bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Maximizing effectiveness in team sports: the personal audit tool
Authors: Promise Opute Abdullah
Published: February 2012

Purpose

This conceptual paper aims to offer a theoretical contribution that explicates the “blind spot” cultural diversity and reward diversity team conflict contingencies, and personal audit as a mechanism for managing the consequences.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper suggests a framework for analysing and managing diversity (cultural and reward) driven team conflicts. Given the theoretical foundation, personal audit among team members is recommended as a tool for managing the consequences of such conflict factors.

Findings

This paper underlines the team building intervention utility for team effectiveness. It reinforces theoretical foundation that highlights conflict as a determinant of team effectiveness, and reviews two diversity dimensions of team conflicts. Finally, it suggests and explains an “active learning” personal audit model for achieving the conceptualised team effectiveness perspective.

Practical implications

The paper highlights critical but usually overlooked team conflict intricacies in football team management. This framework offers practical relevance in enabling understanding of “attitudes and behaviours” of team members and human resource management in football marketing. Managers would benefit from this perspective and improve team effectiveness, performance and organisation's performance.

Originality/value

The paper offers valuable conceptual insight for development, one that serves the interest of management of football clubs and academia.
The impact of organizational culture on the relationship between shared leadership and team proactivity
Authors: Erkutlu Hakan
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether organizational culture moderates the relationship between shared leadership and team proactive behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 21 commercial banks in Turkey that had formally implemented work teams. The study used data obtained from 420 team members. Moderated hierarchical regression was used to examine the moderating role of organizational culture on the shared leadership and team proactive behavior relationship.

Findings

Shared leadership within a work team was positively related to team proactive behavior. The relationship of shared leadership with team proactivity is stronger in organizations with higher level of supportive culture.

Research limitations/implications

A practical implication of these results for leaders of management teams is that sharing some leadership roles and responsibilities within their teams with other members may have positive effects for the proactivity of the team as well as the satisfaction of the team members. The generalizability of the results may be limited by sources of funding of the banks studied and demographic factors such as participants' age, gender and organizational tenure.

Originality/value

The use of organizational culture as a moderator on this link is unprecedented. Although shared leadership within teams may increase job demands on members and require them to take on new roles, it seems to have positive effects on perceptions of their jobs. In addition, the extent to which an organization encourages a supportive culture makes a difference in the relationship of shared leadership with team proactivity. Finally, using a large number of samples from Turkish banking sector adds to the growing literature examining shared leadership in non‐Western settings.
Postponement and supply chain structure: cases from the textile and apparel industry
Authors: Chaudhry Hassan , Hodge George
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the applications of postponement strategy in the textile and apparel industry, with a particular focus on the supply chain structure, relationships and enabling activities supporting postponement strategy across the supply chain.

Design/methodology/approach

For this research, a case study approach, supported by structured interviews, was adopted. The purpose was to explore the application of postponement with the objective of gathering considerable data from an organization or multiple organizations to develop the clearest possible picture of the phenomenon.

Findings

The nature of product, downstream demand and the supply chain structure impacts the choice of postponement strategy. Companies operating with manufacturing and logistics postponement share data across their supply chain extensively, while companies adopting purchasing postponement work towards enhancing suppliers’ capabilities and fostering relationships across their supply chains.

Research limitations/implications

The case study method limitations include lack of rigor and statistical generalization, small sample size and convenience sampling and lack of establishment of causal relationship. However a thorough study design and process can make case‐based research more rigorous and reliable, but caution still needs to be exercised while applying findings on differing scenarios.

Originality/value

The case studies depict the application of postponement and the enabling supply chain structures. Previous studies have either looked on the organizational perspective or supply chain perspective with regards to the power and dependence attributes. These cases look at the interaction routines and structures among the supply chains.
An examination of Florida policies on force continuums
Authors: Hough Richard M. , Tatum Kimberly M.
Published: February 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to examine Florida law enforcement agency policies to determine whether they contain language from the International Associations of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Model Policy on use of force. Consistency of policy content is instructive.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for this study include written policies of Florida law enforcement agencies (n=160) which were collected through e‐mail requests to all agencies in the state (n=323). Content analysis was used to analyze the policies.

Findings

Findings suggest that 74 percent of all agencies include language that refers to a use of force continuum, including 90 percent of sheriffs' offices and 70 percent of police departments.

Research limitations/implications

The research suggests that the majority of agencies continue to include a use of force continuum. Only Florida agencies were surveyed, and the response rate was 50 percent.

Practical implications

The research suggests that a majority of agencies adhere to the principle that clear use of force policies can reduce liability concerns, and shows that written policies can be effective training tools.

Social implications

Use of force remains the chief public concern in law enforcement's discretionary actions. Therefore, agencies must address use of force issues comprehensively.

Originality/value

There is no research that examines the content of current use of force policies. This paper adds to the literature on force policy and examines such policies in the nation's fourth largest state. The paper suggests areas for future research and offers a normative model of a force policy.
The alcohol‐related workload of patrol officers
Authors: Myrstol Brad A.
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to detail the prevalence and nature of patrol officers' alcohol‐related workload.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic social observation (SSO) methodology was used to collect data pertaining to the alcohol‐related activities and encounters of patrol officers. A fully randomized sampling procedure was used to select the days, times, and geographic areas of observation sessions. Observational data were obtained for 65 separate observations sessions ‐ totaling approximately 650 hours, 480 police‐citizen encounters, with 766 citizens, and 2,009 non‐encounter activities.

Findings

Approximately 26 percent of encounters and 10 percent of non‐encounter activities involved citizen alcohol use. Roughly 15 percent of patrol officer time is dedicated to alcohol‐related encounters and their associated activities. Alcohol‐related encounters were of a substantively different type than those in which there was no alcohol involvement. In sum, alcohol‐related encounters were more likely to involve a crime, occur in emotionally volatile situations, elicit a multiple‐officer response, and to take place out of the public sphere.

Practical implications

The paper demonstrates the utility of police‐researcher collaboration. The findings can make a direct contribution to academy and in‐service training.

Originality/value

Unlike previous SSO studies, this research used data obtained from a representative sample of police patrols. The use of a SSO protocol provides a level of detail about the nature of police‐citizen interactions within the context of alcohol‐related encounters not previously seen in the literature.
A case study on localising foresight in South Africa: using foresight in the context of local government participatory planning
Authors: Karuri‐Sebina Geci , Rosenzweig Lee
Published: February 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to present the process and results of a local‐level South African action research project on introducing foresight methods into a local government planning process.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper outlines the evolutionary process followed, and documents the practical insights gained and lessons learnt in relation to the concept of pro‐poor foresight.

Findings

Positive outcomes in the King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) foresight process included a high level of stakeholder engagement and senior management buy‐in, supported by positive evaluations by diverse participants. The learning was subsequently incorporated into long‐term development plans and proposals such as the ten‐year development plan for the region. The experience yielded key lessons about the recruitment of participants, policy alignment, communication in diversity, active participation, facilitation as learning, the influence of technical inputs, and the importance of integration.

Research limitations/implications

Further academic research could build upon this case study to investigate longer‐term impacts of the initiative in KSD, tracking replications and adaptations of the KSD experiment, comparative research between contexts where foresight is used and where it is not in development policy and planning processes, enquiry into how foresight might be formally incorporated in the routine development policy and planning processes of municipalities, and undertaking more theoretical enquiry on the “localising foresight” concept and experience, including the development of guiding criteria and indicators for procedural and outcome success.

Practical implications

The case focuses on learning in a developing world context where foresight is less advanced than in other contexts. The results of the exercise in KSD suggest that it is possible to embed pro‐poor foresight in a large‐scale policy programme to enhance the resilience of communities, supported by appropriate plans and budgets.

Social implications

The long‐term nature of foresight can create a “safe” platform for an otherwise difficult engagement, as is this case where three levels of government and various segments of civil society are to be beneficially engaged.

Originality/value

This was a unique action research project in South Africa, where foresight has tended to be mainly at a top or central level – that being the level of corporate executives, national government, or national‐level stakeholders.
Assessing immediate learning impacts of large foresight processes
Authors: Schartinger Doris , Wilhelmer Doris , Holste Dirk , Kubeczko Klaus
Published: February 2012

Purpose

Foresight often encompasses participative approaches for decision making. This paper aims to give a first overview of the authors’ research on immediate learning and networking in the context of foresight. The paper seeks to introduce a practical concept for an accompanying social research of a participatory foresight process for empirically identifying and mapping impacts; and to present empirical results from the study of a specific foresight process.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors apply three approaches to analyze impacts. Accordingly data were gathered in moderated workshops for process analysis; structured telephone interviews for qualitative analysis; and surveys for social network analysis.

Findings

The accompanying social research produced direct insights on experiences and knowledge acquisition of participants in a large, complex foresight process, as well as a measurable increase of personal ties in this process. This research shows that the perception of the wider spectrum of actors in a social system, as well as their rationales and approaches, are one identifiable and crucial achievement of participative foresight processes.

Research limitations/implications

This research focuses on immediate learning impacts, while additional impacts of mid‐ or longer‐term scales were not captured in this study. Accompanying social research (e.g. longitudinal studies) of broader scale would be beneficial to foresight research and process design.

Originality/value

The authors use a specific foresight process to analyze its immediate impacts. They introduce and demonstrate ways forward to use practical concepts for impact description, empirical data acquisition, and how it relates to underlying process design. The results are relevant for foresight project managers, process counselors and accompanying social research.
Digitized government best practices in country web sites from 2003 to 2008
Authors: Calista Donald J. , Melitski James
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine best practices of worldwide country web sites, evaluated in 2003, 2005 and 2008 by the United Nations (UN).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper employs statistical analysis to determine whether the electronic innovation (digitized government) exhibits linear (unitary) or curvilinear (S‐type) processes in relation to four theories of information technology (IT) and social change.

Findings

The findings are bifurcated between 2003 and 2008. In the aggregate (highest scores), worldwide countries are responding to the value‐added qualities of digitized government, defined as the transactions of e‐government and the interactions of e‐governance. Yet, the disaggregate (first adopter) best practices data reveal significant downward trends between those survey years, especially, among Organization for Economic Cooperation (OECD) countries. The findings indicate that neither electronic dimension predicts the other's course. They also suggest that dual curvilinear processes explain e‐government and e‐governance.

Research limitations/implications

It is customary to employ random samples to verify the integrity of significance tests. In this research, however, the study population is a given (all UN members). The study universe (the whole subset) – that represents countries with the largest number of electronic offerings – and the study sample (the best practices subset) are virtually the same. It is not possible to attribute any of the outcomes to a sampling error (miscalculation). Nor is it likely to confuse conflating (mistaking) sample size and effect size (relationship strength) of the distributions.

Originality/value

Longitudinal (over time) studies of country web site best practices are almost non‐existent. Support for a dual curvilinear relationship between e‐government (transactions) and e‐governance (interactions) opens the way for a fuller treatment of digitized government best practices. Questioning the premise that a sustained electronic (democratizing) transformation is underway, notably, among first adopters is a compelling and critical outcome.
Architectural support for business intelligence: a push‐pull mechanism
Authors: Hua Jing‐Shiuan , Huang Shi‐Ming , Yen David C.
Published: February 2012

Purpose

As business globalisation and internet usage continue to grow, the internet‐based version of data warehouse systems (DWS) is expected to improve traditional DWS. However applying the web‐based interfaces to client‐server‐based DWS structures may cause problems such as inflexibility, inefficiency, loss of scalability, and threats to security. These arise due to the complexity of manipulation and management of heterogeneous data with various categories of decisional tasks. This paper seeks to develop a flexible mechanism by applying Extensible Markup Language as a foundation for an internet‐based DWS and to overcome the weaknesses of solely client‐server‐based DWS architecture.

Design/methodology/approach

For better control and security the proposed architecture utilises an embedded pull‐push mechanism to propagate the distributed decision information. This research also justifies the feasibility of the proposed mechanism by implementing a prototype, evaluating its performance, and conducting a real business case study.

Findings

The results indicate that the mechanism can not only improve DWS scalability and efficiency, but also enhance security.

Originality/value

The proposed architecture provides a support mechanism for business intelligence to efficiently and flexibly help companies make the right decisions in real time, grasp business opportunities and gain competitive advantage.
The emotional profiles triangle: working with leaders under pressure
Authors: Sandler Catherine
Published: February 2012

Purpose

This article aims to use a new model and three case studies to illustrate what takes place when the emotional pressures on leaders become too great. The author seeks to argue that a level of anxiety is triggered that tips them into unskillful or dysfunctional behavior. Even the most seasoned leaders are prey to this process, which has potentially destructive and far‐reaching consequences for themselves and their organizations. By illustrating how anxious leaders can be helped to retain or regain their most effective selves through coaching, the article aims to contribute to best practice in leadership development.

Design/methodology/approach

The emotional profiles triangle (EPT) model emerged from the author's first‐hand experience over 20 years in the field of leadership development. A senior executive coach, she observed a clear pattern among her clients, which showed that when leaders feel anxious or threatened, their behavior changes in one of three specific and consistent ways. The EPT draws on psychodynamic psychology, which emphasizes the importance of emotion in driving behavior, often unconsciously. It also draws on neuroscience which explains the hardwiring that drives the human response to “danger signals”.

Findings

The EPT identifies and describes three emotional profiles, which comprise a related set of functional and dysfunctional leadership behaviors. Through exploring their profile, individual leaders can learn to play to their strengths while managing their anxiety and behavior more effectively. The EPT has been extensively tested since 2009 with coaching clients and boards, and at conferences and on leadership development programs. This article includes three brief case studies that illustrate its application.

Originality/value

This original model has received consistently positive feedback from leaders, coaches and HR professionals. Users have particularly valued its clarity, accessibility and practical value as a development tool.
Transforming business leaders into talent champions
Authors: Ellehuus Christoffer
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to examine how organizations can support their leaders in taking on the challenges of their leadership roles, including how to effectively manage talent on a larger scale as they move up the ranks. The author aims to discuss the findings of a study by Corporate Executive Board (CEB) into the support required to move from being a business leader to a talent champion. This study built upon previous CEB research, which had shown that the way managers manage their teams can have a significant impact on key business outcomes. It aimed to explore practical ways for organizations to support executives in making the leap from managing an individual team to facing the challenge of leading a business unit or business function comprising a broad portfolio of talent effectively.

Design/methodology/approach

In 2009, CEB undertook a 360‐degree survey of more than 8,000 business leaders based in North America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa exploring managers' skills, their knowledge, the proportion of time they spent on tasks related to their role and their attitude towards talent management. The survey was also opened up to their own managers and their direct reports. CEB followed this by interviewing hundreds of heads of HR globally, to determine how involved business leaders are in succession planning and their accountability for talent and business outcomes.

Findings

The research found that there are four distinct types of managers when it comes to talent management, ranging from those who are committed and effective talent managers to those who are neither. The data showed that while strong talent management can raise employee effort levels by 25 per cent above average, less than a fifth of senior executives have the required levels of commitment to talent management alongside the effectiveness in delivering talent management practices required to drive these outcomes.

Practical implications

The research led to three key steps for organizations to take in order to encourage their business leaders to become effective talent managers. They are: forging a closer link between a strategic and business plan and its talent plan; supporting leaders to identify, develop and manage high‐potential employees; and establishing a culture of “soft” accountability practices for talent outcomes such as ranking and publicizing managers' effectiveness at retaining talent. The author concludes with two case studies of organizations supporting leaders in developing leadership skills.

Originality/value

This paper studies how organizations can support their leaders in taking on the challenges of their roles. The research identified four distinct types of managers when it comes to talent management and led to the formulation of three key steps for organizations to take to encourage their leaders to become effective talent managers.
Leadership by design
Authors: Tamkin Penny
Published: February 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to explore how the characteristics of outstanding leaders promote dispersed leadership through the beliefs and experience of leaders in some of the UK's best known organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on in‐depth qualitative interviews with 70+ leaders, interviews with direct reports and interviews with more senior leaders carried out between 2008 and 2010, the paper contrasts the approaches to leadership that distinguish high performing leaders from their peers and how these approaches create the climate for devolved leadership.

Findings

The paper highlights the key differences that distinguish outstanding leaders and explores how these differences create climates of empowerment that enable dispersed and devolved leadership to flourish. The paper argues that devolved leadership is not a haphazard process but involves leaders in deliberately creating the right conditions.

Practical implications

The paper presents the core characteristics of outstanding leaders and how they can not only produce better performing organizations, but also create more robust organizations with more capable, autonomous and innovative employees to help identify and develop leadership populations.

Originality/value

There is a clash between a focus on the leader and a concern for dispersed leadership in organizations. They seem to be opposing views of leadership – one focused on the individual, the other the collective. This paper assimilates these two perspectives and shows how a certain style of leader embeds leadership.
A unified model for integral city design
Authors: Ferguson Bruce K.
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the coherent and purposeful design of dense urban districts, by presenting a unified model for the multifunctional nature of urban streets, and illustrating its application in urban design.

Design/methodology/approach

Urban technologies and design analyses developed in recent years make a radical combination of environmental and human functions possible in compact urban districts. With these tools in hand, it is possible to organize our understanding of the components of street design.

Findings

The kind of street that can be constructed today can be considered an ecosystem in two senses: first, in the conventional sense of a biophysical landscape which participates in rain, sun, and living things; second, in the sense of a resident human community that evolves as does an ecosystem, through interacting of beings with each other and with their environment. Both human and natural systems develop with the same dynamic attributes of openness, self‐regulation, storage, and diversity; from these come the systems’ self‐maintenance, resilience, and adaptation. This is a unified model that encompasses a street's multiple functions and their connections to transportation, land use, and global environmental processes.

Practical implications

Illustrations are given of design practice applying this type of model by articulating and integrating rain gardens, permeable pavements, trees, pedestrian behavior settings, vehicular movements, and land use connections, in integrated forms in the midst of dense urban structures.

Originality/value

In contrast with previously proposed models of street design, the present model is functionally specific and complete, and applicable to streets with diverse features and contexts. With it there need not be antagonism, as there has been in the past, between transportation and the local human community, nor between nature and human welfare.
Social benefits of urban green space
Authors: Zhou Xiaolu , Parves Rana Masud
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the topic “urban green space” focusing on its social benefits and measure techniques in terms of monetary value and accessibility. It suggests potential research direction by using an integrated valuation and measurement framework, and concludes that urban green space valuation in the providers’ perspective as well as accessibility analysis in the consumers’ perspective are useful tools that provide significant measure techniques in urban green space planning.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a systematic approach to build up a conceptual framework that quantifies social benefits of green space from provider and consumer perspectives. The literature review indicates some limitations of existing techniques of valuation and accessibility analyses, which entails an integrated model of measurements.

Findings

The paper explores social benefits of urban green space, which includes recreational opportunities, aesthetic enjoyments, adjusting psychological well‐being and physical health, enhancing social ties, and providing educational opportunities. To analyze existing evaluation and measure techniques of urban green space, the paper points out that a single measurement only evaluates certain aspects of urban green space, which may not always be suitable to comprehensively assess social benefits from both providers’ and consumers’ perspectives. Considering this limitation, the paper offers an integrated model to measure urban green space that may deal with current limitations.

Originality/value

The originality of the study resides in designing an integrated model including valuation and measure techniques. It certainly offers an important avenue to evaluate social benefits of urban green space.
A Walzerian approach to ICTs and the good life
Authors: Wong Pak‐Hang
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce an interpretive approach to examining the relation between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the good life, based on Michael Walzer's view of (connected) social criticism.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a discussion of Michael Walzer's view of social criticism, an interpretive approach to normative analysis of ICTs and the good life is introduced. The paper also offers an additional argument for the indispensability of prudential appraisals of ICTs in normative analysis of ICTs and the good life, which in turn strengthens the basis for the Walzerian approach proposed in the paper.

Findings

It is argued that an interpretive approach to normative analysis of ICTs and the good life, i.e. the Walzerian approach, is as viable as – if not superior to – a theory‐driven approach. It is also argued that actual appraisals of ICTs and the good life must be taken into account in the normative analysis.

Originality/value

It is only recently that “the good life” has become more visible in normative analysis of ICTs. This paper continues this relatively new line of research and proposes an alternative approach – as opposed to a theory‐driven approach – to this research programme.
Affordable housing design with application of vernacular architecture in Kish Island, Iran
Authors: Afshar Ali , Alaghbari Wa'el , Salleh Elias , Salim Azizah
Published: February 2012

Purpose

Kish Island is one of the most attractive tourism destinations in Iran and it is becoming an increasingly popular destination for tourism investment. Many people have recently migrated to the island. Thus, one of the housing policies for the island is to maximize the efficiency of residential lands, particularly in providing affordable housing for low‐income people. The purpose of this study is to develop social, economical and architectural solutions for affordable housing design and overcome related problems using adapted vernacular solutions.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology of this study involved identifying the research problem, followed by formatting the research framework, reviewing the comprehensive literature and documenting the concepts of affordable housing and vernacular architecture. Therefore, an affordable house design methodology was used to develop vernacular architecture to minimize cost and environmental impacts, while maximizing the social acceptability in housing projects for low‐income earners in Kish Island. Section A in Mir Mohanna, which is the most important residential centre for the low‐income people, was used as the study area in this research.

Findings

The results of this study clarified that the houses in Section A in Mir Mohanna did not meet the criteria of affordable housing and people's needs. Hence, some suggestions for affordable housing would certainly contribute towards formulating all these, including housing policy to be implemented on Kish Island.

Originality/value

The current paper was an attempt to find strategies for guiding the appropriate process of developing affordable housing on the basis of vernacular architecture for the country and other similar places. It is hoped that the recommendations might increase more regulated housing development and housing policies on Kish Island.
Quality models in industrial and engineering educational scenarios: a view from literature
Authors: Thandapani Dasarathan , Gopalakrishnan K. , Devadasan S.R. , Sreenivasa C.G. , Murugesh R.
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report a literature review which was conducted to trace the quality journeys occurring in industrial and educational scenarios.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the literature was reviewed to trace the efforts made to implement quality models in industrial scenarios. Quality models include International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 9000 certification, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA), Deming Prize and European Quality Award (EQA). Next, the literature was reviewed to trace the quality journey being undertaken in an engineering educational scenario.

Findings

Modern Engineering Educational Institutions (EEIs) are required to first accredit their programs by following Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)‐based stipulations. Then, these EEIs have to strive to implement quality models.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the low volume of research conducted, relatively very few papers dealing with ABET and quality models could be reviewed. However, the exhaustive review of most of these papers has overcome this limitation.

Practical implications

First, modern EEIs should gain accreditation to ABET and then strive to obtain quality models. This endeavour would make fresh engineers employable in industrial scenarios.

Originality/value

It appears that no researcher has so far attempted to examine the implementation of quality models in an engineering educational scenario. In this context, the results of the literature review reported in this paper could be utilized while implementing quality models in EEIs via ABET‐based accredited programs.
Prioritizing service attributes for quality up‐gradation of Indian railway stations
Authors: Gupta Sumana , Datta Rabindranath
Published: February 2012

Purpose

With an objective to measure the quality of service provided at Indian railway stations, the purpose of this paper is to propose a method that indicates the level of importance and satisfaction which other known methods of service quality assessment do not clearly provide. In total, six attributes related to passenger services of an Indian railway station are considered. Prioritization of the attributes for improvement of service quality can be decided based on the proposed method.

Design/methodology/approach

The Law of Categorical Judgment is used to determine levels of importance and levels of satisfaction of disaggregated passenger groups and passengers as a whole. The law is applied to the responses obtained, using a Likert scale, to the six attributes through random passenger survey of different groups at Howrah Railway Station, a major railway terminal in eastern India. The objective is to check the difference in importance levels and satisfaction levels and then prioritize for improvement accordingly.

Findings

The findings are based on the responses of passengers to the questions designed for the purpose of assessing the service quality based on six different attributes. Analysis of results shows that both the levels of importance, as well as satisfaction, can be assessed by the Law of Categorical Judgment. The results indicate that passengers are mostly dissatisfied with “extent of waiting”; thereafter, there is a desire for further improvement of the “security” system. The “travel associated facilities” such as Automated Teller Machine and use of cashless facilities at ticket counters; and “passenger amenities” such as station furniture and refreshment room have also been ranked higher in terms of need for improvements.

Research limitations/implications

The work excludes some of the intangible service aspects such as behaviour, friendliness, managerial skills, etc.

Originality/value

The designed methodology helps in making decisions on levels of service, which is a better indicator of the service quality, particularly for public services such as railway stations.
A comparison and usage overview of business excellence models
Authors: Sampaio Paulo , Saraiva Pedro , Monteiro Ana
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a comparative analysis and usage overview of the most common business excellence models: the European Foundation for Quality Management Model, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Model, the Deming Prize Model and the Iberoamerican Model for Excellence in Management.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to achieve such goals, the authors have performed a set of statistical analysis over public data sets, related to each one of the analyzed models, as well as making a comparative analysis of the model contents.

Findings

The different business excellence models do share a similar set of principles and criteria. However, different adoption patterns have been found across regions of the globe, regarding the use of such business excellence models over the last decades.

Originality/value

As far as the authors were able to find out, based on the literature review carried out, this is the first time that a set of statistical data results, related to the worldwide implementation of business excellence models, is being presented for publication.
Vulnerability of rural houses to cyclonic wind
Authors: Goyal Pradeep K. , Datta T.K. , Vijay V.K.
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a method for evaluating vulnerability of rural houses to cyclonic wind for countries where systematic documentation and analysis of damage data are inadequate. The effects of important parameters such as the ratio of non‐engineered to semi‐engineered houses, types of houses like old, new, etc. wind speed and damage states on the overall probability of failure are investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic procedure is presented for estimating the vulnerability of a cluster of rural houses to cyclones by performing a fragility analysis for different predefined damage states. The method is illustrated with the help of an example in which a hundred rural houses are considered in a region.

Findings

The results of the study show that the ratio (ns) has significant effect on the probability of failure for the middle range of the percentile value. The number of different types of houses does not have significant effect on the probability of failure and for high value of ns, a large number of houses have nearly the same probability of failure.

Originality/value

The method is useful in finding an initial estimate of the overall probability of failure of a cluster of houses for different damage states and accordingly, in deciding the optimal allocation of resources for cyclone disaster mitigation.
Knowledge assimilation and exploitation
Authors: Han Zhang , Erming Xu
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors impacting corporate knowledge's assimilation and exploitation; to posit the relationship between assimilation and exploitation, and build up a research model to compare the differences of these relationships in companies with different ownership identities.

Design/methodology/approach

Structure equation model.

Findings

The paper finds that the function of communicational capability and social capital on knowledge's assimilation and exploitation is impacted by ownership identity.

Practical implications

In China, persons making decisions on innovation strategy of knowledge should consider the ownership identity.

Originality/value

The paper shows that the institutional factor indeed impacts knowledge transfer and innovation. Social capital and communicational capability can reduce the obstacles to knowledge's capture and diffusion, however, the institutional distance will change their function's direction and degree.
Impacts of other comprehensive income disclosure on earnings management
Authors: Lin Wang , Rong Men
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to verify whether the disclosure of other comprehensive income has effectively improved the transparency of corporate disclosure and thus effectively reduced earnings management.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 391 valid samples are selected from more than 860 listed companies of Shanghai A shares in 2009, excluding finance and insurance categories, those with incomplete data and samples whose other comprehensive income is zero.

Findings

The results show that other comprehensive income has played an important role in all comprehensive income and significantly affected earnings management. The disclosure of other comprehensive income is negatively related to earnings management, that is, disclosure of other comprehensive income can curb earnings management to some extent in order to make the public better understand the performance of a given company.

Research limitations/implications

Owing to the short period of time for the issuance of Accounting Standards No. 3, there are fewer comparable data. Besides, only companies from Shanghai A shares during 2009 are surveyed without Shenzhen Share. Finally, there should be a dialectic and mutual relation between earnings management and other comprehensive income.

Practical implications

The paper's findings suggest that it is necessary to carry out the disclosure to improve the transparency of the accounting information, so as to curb earnings management and improve earnings quality to some extent, which provides valuable reference for the government's decision.

Originality/value

Finance [2009] 8 on the issuance of Accounting Standards No. 3 issued by Ministry of Finance Republic of China in June 2009 explained that all listed companies are required to disclose “comprehensive income” and “other comprehensive income” under the item “earnings per share” in the income statement. Based on the 2009 annual report of listed companies, the paper elaborates descriptive statistics related to the composition of other comprehensive income. Empirical research is conducted to verify the effect of the new policy. In a word, the paper selects a big number of samples to conduct the study in order to make more valuable reference.
Policy watch
Authors: Lawton‐Smith Simon
Published: February 2012

Purpose

This paper seeks to review recent and forthcoming developments in mental health policy across the UK.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper summarises and comments on recent policy documents and initiatives.

Findings

The paper suggests how changes to policy might impact on mental health services.

Originality/value

The paper updates knowledge of recent and forthcoming mental health policy.
A helping hand: taking peer support into the 21st century
Authors: Faulkner Alison , Basset Thurstine
Published: February 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review current perspectives on peer support in mental health informed by service user perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is informed by a literature review and consultations with five groups of service users engaged in different forms of peer support.

Findings

The findings suggest that there are many benefits to service users from engaging in peer support. These include: shared identity; development and sharing of skills; increased confidence; improved mental health and wellbeing; and the potential for challenging stigma and discrimination. Most difficulties encountered were associated with “intentional peer support”, where service users are employed as peer support workers – these included role conflict, setting boundaries, and ensuring adequate training and support. A key theme that divided opinion was the degree to which peer support should be “professionalised” as part of statutory services.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that it is vital to acknowledge the different views about peer support that arise in different service user and voluntary sector groups: views about such core issues as payment, equality, and professionalisation. Ultimately, peer support arises from people wanting to create their own support networks; any plans to formalise it from within statutory services need to acknowledge that pre‐existing grassroots expertise.

Originality/value

Recent developments mean that peer support, which originated from the grassroots of service user experience, has taken a new direction through becoming incorporated into statutory services. This paper looks at some of the benefits and pitfalls of these developments informed by the views of service users.
Corruption by design? L'ArtiMarché's struggles in Russia
Authors: Müller Urs
Published: February 2012

Subject area

Business ethics/corporate social responsibility.

Study level/applicability

From undergrad to executive education (the case series has been successfully used with MBA students and executives).

Case overview

The case series starts by describing how a fictitious company (called L'ArtiMarché) faced an individual corruption issue after entering the Russian market. After describing the company's creative reaction, the case shows that corruption issues can easily reoccur and might require a more systematic approach of L'ArtiMarché to fight corruption within the company and in the society at large.

Expected learning outcomes

Responding/reacting to (external) corruption; governance and compliance systems to prevent corruption; and contribution of companies to the development of the social/political/moral framework of their own operation.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes.
The differences in spiritual health between non‐depressed and depressed nurses
Authors: Hsiao Ya‐Chu , Wu Hsiu‐Fang , Chien Li‐Yu , Chiang Chih‐Ming , Hung Yun‐Hsiu , Peng Pi‐Hui
Published: February 2012

Aims and objectives.  The aim of this study was to compare the differences in spiritual health between depressed and non‐depressed nurses.

Background.  Previous studies have revealed that spirituality can buffer emotional pressure and maintain health, even in cases of depression. Nurses may have a tendency to develop depression; however, the relationship between depression and spirituality in nurses has been investigated only rarely.

Design.  A correlational study.

Methods.  The study was conducted using a convenience sample of 283 nurses who worked at a local hospital in northern Taiwan. We used a structured, self‐administered questionnaire to obtain the data. This questionnaire included a spiritual health scale, the Beck Depression Inventory and personal data. The quantitative data were analysed using the t‐test, one‐way analysis of variance and logistic regression.

Results.  All the participants were women, and 22·6% of the participants were ascertained to have depression. The non‐depressed group had a higher average score for the different domains of the spiritual health scale than the depressed group. When personal and job‐related variables were controlled, spirituality was a significant explanatory variable for depression.

Conclusions.  The spiritual health of the non‐depressed nurses was better than that of the depressed nurses. The result was consistent with the previous studies on other populations.

Relevance to clinical practice.  The spiritual health and depression of nurses should be paid attention by nursing administrators. Spiritual promoting programme in preventing depression should be examined in future researches.