bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Case study: meeting the demand for skilled precision engineers
Authors: Sansom Chris , Shore Paul
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to demonstrate how science and engineering graduates can be recruited and trained to Masters level in precision engineering as an aid to reducing the skills shortage of mechanical engineers in UK industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes a partnership between three UK academic institutions and industry, creating an Integrated Knowledge Centre (IKC) in Ultra Precision Structured Surfaces. Within this project sits a Knowledge Transfer activity that seeks to channel graduate scientists and engineers through an MSc in “Ultra Precision Technologies” into the UK engineering industry. The creation and implementation of this pipeline, its systems and its processes, is the subject of this paper and its case study.

Findings

In order to retain competitive advantage, the UK precision engineering industry requires a regular supply of technically proficient and organizationally prepared graduates. This paper has explained the approach taken at Cranfield University to increase the size of the pool of postgraduate precision engineers. The approach involves the design of a multi‐level system, which draws on increased connectivity between the University, UK engineering companies, and the student. Academic institutions need to exhibit the appropriate flexibility to meet the demands of industry and the aspirations of the student.

Research limitations/implications

The paper describes only the early stages of implementation, and further work is necessary.

Practical implications

The systems model and case studies provide a framework and detail that is of immediate benefit to manufacturing industries and higher education establishments.

Originality/value

The originality of the approach lies in the level of integration between the sub‐systems that comprise the Open system, within which students and skills are forged together in a programme to produce employable engineering postgraduates.
Library value (return on investment, ROI) and the challenge of placing a value on public services
Authors: Kaufman Paula , Barbara Watstein Sarah
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to interview Paula Kaufman, Dean of Libraries, to help better understand return on investment (ROI) and the increasing importance of demonstrating our value, as libraries, as librarians, indeed, as public service librarians.

Design/methodology/approach

During 2007, a small project team was assembled to develop a model that would calculate a return on investment to an institution for its library. The team consisted of Chrysanne Lowe and Kira Cooper from Elsevier, Paula Kaufman from UIUC, Judy Luther of Informed Strategies, and Dr Carol Tenopir from the Center for Information and Communication Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Findings

The results of this groundbreaking study were reported early this year in a white paper entitled, “University investment in the library: what's the return? A case study at the University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign” by Judy Luther. The model the team developed showed a 4‐to‐1 return.

Originality/value

This study seeks to determine the value of ROI and in library terms ROI refers to the return on an organization's investment in its library. ROI would therefore answer the question of how much quantifiable value the University received for every dollar it invested in its library.
Emily Dickinson: a research guide
Authors: Bluemle Stefanie R.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a guide to significant primary and secondary resources relevant to the study of Emily Dickinson and her poetry.

Design/methodology/approach

Online catalogs, bibliographies, and the worldwide web were searched to identify relevant items. In some cases, citation analysis and other bibliometric measures were used to determine the highest‐impact sources. Items were annotated after personal examination by the author. The paper is divided into two main sections: primary sources (anthologies, databases and web resources) and secondary sources (bibliographies, databases, biographical resources, reference resources, monographs, journals and web resources).

Findings

The paper introduces each resource, indicating its scope and contribution to the study of Dickinson. It acknowledges in particular the developments in recent Dickinson scholarship.

Originality/value

Dickinson remains popular among both scholars and laypeople, but the most recent bibliographies of Dickinson scholarship date to the late 1980s. This guide provides a late twentieth‐ to early twenty‐first‐century update to those earlier works.
Reference service in Second Life: an overview
Authors: Luo Lili
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of how reference service is provided in the 3D virtual world, Second Life (SL), and to further the professional understanding of the newest reference “frontier” and its impact on the library reference world.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey study was conducted to examine the nature and practice of reference service provided by volunteer reference practitioners in SL. Different aspects of SL reference were studied, including types of reference questions, types of reference sources, communication methods, reference competencies and differences between SL reference and real life reference.

Findings

The paper reveals that, as an independent service point, the SL reference desk serves mostly SL‐related information needs and reference librarians rely heavily on their personal knowledge to answer users' questions. One distinct feature of the SL reference desk is its social nature. It functions both as a place for social gathering and a place for information and reference service.

Practical implications

This study investigates various aspects of SL reference service and introduces the new reference development to a larger audience. Findings from this study will help practitioners who are interested in adopting new technologies in reference work obtain a thorough understanding of SL reference and its value to their respective communities, and hence, design better virtual services for users.

Originality/value

This study is the first study to systematically examine reference activities in SL and present in‐depth views on the nature and practice of SL reference.
Perceptions and usage of library instructional podcasts by staff and students at New Zealand's Universal College of Learning (UCOL)
Authors: Jowitt Angela
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This concurrent mixed methods study aims to collect quantitative data indicating current levels of podcast usage, demographics of those using podcasts, technologies used and perceptions of the podcasts. It also aims to collect qualitative data providing an expanded understanding on perceptions of the podcasts and suggestions for future enhancements.

Design/methodology/approach

Six sample podcasts were recorded and made available via New Zealand's UCOL – Universal College of Learning – web site in MP3 format. The target population was staff and students of UCOL. A web‐based survey instrument was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data with 86 complete responses received.

Findings

Results showed that there were differences found between the groups surveyed in perceptions and use of the library instructional podcasts. The majority of respondents thought the podcasts were “very good” with 71.1 per cent in favour of them. The most helpful podcast topics were identified, suggestions for future podcast topics were made, device ownership and required technologies were investigated, preferred times and places for listening to podcasts was ascertained and advantages and disadvantages were determined. The conclusion reached was that podcasting for library instruction does provide benefits and should be pursued.

Research limitations/implications

Participants were self‐selected on a non‐random basis. For these reasons and also due to the low response rate it was not possible to stratify the sample set or generalise results. This method of selection may also have caused a bias in answers towards those already interested in podcasting technology.

Originality/value

As podcasting is a new phenomenon for libraries, little is known about its usage and perceived benefits especially in New Zealand. This research offered an opportunity to fill a small gap in the knowledge of the usage and perceptions of podcasting and future potential as a medium for library instruction. This study was intended as an intermediary step and further research is therefore needed to gain a full picture.
Understanding the small business owner: what they really aim at and how this relates to firm performance
Authors: Reijonen Helen
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how business owners in microbusinesses perceive success and how that perception may influence the growth of their enterprise.

Design/methodology/approach

The results of three separate studies were analysed. The data were collected with questionnaires and interviews among microbusinesses in the industries of craft and rural tourism in the area of North Karelia, Eastern Finland. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the analysis.

Findings

The paper found that the motives and goals of the small business owners were not oriented towards growth, but to quality of life, job satisfaction and satisfied clientele. Consequently, business success was measured by the respect and satisfaction of the customers, job satisfaction and the quality of product. From an economic perspective, making a reasonable living, not growth, constituted a measure of success.

Research limitations/implications

Generalisation is affected by the fact that the study concerns two individual industries in a small geographical area.

Practical implications

For policy makers, the study offers insight into the factors that affect the behaviour and decision‐making of the microbusiness entrepreneurs and, thus, the performance of their enterprise.

Originality/value

The study contributes to theory development by examining the little studied possible conflicts between financial and personal measures of success.
Convergent interviewing: a qualitative diagnostic technique for researchers
Authors: Jepsen Denise M. , Rodwell John J.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to widen knowledge of and explore how convergent interviewing can be used to identify key issues within an organization.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper introduces the convergent interviewing technique and describes the method of selecting the interview subjects. The construction of a round of interviews is explained. The content of the interviews is described and the particular probing nature of the questions demanded by the convergent interview process is explained. The ways to analyze the full set of interviews for groupings or categories is also described. The case study example of a broad research question about influences on work behaviors in a local government council is used to illustrate the convergent interviewing technique.

Findings

The key issues revealed by using the technique can be subsequently used for a variety of research and consulting purposes and settings. Convergent interviewing is an effective research method, which conserves resources.

Originality/value

Convergent interviewing enables researchers to determine the most important and/or key issues within a population rather than a full list of issues in an organization or barriers to change in a particular organizational context.
The union catalogue of academic libraries in India: an initiative by INFLIBNET
Authors: Chand Prem , Chauhan Suresh K.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to describe the union databases maintained by the INFLIBNET for university libraries in India. INFLIBNET maintains union databases of serials, books, theses and an “experts” database. Efforts to collect the raw data, maintain it and make it available to the end user via the internet are also discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

The article describes the workflow of maintaining union databases and the steps involved are discussed. Various software are being used to provide a systematic approach to these databases and to ensure that the searching for needed documents is user friendly; the user should be able to go automatically to the document supply system with a single click of the mouse button.

Findings

If the library system is large, it becomes most important to know the location of documents. The Indian educational system is one of the largest in the world. INFLIBNET maintains union databases of various types of documents for more than 150 university libraries and membership is growing rapidly to accommodate all university and college libraries. Many best procedures on bibliographic standards and guidelines have been adopted and are updated regularly. UniCat, an in house software package has been used to process bibliographic raw data which is then hosted on the website for access by users.

Originality/value

This article is significant to researchers and librarians in India and also more widely.
Interlending and document supply: a review of the recent literature: 64
Authors: McGrath Mike
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a review of the most recent literature concerning document supply and related matters.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on the reading of over 150 journals as well as monographs, reports and websites.

Findings

That the fundamental debate on the direction of scholarly publishing continues intensely. Electronic books remain a minority market but the literature at least remains optimistic. Open Access continues to grow but with continuing and widely differing views on its impact. Recent mandating decisions will mean a step change in the both the creation and the growth of institutional and subject repositories. Publisher pay per view is developing after a slow start.

Originality/value

The paper presents useful source of information for librarians and others interested in document supply and related matters.
NILDE: developing a new generation tool for document delivery in Italy
Authors: Mangiaracina Silvana , Zaetta Marta , De Matteis Daniele , Tugnoli Alessandro , Beghelli Enrico , Tenaglia Giacomo
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper presents the most recent progress and implementation of the Network Inter‐Library Document Exchange (NILDE) system, a web based document delivery (DD) software for libraries and end‐users. NILDE allows libraries to manage the entire workflow of DD activities, both borrowing and lending, through the provision of synthetic and analytical statistics, DD performance indicators such as “fill‐rate” and “turn‐around time”, and support for secure electronic delivery. New technologies, referred to as Web 2.0, have been incorporated into NILDE, making it an even more user‐oriented and friendly tool for document delivery and scholar work.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents the key factors that have made NILDE a successful tool and a “de facto” standard for document delivery among Italian libraries: the policies, i.e. the rules the community has imposed on itself, and the processes, i.e. the procedures through which the libraries provide DD services using NILDE.

Findings

The rise in NILDE users has allowed the building of a cooperative network to promote resource sharing based on a degree of standard quality of service and fair behaviour. It was found how, by adhering to these principles, libraries start up a virtuous cycle within the NILDE network, increasing its own value.

Originality/value

The paper will be of interest to librarians wanting to start a successful cooperative network and all those with an interest in developments in resource sharing in Italy.
Do consumers discern innovations in service elements?
Authors: Zolfagharian Mohammadali , Paswan Audhesh
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The success of service innovation programs rests on whether consumers discern the novelties built into service offerings. Hence, service firms must base the evaluation of innovation programs on customer attitude in addition to internal measures. The study examines whether consumers are capable of discerning the novelties built into service elements, and explores the underlying dimensions therein.

Design/methodology/approach

Research contexts include fitness centers and auto repair shops in the USA. A list of tangible and intangible service elements was developed based on a literature review. This list was improved through interviews with service managers and a focus group using frequent customers of each service. A total of 34 items emerged, comprising seven dimensions. These items were administered to 120 students who used each service frequently. Factor analysis supported the seven‐dimension model. Finally, a confirmatory study using 527 professional adults supported these findings.

Findings

Respondents were capable of discerning the novelties built into the elements of service offerings. The 32‐item scale included seven dimensions: administration, interior facilities, exterior facilities, employees, service core, technology, and responsiveness.

Research limitations/implications

The representativeness of the samples and the two service contexts, and a sole focus on customers' (versus the firm's) subjective perception are the primary limitations.

Practical implications

One reason behind new product failures is the mismatch between the service provider's and the consumers' views of innovativeness. The scale provided here can help tap consumer perspective throughout the new product development process.

Originality/value

This study can help bridge the gap between service development processes.
Customer satisfaction, perceived risk and affective commitment: an investigation of directions of influence
Authors: Johnson Mark S. , Sivadas Eugene , Garbarino Ellen
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to examine competing models of the directionality of influences between customer satisfaction, affective commitment, and the customer's perceptions of risk associated with a service organization. It also aims to include the effects of a customer's prior experience with the organization and experience with other organizations in the service category in the models.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation models of data from a survey to customers of a performing arts organization (sample size=401) are used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The study suggests that commitment has a positive influence on customer satisfaction and diminishes risk perceptions. There is less support for a model in which satisfaction increases commitment and reduces perceived risk.

Originality/value

There has been recent controversy as to whether customer satisfaction leads to customer loyalty. This study provides a different perspective by suggesting that customers with high commitment to an organization use satisfaction surveys to express their loyalty.
Satisfaction, quality and value and effects on repurchase and positive word‐of‐mouth behavioral intentions in a B2B services context
Authors: Molinari Lori K. , Abratt Russell , Dion Paul
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The aim of this article is to provide an understanding of how satisfaction, quality, and value affect repurchase and positive word‐of‐mouth in a business‐to‐business (B2B) setting. Most previous studies in this area apply to business‐to‐consumer (B2C) situations.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey of 382 users of freight services was undertaken in the USA. An exploratory pilot study was undertaken to gain a better understanding of these users and to test the research instrument. Structural equation modeling was used to test the constructs.

Findings

The results showing the best‐fit model identified a number of relationships that were unexpected. These are discussed in detail.

Practical implications

Managers have a model, survey instrument and methodology that service firms can use to establish what they are doing right or wrong to retain customers. Managers are also given guidelines on how to increase customer satisfaction in B2B services.

Originality/value

This paper deals with these constructs in a B2B service environment.
An empirical test of a proposed customer satisfaction model in e‐services
Authors: Ha Hong‐Youl , Janda Swinder
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This research aims to build on recent advances in services marketing theory to propose and evaluate empirically a model of online customer satisfaction and its key antecedent and consequent constructs. This research also aims to establish the role of attribution and disconfirmation within this context.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey is utilized to collect data and the proposed theoretical model is estimated using structural equation modeling via the AMOS software.

Findings

The findings indicate that perceived value may both directly and indirectly (via disconfirmation) affect not just satisfaction, but it may also indirectly affect attribution via disconfirmation.

Originality/value

This research contributes to extant literature via further extending theory related to customer satisfaction in the online environment. For example, one major contribution of the study pertains to illustrating the role of perceived value in affecting an online shopper's satisfaction. Since satisfaction and attribution further influence website loyalty and repurchase intentions, websites that desire long‐term customer loyalty and resultant success must ensure that customers perceive their website to provide them with great value. Such companies must also strive to establish systems to ensure that all the company's marketing activities and practices are geared toward ensuring that customers consistently perceive good value. Other ways in which the current study provides significant value to extant research is by exploring the role of attribution and disconfirmation in the online context.
Situational influences on service quality evaluations
Authors: Strombeck Stephen D. , Wakefield Kirk L.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This study seeks to illustrate empirically how person‐situation variants influence customer assessments of service quality across multiple stages in the service drama.

Design/methodology/approach

Using surveys that were systematically distributed to 3,000 passengers boarding 30 different flights (with 432 complete responses), the effects of consumption motive (hedonic versus utilitarian) and service duration (shorter versus longer service encounters) were examined in relationship to perceived time pressure within a multiple‐sequence service encounter.

Findings

The results indicate that the consumption motives (utilitarian‐hedonic) of passengers do influence perceptions of service quality, as well as altering perceived time pressure resulting from service delays. Also, the length of the service duration moderates the negative effects of time pressure on perceived service quality.

Research limitations/implications

Extrapolating the findings from this research to other service industries should be done with care given that consumption motives and perceived time pressures may vary greatly across different service industries.

Practical implications

This study suggests that managers must develop systemic solutions to service delays during early stages of the encounter as such delays may prompt a “domino effect” that transcends all subsequent stages in the service encounter. Service encounters that are longer in duration may also be more susceptible to critical service evaluations if these delays are not rectified.

Originality/value

This study demonstrates the critical issue of measuring service quality during each successive stage of a service encounter.
The use of cases in the leadership development of principals
Authors: Cranston Neil
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to document the development and use of cases for the leadership development of principals in one large education system in Australia. The case initiative was specially targeted at deepening understandings of the department's recently released statement about the principalship,Leadership Matters.The theoretical underpinnings of cases and their use in leadership development are examined. A discussion of critical feedback from users is provided with commentary on future developments completing the paper.

Design/methodology/approach

The literature relevant to cases and their use (and related approaches such as problem‐based learning) is reviewed, providing the framework for the development of the cases themselves and the principles guiding their application via a series of workshops. A small‐scale evaluation study accompanying the workshops provides critical feedback from principals and principals' supervisors on the efficacy of the cases themselves and the case method.

Findings

The cases have been very well received in the workshops. It is clear the cases represent powerful and authentic ways for leadership developments among school leaders, with considerable potential to focus on supporting understandings of, and development with respect toLeadership Matters.Some of the reported positives of the cases are that they are grounded in authentic “real world” stories of challenges for principals and that the discussions at the workshops lead to creative and constructive discussions about such leadership challenges.

Practical implications

The paper provides a number of practical suggestions for take‐up by others interested in the leadership development of principals in these challenging and changing times for school leaders. Ideas how to develop and construct cases are provided, together with suggestions for application in workshop situations.

Originality/value

While cases have been used in school leadership development previously, the focus here is a specially constructed developmental process framed around a system's statement about the principalship,Leadership Matters.
Exploring relational aspects of time‐based competition
Authors: Thomas Rodney
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to begin to explore the phenomenon of time pressure in supply chain relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

Using grounded theory methodology, qualitative data were accumulated from experienced supply chain managers. Depth interviews were utilized in order to gain a deeper understanding of time pressure in supply chain relationships.

Findings

Analysis of the qualitative data suggests that time pressure can exist in a supply chain relationship and potentially impact the relationship. This qualitative evidence implies that time pressure may create tension, reduce collaboration, or alter expectations in supply chain relationships.

Research limitations/implications

This research provides a greater understanding of the potential effects of time pressure in relationships which provides insight into relational dynamics and characteristics. These initial qualitative findings can inform and prompt quantitative testing of the effects of time pressure in relationships. By demonstrating that time pressure can exist in supply chains and impact interfirm relationships, new streams of research can develop.

Practical implications

This research begins to provide managers with information about potential consequences of imposing time pressure on other supply chain members. Such information can be used to make more informed decisions about relationship management.

Originality/value

Interfirm relationships are the foundation of supply chain management and supply chains frequently focus on time‐based performance. However, the interfirm relationship literature does not address relationships in an environment with an intense pressure to focus on time. Although the detrimental effects of time pressure have been studied in other business contexts, research is lacking in the interfirm relationship literature. This research begins to address this gap in the literature.
Creating the virtual map drawer
Authors: Allen Marcy M.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The paper aims to report on a project that was a unique collaboration between a map librarian and a geography faculty member which resulted in the successful creation of set of standard procedures developed for the collection of metadata from paper maps in a library collection for inclusion in the national spatial data infrastructure (NSDI).

Design/methodology/approach

Metadata were collected using a set of tools from the USGS and provided to the public for free, and collection was performed by graduate students in geography. The rest of the paper is a qualitative description about the project and applications for future use.

Findings

The end result was the creation of a manner in which map collections can become more visible to users and ultimately to the world at large. More than 1,000 maps have been cataloged using these procedures. The procedures created from this project can also be used by any library with a map collection interested in increasing access to map collections by means of geospatial data clearinghouses and the NSDI.

Practical implications

In general, map libraries and map librarians should start to look at how they are providing access to not only their digital collections, but also their paper collections and to begin experimenting with non‐traditional means of cataloging their collections and providing access. This paper is an example of such means.

Originality/value

Prior efforts in this realm only examined the inclusion of digital geospatial data for inclusion in an NSDI.
Using faculty focus groups to launch a scholarly communication program
Authors: Courtois Martin P. , Turtle Elizabeth C.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the benefits of using faculty focus groups as an early component of a scholarly communications program with suggestions for planning and conducting sessions, recruiting participants and analyzing outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on the authors' use of focus groups in the initial stages of organizing a scholarly communications program at Kansas State University.

Findings

The paper finds that focus groups are an effective method to begin identifying scholarly communication issues that resonate with faculty on a particular campus. Focus groups can be helpful in targeting efforts to begin a scholarly communications program.

Practical implications

Focus groups are effective in generating insights, opinions and attitudes and are low cost in terms of time and resource commitments.

Originality/value

There is very little in the literature about using faculty focus groups to start a campus scholarly communication program. This paper provides practical and useful information that other libraries can use to incorporate this method into their planning.
Where IR you?
Authors: Smith Plato L.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to clarify the relationship between researcher, digital librarian, and cataloger supporting collection building in institutional repository (IR). It also aims to propose modeling the collaborative process and outline why and how cooperative partnership is important throughout the IR content building process. The study seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge of IR collection building by including a faculty‐centered approach and level of data curation aspects than is normally found in IR content building literature.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper opted for an experimental approach of IR collection building, including several interviews and one expert group discussion with faculty representing the department of anthropology. The data were complemented by digital collection description and accessibility in IR, online public access catalog (OPAC) and OCLC WorldCat.

Findings

The paper provides empirical insights about how faculty contribution is brought about during IR content building. It suggests that digital librarians act as “integrating forces” on two levels: integrating the elements of level of data curation for digital objects representation and discoverability, and mediating between digital objects description and the researcher.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack general application. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test proposed propositions further.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the development of a mature and fully realized IR, the development of “data curators” and for managing the balance between participation and content.

Originality/value

This paper fulfills an identified need to study how levels of data curation can be enabled.
Sleeping giant: Chinese teacher education system past, present and future (I)
Authors: Song Hongzhuan
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how well Chinese teacher education positions itself in preparing qualified teachers for its vast k‐12 education system, especially in the transition from examination‐oriented to that of future‐oriented education.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper looks at literature discussing background, strengths and weakness of current Chinese teacher training programs. It also employs the Delphi‐based scenario research method to explore plausible futures of curriculum design for teacher education.

Findings

The paper finds that, in order to ensure its astonishing economic development and present itself as a constructive force to the world betterment, it is crucial for China to carry on its ongoing educational reform, especially in the area of curriculum for its teacher training programs. It also concludes that the disciplinary curriculum currently employed in Chinese teacher education should be shifted to the trans‐disciplinary curriculum to produce future‐oriented and internationally‐prepared graduates the country demands in its effort to play an important role on the international stage.

Originality/value

This research, while meriting the structured instruction displayed by the Chinese education system, argues that the system should strive to provide students with such skills as creativity, flexibility, initiative, leadership, all necessary in the globally connected future world. The second part of this paper will focus on four scenarios as a result of his recent research among Chinese educators and administrators.
Towards loyalty development in the e‐banking business
Authors: Casaló Luis V. , Flavián Carlos , Guinalíu Miguel
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to put forward a descriptive model that characterizes customer loyalty in the context of electronic banking. Owing to the high costs involved in increasing the current client base, one of the main goals of banks and other financial services providers that operate through the internet should be to develop customer loyalty in order to improve their results.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyzes the loyalty development process in the e‐banking context. The data were collected through a web survey using Spanish‐speaking subjects. The contrasts of the research model and measurement validation were based on exploratory analyses and structural equations models.

Findings

The findings showed that web site perceived reputation and satisfaction have a direct and significant effect on consumer loyalty to a financial services web site. In addition, the analyses have shown that perceived reputation is particularly influenced by the satisfaction with previous interactions with the web site.

Practical implications

The paper suggests that the proper management of both customer needs and corporate reputation will help to increase customer loyalty and, as a consequence, the retention‐rate and profits in the e‐banking business.

Originality/value

This study presents three main contributions: the role of satisfaction is looked at as an antecedent of loyalty in e‐banking; the satisfaction‐reputation relationship is analyzed in the online context (this relationship has received very little attention so far); and there is an analysis of the effect of reputation on the long‐term orientation of the relationship.
Social constraints to integrating information systems, knowledge, and firm capabilities following a corporate merger
Authors: Chun Mark , Whitfield Gwendolyn
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of how socially‐embedded information systems (IS), knowledge, and firm capabilities can impact the post‐merger integration efforts of a firm. In particular, this research seeks to identify, describe, and analyze how socially‐embedded resources hindered the integration of the procurement function following the merger of two telecommunications firms.

Design/methodology/approach

This research was designed as a longitudinal exploratory study of a single case. The design involved multiple interviews, participant observation, and an evaluation of multiple data sources. Data were collected to develop a comprehensive and reliable understanding of events and outcomes related to the systems integration effort. Process models are used to show the development of phenomena over time.

Findings

The findings of the research are twofold. First, in line with previous findings on socially‐embedded resources, the research shows that socially‐embedded resources hindered the ability of a merged firm to integrate some resources. Previous research argued that social constraints can prevent a firm from changing the way it uses resources to establish a competitive advantage, and this research confirms those findings. Second, this research is an important contribution because it identifies two social constraints in particular – cognitive sunk costs and the reluctance to defy social traditions – that contributed to the inability of the merged firm to successfully integrate the procurement function following a merger.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study provide empirical evidence to support the theoretical argument that the socially embedded resources involved in the IS, knowledge, and firm capabilities of each of the firms prior to the merger enabled them to establish a competitive advantage in their respective market environments. Further, the data provide validation for the idea that the social context in which firms compete does, in fact, contribute to the development of competitive advantages. The RBV is also extended by showing that the same social contexts can also prevent firms from integrating important resources following a corporate merger.

Originality/value

One of the main objectives of executive management following a corporate merger is to lead the organization in skillfully integrating key resources of the merged organization. However, most firms cannot successfully engage in post‐merger integration efforts unless they fully understand how resources such as IS, knowledge, and firm capabilities can help or hinder their integration efforts. By highlighting one firm's efforts to integrate resources following a merger, the paper provides concrete examples of potential problems that can arise. Potential problems and hindrances are presented in a strategic checklist for managerial consideration.
Finding that grit makes a pearl
Authors: Curtis Tim
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The paper seeks to explore the implications of a critical approach to theory and method in the study of social enterprises and social entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a re‐reading of the findings in a major case‐study based research programme. The author reflexively re‐evaluates the findings and compares them to different theoretical traditions to identify whether these theoretical lenses shed further insight on the raw findings.

Findings

The analysis indicates that the theoretical perspectives of “contractualism”, “managerialism” and “agencification” are good explanatory frameworks for the data produced in the research but so too are “militant decency”, “social movements” and “post‐liberal” theories. As well as illustrating the limits of knowledge, the exercise also indicates that the apparent weakness and failure identified in the case studies are evidence of a “recalcitrance and resistance” that is essential to the emerging identity of the social enterprises.

Practical implications

The paper highlights the importance of being honest to the complexity and ambiguity of data produced in field research and that some important findings can be missed when “outlier” data are ignored. The re‐evaluation of data on this basis also indicates that weakness and failure in social enterprises should not be avoided and worked out of the system. Rather, operating in the context of weakness, failure, recalcitrance and passivity are the grit in the pearl that make social enterprise so valuable.

Originality/value

The paper contributes, in its critical theory approach, to method and analysis in the field of social enterprise research. The paper indicates that no single theoretical structure fully explains social enterprise and that existing critical management theories shed significant new light on the field. The paper, in applying an experimental approach to theory, also highlights the small amount of work that has been done in the field on failure, doubt, weakness and humility.
Entrepreneurial energy
Authors: Cato Molly Scott , Arthur Len , Keenoy Tom , Smith Russell
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The central suggestion of this paper is that innovation in the concept of entrepreneurship is overdue and that the concept of entrepreneurship needs to be extended to accommodate its often neglected collective or pluralistic dimension, a concept termed “associative entrepreneurship”. It has also been argued that there may be a natural link between sustainability and the co‐operative form. In this paper these themes are drawn together by considering the entrepreneurial potential expressed by the recent creation of mutual businesses in a range of renewable energy sectors in Wales. It is suggested that, at least in the renewable energy sector and perhaps in other sectors too, innovation in the direction of sustainability may require a development of the concept of entrepreneurship in the direction of mutualism.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the form of a theoretical discussion focusing around seven preliminary case studies.

Findings

As yet only a cluster of community‐based enterprises have been discovered in the renewable energy sector in Wales. The authors propose to study them in detail in the next stage of the research.

Research limitations/implications

This is a developmental paper and many of its suggestions require rigorous testing. The authors would suggest that detailed case studies of the seven examples of associative enterprise in the renewable energy field outlined here, and others which may emerge during the research, would greatly enhance our understanding of what drives entrepreneurs in this field. Further research might also compare these examples with others organised according to more traditional business models.

Practical implications

In view of the urgent need to move towards a low‐carbon economy and the expansion of the renewable energy sector this would require, understanding of the motivations of entrepreneurs in this sector is of great value.

Originality/value

Innovation in the renewable energy sector may be being held back by the limitations of the concept of entrepreneurship.
Narrative construction of the social entrepreneurial identity
Authors: Jones Robert , Latham James , Betta Michela
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the process by which the social entrepreneurial identity can be constructed through narrative, concentrating specifically on the construction of the identity of the ideologically inclined social‐activist entrepreneur.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study approach is employed of a social‐activist entrepreneur who established a refugee help centre in a major Australian city. The data are presented through the genre of allowing the narrator to enjoy the primary voice in the form of an extended narrative.

Findings

The findings show how the social entrepreneur constructs his identity through crafted divisions based on oppositional and appositional principles of setting apart (a claim of separation) and bringing together (a claim of similarity). It is emphasised how the impact of the particular audience and the possibility of narrative omissions can both influence the narrative product as it is constructed by the social entrepreneur.

Practical implications

The analysis has implications for our manner of understanding how ideologically inclined social entrepreneurs can experience the tension of lacing together potentially contrasting discourses while maintaining the overall integrative nature of their narrative.

Originality/value

The findings possess value and originality by making two major contributions to the extant literature. First, we challenge the central tendency in the literature to concentrate on dominant discourses by analysing the manner in which ideological social entrepreneurs construct their identity through their joint crafting of the discourses of “Me” and “Not‐Me”, and the non‐discourse of “Suppressed‐Me”. Second, we add to the literature on how informants deal with the tension of managing conflicting discourses by analysing the concept of “discourse suppression” as the narrative tendency of social activist entrepreneurs.
Social entrepreneurship in South Africa
Authors: Urban Boris
Published: August 2008

Purpose

Various theoretical issues and debates were investigated in order to measure quantitatively social entrepreneurship (SE) activity (SEA), together with the different skills associated with successful SE in South Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

This was primarily an exploratory study, using factor analysis and inferential statistical testing, based on a surveyed sample of 287 respondents, undertaken to measure SEA and concomitant SE skills. Empirical findings were interrogated in the context of existing research and comparisons with established SEA rates were made.

Findings

The findings were modest, particularly about the number of active and future social entrepreneurs. Moreover the validity and reliability of the instrument used to measure skills was established, offering insights into SEA and the types of skills associated with SE.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited by being in the early stage of theoretical development on the SE construct. The interpretation of the empirical findings, understanding SE and the associated skills, may serve as catalyst for this emerging and important activity in SA.

Originality/value

SEA and skills were empirically measured for the first time. This initial South African investigation advances the topic to where it has much relevance.