bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Women Special Agents in Charge: the first generation
Authors: Moses Schulz Dorothy
Published: November 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide findings of an exploratory study of Special Agents in Charge (SACs) in a variety of federal law enforcement agencies and presents summary descriptions, including demographics and career paths of female agents.

Design/methodology/approach

Incumbent SACs, reached with assistance from law enforcement organizations and through snowball techniques, anonymously completed questionnaires that were mailed to each individually. This methodology provided a snapshot in time of the first generation of women to have reached the rank of SAC.

Findings

The findings suggest that women are moving up the ranks of federal agencies even while their overall percentages of employment have become somewhat static. Regardless of type or size of federal agency, there are a number of common career paths and the ages and racial demographics of the women are also similar across agencies.

Practical implications

As federal agency recruitment of women seems to have stagnated, a portrait of women who have reached middle management may provide insight into the obstacles women face in these agencies and also into how some women have overcome these obstacles.

Originality/value

The findings are derived from the first ever study of women SACs. In addition to providing a snapshot of incumbent women, it will provide baseline data for later studies of future generations of women who move up in the ranks of federal law enforcement.
Towards the unification of policing innovations under community policing
Authors: Scheider Matthew C. , Chapman Robert , Schapiro Amy
Published: November 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how various policing innovations, including problem‐oriented policing, broken windows, intelligence‐led policing, Compstat, third‐party policing, and hot spots, could be integrated into the community policing philosophy.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a definition of community policing and individually examines each policing innovation to determine how they fit within the community policing philosophy.

Findings

The findings suggest that various policing innovations are wholly compatible with the community policing philosophy and that incorporating these innovations into community policing may improve their overall utility and the likelihood of their adoption.

Research limitations/implications

The paper highlights the need for new ideas in policing to be built into existing policing innovations rather than developed in isolation.

Practical implications

The findings have implications for how law enforcement agencies fundamentally approach their work and come to understand and use policing innovations and how they are developed by scholars.

Originality/value

The paper is valuable to scholars and police practitioners because it clarifies the community policing philosophy and unifies various ideas regarding policing under one framework.
Police use of force and the cumulative force factor
Authors: Wolf Ross , Mesloh Charlie , Henych Mark , Thompson L. Frank
Published: November 2009

Purpose

This paper aims to build on and contribute to earlier studies on use of force by the police, and examines both officer and suspect force levels during altercations.

Design/methodology/approach

Prior attempts to study non‐lethal force have only recently begun to examine the multiple levels of force that may be used within a single encounter, advocating the use of a “force factor” approach. This study examines 4,303 “use of force” reports from the two agencies in Florida for a five‐year period.

Findings

Similar to prior studies which utilized data gathered by observation, this current study finds that law enforcement officers are operating at a force deficit; officer levels of force are consistently less than suspect resistance levels.

Research limitations/implications

Data examined through police reports have certain inherent limitations, including the bias of the reporting officer. Analyses of these reports make it impossible for researchers to determine the length of each portion of a conflict. While verbal commands, threats, handcuffing, and takedowns may be important forces to review, they are not well represented in the data collected.

Practical implications

These findings have critical implications for law enforcement by continuing to examine conflicts where police force is utilized, showing the importance of officers to be prepared to use decisive force at the point where verbal techniques and force de‐escalation have failed.

Originality/value

This paper is valuable to scholars and police practitioners because it continues to expand the scholarly review of police use of force, utilizing existing force continua to analyze the data, and taking into account levels of suspect resistance.
The diffusion of accreditation among Florida police agencies
Authors: Doerner William G. , Doerner William M.
Published: November 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the adoption of state accreditation has diffused or spread among Florida municipal police law enforcement agencies.

Design/methodology/approach

The study group consists of all municipal police departments operating continuously in the State of Florida from 1997 through 2006. Independent variables are taken from an annual survey, sponsored by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, to compare agencies that became accredited (n=81) with agencies that did not gain state accreditation (n=189).

Findings

While accredited agencies differ from non‐accredited agencies on a host of indicators at the zero‐order, it does not appear that the state accreditation process itself is responsible for nurturing organizational change. Having received national accreditation is an important predictor of gaining state accreditation.

Research limitations/implications

Instead of looking at organizational details, future researchers might wish to conceive of accreditation as a credentialing process and concentrate on characteristics of agency leaders, especially those who are seeking upward mobility in their professional careers.

Practical implication

State accreditation status has reached only a small portion of the intended audience and appears to have morphed into a credential rather than an actual tool for meaningful reform.

Originality/value

This paper informs accreditation oversight bodies as to who their self‐selected constituents tend to be and which members of the target audience are not being reached.
The influence of business strategy on the decision to outsource human resource activities
Authors: Abdul‐Halim Hasliza , Che‐Ha Norbani , Geare Alan
Published: November 2009

Purpose

This paper seeks to examine whether the decision to outsource human resource (HR) activities and the performance of the HR department are influenced by the particular business strategy espoused by the organisation. Four distinct strategies are considered: quality‐based, proactive, breadth, and reactive.

Design/methodology/approach

The data for the study were obtained from survey responses from 232 organisations, of which 113 were engaged in HR outsourcing.

Findings

The findings suggest that there is a significant relationship between organisations with proactive strategies and the decision to outsource both traditional and transactional HR functions. Breadth strategies demonstrate a negative significant relationship with outsourcing of traditional functions. Outsourcing of both functions has a significant relationship with HR performance – traditional with a positive impact and transactional with a negative impact.

Research limitations/implications

The paper focuses on the perceptions, knowledge and experience of senior HR managers. Therefore there are understandable limitations in respect of generalisation. In addition, the impact of HR outsourcing on the performance of the HR department focuses only on the reduction of the number of HR employees from the department.

Practical implications

The results indicate that HR outsourcing has the potential to empower HR managers, allowing them to focus on strategic activities that add more value to their organisation. Also, the results show that HR reduces actual HR labour costs.

Originality/value

The study applies to a very under‐researched area.
Training programs and performance measurement
Authors: Cifalino Antonella , Baraldi Stefano
Published: November 2009

Purpose

This paper aims to present an exploratory study of the evaluation of training programs, based on a theoretical framework reviewing both the training literature and the strategic performance measurement (SPM) literature. The purpose of the paper is to analyse whether the operational approach (suggested by the training literature) and the strategic approach (suggested by the SPM literature) are actionable and feasible to measure the performance of training programs, and which relationships occur between these approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology supporting the paper is largely oriented to action research. The research project took about 12 months, working with five Italian healthcare organisations in order to develop an actionable system for measuring the performance of selected training programs.

Findings

The results suggest that the operational and the strategic approaches are actionable and feasible to measure the performance of selected training programs; that these approaches are complementary, and not alternative; and that their contextual use is mutually beneficial, because it allows alignment of the evaluation of training programs towards organisational priorities.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations of the paper concern its explorative nature. The paper does not expand its focus from the training programs to the training function, and from the training literature to the strategic human resource literature. Research on these topics may contribute to further analysing the links between training evaluation and SPM systems.

Practical implications

The paper shows the feasibility of a systematic evaluation of selected training programs at an organisational level of analysis, aiming at increasing organisational effectiveness.

Originality/value

The paper suggests the relevance of evaluating training programs according to an SPM framework based on the Balanced Scorecard.
Intellectual capital disclosures in Japanese IPO prospectuses
Authors: Rimmel Gunnar , Nielsen Christian , Yosano Tadanori
Published: November 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to give an indication of the quantity of intellectual capital information in Japanese initial public offering (IPO) prospectuses from all stock exchange listings on the Japan Stock Exchange from 2003.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper applied a disclosure index consisting of 78 items to quantify the amount of information regarding intellectual capital included in the IPO prospectuses of Japanese companies. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test, controlling for technological type of the company (high‐tech/low‐tech), and whether the extent of managerial ownership prior to the IPO, company age and company size influenced disclosure.

Findings

From the analyses conclusions are derived for four hypotheses. The hypotheses “industry differences” (H1), “managerial ownership” (H2) and “company size” (H3) were found not to be significant factors explaining voluntary disclosure of information. The fourth factor, “company age” (H4), did, however, have a significant influence on the extent of disclosure for Japanese companies. Further testing of the Japanese companies regarding age showed a continuing trend.

Originality/value

Although Japan has been strongly associated with the concept of the knowledge society, Japanese studies regarding intellectual capital have been very scarce. No studies, to the best of one's knowledge, have examined the specific disclosure of intellectual capital information included in Japanese IPO prospectuses.
The prospects for satisfactorily measuring and reporting intangibles
Authors: Roslender Robin
Published: November 2009

Purpose

This paper aims to provide an overview of the development of approaches to measuring and reporting on intangibles since the mid‐1990s, and to identify intellectual capital self‐accounts as a possible means of continuing this process in a beneficial way.

Design/methodology/approach

Principally a literature review, the paper provides the opportunity to extend earlier, initial thoughts on the promise of intellectual capital self‐accounts.

Findings

Given the importance of primary intellectual capital (“people”) in the creation of intangibles (secondary intellectual capital), the paper draws attention to the limited role hitherto ascribed to people in reporting on intangibles in particular.

Originality/value

The value of the paper lies principally in the identification of possible content for self‐accounts in the context of brands and health and wellbeing as important intangibles.
An integrated model for business process measurement
Authors: Yen Vincent C.
Published: November 2009

Purpose

Research in the evaluation of business processes (BPs) seems to have missed those of BP modeling techniques. Past studies on evaluations have focused in most cases on a single objective or goal of a BP using quantitative performance measures or qualitative surveys. In this paper, an approach that combines all relevant single purpose measures (relevant to the goals of the BP) into one overall measure is proposed. The overall measure will reflect all stakeholders' perspective and preference ratings on the attributes/criterion of the BP in question. The conceptual model is supported by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology.

Design/methodology/approach

A discussion of factors that might be the root cause of difficulties in defining an appropriate evaluation is given along with a review of major measures used. The synthetic combination of single purpose measures basically follows the AHP, with major stake‐holders represented in defining the relative priority/ranking matrix between criteria of the BP goal.

Findings

The AHP could produce a set of more logical weights for the multiple criteria that are usually associated with a BP goal. These weights are then applied to each single purpose measure in order to come up with the final process score. This process score should represent a fairer rating viewed collectively by all concerned parties of the company. The procedure is practical and easy to apply.

Research limitations/implications

The paper has not been implemented in real world applications; therefore a future work direction is to conduct an actual application and evaluate the feedback from actual implementations.

Practical implications

The procedure utilizes different key criteria measures and stakeholders' preferences to come up with a composite measure. Final measurement outcome obtained in this manner is expected to be more acceptable to all stakeholders.

Originality/value

The paper proposes a new approach to creating a measure of BP based on all relevant single measures derived from the BP goal. The score from the new process measure has a more balanced meaning and therefore may be more valuable than by just relying on a single criterion measure.
Process view and cost management of a new surgery technique in hospital
Authors: Cinquini Lino , Miolo Vitali Paola , Pitzalis Arianna , Campanale Cristina
Published: November 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the potentiality in the application of process analysis and activity‐based costing (ABC) in a healthcare setting to produce usable, useful and correct information on resource consumption and processes. The paper aims to analyze changes applied to the traditional costing model in order to represent the work flow of the organization and the related additional information usable by decision makers at different levels. In particular, the paper is focused on economic analysis related to the introduction of a new surgical technique in healthcare.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical case study is developed in a Tuscan hospital from September 2005 to March 2006, data being collected through interviews to employees and direct observations.

Findings

Several factors are found to be critical in such a process analysis and in an ABC implementation in healthcare. First, the need to ground the development of the model structure on the specific characteristics of the organizational setting and the clinical work performed. Second, a problem of culture and language, because professionals have difficulties in understanding the language of activities, and they cannot accept a model designed to measure their work; therefore, some resistances may occur. Third, the constraint of information; in fact more precise estimation may be limited by the information available, as in this case.

Research limitations/implications

The paper provides a framework for future research. The replication of the methodology in other hospitals, in order to test the validity of the model and to compare results, can be interesting and another can be the analysis of benefits that the application of the system can provide (in terms of improved efficiency) through a longitudinal analysis.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the field study of ABC and process analysis in healthcare. The original contribution of the model lies in the classification of activities in a hierarchy across the organization, which allows a more precise identification of cost driver; and in the “hybrid” nature (a combination of cost centres and activities) of the model. The latter allows one to identify a “full cost” of the patient.
Role of process knowledge in business process improvement methodology: a case study
Authors: Seethamraju Ravi , Marjanovic Olivera
Published: November 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the importance and role of process knowledge in the business process (BP) improvement methodology with the help of a case study.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach takes the form of a literature review that highlights the challenges and issues in the existing BP improvement methodologies. An in‐depth case study that has embarked on a major BP improvement initiative that emphasizes individual and collective process knowledge in a real‐life complex organization is presented.

Findings

The paper confirms that BP improvement is, in fact, a complex, knowledge‐intensive, collaborative process that consists of a set of coordinated, contextualized knowledge management processes. The design of the “to‐be” process in this study is a knowledge co‐creation process that uses collaborative exploration of different scenarios and contexts. Compared with the traditional BP improvement methodologies where the main emphasis is on the design of a new process model, the focus of the methodology employed in this case study is on the process of knowledge co‐creation and transfer.

Research limitations/implications

The paper leads to increased recognition of the knowledge and experience people develop, use and share while modeling, executing, and improving their BPs. It offers anecdotal evidence and general case study research limitations apply.

Practical implications

Practitioners should focus more on key knowledge processes rather than BP models that often obscure the role of individual and collective process knowledge. Rather than investing limited resources in the mapping and modeling of existing processes, practitioners will be able to better serve their organizations if they concentrate on the improvement of the process by tapping the contextualized process knowledge possessed by the individual actors.

Originality/value

In the expanding field of BP management, the study explores the increasing importance of individual and collective process knowledge in process improvement methodologies and provides guidance to user organizations on ways to exploit the value of process knowledge in designing new processes as well as collaborative knowledge sharing and creation process.
Managing requirements in ICT companies
Authors: Mottonen Matti , Belt Pekka , Harkonen Janne , Lin Binshan
Published: November 2009

Purpose

Requirements management has become a challenge for new product development (NPD) as products are getting increasingly complicated and customer segments more fragmented. The purpose of this paper is to provide new ideas for improving requirements management in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative interview study is carried out in the ICT sector to clarify the current challenges in requirements management. The results of the interview study are analysed using a benchmark from the automotive industry. This benchmark is chosen, as the automotive industry is a developed business sector that has streamlined its business processes, including its requirements management.

Findings

The paper shows how ICT can benefit from the experience of the car industry on issues such as managing customer needs throughout the NPD process, overflow of data and communicating requirements with suppliers.

Research limitations/implications

Using another sector as a benchmark is not a straightforward process and results cannot be directly copied. Fresh ideas are, however, obtainable when a well‐developed benchmark is used and results are applied flexibly. Deeper analysis on individual areas indentified here might be interesting topics for further study.

Practical implications

The paper shows that managers in the ICT sector should pay more attention to their requirements management and serving the needs of internal customers. The requirements management of the Japanese automotive industry is a potential source for improvement initiatives.

Originality/value

The paper provides new perspectives for the requirements management of the ICT sector by benchmarking the Japanese automotive industry.
Modelling traditional accounting and modern value‐based performance measures to explain stock market returns in the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE)
Authors: Maditinos Dimitrios I. , Šević Željko , Theriou Nikolaos G.
Published: November 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the explanatory power of two value‐based performance measurement models, Economic Value Added (EVA®) and shareholder value added (SVA), compared with three traditional accounting performance measures: earnings per share (EPS), return on investment (ROI), and return on equity (ROE), in explaining stock market returns in the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses the Easton and Harris formal valuation model and employs both a relative and an incremental information content approach to examine which performance measure best explains stock market returns; and the explanatory power of the pairwise combinations of one value‐based performance measurement model and one traditional accounting performance measure in explaining stock market returns. For this purpose, pooled time‐series, cross‐sectional data of listed companies in the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) over the period 1992‐2001 have been collected and modelled.

Findings

Relative information content tests reveal that stock market returns are more closely associated with EPS than with EVA® or other performance measures. However, incremental information content tests suggest that the pairwise combination of EVA® with EPS increases significantly the explanatory power in explaining stock market returns.

Practical implications

The results suggest that the market participants in the Greek stock market should pay additional attention to EVA® but they should also consider other determinants to develop their investment strategies.

Originality/value

The paper is one of the first studies on the value relevance of traditional accounting (EPS, ROI, and ROE) and value‐based (EVA® and SVA) performance measures in explaining stock market returns in the ASE. The results extend the understanding of the role of EVA® and SVA in explaining stock market returns in the ASE, and, moreover, whether they may affect investors' decisions in a continental European market with market characteristics similar to that of Greece.
How is new information capitalized in asset values? The role of kurtosis
Authors: Guedes José , Andrade e Silva João M.
Published: November 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to further understanding of how new information impacts the market value of financial assets.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a Bayesian approach to asset valuation, whereby investors use signals conveyed by new information to update their estimate of a structural valuation parameter. The underlying distributions – i.e. the distribution of the information signal and the prior distribution of the valuation parameter – are allowed to exhibit a degree of kurtosis greater than that of the normal distribution.

Findings

The revision in asset value as a function of the realization of the information signal is an S‐shaped function (in the local region centred on the zero‐surprise level of the signal), if the distribution of the information signal features excess kurtosis; conversely, if the prior of the valuation parameter features excess kurtosis, the revision in asset value is an inverted S‐shaped function.

Research limitations/implications

The paper generates clear implications with respect to the shape of the function relating the revision in asset value to the realization of the signal only in the local region centred on the zero‐surprise level of the signal.

Practical implications

The paper helps to shed light on the well‐known empirical result that the stock price reaction to earnings' announcements is an S‐shaped function, centred on the zero‐surprise level of reported earnings.

Originality/value

In the financial accounting literature, the paper helps one to understand the role of the distributional assumptions underlying the stock price reaction to earnings' announcements, namely, the role of excess kurtosis both in reported earnings and in the prior of means earnings.
Pride and prejudice in the evaluation of wine?
Authors: Anna Guidry Julie , Babin Barry J. , Graziano William G. , Joel Schneider W.
Published: November 2009

Purpose

The region where a wine is produced is a factor that influences consumers' preferences and price perceptions. For most consumers, a wine from an established place like France would be preferred over a wine from less established place, like Texas. However, a consumer's identity with their home area (not well known for wine) may override such an effect. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to determine whether a wine's geographic origin influences wine preference and price perceptions and, if so, whether identity with a place and/or wine expertise moderate this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 257 students from a Texas university sample and rate two identical wines – yet one is labeled as from France and the other as from Texas. Their identification with Texas and their wine expertise are also measured. Paired sample t‐tests and repeated measures MANOCA are used to analyze the data.

Findings

The paper finds that a wine's country of origin has a strong effect on consumers' preferences and price perceptions. Specifically, consumers prefer the French wine over Texas wine and are willing to pay more for the French wine. Consumers' identification with Texas does not significantly mitigate the effects of country of origin; those who score low on Texas identity as well as those who score high had similar ratings for the wines. Similarly, no moderating effects for wine expertise are found.

Originality/value

This research shows the strong effect of county of origin even when participants actually sample the (identical) wines. It offers value by showing that the identity with a region provides little help in overcoming this effect and that wine producers and regions should consider strategies other than appealing to a consumer's identity with the region.
Wine service marketing, value co‐creation and involvement: research issues
Authors: Hollebeek Linda D. , Brodie Roderick J.
Published: November 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model that examines wine channels typified by differing levels of service orientation, and resulting branding implications based on consumer involvement and value co‐creation properties. Examples of channels characterised by relatively low levels of organisational service provision include supermarket retailing, while higher levels of service orientation are found in channels such as restaurants and wine tourism. The model thus provides a framework for analysis of wine branding across distribution channels characterised by differing levels of service orientation.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review addressing service provision in wine marketing, consumer involvement and needs, value co‐creation and branding is proposed in the paper.

Findings

An integrative conceptual model and associated research issues are derived from a review of relevant literature.

Research implications

The paper provides a research agenda for involvement‐based wine branding across more traditional, external marketing‐oriented channels (e.g. supermarket retailing) and emerging, more interactive/relational wine marketing service sectors (e.g. restaurateurs, tourism).

Originality/value

The paper provides a deeper understanding of wine marketing in growing forms of service‐based wine channels.
Sustainable performance increase and strategic turnaround management: current corporate restructuring experiences in the Romanian market
Authors: Bachmann Christian
Published: November 2009

Purpose

Assuming that “change” is an ongoing, ordinary business condition, this paper seeks to introduce turnaround management as an ongoing management task to secure competitive advantage.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper briefly reviews the impact of market turmoil on successful corporate management with particular reference to the Romanian market. It includes key learning based on structured, qualitative interviews of executives (corporate CEOs and leading corporate banking managers). Building on it, the paper comments pitfalls out of several emprical case studies at Eastern European companies, lost in a deemed “ever‐lasting growth” trap while losing grip over their true roots of competitive advantage. It assumes that turnaround management and sustainability are not mutually exclusive corporate paradigms during times of incisive economic recession.

Findings

Ongoing turnaround management can be a successful key to achieve sustainable corporate performance improvement.

Research limitations/implications

Turnaround refers to multiple stakeholders, market dynamics and corporate culture; hence it differs in different contexts. This might result in a slight limitation to generalizing the findings to other organization types. Replicating analogue research in different market contexts and corporate cultures would be a beneficial follow‐up research pattern.

Practical implications

Practical implications are ongoing turnaround management targets to anticipate corporate crisis. It includes multilateral perspectives (corporate executives' view, organizational support, external influencing forces, other stakeholder perspectives) and operates at different management levels (strategic scenarios, operative scenarios, decision and implementation management, monitoring and adapting). Mere cost reduction based management practices prove insufficient to maintain competitive advantage, even in times of incisive market turmoil.

Originality/value

The paper provides insights on different dimensions of turnaround management and the way it sustainably enhances corporate performance. It distinguishes its view from the frequently reactive and mainly cost‐cutting‐based character of turnaround management in management literature.
Making garden variety creativity a strategic priority
Authors: Mayfield Milton
Published: November 2009

Purpose

This paper aims to outline a process for establishing and implementing strategic priorities to enhance worker garden variety creativity – a type of creativity that improves direct worker outcomes such as enhancing operational efficiencies and flexibility.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents process suggestions that are based on existing research and practical understanding of best practices for improving worker creativity in typical workplace settings.

Findings

The paper finds that organizations need to maximize worker creativity at all organizational levels in order to maintain the flexibility necessary for today's turbulent economic climate. Also, there are concrete steps organizations can take to develop this creativity.

Research limitations/implications

This process is not designed to increase high‐level creativity (such as developing new microchips), and is not appropriate for moving organizations forward in such a direction.

Practical implications

Most organizations are better served by increasing more prosaic outcomes that are improved through garden variety creativity. As such, the vast majority of organizations will benefit by finding ways to improve garden variety creativity.

Originality/value

This paper makes a contribution to the literature in terms of understanding how organizations can strategically focus on worker creativity improvements, and how this focus can be translated into managerial actions.
Successful executive selection in recessionary times
Authors: Reiter Douglas
Published: November 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review successful executive selection strategies in recessionary times.

Design/methodology/approach

The author has spent 32 years in the profession of executive selection and management consultation. The methodology is based on that body of work.

Findings

Successfully acquiring C‐level executives can be more difficult during a recession than upticks in the economy.

Practical implications

Executive selection processes require more rigor in recessions, because the result of bad decisions may be an existential threat to the organization.

Originality/value

The paper provides an analysis of the executive selection process during a recession, with a description of steps to take to increase the likelihood of a successful result.
Human service sector nonprofit organization's social impact
Authors: Kelly Deborah , Lewis Alfred
Published: November 2009

Purpose

Given that most nonprofit organizations are viewed as inefficient and unresponsive, and the survival or growth of the organization is not proof of its ability to improve social conditions, this study aims to examine the nonprofit organization in terms of its ability to be a change agent, reducing needs rather than meeting them and tackling underlying causes of problems. The significance of the social entrepreneur for this study was to provide the definition for the highest possible level of social impact by a human service sector nonprofit organization.

Design/methodology/approach

The research population for this study was composed of 501(c)(3) public charities in the P20 National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) category with annual income between $100,000 and $10,000,000. The NTEE code P20 corresponds to the category human service organizations; nonprofit organizations in this category serve people in the USA with a broad range of social services. The GuideStar database was used to gather information for the sample. The database includes 1.7 million NPs registered in the USA. The data are based on the Internal Revenue Service Form 990 filed annually by all 501(c) organizations with gross receipts of $25,000 or more. The total number of P20 organizations in the GuideStar database in the stated income range was found to be 2971. The total number of responses to the survey was 105, of which 99 were fully completed and usable, representing a response rate of 8.5 percent.

Findings

These findings support conclusion from prior research which defined high impact nonprofit organizations as those who created social change by focusing on the difference they could make in the communities by thinking and acting in new ways to work within the pressures of the environment.

Research limitations/implications

Similar to other studies, this paper concluded that there was no easy measure of tool to effectively assess the performance of nonprofit organizations.

Practical implications

It was found that the human service sector nonprofit organizations in the study adopted more strategic orientation in order to empower those being helped to become independent.

Originality/value

This paper codified human service sector nonprofit organizations into specific categories to measure the impact on the micro and macro environment.
Intrapreneurship: the role of social capital – empirical evidence and proposal of a new model of intrapreneurship and its relationship with social capital
Authors: Monnavarian Abbas , Ashena Mostafa
Published: November 2009

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the role of social capital (SC) (and its dimensions i.e. cognitive and structural) in intrapreneurship by developing a model.

Design/methodology/approach

The study considered SC to examine its impact on intrapreneurship. By using construct validity four factors were examined for intrapreneurship. In this analysis, structural equation modeling was used.

Findings

Findings indicate that there are positive relationships between Sc (and its dimensions i.e. cognitive and structural) and intrapreneurship. This study also shows that structural dimension of SC is more important than cognitive dimension, and innovation is the most important factor among the other factors.

Research limitations/implications

For wider applicability of the findings, the study should be expanded to a broader geographical. Also longitudinal analysis of the relationship between constructs should be performed to determine if there is a time lag in construct correlation. New conceptualization will be beneficial to further study SC and intrapreneurship influence on the overall organizational performance.

Practical implications

Organizations that nurture trust and reciprocity (cognitive dimension of SC), open and quality communication (structural dimension of SC) are conducive to intrapreneurial activities.

Originality/value

This paper extends prior research on intrapreneurship by proposing four new dimensions to indicate how SC can have positive impact on the nurturing intrapreneurship in organizations.
A conceptual framework of impeders to strategy implementation from an exploratory case study in an Iranian university
Authors: Rahimnia Fariborz , Polychronakis Yiannis , Sharp John M.
Published: November 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive framework for assessing impeders of strategy implementation in a higher education context through an in‐depth analysis of a higher education institution in Iran.

Design/methodology/approach

A semi‐structured interview is employed with senior academic staff and managers in a particular university.

Findings

The main impeders of strategy implementation within the university as the case organisation and are found to be grouped into five main areas: planning consequences, organisational, individual, managerial and environmental. The nature and reasons for the impeders are explained and finally an analytical framework is developed.

Research limitations/implications

The paper, through the use of how and why questions during interviews, highlighted a framework which provides an in‐depth understanding of impeders. The paper's results have implications for other universities in Iran and indeed the Middle East. However, a limitation of this paper is that the results are exploratory only, given that the paper is carried out in only one Iranian university.

Practical implications

This paper provides a valuable basis for discussion on the impeders of strategy implementation. Moreover, the results of the research can be used as guidance for managers and academic staff at the strategy implementation stage in the higher education sector.

Originality/value

The findings of the paper highlight the relevant impeders of strategy implementation within a higher education environment that will be of interest to those in this field, particularly those working in Iranian universities.
The impact of learning orientation on NSD and hotel performance
Authors: Tajeddini Kayhan
Published: November 2009

Purpose

Although the significance of the learning organization concept is recognised in innovation management, there are only a few studies on the way in which a learning orientation affects new service development (NSD) in the hotel industry in Iran. This paper aims to fill that gap.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire is designed to ask hotel managers and owners for their thoughts on a range of organizational variables including the nature of learning orientation, NSD and the link with hotel business performance.

Findings

Using 129 hotels in Iran, it was found that NSD can be driven by higher levels of commitment to learning, shared vision and open‐mindedness. Furthermore, a regression analysis suggests that the effect of NSD on performance is positive.

Research limitations/implications

This paper focuses on senior managers and owners of Iranian hotels who have a specific culture, history and experience. It would be useful to take a similar approach in other established industries with different cultural and environmental characteristics and experience, so that comparisons can be made.

Practical implications

The findings reinforce the argument that a learning approach, coupled with organizational creativity, is the main prescription for a creative quality process. It also provides a quantum leap in an organization in terms of innovation. Evidence from this paper also shows the importance of managerial emphasis on creating an internal business environment conducive to innovative activities.

Originality/value

The paper shows how learning deficiency is one of the main reasons that companies find it difficult to remain successful in the market.
Identification of knowledge management critical success factors in Iranian academic research centers
Authors: Akhavan Peyman , Hosnavi Reza , Sanjaghi Mohammad E.
Published: November 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the status of knowledge management (KM) in selected Iranian academic research centers (IARCs) in order to identify the most relevant KM critical success factors adopted by those centers that include physics, chemical, drug, aerospace, nanotechnology, mechanic, aviation, and biotechnology research centers.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on extensive review of KM literature, broad ranges of general KM critical success factors are identified. Then, through field studies, the degree of the relevance of each particular KM success factor is determined. The research procedure finally led to the identification of KM critical success factors prevailing in IARCs.

Findings

Five distinct KM factors including 16 different elements are found to be relevant and critical in the course of KM implementation in IARCs. These factors are “human resource management and flexible structures,” “KM architecture and readiness,” “knowledge storage,” “benchmarking,” and “chief knowledge officer.”

Research limitations/implications

The extracted factors can act as a guideline for KM preliminary phases in organizations. This helps to ensure that the essential issues are covered during the design and implementation phase of a KM program. For academics, it may provide a common language for discussion and study of the factors crucial for KM.

Originality/value

The paper should be of value to researchers of KM in general, and to implementers of KM programs. It presents a range of issues critical to the adoption of KM initiatives.
Deductive verification of simple foraging robotic behaviours
Authors: Behdenna Abdelkader , Dixon Clare , Fisher Michael
Published: November 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider the logical specification, and automated verification, of high‐level robotic behaviours.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses temporal logic as a formal language for providing abstractions of foraging robot behaviour, and successively extends this to multiple robots, items of food for the robots to collect, and constraints on the real‐time behaviour of robots. For each of these scenarios, proofs of relevant properties are carried out in a fully automated way. In addition to automated deductive proofs in propositional temporal logic, the possibility of having arbitrary numbers of robots involved is considered, thus allowing representations of robot swarms. This leads towards the use of first‐order temporal logics (FOTLs).

Findings

The proofs of many properties are achieved using automatic deductive temporal provers for the propositional and FOTLs.

Research limitations/implications

Many details of the problem, such as location of the robots, avoidance, etc. are abstracted away.

Practical implications

Large robot swarms are beyond the current capability of propositional temporal provers. Whilst representing and proving properties of arbitrarily large swarms using FOTLs is feasible, the representation of infinite numbers of pieces of food is outside of the decidable fragment of FOTL targeted, and practically, the provers struggle with even small numbers of pieces of food.

Originality/value

The work described in this paper is novel in that it applies automatic temporal theorem provers to proving properties of robotic behaviour.