bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Improving Protein Docking with Constraint Programming and Coevolution Data
Authors: Krippahl Ludwig , Madeira Fábio
Published: February 2014

Background

Constraint programming (CP) is usually seen as a rigid approach, focusing on crisp, precise, distinctions between what is allowed as a solution and what is not. At first sight, this makes it seem inadequate for bioinformatics applications that rely mostly on statistical parameters and optimization. The prediction of protein interactions, or protein docking, is one such application. And this apparent problem with CP is particularly evident when constraints are provided by noisy data, as it is the case when using the statistical analysis of Multiple Sequence Alignments (MSA) to extract coevolution information. The goal of this paper is to show that this first impression is misleading and that CP is a useful technique for improving protein docking even with data as vague and noisy as the coevolution indicators that can be inferred from MSA.

Results

Here we focus on the study of two protein complexes. In one case we used a simplified estimator of interaction propensity to infer a set of five candidate residues for the interface and used that set to constrain the docking models. Even with this simplified approach and considering only the interface of one of the partners, there is a visible focusing of the models around the correct configuration. Considering a set of 400 models with the best geometric contacts, this constraint increases the number of models close to the target (RMSD ¡5Å) from 2 to 5 and decreases the RMSD of all retained models from 26Å to 17.5Å. For the other example we used a more standard estimate of coevolving residues, from the Co-Evolution Analysis using Protein Sequences (CAPS) software. Using a group of three residues identified from the sequence alignment as potentially co-evolving to constrain the search, the number of complexes similar to the target among the 50 highest scoring docking models increased from 3 in the unconstrained docking to 30 in the constrained docking.

Conclusions

Although only a proof-of-concept application, our results show that, with suitably designed constraints, CP allows us to integrate coevolution data, which can be inferred from databases of protein sequences, even though the data is noisy and often “fuzzy”, with no well-defined discontinuities. This also shows, more generally, that CP in bioinformatics needs not be limited to the more crisp cases of finite domains and explicit rules but can also be applied to a broader range of problems that depend on statistical measurements and continuous data.
2-[(E)-(4-Bromophenyl)iminomethyl]-4-chlorophenol
Authors: Gao Xiao-Li , Feng Si-Si , Yuan Cai-Xia , Zhu Miao-Li
Published: February 2014

In the title compound, C13H9BrClNO, the dihedral angle between the substituted benzene rings is 44.25 (11)°. There are strong intramolecular O—H...N hydrogen bonds, which generateS(6) rings, and also intermolecular Cl...Cl [3.431 (3) Å] and Br... Br [3.846 (1) Å] contacts. The crystal packing a C—H...O and C—H...π interactions.
4-Methyl-N-(4-methylphenylsulfonyl)-N-phenylbenzenesulfonamide
Authors: Eren Bilge , Demir Selçuk , Dal Hakan , Hökelek Tuncer
Published: February 2014

The whole molecule of the title compound, C20H19NO4S2, is generated by twofold rotational symmetry. The N atom is located on the twofold rotation axis and has a trigonal-planar geometry. It is bonded by two S atoms of two symmetry-related 4-methylphenylsulfonyl groups and by the C atom of the phenyl ring, which is bisected by the twofold rotation axis. The benzene and phenyl rings are oriented at a dihedral angle of 51.48 (5)° while the pendant benzene rings are inclined to one another by 87.76 (9)°. In the crystal, weak C—H...O hydrogen bonds link the molecules, forming a three-dimensional network.
6,6′-Dimethyl-2,2′-[imidazolidine-1,3-diylbis(methylene)]diphenol
Authors: Rivera Augusto , Nerio Luz Stella , Bolte Michael
Published: February 2014

In the title compound, C19H24N2O2, a di-Mannich base derived from 2-methylphenol and 1,3,6,8-tetraazatricyclo[4.4.1.13,8]dodecane, the imidazolidine ring adopts a twist conformation, with a twist about the ring N—C bond [C—N—C—C torsion angle = −44.34 (14)°]. The two 2-hydroxy-3-methylbenzyl groups are located intranspositions with respect to the imidazolidine fragment. The structure displays two intramolecular O—H...N hydrogen bonds, which each form anS(6) ring motif. In the crystal, the molecules are linked by weak C—H...O interactions with a bifurcated acceptor, forming a three-dimensional network.
N-(5-Benzylsulfanyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)-2-(piperidin-1-yl)acetamide
Authors: Ismailova D. S. , Okmanov R. Ya. , Ziyaev A. A. , Shakhidoyatov Kh. M. , Tashkhodjaev B.
Published: February 2014

The title compound, C16H20N4OS2, was synthesized by the reaction of 2-benzylsulfanyl-5-chloroacetamido-1,3,4-thiadiazole and piperidine in a 1:2 ratio. The planes of the acetamide and 1,3,4-thiadiazole units are twisted by 10.8 (4)°. The thiadiazole S atom and the acetamide O atom aresyn-oriented due to a hypervalent S...O interaction of 2.628 (4) Å. In the crystal, molecules form centrosymmetric dimersviaN—H...N hydrogen bonds. These dimers are further connected by C—H...O interactions into (100) layers.
3-(4-Hexyloxyphenyl)-1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b]benzothiazole
Authors: Schollmeyer Dieter , Detert Heiner
Published: February 2014

The title compound, C20H21N3OS, was prepared by Huisgen reaction of 5-(4-hexyloxyphenyl)tetrazole and chlorobenzothiazole. The essentially planar benzothiazolotriazole framework [maximum deviation from the mean plane of 0.077 (1) Å for the bridgehead N atom] and the phenyl ring form a dihedral angle of 53.34 (5)°. The hexyloxy chain adopts agauche–all-anti conformation. The intracentroid separation of 3.7258 (8) Å between the triazole and benzene rings is the closest contact between individual molecules in the crystal.
mer-Hydridotris(trimethylphosphane-κP)(D-valinato-κ2N,O)iridium hexafluoridophosphate dichloromethane 0.675-solvate
Authors: Merola Joseph S. , Slebodnick Carla , Berg Michael , Ritchie Melissa K.
Published: February 2014

The title compound, [Ir(C5H10NO2)H(C3H9P)3]PF6·0.675CH2Cl2, an iridium compound with a meridional arrangement of PMe3groups,O,N-bidentate coordination of D-valine and with a hydride ligandtransto the N atom is compared with the L-valine complex reported previously. As expected, the complexes from the corresponding L and D isomers of valine crystallize in enantiomorphic space groups (P43andP41, respectively). In the crystal, N—H...O and N—H...F hydrogen bonding is observed, the N—H to carbonyl oxygen hydrogen bond producing a helical motif that proceeds along the 41screw of thecaxis.
N-(12-Amino-9,10-dihydro-9,10-ethanoanthracen-11-yl)-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide
Authors: Mague Joel T. , Abdel-Aziz Alaa A.-M. , El-Azab Adel S. , El-Sherbeny Magda A.
Published: February 2014

The title compound, C23H22N2O2S, crystallizes with the 4-methylbenzenesulfonamide entity oriented towards the center of the bridgehead C atoms with a C—N—S—C torsion angle of −61.3 (2)°. The molecule features an intramolecular N—H...N hydrogen bond. Weak C—H...O and C—H...π interactions aid in forming the three-dimensional supramolecular structure.
4-(2-Methoxyphenyl)piperazin-1-ium 6-chloro-5-isopropyl-2,4-dioxopyrimidin-1-ide
Authors: Al-Omary Fatmah A. M. , Ghabbour Hazem A. , El-Emam Ali A. , Chidan Kumar C. S. , Fun Hoong-Kun
Published: February 2014

In the cation of the title salt, C11H17N2O+·C7H8ClN2O2−, the piperazine ring adopts a distorted chair conformation and contains a positively charged N atom with quaternary character. Its mean plane makes a dihedral angle of 42.36 (8)° with the phenyl ring of its 2-methoxyphenyl substituent. The 2,4-dioxopyrimidin-1-ide anion is generated by deprotonation of the N atom at the 1-position of the pyrimidinedione ring. Intramolecular C—H...O hydrogen bonds generateS(6) ring motifs in both the cation and the anion. In the crystal, N—H...O, N—H...N and C—H...O hydrogen bonds are also observed, resulting in a two-dimensional network parallel to theabplane. The crystal stability is further consolidated by weak C—H...π interactions.
Diaquabis[5-(2-pyrazin-2-yl)tetrazolato]copper(II)–pyrazine-2-carbonitrile (1/2)
Authors: Bensegueni Mohamed Abdellatif , Cherouana Aouatef , Dahaoui Slimane , Boudraa Issam
Published: February 2014

The title compound, [Cu(C5H3N6)2(H2O)2]·2C5H3N3, is a 1:2 co-crystal between the mononuclear complex diaquabis[5-(pyrazin-2-yl)tetrazolato]copper(II) and the reagent pyrazine-2-carbonitrile which was used in the synthesis. The CuIIatom is located on an inversion centre and has a distorted octahedral [4 + 2]-coordination environment formed by four N atoms of two chelating bidentate 5-(pyrazin-2-yl)tetrazolate ligands at shorter distances and two water O atoms at longer distances. The CuIIcomplex molecules are held together by O—H...N hydrogen bonds and π–π stacking interactions [centroid–centroid distance 3.6139 (8) Å], forming layers parallel to (100). These layers alternate with layers of pyrazine-2-carbonitrile molecules and both are held togetherviaC—H...N hydrogen bonds and further π–π stacking interactions.
Does internal communication to generate trust always increase commitment?
Authors: Togna Gianluca
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between employee trust towards the company and their commitment to it. For this reason, this study questioned if certain levels of trust presented in each department at Micron Technology Italy were interrelated with the levels of commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

– A survey at Micron Technology Italy was conducted. Of the 1,580 employees who received the questionnaire, 892 responses were collected, resulting in a 56.46 per cent response rate.

Findings

– The research findings show that for departments where trust values are below 6.8, the commitment level follows the trust value: there is a positive relation between these two factors. However, departments where employee trust reaches values higher than 6.8 are not reciprocated by a proportional commitment level that tends to reach a “satisfaction point”.

Research limitations/implications

– The results are only partially coherent with previous studies. Further research is needed to determine whether these reports hold true under different situations/companies.

Practical implications

– Since commitment does not seem to be continuously increasing, after a certain point it is not cost-effective for the company to implement communication strategies aimed at increasing employee trust in a non-targeted way. The need for customized communication strategies emerges as does the importance of understanding internal communication as integrated with other human resource management levers.

Originality/value

– This paper offers an original contribution to the ongoing discussion concerning employee engagement. Employees' trust does not always lead to employee commitment behaviors inside the organization.
Correlates of career priority and family priority among hospital-based nursing staff
Authors: J. Burke Ronald , Singh Parbudyal
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– This study explored the relationship of measures of career priority and family priority with a number of other variables including personal demographics, work situation characteristics, work motivations, work outcomes and indicators of extra-work outcomes such as affluence and psychological well-being. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data were collected from 290 nursing staff, the vast majority female, working in Ontario, Canada, using anonymously completed questionnaires.

Findings

– Career priority and family priority were significantly and positively correlated in this sample. Nursing staff also rated family priority significantly higher than career priority. Personal demographics were associated with levels of both career priority and family priority such that married nursing staff, nursing staff with children, and nursing staff working part time reported lower levels of career priority, while married nurses and nursing staff having children rated family priority higher. Nursing staff having higher levels of work motivation also rated career priority higher. Career priority was significantly correlated with several work outcomes. Nursing staff indicating a higher career priority were more satisfied and engaged in their jobs. Somewhat surprisingly, family priority was generally unrelated to these work and well-being outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

– Recent writing on women in organizations has raised the question of can women “have it all”, a successful and demanding career and a satisfying home and family life. The findings contribute to this debate.

Practical implications

– Suggestions for both women and organizations to facilitate career and family facilitation are offered.

Social implications

– Increasing interest has been shown in women in the workplace, and whether they should “lean in” to advance their careers. The authors suggest that this strategy may be at odds with what women, and men, increasingly want.

Originality/value

– The paper highlights differences in the antecedents and consequences of career priority and family priority in a predominately female sample bringing work and family issues into the forefront once again.
Paternalism or proportionality? Experiences and outcomes of the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007
Authors: Preston-Shoot Michael , Cornish Sally
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to report the findings from research into the outcomes of adult protection in Scotland, with particular focus on how service users, family members and service delivery professionals perceive the effectiveness of the protection orders in the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study comprised analysis of Adult Protection Committee biennial reports on implementation of the 2007 Act to the Scottish Government, key informant interviews and workshops with professionals involved in adult protection leadership and practice, and case study interviews with service users, family members and practitioners.

Findings

– Concerns about the potential for paternalistic practice and excessive use of the protection orders within the 2007 Act have not materialised. The principle of proportionality appears to be firmly embedded in adult protection practice. Service delivery professionals, service users and family members remain acutely aware of the tensions between autonomy and protection but point to beneficial outcomes for adults at risk from the careful use of protection orders, especially banning orders.

Research limitations/implications

– Only ten case studies were able to be included in the study. However, the use of mixed methods enabled triangulation of the findings. Common themes emerge from across the data sources. The findings also resonate with conclusions drawn by other researchers.

Practical implications

– The paper identifies outcomes and challenges in respect of protecting adults at risk in Scotland. Strengths and limitations of the 2007 Act are identified.

Originality/value

– The paper offers a formal evaluation of the outcome of protection orders for adults at risk in Scotland. The findings are of wider policy relevance given the debates on how to legislate for adult safeguarding in England and Wales.
You are not, any of you, my mother: what happened to the safeguarding power of entry?
Authors: Hewitt David
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to consider the recent consultation on a new safeguarding power of entry and seeks to provide a critique of the government's conclusions in that regard.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper analyses the report of the consultation exercise and sets it against those of earlier, comparable ones.

Findings

– The government's conclusions were supported by only a minority of respondents. A majority of respondents, and an overwhelming majority of health and social care professionals, came to a very different conclusion.

Originality/value

– This is believed to be the first time the government's conclusions have been analysed in this way or placed in their present context.
Investigating sales approaches and gender in customer relationships
Authors: Andy Wood John , Johnson Julie , S. Boles James , Barksdale Hiram
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this research is an examination of three different types of sales approaches (product-, solution- and provocation-based) on relational outcomes. The type of sales approach influences buyer's assessments about the trustworthiness of the salesperson and the conflict with the salesperson. These outcomes of the sales approach affect the customer's economic and non-economic satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using cross-sectional survey data from a sample of 840 organizational buyers, a structural equation model measures the path coefficients of the proposed model and tests the differences in the magnitude based on gender.

Findings

– The results indicate that sales approaches will differentially influence assessments of trustworthiness and conflict. The magnitude of the influence of the sales approach on outcomes is different between genders.

Originality/value

– To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical study to examine the impact of sales approaches on both genders of organizational buyers.
Perceived value of service innovation: a conceptual framework
Authors: Coutelle-Brillet Patricia , Riviere Arnaud , des Garets Véronique
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims at better understanding the intention to adopt service innovation in a business context by analyzing the nature of perceived value.

Design/methodology/approach

– This research uses Holbrook's approach on value, applied to a B2B context, in order to better understand the nature of the perceived value of a new service. A qualitative study on 33 firms is carried out through two steps: an exploratory stage and an understanding stage.

Findings

– The results show different aspects of the service innovation value in a business market, identify various recipients of this value, and underline how the level of newness in the service impacts the nature of perceived value. More generally, this research provides an analytical framework of service innovation value for a firm in a B2B market.

Research limitations/implications

– This study aims at broadening previous research that studied the perceived value of offerings in a B2B context by considering various types of perceived value of a service innovation. Also, Holbrook's frame of analysis was adapted to the B2B context. In order to make the conclusions more relevant, it would be necessary to enlarge the sample, introduce other service innovations and to carry out a quantitative study.

Practical implications

– To market their service innovation, companies can adopt a positioning on other criteria than price or quality/performance and communicate with various recipients.

Originality/value

– The paper highlights the diversity of components of service innovation value (not only economic and functional components but also emotional, symbolic, altruistic, interactional components of value).
Antecedents and consequences of using information from customers involved in new service development
Authors: Carbonell Pilar , Rodriguez-Escudero Ana-Isabel
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The current research aims to analyze antecedents and consequences of using the information provided by customers involved in new service development (NSD). It also seeks to examine the moderating effect of technological turbulence on the antecedents and consequences of information use.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data were collected from service firms in a variety of industrial sectors. Unit of analysis was a NSD project in which current or potential customers were involved during its development process. A self-administered mail survey was used to collect the data. A total of 102 complete questionnaires were returned. The proposed model was tested using partial least squares.

Findings

– The results indicate that the instrumental use of the information collected from customers involved in NSD can lead to higher service advantage and service newness and in turn to higher market performance. Findings reveal that higher recording and reviewing of information collected from customers involved in NSD result in greater use of the information during the NSD process. An important result is that under technologically turbulent environments, recording and reviewing information from customers involved in NSD is less likely to result in a higher instrumental use of such information. Finally, the authors' results show that when technological turbulence is high the instrumental use of information from customers involved in NSD has lower value for both service advantage and service newness.

Originality/value

– Findings confirm the importance of customer involvement for NSD in a business context. Using the information from customers involved in NSD to resolve specific problems or make decisions regarding NSD projects can result in enhanced service performance. Moreover, information processing capabilities are key antecedents to instrumental information use. Finally, managers should be aware of the potential negative effect of technological turbulence.
Service innovation in product-centric firms: a multidimensional business model perspective
Authors: Kindström Daniel , Kowalkowski Christian
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– This article aims to investigate the nature and characteristics of business model elements required for successful service innovation. The authors examine which unique resources and capabilities product-centric firms should develop and deploy to pursue service innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data collected from several research projects support iterations across empirical data and theory, in an abductive process. Empirical data come from product-centric firms; interviews and focus groups were the main data collection methods.

Findings

– Specific resources and capabilities are needed for the proposed business model elements, as defined by the overarching strategy and structure. Firms can approach the process of service innovation from different starting points and sequences, depending on the context.

Research limitations/implications

– Because it takes a synthesizing approach, this research lacks some detail. By taking a business model approach with a holistic perspective, it forgoes detailed descriptions to provide greater breadth.

Practical implications

– Managers can use business models as tools to visualize changes, which should increase internal transparency, understanding, and awareness of service opportunities and necessary changes. Dependencies exist among elements; a change in one element likely affects the others. This study provides insights into which efforts are necessary and offers managers a guiding framework.

Originality/value

– By providing a multidimensional perspective on service innovation, this study merges various previous research into a synthesized discussion. Combining a resources and capabilities perspective with a business model framework also leads to new insights regarding service innovation and associated activities.
Explaining industrial importers' commitment from an emerging market perspective: theoretical and managerial insights
Authors: Abu Saleh M. , Yunus Ali M. , Saad Andaleeb Syed
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– This study seeks to provide insights concerning the predictors of industrial importers' commitment to their foreign suppliers in a relationship paradigm involving an emerging market.

Design/methodology/approach

– Integrating a review of the relevant importer-exporter and distributor-supplier relationship literature, a model of importer commitment was developed. Based on survey data obtained from industrial importers for an emerging market, CFA and SEM were employed to test the proposed theoretical model.

Findings

– The findings significantly support the theoretical framework and most of the hypothesized path relationships in the model. Predictors such as importers' knowledge significantly and positively influenced commitment through the intermediation of trust, supplier opportunism had a significant and negative effect on importer commitment, again through the intermediation of trust, and transaction-specific investment had a direct effect on industrial importers' commitment. Supplier's opportunistic inclinations did not have a significant direct effect on the commitment of the importers.

Research limitations/implications

– This research only considers the views of industrial importers that limits generalization. The sample size, constrained by the total number of industrial importers in the country examined, was also somewhat of a limiting factor concerning SEM modeling.

Practical implications

– This study suggests the factors that export managers need to consider in maintaining long-term relationship with their foreign buyers, while contributing to building the relationship through knowledge sharing and curbing opportunistic inclinations.

Originality/value

– This paper examines the antecedents of trust and commitment in industrial importer and foreign supplier relationships in the context of an emerging market. Based on the earlier literature on B2B exchanges, the role of importers' knowledge in driving commitment through the intermediation of trust offers new insights. This is particularly important because the importers are experiencing unprecedented growth opportunities. Considering their need to make decisions quickly and gain advantages from suppliers, will they remain committed to a particular supplier? Or will their commitment be strengthened by gaining knowledge of the supplier? The tested model offers unique insights.
Understanding effects of salesperson locus of control
Authors: Hamwi Alex , Nicholas Rutherford Brian , S. Boles James , K. Madupalli Ramana
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of external locus of control on different job characteristic variables – i.e. role conflict, role ambiguity and emotional exhaustion, in addition to the outcome variable, job satisfaction – in a business-to-business sales setting.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data from B2B salespeople were used to test the proposed model using structural equation modeling.

Findings

– The results indicate that a more external locus of control will be: positively related to role stress factors; indirectly and positively related to emotional exhaustion; and negatively related to job satisfaction.

Originality/value

– This study provides a managerially actionable foundation for influencing locus of control to increase a salesperson's satisfaction with his/her position.
Putting housing at the heart of health reforms
Authors: Lea Diane
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the role and potential contribution of Health and Well-being Boards from the perspective of an independent chair with senior experience in the housing sector.

Design/methodology/approach

– Personal reflections from chairing the Stoke Health and Well-being Board.

Findings

– Only a small number of Health and Well-being Boards are believed to have an independent chair, and it is rare to see a housing perspective represented so centrally in the composition of the Board. Against this background, this paper explores the scope for greater joint working between health, housing and social care which arises out of having senior housing representation on the Health and Well-being Board.

Originality/value

– This paper offers a first-hand account of the way in which the Stoke Health and Well-being Board has tried to develop its thinking around joint working between health, housing and social care.
Housing, health and social care – an introduction
Authors: Handy Christopher
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– There are clear links between health, housing and social care. The homeless live much shorter lives as do those people living in poorer quality accommodation and areas of deprivation. Life expectancy and the quality of life in later years are both drastically affected by Marmot's (2010) social gradient, with people from poorer backgrounds often doing worse. A decent home is fundamental to a healthy and a good life. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research approach reviewed existing articles, examples from the housing sector and analysis of a range of data from organisations including the NHS.

Findings

– Good housing helps to support better health but it is not the only answer – joined up working between agencies and Marmot's proposal of proportionate universalism are significant factors in finding solutions to this long-standing issue.

Social implications

– Costs to the government, health services and local authorities and other agencies could be reduced by wider thinking around the link between housing, health and other support.

Originality/value

– This paper focuses on the existing links between health, housing and social care.
Anti-child-abuse ads: believability and willingness-to-act
Authors: Hyman Michael , Shabbir Haseeb , Chari Simos , Oikonomou Aikaterini
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– Given their expense, the psycho-dynamic they induce among many viewers, and the lack of empirical evidence for their efficacy, studies to assess anti-child-abuse ad campaigns are warranted. As a preliminary foray into this research domain, this study explores a dual-process model for a single ad from the NSPCC's FULL STOP campaign. Specifically, it examines whether ad believability relates more strongly to an emotional or a cognitive response and which type of response is the strongest mediator on “willingness to act against child abuse”.

Design/methodology/approach

– A convenience sample of 242 students enrolled in postgraduate business and management studies at a large university in the UK responded to a structured questionnaire posted online.

Findings

– Except forH3, the hypothesised relationships are significant and in the expected direction. Specifically, ad believability relates negatively related to self-esteem (H1), self-esteem relates positively to “willingness to act against child abuse” (H2), and belief in child sexual abuse (CSA) myths relates negatively to “willingness to act against child abuse” (H4). However, ad believability does not relate negatively to belief in CSA myths (H3).

Research limitations/implications

– Findings based on student samples should be interpreted cautiously. For example, representations of child abuse across subpopulations should not be ignored, as findings by culture, ethnicity, or gender may differ. Only one ad was tested; responses to other ads may differ. Controls to boost internal validity, such as using a second group unexposed to the test ad, were not implemented. Although a mediation effect between self-esteem and CSA myths was not observed, a larger or alternative sample might reveal this effect.

Originality/value

– A dual-process model of viewers' responses to anti-child-abuse ads, which assumes viewers consider the information embedded in these ads and their emotional responses to these ads, should outperform a purely cognitive or emotive model. Here, a simple model with emotional and cognitive factors as antecedents of “willingness to act against child abuse” is tested. Although a more comprehensive model might explain additional variation, the goal was to develop and test a preliminary model that could disconfirm a dual cognitive-emotive process. Furthermore, testing the effect of FULL STOP ads on viewers' self-esteem is an important first step to assessing the efficacy and ethicality of these ads.
Financing social marketing programs through sponsorship: implications for evaluation
Authors: Madill Judith , O'Reilly Norm , Nadeau John
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to report on research designed to assess the impact of sponsorship financing of social marketing initiatives on the evaluation of those social marketing programs.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research utilizes an in-depth, multi-method case study of the Canadian Mental Health Association Calgary Region (CMHA-CR) who carried out a social marketing campaign concerning mental health behaviors that was largely financed by sponsors.

Findings

– The sponsorship of the CMHA-CR social marketing program was complex with a total of 15 stakeholders involved as sponsors, partners and grantors. The research reveals that while there is considerable sharing of objectives among the stakeholders in this sponsorship, not all objectives are shared between sponsors and sponsees, and not all objectives are shared between the public and private sector sponsors of the program.

Practical implications

– The research showed that because sponsors and sponsees share in many of the objectives of the social marketing campaign, the evaluation of the social marketing campaign, particularly its ability to achieve the social marketing-specific objectives, is of interest to all the stakeholder parties, and effective social marketing evaluation must also incorporate evaluation of the non-shared objectives of all sponsorship stakeholders.

Originality/value

– Increasing social needs, accompanied by reduced government funding and increased competition amongst not-for-profit (NFP) organizations for that funding, are driving NFPs to seek innovative approaches to financing their social programs. The research reports initial findings critical in this environment, as well as raises issues and questions related to future research.
Reflections on a decade in social marketing
Authors: McAuley Andrew
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to reflect on trends within social marketing after ten years of involvement with the field, including being co-founding editor of this journal.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper outlines personal interaction in the development of social marketing and then highlights five “millstones” that are identified as limiting factors.

Findings

– Social marketing has to be more than just communications, has to be more than a definitional toy, has to break free from the straightjacket of the 4Ps and must reach beyond the well-trodden path of services marketing and be prepared to work with industry.

Originality/value

– Observations on the evolution of social marketing through personal experience of engagement with the field.
The theoretical foundations of value-informed pricing in the service-dominant logic of marketing
Authors: T.M. Ingenbleek Paul
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– In the mainstream normative pricing literature, value assessment is virtually non-existent. Although the resource-based literature recognizes that pricing is a competence, value-informed pricing practices are still weakly grounded in theory. The purpose of this paper is to strengthen the theoretical grounds of such pricing practices.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper applies the emerging service-dominant logic of marketing to pricing. More specifically, it apples the ten foundational premises of service-dominant logic to pricing and it places pricing in the frameworks of one of the major building blocks of service-dominant logic, namely the resource-advantage theory of competition.

Findings

– From a service-dominant perspective, price is the reward for the application of specialized knowledge and skills. Pricing is an operant resource, or competence, that assesses customer value, applies it in multi-dimensional price propositions, and implements it in processes of co-creating prices with customers. Value-informed pricing is the central pricing practice within such competences.

Practical implications

– Prices vary among others between “good” and “bad”, firms generate competitive advantage not only through value creation, but also through pricing. Learning is key to develop pricing competences.

Originality/value

– This paper is the first to ground value-informed pricing at high levels of abstraction in general marketing theory.
Capturing value from innovations: the importance of rent configurations
Authors: Duhamel Francois , Reboud Sophie , Santi Michel
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to devise recommendations for firms to formulate modes of value capture for their product innovations, ex ante. More specifically, the research question is: how can innovators try to maximize, ex ante, the appropriation of the rent they can derive from their innovating projects?

Design/methodology/approach

– A theoretical framework is developed and proposed to assess modes of value capture of product innovations and two illustrations are provided to show how the framework can work in practice for innovation projects.

Findings

– This paper presents a practitioner's view based on the development of an original concept of rent configuration and appropriable rent.

Research limitations/implications

– In terms of research limitations, the possible endogeneity of intellectual property protection and the timing of were not considered.

Practical implications

– The framework allows a set of predictions regarding modes of value capture for product innovators.

Originality/value

– The paper's contribution lies in the proposal of an integrative framework based on the concept of rent configuration, separating analytically three dimensions of innovation value, namely volume, profit and duration. This concept allows the authors to present a richer set of recommendations in comparison to previous frameworks, in order to avoid adopting the form of a yes/no decision tree that tends to over simplify the issues at stake. The authors also contemplate not only erosion effects, but also amplification effects on the rent, which constitutes another contribution of this paper.
Value creation and organisational practices at firm boundaries
Authors: La Rocca Antonella , Snehota Ivan
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– Growing awareness that value for the customer is created in relationship between the supplier and the customer has consequences for sales and marketing functions, and businesses are increasingly experimenting with new organisational approaches and solutions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate organisational issues involved in implementing value programs in B2B firms and examine implications for managerial action.

Design/methodology/approach

– After a literature review on value creation in business relationships, the authors illustrate the case of a large industrial business experimenting with organisational solutions to support value-creation processes in customer relationships.

Findings

– The authors identify three issues management has to address in organising the customer interface: involvement of a variety of actors to access elements of effective customer-value solutions; supporting and orchestrating the interaction processes among those involved; and differentiation of the customer interface and sales approach to match the substantial differences in customer relationships.

Research limitations/implications

– There is a need for further, more systematic empirical studies of value-creation practices and solutions in how businesses organise the customer interface for value creation.

Practical implications

– Coping effectively with creating value in customer relationships implies experimenting with novel approaches and solutions in organising the sales and marketing activities as open networked sales organization and requires specific managerial capabilities.

Originality/value

– While creating customer value is generally believed to be positively related to the firm's performance and development, the organisational implications of focusing on creating value have been less explored. The original contribution of this work lies in zooming in on the organisational solutions to support the customer value-creation processes.
Why are CFO insider trades more informative?
Authors: S. Knewtson Heather , R. Nofsinger John
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The authors examine whether the stronger information content of chief financial officer (CFO) insider trading relative to that of chief executive officers (CEOs) results from a different willingness to exploit the information asymmetry that exists between executives and outside shareholders (scrutiny hypothesis) or from differing financial acumen between CFOs and CEOs (financial acumen hypothesis). The authors consider the information content of equity purchases for CEOs and CFOs. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors examine purchase-based insider trading portfolio returns before and after the implementation of SOX in firms with high versus low regulation, for routine and opportunistic managers, and in samples of CEOs with prior CFO experience.

Findings

– The authors provide evidence that SOX affected executives differently and provide support for the scrutiny hypothesis. CFO-based portfolios remain the most profitable post-SOX, but the magnitude of returns has fallen in absolute and relative terms compared to returns for CEOs. Superior financial acumen of CFOs does not appear to be supported. CEO purchase trade returns appear to be lower than CFO returns because CEOs face greater visibility and scrutiny and thus limit their own trading aggressiveness.

Originality/value

– This research contributes to the literature in explaining why CFOs best CEOs in their insider trading purchases and documents that in the post-SOX period, CFO insider trading superiority disappears.
An empirical analysis of the dynamic relation among investment, earnings and dividends
Authors: A. DeFusco Richard , M. Dunham Lee , Geppert John
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the dynamic relationships among investment, earnings and dividends for US firms. The sample period is 1950-2006.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors use a firm-level vector auto-regression (VAR) framework to examine the firm-level dynamics among investment, earnings and dividends. The firm-level VAR yields Granger causality results, impulse response functions, and variance decompositions characterizing the dynamics of these three variables at the firm level.

Findings

– For the average firm in the sample, Miller and Modigliani dividend policy irrelevance is not supported, even in the long run; the shocks to dividends do have long-run consequences for investment and vice versa. Dividend changes are an ineffective signal of future earnings in both the short and long-term. The cost of an increased dividend is on average an immediate decrease of $3 in investment for every dollar increase in dividends and the effect is persistent up to six years after the increase in dividends.

Research limitations/implications

– The firm-level VAR used in the study requires that sample firms have long histories of investment, earnings and dividend data. The study addresses the interaction between dividends and investment and therefore necessitates examining dividend-paying firms. By the nature of the research question, the sample firms will not be representative in all respects to the universe of firms. The most striking difference between the sample and the universe of firms is firm size. As such, the study's conclusions are most applicable to larger, stable, dividend-paying firms. The study is also limited to dividend payout. Alternative payout policies, such as share repurchases, are not considered in this work.

Practical implications

– In theory, increases in dividends can signal higher future earnings; however, the evidence does not support this hypothesis. When capital markets are constrained or incomplete, increases in dividends come at a cost to investment. Firms should consider alternative methods of signaling future earnings that have less of an impact on investment. Investors should carefully evaluate the possible impact of an increase in dividends on investment and future earnings growth.

Originality/value

– This study is the first to examine the dynamics of earnings, dividends and investment at a firm level and over such a long sample period. By including the dynamics of earnings, the authors emphasize the potential opportunity costs that increasing dividends has on investment when capital markets are imperfect. The dynamic system also allows the authors to consider long-run effects as well as immediate responses to system shocks.
An empirical study on the dynamic relationship between oil prices and Indian stock market
Authors: Nath Sahu Tarak , Bandopadhyay Kalpataru , Mondal Debasish
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– This study aims to investigate the dynamic relationships between oil price shocks and Indian stock market.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study used daily data for the period starting from January 2001 to March 2013. In this study, Johansen's cointegration test, vector error correction model (VECM), Granger causality test, impulse response functions (IRFs) and variance decompositions (VDCs) test have been applied to exhibit the long-run and short-run relationship between them.

Findings

– The cointegration result indicates the existence of long-term relationship. Further, the error correction term of VECM shows a long-run causality moves from Indian stock market to oil price but not the vice versa. The results of the Granger causality test under the VECM framework confirm that no short-run causality between the variables exists. The VDCs analysis revealed that the Indian stock markets and crude oil prices are strongly exogenous. Finally, from the IRFs, analysis revealed that a positive shock in oil price has a small but persistence and growing positive impact on Indian stock markets in short run.

Originality/value

– The study would enhance the understandings of the interaction between oil price volatilities and emerging stock market performances. Further, the study would enable foreign investors who are interested in Indian stock market helps in understanding the conditional relationship between the variables.
Testing the monthly anomaly with stochastic dominance
Authors: Ke Mei-Chu , Chou Jian-Hsin , Hsieh Chin-Shan , Chi Tsung-Li , Chen Cheng-Te , Liang Liao Tung
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– This study uses stochastic dominance (SD) theory to examine whether the traditional festival, such as the Spring Festival (often in February), affects the patterns of monthly anomaly for the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE). The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors employ a new bootstrap-based test due to Linton, Maasoumi and Whang (hereafter LMW). The LMW test is well suited for financial time series data, such as monthly returns of various portfolios in this study, because it allows for general dependence among the prospects (distributions) and does not require the observations to be identically and independently distributed.

Findings

– The particular findings of this study are that the February effect and the February-size effect indeed exist in the TWSE. Furthermore, allowing part of investors' assets is invested in the risky asset and the remaining part in a risk-free asset, first finding for monthly anomaly in the extant literature, is useful in distinguishing the performance among various size-month portfolios.

Originality/value

– Instead of tax-loss and window dressing hypothesis, the Spring Festival money movement hypothesis can be used to well explain the findings.