade organizations to question the direction the movement is taking. One organization at the forefront of the debate is Trade Aid (NZ), Inc. (hereafter Trade Aid), a New Zealand based socially orientated fair trade organization actively engaged in fair trade since the 1970s. This paper seeks to evaluate how Trade Aid is seeking to reformulate fair trade's vision of empowerment and partnership constructively.

Design/methodology/approach

A single case study approach is undertaken to examine how a socially orientated organization is adhering to and seeking to advance fair trade values. This research draws from the global value chain literature, which analyses how industries are governed. The relational co‐ordination or governance mode, which is characteristic of mutual dependency between supplier and buyer firms, is used as a framework for investigating the fair trade industry. Distinction is made between the corporate and social economy variants of the relational governance mode.

Findings

Trade Aid's commitment to producer groups is demonstrated through various initiatives the organization is undertaking as they work both with producer groups and corporate actors to expand the fair trade market. Trade Aid is part of a worldwide socially orientated movement seeking to reformulate the vision of fair trade.

Originality/value

To date the fair trade literature has largely focused on socially orientated fair trade organizations in the Northern hemisphere. This research contributes to a gap in the literature in that it examines Trade Aid and the way this organization is addressing mainstreaming.
Quality‐centric soft admission control for video delivery over cognitive radio networks
Authors: Goudarzi Pejman
Published: November 2012

Purpose

The main purpose of the current work is high quality video transmission over cognitive radio wireless networks.

Design/methodology/approach

A soft computing technique based on fuzzy logic concept is introduced that can reduce the blocking probability and increase the perceived quality of video users.

Findings

It is found that by using soft computing techniques it is possible to increase the perceived quality and reduce the blocking probability in cognitive radio networks for secondary video users.

Originality/value

The main originality of this paper is twofold: at first the design philosophy in admission is quality of experience centric and second, soft computing techniques are used to decrease the blocking probability in cognitive networks.
On evaluating an approach for balancing the trade‐off on XML schema design
Authors: Schroeder Rebeca , Duarte Denio , dos Santos Mello Ronaldo
Published: November 2012

Purpose

Designing efficient XML schemas is essential for XML applications which manage semi‐structured data. On generating XML schemas, there are two opposite goals: to avoid redundancy and to provide connected structures in order to achieve good performance on queries. In general, highly connected XML structures allow data redundancy, and redundancy‐free schemas generate disconnected XML structures. The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate by experiments an approach which balances such trade‐off through a workload analysis. Additionally, it aims to identify the most accessed data based on the workload and suggest indexes to improve access performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper applies and evaluates a workload‐aware methodology to provide indexing and highly connected structures for data which are intensively accessed through paths traversed by the workload.

Findings

The paper presents benchmarking results on a set of design approaches for XML schemas and demonstrates that the XML schemas generated by the approach provide high query performance and low cost of data redundancy on balancing the trade‐off on XML schema design.

Research limitations/implications

Although an XML benchmark is applied in these experiments, further experiments are expected in a real‐world application.

Practical implications

The approach proposed may be applied in a real‐world process for designing new XML databases as well as in reverse engineering process to improve XML schemas from legacy databases.

Originality/value

Unlike related work, the reported approach integrates the two opposite goal in the XML schema design, and generates suitable schemas according to a workload. An experimental evaluation shows that the proposed methodology is promising.
A first step towards understanding Saudi political activities on Twitter
Authors: Al‐Khalifa Hend S.
Published: November 2012

Purpose

This study aims to understand the underlying social structure of Saudi citizens' interaction and discussion of political topics over the Twitter sphere.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employs social network analysis (SNA) measurements such as centrality, eigenvector and graph density on tweets produced in June 2012 by the Saudi community.

Findings

The result of SNA reveals relevant differences in the patterns of interconnection among different political topics. It also provides insights into sociological characteristics of modern political issues in Saudi Arabia.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation of this study resides in the lack of large data set for robust analysis.

Originality/value

This is the first study aiming to understand social network dynamics of Twitter targeting the Saudi community.
Online exchanges among cancer patients and caregivers
Authors: Graffigna Guendalina , Libreri Chiara , Bosio Claudio
Published: November 2012

Purpose

The meanings attributed to the quality of a person's illness experience result from important processes of co‐construction not only between healthcare professionals and patients but also among patients and caregivers. In the case of advanced cancer, new treatments extend patients’ lives but they raise the problem of the quality of this “renewed time”. Lay contexts of exchanges appear crucial for orienting the attribution of meaning to the time with cancer and for sharing practices to manage it. Furthermore, the internet is becoming an important space in which cancer patients meet and construct knowledge regarding their illness. The aim of this paper is to study knowledge‐ and practice‐construction among advanced cancer patients and caregivers, and to explore the suitability of online forums for analysis of these processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper discusses the results of a qualitative study based on one online forum for long‐term cancer patients (second relapse) and one for caregivers. The discussions explored show how patients and caregivers attribute meanings to their time with cancer. Verbatim transcripts of the discussions were analyzed according to the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) procedure.

Findings

The findings suggest the system of medical representations regarding health and illness should take greater account of other (lay) systems of representations and that the internet could be a valuable resource to support the development of spontaneous networks of patient and caregivers through which to organize health interventions and to involve patients and caregivers more closely in the care and cure process.

Research limitations/implications

The study examines the experiences of a particular subset of patients/caregivers who were internet‐literate and might be considered more “active” in their coping with the disease over a fairly limited time span. These potential limitations are being remedied in continuing research projects.

Practical implications

The authors’ experience with this research design suggests qualitative research may be particularly valuable in casting light on emergent phenomena such as spontaneous social networks on the internet, and in encouraging more participative forms of research engagement.

Originality/value

These findings may orient therapeutic interventions to be more closely attuned to the needs of long‐term cancer patients and their caregivers. Online forums enable participants to disclose experiences, share knowledge, and co‐construct “good practices” for illness management.
Gender differences in hedonic values, utilitarian values and behavioural intentions of young consumers: insights from Iran
Authors: Nejati Mehran , Parakhodi Moghaddam Parnia
Published: November 2012

Purpose

The current study aims to investigate gender differences in hedonic and utilitarian values on Iranian young consumers' intentions for eating in fast‐casual restaurants.

Design/methodology/approach

By testing a sample of 189 young consumers, aged 18 to 24, this study applied descriptive statistics, hierarchical regression analysis and independent samples t‐test to analyze the collected data.

Findings

The findings revealed that both hedonic and utilitarian values are significant determinants of behavioural intentions to eat in fast‐casual restaurants. However, no moderation effect was found for gender in the above‐mentioned relationship.

Research limitations/implications

Convenience sampling technique applied in this research limits the generalizability of the findings.

Practical implications

Findings of this study provide invaluable insights about young consumers from a developing country, which has been rarely investigated. This expands the understanding about their consumption behaviour and the role of underlying values in their behavioural intentions.

Originality/value

By examining two distinct types of consumption values on the behavioural intentions of consumers, this study provides insights from young consumers in a developing country, namely Iran, which has been rarely investigated before.