bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Strategy
Authors: Heuser Beatrice
Published: February 2012

The term strategy is difficult to define and to circumscribe. It was not used in the Occident until the late 18th century, and since then its meaning has changed considerably. Today, strategy is largely taken to mean, in its original military-political context, a comprehensive plan in pursuit of political ends, including the threat or actual use of force, in a dialectic of wills between at least two sides in a conflict. These sides interact; thus, a strategy will rarely be successful if it shows no adaptability. This bibliography will not consider the now more popular use of the term strategy to refer merely to a complex plan in any walk of life. Strategy, in the aforementioned definition, can be taken to be either theoretical—with war in general in mind or a specific situation—or applied. Few applied strategic concepts have survived from earlier times, because for many centuries practitioners made do without writing them down. Once strategic concepts were generated systematically by governments, they were invariably compromise documents drawn up jointly by a number of actors, which usually deprived them of the coherence found in most of the single-authored theoretical works. Moreover, applied strategic concepts (or strategic concepts drawn up in times of peace for the eventuality of war) are often lacking in explicit articulation of the reasons why certain courses of action are preferred. Because they were more readily accessible, theoretical works have enjoyed more scholarly attention than has the fragmentary evidence we have of applied strategic concepts throughout history. Applied strategic concepts, in so far as these existed or can be surmised from circumstantial evidence (e.g., the Schlieffen Plan), will be discussed under other Oxford Bibliographies articles relating to individual wars.
Japanese Cinema
Authors: Nygren Scott
Published: February 2012

Japanese film became a major area of English-language film study in the 1960s, after the publication of Anderson and Richie’s groundbreaking work, The Japanese Film: Art and Industry, in 1959 (see Anderson and Richie 1982, cited under Film History). Although Japanese cinema is one of the oldest continuous traditions of filmmaking in the world, with films by Japanese filmmakers dating back as early as 1898–1899, Japanese films were only rarely screened outside of Japan until after Kurosawa’s Rashomon won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in 1951. Before then, international cinema effectively included only Europe and the United States, and all other cinemas were restricted to regional exhibition. Afterward, other non-Western cinemas also gained international recognition and distribution. Accordingly, English-language study of Japanese film coincides with the recognition of non-Western cinemas as a crucial part of world cinema, marking a fundamental break with the Eurocentric model of the world that dominated cinema’s first half century. Over the last half century, a rich and diverse body of work has emerged both in topics and approaches. Japanese film has become a model in cinema studies for understanding film history outside the grand narrative of a Eurocentric tradition and has been a site for the emergence of innovative approaches to issues of cultural context and identity, the limits of language, the problem of missing films, and of modernization outside the West. Strategies continue to proliferate, with many new books and approaches appearing in the last decade. Moreover, some important books exist only in French or translation into French, and these are included below when no comparable text exists in English.
Stanley Kubrick
Authors: Kolker Robert
Published: February 2012

Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928–d. 1999) was a singular American filmmaker, an artist who, starting in the 1960s, lived in England, enjoying a quiet and secluded life more suitable to a novelist than the noisy celebrity world of Hollywood. He worked slowly and deliberately, making only twelve full-length films (and three early documentaries) during his creative lifetime. He started his career as a photographer, and the well-composed image, the intense gaze, and the careful play of light and shadow mark all of his work. His cinematic narratives are complex meditations on the failure of human agency. The characters in his films struggle against devices, plans, institutions, and even their own personalities, which they have erected and then left to control and ultimately ruin them. The films are so complex and multilayered that they require multiple viewings to unravel their intricate insights. This complexity has led to an ever-expanding scholarly literature on Kubrick and his films. Books and articles range from production histories to Freudian analyses to linguistic and political studies. There is a growing literature on Kubrick’s use of music. The following article emphasizes more recent works and expanded editions of older books, though important older works are included. Film reviews and interviews have been omitted, except when the latter are included in collections. Likewise, books or articles with only passing reference to Kubrick’s films are not included.
Julia Augusta Webster
Authors: Rigg Patricia
Published: February 2012

Born in 1837, Webster was a prolific writer in every genre, a self-educated classical scholar, a professional poetry reviewer, an activist, and an educator. She began her literary career as a young girl and had published two volumes of poetry, two well-received translations of Aeschylus and Euripides, and a three-volume novel by the time she became a very active member of the London Suffrage Society in the 1860s. During the 1870s Webster continued to support suffrage for women and the women’s movement in general, as well as liberalism and individualism, in a series of essays that she wrote for the Examiner and later published as A Housewife’s Opinions. Beginning in 1879, she served two terms on the London School Board, with the second term concurrent with her position as one of the main poetry reviewers for the Athenaeum. She consistently published poetry and drama in these years, as well as a children’s novella. Webster was married and had one daughter. In the 1880s she hosted literary salons and was one of the most respected literary, political, and social figures in London until she died of cancer in 1894. Webster disappeared from view immediately after her death, but critics are now seriously exploring the rich diversity of her work. The recent increased interest in Julia Augusta Webster bodes well for a more complete understanding of the significance of Webster’s work as a writer and professional critic, as well as her effectiveness as an activist and political figure.
Health Psychology
Authors: Gurung Regan
Published: February 2012

Health psychology is an interdisciplinary subspecialty of psychology dedicated to promoting and maintaining health and preventing and treating illness. Franz Alexander and Helen Flanders Dunbar together established the first formal gathering of individuals interested in studying the influences of the mind on health in the 1920s. This movement within the mainstream medical establishment was coined psychosomatic medicine and grew into the American Psychosomatic Society (APS). The new field of psychosomatic medicine had many supporters, which led to the formation of the first society specifically dedicated to the study of mind and body connections. Another movement within the field of medicine, called behavioral medicine, looks at nonbiological influences on health. The Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM), a multidisciplinary, nonprofit organization founded in 1978, is dedicated to studying the influences of behavior on health and well-being. Unlike SBM and APS, whose members are overwhelmingly physicians, the American Psychological Association’s Division of Health Psychology (Division 38) is a group specifically for psychologists and came into being in the mid-1970s. Health psychologists pay close attention to the way that thoughts, feelings, behavior, and biological processes all interact with each other to influence health and illness. In many ways health psychology is greater than a subfield within the discipline of psychology, as it is built on theoretical ideas and research findings from many other areas in psychology. For example, many of the ways used to understand why we get stressed and how we cope come from social and personality psychology. The field of health psychology can be divided into three broad natural segments: stress and coping, health behaviors, and issues in health care. The first section of this article introduces General Overviews, Textbooks, and reference works relating to health psychology. Attention is also paid to Journals that publish articles presenting novel methods, as well as controversies. The bibliography’s remaining sections examine different topics in health psychology.
Language
Authors: Chung Cindy K. , Pennebaker James
Published: February 2012

Although language is the primary medium by which we communicate our thoughts and feelings with others, only a fraction of published studies in psychology, communication, and allied fields have addressed the underlying psychology of language. Historically, the complexity of language was simply too overwhelming to tackle. The advent of computational techniques along with digital communication and social media has changed everything. We are now witnessing an exponential growth in the number of studies that link natural language use and real-world behaviors. Over the last thirty years, computer-based text analysis has grown from relatively simple word counting methods to revolutionary Large Language Models (LLMs) that can generate natural language in ways similar to human beings. The psychological study of language has roots in philosophy, with considerable influence and overlap with the fields of anthropology, sociology, linguistics, and communications. Since the 1990s, work in language psychology has been associated with a host of newer disciplines involving natural language processing, such as cognitive science, artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, and even subfields of engineering. The different approaches to the study of language adopted by these various fields are often complementary, with each approach informing the others. Oftentimes, language scholars from different disciplines fail to appreciate each other’s perspectives. Linguists, for example, are primarily interested in the structure and function of language. Computational linguists are usually interested in developing models to best classify two or more groups of language processes. Psychologists who study language are actually interested in the psychological states of the people who are generating the language samples. Accordingly, the readings in this bibliography come from a wide variety of fields but with an emphasis on what might be useful to psychologists in their research on language. The new world of language psychology has largely been built on expanding technologies in computer and data science in parallel with developments in social and cognitive psychology. As a result of cross-disciplinary collaborations, new approaches to data collection, research and statistical methods, and theoretical orientations have evolved. Given the rapid growth of the field, the current bibliography should be viewed as a placeholder as the field will continue to expand over the next few years.
Microbacterium sediminis sp. nov., a psychrotolerant, thermotolerant, halotolerant and alkalitolerant actinomycete isolated from deep-sea sediment
Authors: Yu Libo , Lai Qiliang , Yi Zhiwei , Zhang Limin , Huang Ying , Gu Li , Tang Xixiang
Published: February 2012

An aerobic, rod-shaped, Gram-positive, oxidase- and catalase-positive bacterial isolate, strain YLB-01T, was characterized using phenotypic and molecular taxonomic methods. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that the isolate belonged to the genus

Microbacterium

and represented an evolutionary lineage that was distinct from recognized species of the genus

Microbacterium

. The isolate showed <97 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with respect to the type strains of all of the members of the genus

Microbacterium

with validly published names. Cell-wall hydrolysate from the isolate contained the amino acids ornithine, alanine, glycine homoserine and glutamic acid, and the cell-wall sugars consisted of ribose, glucose and galactose. The main respiratory quinones were MK-8, 9, 10 and 11. The major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0 (38.5 %), anteiso-C17 : 0 (23.1 %) and C16 : 0 (18.9 %). The polar lipids contained diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified phospholipid and two unidentified glycolipids. The DNA G+C content of strain YLB-01T was 71 mol%. On the basis of the morphological, physiological and chemotaxonomic data and the results of comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, this isolate represents a novel species of the genus

Microbacterium

, for which the name Microbacterium sediminis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YLB-01T ( = DSM 23767T = CCTCC AB2010363T = MCCC 1A06153T).
Lactobacillus pasteurii sp. nov. and Lactobacillus hominis sp. nov.
Authors: Cousin Sylvie , Motreff Laurence , Gulat-Okalla Marie-Laure , Gouyette Catherine , Spröer Cathrin , Schumann Peter , Begaud Evelyne , Bouchier Christiane , Clermont Dominique , Bizet Chantal
Published: February 2012

Strains 1517T and 61DT were characterized by phenotypic and molecular taxonomic methods. These Gram-positive lactic acid bacteria were homo-fermentative, facultatively anaerobic short rods. They were phylogenetically related to the genus

Lactobacillus

according to 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, with 99 % similarity between strain 1517T and the type strain of

Lactobacillus gigeriorum

, and 98.6, 98.5 and 98.4 % between strain 61DT and

Lactobacillus gasseri

,

Lactobacillus taiwanensis

and

Lactobacillus johnsonii

, respectively. Multilocus sequence analysis and metabolic analysis of both strains showed variation between the two strains and their close relatives, with variation in the position of the pheS and rpoA genes. The DNA–DNA relatedness of 43.5 % between strain 1517T and

L. gigeriorum

, and 38.6, 29.9 and 39.7 % between strain 61DT and

L. johnsonii

,

L. taiwanensis

and

L. gasseri

, respectively, confirmed their status as novel species. Based on phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, two novel species of

Lactobacillus

are proposed: Lactobacillus pasteurii sp. nov., with 1517T ( = CRBIP 24.76T = DSM 23907T) as the type strain, and Lactobacillus hominis sp. nov., with 61DT ( = CRBIP 24.179T = DSM 23910T) as the type strain.
Cellulomonas soli sp. nov. and Cellulomonas oligotrophica sp. nov., isolated from soil
Authors: Hatayama Kouta , Esaki Kouji , Ide Teruhiko
Published: February 2012

Two novel bacterial strains, designated Kc1Tand Kc5T, were isolated from soil in Japan. Cells of the novel strains were Gram-reaction-positive, aerobic or facultatively anaerobic, motile rods. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that both strains belonged to the genusCellulomonas. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of strains Kc1Tand Kc5Tshowed closest similarity to that ofCellulomonas terraeDB5T(98.1 % and 98.4 % similarity, respectively), and the 16S rRNA gene similarity between the two novel strains was 97.8 %. In both strains, the major menaquinone was MK-9(H4), the predominant polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol mannosides, and the peptidoglycan contained ornithine and glutamic acid. Cell-wall sugars were identified as rhamnose, galactose and mannose in strain Kc1Tand rhamnose and glucose in strain Kc5T. The DNA G+C contents of strains Kc1Tand Kc5Twere 73.6 mol% and 75.8 mol%, respectively. Based on the chemotaxonomic and physiological data and the results of DNA–DNA hybridizations, the two strains represent two novel species within the genusCellulomonas, for which the namesCellulomonas solisp. nov. (type strain Kc1T = DSM 24484T = JCM 17535T) andCellulomonas oligotrophicasp. nov. (type strain Kc5T = DSM 24482T = JCM 17534T) are proposed.
Meta‐synthetic support frameworks for reuse of government information resources on city travel and traffic
Authors: An Xiaomi , Xu Shaotong , Mu Yong , Wang Wei , Yang Bai Xian , Dawson Andy , Han Hongqi
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose meta‐synthetic ideas and knowledge asset management approaches to build a comprehensive strategic framework for Beijing City in China.

Design/methodology/approach

Methods include a review of relevant literature in both English and Chinese, case studies of different types of support frameworks in the UK, the USA, Singapore and Hong Kong, formulation of a meta‐synthetic support framework for Beijing City, and justification of its application to policy development by various studies. Three stages of meta‐synthetic support frameworks are proposed.

Findings

The suggested meta‐synthetic support frameworks are highly appropriate for the optimisation of, and innovation in, management and services systems of government information resources. The proposed knowledge asset management approaches offer significant practical value in improving the competence and capabilities of service‐oriented government, providing a set of solutions to identified, urgent problems, including a joint administration system for creating value, a release and distribution management system for sharing and protecting value, and a licensing and authorisation management system for adding value.

Research limitations/implications

This paper focuses on the formulation of a theoretical support framework for the reuse of government information resources and the justification of its effectiveness to guide policy development at strategic level. Case studies of its application at operational level are ongoing and will be discussed in future papers.

Practical implications

The suggested meta‐synthetic support frameworks support the efficiency, effectiveness and economy of intelligent traffic administration, good governance of value‐added services based on government information resources, and intellectual activity around city travel and traffic. The study has wide implications for the improvement of service‐oriented government performance, public satisfaction and the image of government.

Originality/value

The paper presents the adaptation of meta‐synthetic ideas and knowledge asset management approaches to collaboration, optimisation, innovation and compliance management issues in the reuse of government information resources. The advantages of different types of support systems and frameworks are integrated as a coherent whole for a strategic framework of legal, regulatory and standards support to China and Beijing.
Impact of internet search engines on OPAC users: a study of Punjabi University, Patiala (India)
Authors: Kumar Shiv
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to study the impact of internet search engine usage with special reference to OPAC searches in the Punjabi University Library, Patiala, Punjab (India).

Design/methodology/approach

The primary data were collected from 352 users comprising faculty, research scholars and postgraduate students of the university. A questionnaire was designed as the data collection tool to obtain information on the impact of the web on OPAC. The data thus collected were analysed with the help of the SPSS (version 14.0) statistical package to present the findings in percentage and ranking formats.

Findings

The study revealed that the information‐searching behaviour of academicians was changing significantly in the web environment. A large number of users explored the web to garner relevant information for academic purposes. The majority were influenced by search engines because they also used OPAC, like the search engines. It is also clear from the study that internet search engines not only affected OPAC users in developed countries, but also impacted upon the less developed countries like India. Thus, it is more a battle of survival and sustainability for the OPAC vis‐à‐vis its close contemporary the web‐search engine.

Originality/value

This is a pioneering work in India studying the impact of web searching on OPAC users. Keeping in perspective the approach of twenty‐first century users, the present research suggests recommendations for designing a user friendly OPAC that entails simplistic search strategies for university libraries of India and other developing countries.
Indian institutional repositories: a study of user's perspective
Authors: Sawant Sarika
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The present study aims to investigate the experience, contribution and opinions of users of respective institutional repositories (IRs) developed in India.

Design/methodology/approach

The survey method was used. The data collection tool was a web questionnaire, which was created with the help of software provided by surveymonkey.com

Findings

It was observed that 85.94 percent of respondents (154) were aware of the IR facility/service and 14.05 percent (26) were not aware of IR. More than half of the respondents, i.e. 52.43 percent (97), learned about the IR service through links provided on institutions' websites. About 36.21 percent of the respondents had not contributed to any type of repository, while 25.94 percent of respondents had contributed to their IR. A higher percentage (16.76 percent) of respondents felt it was an “easy and fast way to communicate research results”. The majority of the respondents, i.e. 113 (61.08 percent), were willing to deposit symposium/conference/seminar papers. The most important reason for contribution was found to be preservation of documents for the future. Peer review was very much acceptable as a quality control mechanism. More than half of the respondents (57.84 percent) wanted to provide open access without any barrier for their ideal repository.

Research limitations/implications

Only users of the respective Indian institutional repositories are studied, and the findings are compared with other studies.

Originality/value

This is the first detailed study focusing on the users and their experience of institutional repositories.
German training revisited: an appraisal of corporatist governance
Authors: Lange Thomas
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to re‐examine the unique political economy of Germany's dual apprenticeship training model and its underlying philosophy of corporatist governance. It responds to recent arguments suggesting that Germany's collectivist skill regime is under threat, increasingly giving way to the introduction of “segmentalism”.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews the political roots of a training system, which is moulded and shaped by corporatist interventions and neocorporatist compromises. It applies “public choice” theory to different interest groups in Germany's training market. The focus is on the German apprenticeship system as a social and political institution. The paper is positioned in the tradition of inductive enquiry, which draws on an interpretive framework and is informed by reference to a cross‐section of the extant literature in several social science disciplines.

Findings

The German training system is the product of a wider post‐war consensus, yet continues to face social inequality concerns, which culminate in significant economic and societal costs. Despite modernisation attempts, the German apprenticeship is the outcome of a complicated political process, linked to its historical origins, which allows for a considerable degree of self‐interest alongside its corporatist roots and values. Amongst Germany's social partners, heterogeneous self‐interests and corporatism can co‐exist, thus identifying an alternative model to collectivism and segmentalism.

Originality/value

The paper rejects recent suggestions that the German system moves towards a model of “segmentalism”. Instead, it interprets the German system as an example for a specific socio‐political constellation where significant self‐interests and corporatist rules can co‐exist. Against this background, it demonstrates that continuing demands to copy the German apprenticeship model – if thought desirable – are unlikely to be successful unless this tangled web of political processes and interests is fully understood.
Senior secondary workplace learning and transition success in Australia
Authors: Gemici Sinan , Curtis David D.
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of participation in workplace learning among senior secondary students in Australia. Work placements are deemed to be effective if they meet policy objectives of improving student transitions by (a) enhancing Year 12 completion rates and (b) increasing the engagement of participants in post‐school work or study. Engagement is defined as full‐time study, full‐time work, some full‐time/part‐time combination, or two simultaneous part‐time engagements (e.g. part‐time work and part‐time study).

Design/methodology/approach

Propensity score matching is used to address selection bias into work placements. After controlling for numerous student background characteristics and creating equivalent comparison groups, we estimate the influence of participation in work placements on Year 12 completion and post‐school engagement.

Findings

It is found that participation in work placements during Year 11 is associated with a 5.2 percent increase in Year 12 completion and a 3.8 percent increase in full‐time engagement one year after the modal Year 12 completion age.

Research limitations/implications

The study is somewhat limited by its moderate sample size (n=880; 440 workplace learning participants matched with 440 comparable non‐participants). Moreover, it seems likely that considerable variation exists in the quality of workplace learning programmes. It would be useful to examine what specific qualitative aspects of work placements produce positive transition outcomes.

Practical implications

The findings suggest potential benefits from increasing participation in work placements during Year 11 for students who undertake vocational education and training in schools (VETiS) and those who are lower‐achieving.

Originality/value

Previous research has questioned the value of VETiS for Year 12 completion, and the overall benefit of Year 12 completion to lower‐achieving students. This paper expands on the extant literature by suggesting that participation in workplace learning may contribute to more successful transition outcomes for lower‐achieving students and those taking VET courses.
A multilevel study of students’ motivations of studying accounting
Authors: Law Philip , Yuen Desmond
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of factors affecting students’ choice of accounting as a study major in Hong Kong.

Design/methodology/approach

Multinomial logistic regression and Hierarchical Generalized Linear Modeling (HGLM) are used to analyze the survey data for the level one and level two data, which is the first time such an approach has been used in the literature. Twenty semi‐structured interviews are conducted.

Findings

Results reveal that parental influence has the highest explanatory power among all three groups of students (i.e. accounting major, accounting minor, and other majors). This finding reflects the inculcation in students of the Confucian cultural norms ingrained in Chinese societies. Intrinsic interest is the second most important influencing factor reported by students. Two factors, “intrinsic interest” (attitude towards the behavior) and “parental influence” (subjective norm) in the multinomial logistic regressions and HGLM make significant contributions to predicting a student's decision to major in accounting for the level one (undergraduate) and level two model (master's students). The results support the theory of reasoned action (TRA) model. “First accounting course,” “high school accounting,” and “financial rewards” are not found to be factors influencing the decision to major in accounting, in contrast to the findings of the literature prior to the Enron scandal. Females are more likely to choose accounting as a major or minor than are males in the level one and level two models.

Practical implications

The findings indicate that Hong Kong universities and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) need to promote accounting to improve the current negative image of the profession to attract more bright students, who traditionally might choose a non‐accounting major.

Originality/value

The findings of this study extend the application of the TRA model to the accounting profession. Besides, results provide insights for employers to better understand the mindsets of potential accounting graduates.
An empirical investigation of the combinatorial nature of operational practices and operational capabilities
Authors: Jinhui Wu Sarah , Melnyk Steven A. , Swink Morgan
Published: February 2012

Purpose

Operational practices and operational capabilities are critical yet distinct elements in operations strategy. The purpose of this paper is to examine their conceptual differences and explore how they are developed in a portfolio, considering the potential for practices and capabilities to be either compensatory or additive in nature.

Design/methodology/approach

The compensatory model argues that the lack of investments in certain practices or capabilities can be offset by higher level of investments in other practices or capabilities. In contrast, the additive model argues that the firm must invest in certain practices or capabilities and that trade‐offs are impossible. The authors examine evidence for these two competing models using an approach borrowed from studies of multi‐attribute consumer preference models and statistical comparisons of non‐nested models.

Findings

Data for the study were collected from operations managers who were members of a large professional organization. The findings indicate that the effects of operational practices are additive for some operational outcomes and compensatory for others. However, the combinatorial nature of operational capabilities is purely compensatory.

Practical implications

The results imply that adequate investment in a wide range of operational practices is necessary to enhance operations performance. However, operations units appear to have more flexibility in choosing to develop a distinctive operational capability set.

Originality/value

The study clarifies the different orientation of operational practices and operational capabilities as they contribute to operations strategy. The findings provide guidelines regarding the combinatorial natures of operational practices and operational capabilities. These guidelines have critical strategic implications for resource allocation schemes and how these schemes affect operational performance.
Integration of standardized management systems: does the implementation order matter?
Authors: Bernardo Merce , Casadesus Marti , Karapetrovic Stanislav , Heras Iñaki
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether the order or the strategy of management system standards (MSSs) implementation in an organization determines the level of integration of its standardized MSSs.

Design/methodology/approach

Groups of organizations that follow different implementation sequences have been obtained descriptively using a sample of 435 Spanish organizations, registered to two MSSs (ISO 9001 and ISO 14001) at the minimum. Differences with respect to the size of the organizations are also studied.

Findings

The results obtained show six different groups of organizations that follow different sequences of implementation and that have different levels of integration of their MSSs. Among the more interesting findings, organizations that had implemented quality and environmental MSSs simultaneously and have 50 employees or less achieve higher levels of integration compared to other organizations in the sample.

Originality/value

The paper analyses those sequences of management systems implementation that allow organizations to achieve higher levels of integration and presents a possible pattern for the companies initiating the integration process.
Deployment of vendor capabilities and competences throughout the outsourcing process
Authors: Perunović Zoran , Christoffersen Mads , Mefford Robert N.
Published: February 2012

Purpose

A vendor's capabilities are recognized as one of the most important factors for success in outsourcing. However, there is a lack of understanding of how vendors manage their capabilities throughout the outsourcing process. With an aim to contribute to filling this existing gap, the purpose of this paper is to explore how vendors deploy their capabilities in order to win, run and renew the outsourcing contracts.

Design/methodology/approach

The research question has been derived by integrating a resource‐based view theory with a model of a vendor's process in outsourcing. A multiple‐case study of three contract electronic manufacturers has been employed to explore the research question.

Findings

The results show that for achieving their outsourcing objectives, vendors use different capability mixes: the winning, the running, and the renewing. These mixes are created through utilization of different portfolios of competences (balanced, unit‐dominant, and versatile) and capabilities (permanent and temporary) which need to be deployed in the right combination (deployment strategy) adequate for the stage of the industry dynamics in which vendors operate. The research also indicated the importance of the relationship management capability for the success of outsourcing arrangements in the electronic manufacturing service (EMS) provision industry.

Research limitations/implications

New research involving more case companies would improve the validity of the conclusions made in this paper. Results also suggest that more research into relationship management capability in the context of the EMS industry will be a fruitful area for future studies.

Practical implications

Vendors who seek to advance in the industry's value chain need to expand their portfolio of competences and adapt their deployment strategies to new, more dynamic and volatile environments. The paper proposes three different deployment strategies for three different operational contexts.

Originality/value

In contrast with the existing static approach towards studying vendor's capabilities in outsourcing, the paper's findings show that vendors use different mixes of capabilities throughout the outsourcing process. The authors have been able to show how those capability mixes are formed. In addition, it was found that relationship management is an important capability for consideration when studying and practicing manufacturing outsourcing.
An interview with Terry Hill, Emeritus Fellow at the University of Oxford, UK
Authors: Brown Steve
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The aim of this series of papers is to offer key insights from eminent professors or practitioners within the field of Operations Management. This is the first of a series of interviews with “Operations Masters” and future contributions will include a range of inputs from manufacturing and services, private and public sectors. This series will provide an important contribution to the strategic importance of operations management in a range of settings.

Design/methodology/approach

An interview with Professor Terry Hill, Emeritus Fellow at the University of Oxford, UK and a leading international figure in the field of operations management and operations strategy, conducted by Professor Steve Brown, Editor‐in‐Chief of International Journal of Operations & Production Management.

Findings

Terry Hill explains that his motive when writing his seminal book Manufacturing Strategy in 1985, which built on the work of Wickham Skinner, was to fill the gaps in both the language and concepts that comprise operations strategy, which would enable operations executives to exercise their strategic roles more fully. He goes on to describe the challenges that still exist in getting operations strategy onto the agenda in most companies and in the classroom. Finally Terry Hill makes recommendations for research which would help to elevate the strategic importance of operations.

Originality/value

Professor Terry Hill is a leading international figure in the field of operations management and operations strategy. In this interview he offers many insights into how this field has developed, both in business and in academia and highlights some of the challenges faced, particularly if research is to have real value in business.
A meta‐analysis of positive humor in the workplace
Authors: Mesmer‐Magnus Jessica , Glew David J. , Viswesvaran Chockalingam
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The benefits of humor for general well‐being have long been touted. Past empirical research has suggested that some of these benefits also exist in the work domain. However, there is little shared understanding as to the role of humor in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to address two main gaps in the humor literature. First, the authors summarize several challenges researchers face in defining and operationalizing humor, and offer an integrative conceptualization which may be used to consolidate and interpret seemingly disparate research streams. Second, meta‐analysis is used to explore the possibility that positive humor is associated with: employee health (e.g. burnout, health) and work‐related outcomes (e.g. performance, job satisfaction, withdrawal); with perceived supervisor/leader effectiveness (e.g. perceived leader performance, follower approval); and may mitigate the deleterious effects of workplace stress on employee burnout.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors examine the results of prior research using meta‐analysis (k=49,n=8,532) in order to explore humor's potential role in organizational and employee effectiveness.

Findings

Results suggest employee humor is associated with enhanced work performance, satisfaction, workgroup cohesion, health, and coping effectiveness, as well as decreased burnout, stress, and work withdrawal. Supervisor use of humor is associated with enhanced subordinate work performance, satisfaction, perception of supervisor performance, satisfaction with supervisor, and workgroup cohesion, as well as reduced work withdrawal.

Research limitations/implications

Profitable avenues for future research include: clarifying the humor construct and determining how current humor scales tap this construct; exploring the role of negative forms of humor, as they likely have different workplace effects; the role of humor by coworkers; a number of potential moderators of the humor relationships, including type of humor, job level and industry type; and personality correlates of humor use and appreciation.

Practical implications

The authors recommend caution be exercised when attempting to cultivate humor in the workplace, as this may raise legal concerns (e.g. derogatory or sexist humor), but efforts aimed at encouraging self‐directed/coping humor may have the potential to innocuously buffer negative effects of workplace stress.

Originality/value

Although psychologists have long recognized the value of humor for general well‐being, organizational scholars have devoted comparatively little research to exploring benefits of workplace humor. Results underscore benefits of humor for work outcomes, encourage future research, and offer managerial insights on the value of creating a workplace context supportive of positive forms of humor.
Training of temporary workers and the social exchange process
Authors: José Chambel Maria , Castanheira Filipa
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of training to explain affective commitment and exhaustion of temporary agency workers (TAW). There is a general assumption that training relates with a social exchange relationship where employees exchange positive outcomes, not only with inducements received by training but also with the expectation of prospective inducements that will emerge from the fulfilment of promises made by the organization.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 393 Portuguese blue‐collar TAW using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The hypotheses were supported. Training was positively related to workers' affective commitment and negatively to workers' exhaustion. Psychological contract fulfilment partially mediated these relationships.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited due to the nature of the sample (TAW in industrial sector with similar training opportunities as permanent workers) and the lack of longitudinal design. Neither does it provide implications for other types of commitment that may be relevant for TAW (continuance commitment, for example).

Practical implications

An important implication of this research is that employers should not assume that training is an investment without return from TAW. Developmental opportunities, while important to all employees, were positively related to TAW' affective commitment towards the organization and negatively to TAW' exhaustion.

Originality/value

The findings highlighted the importance of training in developing positive employment relationships with TAW and the role of psychological contract fulfilment as a mechanism that contributes to explain such relationship.
Socioeconomic determinants of poverty among urban households in South‐West Nigeria
Authors: Akerele Dare , Momoh Siaka , Adewuyi Samuel A. , Phillip Biola B. , Ashaolu Olumuyiwa F.
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The role of household socio‐economic factors towards achieving enduring poverty interventions especially among urban households of Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. Household socio‐economic factors, among others, have been identified by development practitioners in developing countries as variables which can easily be manipulated through policy levers to improve welfare of the poor. The purpose of this paper is to examine poverty situations among urban households in Ekiti State, Nigeria with emphasis on household socioeconomic characteristics and their associated influence on poverty.

Design/methodology/approach

A multistage sampling approach was used to select 80 households who were interviewed using a well structured questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed through Poverty index and Tobit regression model.

Findings

The study found that 41.0 percent of the households covered by the study were poor and would have to mobilize financial resources up to 45.0 percent of 1 US Dollar (N130) per day (for each household member) to be able to escape poverty. The incidence and depth of were higher among female headed households with values 0.26 and 0.43, respectively. The same pattern was also found among households with larger number of dependants with values ranging from 0.74 to 1.00 for incidence of poverty and from 0.70 to 0.77 for depth of poverty. Dependency ratio, household assets and educational status of household head, among others, are socio‐economic factors influencing the poverty.

Originality/value

The study recommends, among others, implementation of the new minimum wage scheme, encouragement of the universal basic education and adult education programmes, employment generations, family planning measures, and a well focused gender specific interventions for poverty reduction.
An analysis of the interdependence of demographic factors, labour effort and economic growth in Ireland
Authors: Doran Justin
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effects of a declining birth rate and an increasing old age‐population ratio on Ireland's economic output.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper utilises data on the birth rate, old‐age population ratio, economic output and labour effort of the Irish economy to estimate a vector‐autoregressive model. The results of this model are then analysed to test for the presence of Granger causality among these variables. In doing so it is possible to assess whether there are statistically significant causal relationships existing among these factors. Subsequently, impulse response functions are derived from this model in order to assess the magnitude of the causal relationships.

Findings

The results suggest that declining fertility rates and increases in the old‐age dependency ratio have a significant impact on labour effort and economic output. Labour effort is also found to explain variation in the fertility rate and economic output. Economic output is found to effect labour effort and the fertility rate.

Social implications

The results derived in this paper raise interesting policy implications. It is evident that Ireland's declining birth rate and increasing old‐age population ratio are creating a demographic situation which will have implications for future economic growth. Policies need to be put in place to mitigate the negative effects these factors will have on Irish growth.

Originality/value

This paper adopts modern econometric techniques to assess the causal relationships which exist between the demographic and economic factors considered. These have not previously been applied to the Irish situation. In doing this, this paper provides an important insight into the changing dynamics of the Irish economy.
My years with B2B marketing in India: reflections and learnings from a journey of 40 years
Authors: Sarin Sharad
Published: February 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to review the author's association with the discipline of business‐to‐business (B2B) marketing for nearly 40 years. Of these, 34 were spent teaching in a postgraduate institute, i.e. the Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur, India.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is organized around nine lenses for reflection. These provide a comprehensive coverage of the author's experiences. The paper critically evaluates the author's performance as a B2B marketing instructor, researcher, trainer and consultant. It examines the evolution of B2B markets and marketing in India and traces the symbiotic relationship between academics and practice.

Findings

The reflection reveals that B2B marketing practices have benefited and improved a great deal in India due to interventions from academia. However, the most disturbing aspect of B2B marketing practices in India is all‐pervasive corruption. There seems to be no solution for it.

Practical implications

An important audience for this paper is young faculty members. It is hoped the paper will be able to motivate them for more research and publications. The challenge for B2B marketing is to fuel the declining interest in the discipline. The B2B marketing discipline in India needs more faculty members, and substantial home‐grown research articles and cases.

Originality/value

The paper illustrates that the Indian B2B scenario has changed a great deal: the impact of competition and globalisation has transformed B2B marketing practices beyond recognition.