bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Perceptions of environmental management systems
Authors: Massoud Jacob A. , Daily Bonnie F. , Bishop James W.
Published: February 2011

Purpose

Over the last several years, there has been a significant increase worldwide in the implementation of environmental management systems (EMS). Yet, few studies have provided feedback on managerial views of key components and performance of these systems. The purpose of this paper is to examine variations in perceptions of a number of environmental and human resource constructs that are operationalized and measured in the field at Mexican maquiladoras. Differences between organizations with a certified EMS, informal EMS, and no EMS are examined.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was administered to 220 manufacturing organizations in Mexico. The survey instrument was self‐report format with attitudinal variables. Items were adopted from previously published scales. A global hypothesis was proposed in order to test the difference between groups across multiple dependent variables. A MANCOVA and post hoc MANOVA were used to simultaneously evaluate the difference among the multiple metric dependent variables in this study.

Findings

The paper found that significant facility differences existed for all environmental management practices and perceived environmental performance across all levels of EMS, with certified EMS facilities being the highest, informal EMS facilities being second and facilities with no EMS being lowest.

Originality/value

This study contributes to both theory and practice. First, it extends the literature related to EMS and environmental and human resource constructs. Second, it tests the role of EMS certification in firm environmental management. Third, the study is the first to compare EMS differences among firms in the Mexican manufacturing sector. Finally, the study has relevant implications for practitioners.
In‐transit distribution strategy: solution for European factory competitiveness?
Authors: Hilletofth Per , Hilmola Olli‐Pekka , Claesson Frida
Published: February 2011

Purpose

Research work describes in‐transit distribution strategy by determining and analyzing key principles of it as well as by illustrating its application in practice. Emphasis on in‐transit distribution strategy is to turn transportation pipeline as a mobile inventory holding place, and actively dispatching goods to a destination, where there is a predicted demand before any customer orders are actually received. The use of this strategy is supported by current trade flows: emerging market trade has increased considerably, but simultaneously Swedish export prices, for example, have significantly decreased. The paper aims to address this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

In‐transit strategy is examined through a multiple case study from industrial companies having main factory operations in Sweden as well as using a system dynamics simulation model, and Monte Carlo analysis. These are supported by the second hand data of trade flows between Sweden, and India and China.

Findings

In order to be successful with in‐transit strategy, the case studies show that excellent planning, working closely with customers, first‐class market knowledge, and an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that is able to support the process sufficiently are required. Other highlighted requirements of this strategy are low variation in demand, and predictable distribution lead‐time. Simulation study of one hypothetical product group verified case study findings, but the authors find it interesting that manufacturing output variance especially is very sensitive regarding to the overall results. If variation increases, then in‐transit strategy is not able to deliver for customers with the necessary accuracy. Also increasing average customer demand, and longer transportation delays lead to undesired outcomes (e.g. too much inventory or out of stock situations).

Research limitations/implications

The case study and second hand analysis is limited to one country, and further evidence is needed from other European, and possibly North American companies, to verify these findings.

Originality/value

There has been a rather limited amount of research works completed from the use of in‐transit strategy, even if increased trade activity and lower price of exported items is that of the old west in their exports to emerging markets, and continues to be so in the future (was even strong to China during credit crunch year 2009). Our research is seminal in terms of a developed system dynamics simulation model.
Comparison of mass customization and generative customization in mass markets
Authors: Buffington Jack
Published: February 2011

Purpose

Mass customization has yet to fulfill its original purpose as established by marketing researchers to become an alternative to mass production, largely due to its inability to achieve mass market levels of efficiency. The purpose of this study is to survey consumer's perceptions, willingness and capabilities of participating in a mass customization system, and understand the implications of its findings related to an alternative production system, generative customization.

Design/methodology/approach

After an extensive literature review of mass customization, consumer behavior, complex adaptive systems and generative design, a survey was conducted across US and Swedish consumers relative to their willingness and perceptions regarding mass customization, with hypotheses based upon extant research standards.

Findings

The survey results found that consumers are ambivalent toward mass customization in mass markets, and a conceptual alternative (generative customization) appears to achieve, at least conceptually, the necessary objectives relative to product design conceptualization and fulfillment that mass customization cannot achieve.

Research limitations/implications

A lack of significant findings from extant research regarding consumer perceptions and tolerances regarding mass customization in mass markets is a limitation to this study. The discussion of a new concept (generative customization) as a viable alternative to mass customization as a result of the survey findings needs to be validated empirically in future research.

Originality/value

The paper empirically validates a definition of mass customization as a complementary rather than an alternative to mass production. It also introduces and develops the concept of generative customization as viable alternative to mass production, albeit one that must be empirically validated in future research.
A methodology for selecting assembly systems feeding policy
Authors: Caputo Antonio C. , Pelagagge Pacifico M.
Published: February 2011

Purpose

Assembly systems require uninterrupted components' availability to feed workstations. This paper aims to propose a methodology to help managers in evaluating and selecting the most suitable policy for materials delivery to the shop floor. The analysis focuses on three basic policies, namely kitting, just in time kanban‐based continuous supply and line storage, even including class‐based hybrid policies.

Design/methodology/approach

Descriptive models are developed to design components' delivery systems and to compute their performances. Empirical criteria are utilized to associate specific policies to components classes in order to implement customized hybrid line feeding policies. A case study is then included to exemplify the method application and to show its capabilities as a decision making tool.

Findings

Hybrid feeding policies may be preferable to a single feeding policy common to all components. This is shown in a representative case study. However, in general there is a priori superior method and only a comparison of alternative feeding policies based on objective performance measures can determine the best approach in specific industrial applications.

Research limitations/implications

The methodology is aimed at preliminary sizing and selection of alternative line feeding systems in deterministic environments. It is not intended for detailed performance analysis of assembly systems.

Practical implications

Production managers are given quantitative decision tools to properly select the components' delivery method at an early decision stage. This allows trade‐offs between alternatives to be explored in order to deploy customized feeding policies differentiated on components basis to better fit specific company requirements.

Originality/value

The paper extends previous descriptive models for line feeding systems and includes the possibility of hybrid policies.
Implementation of ERP of the Australian manufacturing companies
Authors: Hasan Maruf , Trinh Nga T. , Chan Felix T.S. , Kai Chan Hing , Ho Chung Sai
Published: February 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons for implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in Australia and the issues encountered during the course of implementation.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey is conducted, research frame is selected from the Australian manufacturing sector and a final list of 350 Australian manufacturing companies was prepared from which 79 responses were received, representing a response rate of 23 per cent.

Findings

The paper finds that the planned and actual use of ERP systems is pervasive in the Australian manufacturing sector, with both small and large companies implementing or planning to implement an ERP system. It was also revealed that ERP system implementation benefits are concentrated more in quickly providing high‐quality information within firm.

Research limitations/implications

Respondents are limited to Australian companies, and results may be regional in nature. Further study is suggested to benchmark the result of this research to other countries.

Originality/value

Provide insights on ERP implementation at least to the Australian companies and hopefully to companies in other countries.
Accounting for service charges in the UK commercial sector
Authors: Holt Andrew , Eccles Timothy , Bennett Kellie
Published: February 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the issue of compliance with a voluntary professional Code of Practice. It aims to take service charge management as its subject and it also to discuss how current notions of “best practice” have evolved in order to explain the poor performance uncovered. From this it seeks to derive an alternative perspective and develop a new framework for managing agents to consider utilising in order to advance the generalised principles within the existing RICS Code of Practice, Service Charges in Commercial Property.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper applies an inductive reasoning by applying best practice from other disciplines (the specific) to commercial property (hence arguing for their adoption to the general). It utilises a critical review of the secondary literature on the wider aspects of best practice and original data on commercial service charge management to devise an ideal type framework for accounting for service charge moneys.

Findings

It provides an idealised conceptual framework for managing agents to consider applying to their management of the service charge process, specifically with regard to accounting issues therein. The paper is not proposing a definitive adoption of accruals accounting, but provides an analysis of the potential advantages – and problems. The intention of this work is to drive consultation for better practice, rather than provide a de facto template for adoption.

Originality/value

The work relies on data previously generated by the authors, and produces an original template and example for the practitioner. The work's primary value is that it proposes an innovative approach to the occupation of the commercial service charge manager. Within this, it also offers advice to the wider profession on how to better regulate the discipline. While the proposed approach offers advantages over the existing best practice paradigm, it generates its own conceptual problems that will need to be considered by professionals.
Quality level assessment model for senior housing
Authors: Saari Arto , Tanskanen Hanna
Published: February 2011

Purpose

Senior buildings have been designed as purposeful space programs. Therefore the elderly need coherent information about different senior housing concepts. The study seeks to set out a method for measuring the quality level of senior housing.

Design/methodology/approach

The method includes measuring four different factors: local services, building and yard, apartment, and on‐site services. Measuring the quality level of two separate residential areas and senior housing facilities demonstrates the use of the quality level measurement system.

Findings

The overall quality level of Facility 1 was significantly lower than that of Facility 2. The lower quality level measurement for Facility 1 was primarily the result of the lack of premises for lease to commercial or other tenants and the lack of on‐site services. The quality level measurement system is a successful tool for assessing the functioning and quality standard of residential areas and housing facilities in the point of view of elderly people.

Originality/value

This study has developed a unique application for measuring the quality level of residential areas and senior housing facilities. The measurement system is useful for estimating the quality level of a facility and also for analyzing different quality level factors to identify possible problems. While the intention is to provide a method primarily for expert assessments, seniors and their relatives could also use the method as an aid in weighing up the suitability of different senior housing facilities.
Siting of hazardous waste dump facilities and their correlation with status of surrounding residential neighbourhoods in Los Angeles County
Authors: Aliyu Aliyu Ahmad , Kasim Rozilah , Martin David
Published: February 2011

Purpose

The “environmental justice” movement has suggested that demographic inequities characterize the location of hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs). While some researchers have found evidence that TSDFs are disproportionately located in minority areas, others attribute TSDF location to non‐racial factors such as income and industrial employment.

Design/methodology/approach

Both univariate and multivariate techniques were used to analyse the location of TSDFs in Los Angeles County, California; the focus on one county allowed this paper to overcome the problem of “fake” addresses for TSDF sites and to introduce specific land use/zoning variables that are not used in the other studies.

Findings

Findings from the univariate results and the multivariate model reveal that: industrial land use and manufacturing employment do matter, as suggested by critics of environmental justice; income has first a positive, then a negative effect on TSDF location, a pattern that likely reflects the fact that the poorest communities have little economic activity, while wealthier communities have the economic and political power to resist negative environmental externalities; and race and ethnicity are still significantly associated with TSDF location, even when percentage African American and percentage Latino are evaluated as separate groupings.

Research limitations/implications

All 82 Los Angeles County TSDFs currently listed by the California State Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) are included in the study.

Practical implications

Taken together, the results suggest that communities most affected by TSDFs in the Los Angeles area are working‐class and ethnic minorities located near industrial areas.

Originality/value

This paper represents the first work to analyse the siting of hazardous waste dump facilities and their correlation with status of surrounding residential neighbourhoods in Los Angeles county.
How housing associations lose their value: the value gap in The Netherlands
Authors: Conijn Johan , Schilder Frans
Published: February 2011

Purpose

This paper aims to present a model that analyses the value gap, the difference between vacant possession value and tenanted investment value, for the houses of Dutch housing associations. The paper also aims to explore why the value gap is a structural phenomenon in The Netherlands and why it is an important factor contributing to the malfunctioning of the housing market. This gives an interesting expansion of the value gap theory.

Design/methodology/approach

By using the well‐known concept of user costs and using market equilibrium as a reference, the model quantifies the influence of six factors that cause the value gap. This is done for The Netherlands in total and for each of the 452 housing associations separately.

Findings

The value gap between the owner‐occupied and the rental sector is immense. This is especially the case with the rented houses owned by the housing associations, constituting one‐third of the total housing stock. The vacant possession value of these houses is on average €151,000; the reported tenanted investment value is no more than €33,000. Important factors that are responsible for this gap are, on the one hand, the fiscal subsidies in the owner‐occupied sector and, on the other hand, rent control and the policy of the housing associations characterised by a low rent level and high maintenance and management costs.

Originality/value

This is the first paper that analyses and quantifies the factors contributing to the value lost by Dutch housing associations' operations.
The role of identity in extra‐role behaviors: development of a conceptual model
Authors: Stoner Jason , Perrewé Pamela L. , Munyon Timothy P.
Published: February 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model that discerns when and how extra role behaviors result in positive versus negative outcomes for individuals and organizations. The focus is on how employees' citizenship identities shape extra‐role behaviors which include both organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and contextual performance behaviors (CPBs).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses role identity theory as the theoretical lens to develop the model of extra‐role behaviors, distinguishing between OCBs and CPBs.

Findings

While extra‐role behaviors are generally associated with positive organizational functioning, these behaviors also have been linked to negative individual outcomes, such as work‐family conflict, role overload, and reduced task performance. Based on previous research and theory, a conceptual model is developed that explains when extra‐role behaviors will occur, when and why these behaviors will be internalized as an identity, and how identities affect whether employees engage in OCBs or CPBs. Further, the paper examines the influence of these extra‐role behaviors on long term positive and negative outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

The main research implication of this paper is the use of role identity theory to further understanding of the nature of extra‐role behaviors.

Originality/value

The paper aims to offer a comprehensive theoretically based model to explain OCBs and incorporates research conducted to date to develop the model.
Managerial trustworthiness and social exchange with the organization
Authors: Byrne Zinta , Pitts Virginia , Chiaburu Dan , Steiner Zachary
Published: February 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how managerial trustworthiness and social exchange with the organization integrate with perceived organizational support to relate to supervisor‐rated job performance and self‐report organizational commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 119 full‐time employees from a variety of occupations at a single organization completed surveys. Their supervisor rated job performance.

Findings

This paper finds that managerial trustworthiness was positively related to job performance and organizational commitment via POS and social exchange with the organization; and that POS was related to organizational commitment through social exchange with the organization.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations include cross‐sectional data from a single organization. Strengths include non self‐report ratings of job performance. Future research should consider experimental and longitudinal designs to capture causality.

Practical implications

Organizations may improve job performance and organizational commitment by increasing the trustworthiness of the manager, which might lead to increases in perceived support and social exchange. Trustworthiness can be increased by incorporating policies to encourage the integrity of managers, increasing managers' ability via training, and fostering a climate of benevolence.

Originality/value

This study is the first to examine the trustworthiness of the manager, a central figure to employees, at the same time as support and social exchange in the employee‐organization relationship.
The relations between life domain satisfaction and subjective well‐being
Authors: Leung Alicia S.M. , Ha Cheung Yu , Liu Xiangyang
Published: February 2011

Purpose

This study examines the relationship between domain‐based life satisfaction (LS) and subjective well‐being (SWB) as well as the role of spiritual well‐being as a moderator. Domains of LS include family cohesion, social connectedness, career success, and self‐esteem.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was completed by 145 full‐time Hong Kong Chinese employees working in a variety of jobs and organizations.

Findings

Multiple regression analyses show that career success, social connectedness, and self‐esteem are associated with both psychological and physical well‐being. Spiritual well‐being moderated the relationship between career success and psychological well‐being. The relationship is stronger for low than for high spirituality.

Research limitations/implications

All data were self‐reported and collected at one point in time. Thus, common method variance may be an issue and causal inferences are not warranted.

Practical implications

Domain‐specific LS and spiritual well‐being appear to be related to employees' well‐being. Managers and human resources professionals may need to adopt a more holistic approach to staff development.

Originality/value

The current study indicates that domain‐specific LS improves the explanation of variations in well‐being. Implications of these findings, the limitations of the study, and directions for future research are discussed.
Intensive knowledge sharing: Finnish Laurea lab case study
Authors: Usoro Abel , Majewski Grzegorz
Published: February 2011

Purpose

Knowledge sharing (KS) processes in knowledge‐intensive organizations (KIOs) need to be understood with regard to not only the important role information technology (IT) plays but also human factors. This research aims to describe the human factors that influence KS and to propose an explanatory model.

Design/methodology/approach

Beginning with a critical review of the most recent KM literature, this research developed key components of successful KS in both knowledge provider and knowledge recipient roles played by the participants of virtual communities of practice (VCoPs). It developed a KS model that was validated through an empirical quantitative and qualitative research at the Laurea Lab in Finland.

Findings

This paper's main finding is an empirical validation of a model for KS in KIOs.

Research limitations/implications

Primary data were collected from only one institution. This may limit the scope of generalisation of findings. It is therefore necessary to conduct this study in other KIOs.

Practical implications

This research provides a few practical managerial implications. Managers of VCoPs in KIOs should be aware of the role IT and human factors play in KS processes.

Originality/value

This research proposes a model which incorporates both the knowledge provider and the knowledge recipient roles played by participants of VCoPs in knowledge‐sharing organizations. This model may be used to evaluate the functioning of VCoPs.
Finding KM solutions for a volunteer‐based non‐profit organization
Authors: Huck John , Al Rodney , Rathi Dinesh
Published: February 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the knowledge needs of a small, volunteer‐based Non‐Profit Organization (NPO) and present recommendations for implementation of KM solutions.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology used in this paper is the knowledge audit. Data collection methods include semi‐structured interviews, documentary photography, and a review of content on the NPO's website.

Findings

The paper recommends a combination of web 2.0 technology and low‐tech solutions to meet the KM needs of the volunteer‐based organization within the constraints of its limited resources. Based on the observation that dedicated and reliable volunteers are critical to this organization's success, the paper proposes that the KM solution address personal knowledge needs related to volunteer motivation factors as a strategy for improving volunteer recruitment and retention.

Research limitations/implications

The study examined a small group of volunteers engaged in a specialized form of knowledge‐sharing work. Future research could test this paper's conclusions in larger and more diverse volunteer‐based NPOs.

Originality/value

The paper extends KM research into the realm of volunteer‐based NPOs and adopts elements from Motivation‐Hygiene theory as well as specific volunteer motivation factors as additional criteria for a KM solution.
Knowledge sharing in immersive virtual communities of practice
Authors: Majewski Grzegorz , Usoro Abel , Khan Imran
Published: February 2011

Purpose

This paper aims to improve understanding of knowledge‐sharing (KS) processes that occur in Immersive Virtual Worlds (IVW), which offer much richer opportunities for KS than standard text‐based environments.

Design/methodology/approach

Starting with a systematic literature review of the most recent trends in knowledge‐sharing and virtual worlds, this research investigates potential factors of KS in IVW. A conceptual model was developed and empirically validated.

Findings

The rich environment provided by IVW results in higher levels of KS but a sense of community and other motivations for KS in IVW is the same as in standard virtual environments. The validated research model that explains the interaction of the motivating factors with KS is presented.

Research limitations/implications

Primary data were collected from only one group in one IVW. This may limit the scope of generalisation of findings. It is advised that this study should be conducted with a number of immersive virtual communities or practice (IVCoP) in a variety of virtual worlds.

Practical implications

Owners and managers of IVWs should promote perception of community, trust and reciprocity, as they are very important for keeping and growing virtual communities in immersive environments. Concurrently it is necessary to ensure that the amount of social part introduced is in line with the goals of the community.

Originality/value

This research proposes a model for knowledge sharing in virtual communities of practice (CoP) in immersive virtual worlds (IVW). It may be used to evaluate the functioning of such communities of practice. It also suggests methods of research in such an environment.
Enhancement of healthcare quality using clinical‐pathways activities
Authors: Yamazaki Tomoyoshi , Ikeda Mitsuru , Umemoto Katsuhiro
Published: February 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the construction of the theoretic model of systematic knowledge creation in the healthcare process according to professionals' collaboration using clinical‐pathways.

Design/methodology/approach

Healthcare is a knowledge‐intensive service conducted by professionals. A clinical‐pathway is an effective tool in the knowledge management aspect of this service. The theoretic model of the medical knowledge management which used the clinical‐pathway from case studies in two hospitals is constructed.

Findings

The theoretical model shows the interaction between explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge in the healthcare process using clinical‐pathways. This theoretical model is a knowledge creation model which creates new knowledge continuously. Therefore, the clinical‐pathways are suggested as an effective tool for knowledge management in healthcare.

Practical implications

Promotion of knowledge communication between healthcare professionals by clinical‐pathways activities is important for excellent healthcare management.

Originality/value

This paper will be valuable for sustained improvement of healthcare quality by knowledge management with clinical‐pathways. In this paper, the detailed theoretic model which explains medical knowledge management with clinical‐pathways has been constructed.
The puzzles and paradoxes of human need: an introduction
Authors: Armour Leslie
Published: February 2011

Purpose

It is difficult to get an adequate account of human needs but there are known needs which, for hundreds of millions of people, are not met. Can the present economic system meet them? Can any economic system meet them? Is simple economic growth the answer? The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the questions, emphasizing the problems and paradoxes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper looks at India where poverty is rampant despite recent gains, and at Bhutan which ranks low in economic production but quite high on the “happiness scales”. It also looks at questions of the relation of economic inequality to social problems, citing recent studies.

Findings

The paper focuses on how well the world's economic systems address, or fail to address, human needs.

Originality/value

This paper is written by a philosopher and writer on social economics (and Editor of International Journal of Social Economics (IJSE )) who works in a variety of fields: metaphysics and its epistemological relations, the theory of the history of philosophy (focusing on the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries), and moral, social, and economic philosophy and their relations to culture and religion. The paper then introduces the papers in this special issue of the IJSE devoted to human needs.
A “human ecology economics” framework for Eastern Europe
Authors: Allen Roy , Bedford Norman , Margitay‐Becht András
Published: February 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a “human ecology economics (HEE)” framework for understanding economic growth and development challenges in Eastern Europe.

Design/methodology/approach

The HEE approach relies on evolutionary and complex systems processes; it expands the field of ecological economics by incorporating interdisciplinary material from the humanities; and it allows a long‐run perspective with a focus on sustainability of human systems. Using this framework and primary research from Hungary, Estonia, and Azerbaijan, challenges to Eastern European development are identified.

Findings

The main limit to Eastern European sustainable development is not “production capital”, i.e. the availability of natural resources, fixed human‐made capital, and intermediate consumption, but instead shortages of “transaction capital”, i.e. “social capital, informational capital, and financial capital.”

Research limitations/implications

Rigorous analytical models of, and precise predictions of, change in the human ecology are at present not possible using evolutionary and complex systems approaches; however, Eastern Europe can be fruitfully studied through the HEE approach, and certain simulation methods and lessons from recent history are suggested.

Practical implications

Greater support for various kinds of transaction capital is recommended, including for social and communication networks, for information exchange between small and medium size businesses, for innovation and creative learning by doing, for financial intermediation, for better inter‐party cooperation at the national level, etc.

Social implications

The need for greater social cooperation, including a reduction in discrimination exercised by dominant individuals or groups, arises as a more important pre‐condition for sustainable economic growth than is commonly believed.

Originality/value

Scholars, policymakers, and practitioners might appreciate the more comprehensive interdisciplinary framework for understanding economic growth and development challenges in Eastern Europe, especially the role played by intangible belief systems, social agreements, and levels of cooperation.
Measurement of the social loss of wrong public budget allocation
Authors: Ben‐David Nissim , Tavor Tchai
Published: February 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to measure the social loss occurring due to the inability of the government to use the real public demand function.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors developed a model that enables maximization of the public utility of a given public budget by maximizing total consumer surplus, and presented a method for calculating the social loss due to the inability to use the real public demand function.

Findings

The social loss occurring due to the inability of the government to use the real public demand curve was shown.

Research limitations/implications

In reality, it is impossible to get the proper evaluation of social utility function. Instead, the authors assumed a given public demand for each public good.

Practical implications

The paper presents a way to measure overtime social loss as a function of the sum of overtime government expenses, the coefficient of variation of the public good supply and the elasticity of demand of the average demand curve.

Social implications

Improving the allocation of public budget.

Originality/value

Given the demand curve for each public good, this paper presents a technique for the optimal allocation of a given budget in order to maximize aggregate consumer surplus.
The hierarchy of human needs and their social valuation
Authors: Gomes Orlando
Published: February 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the valuation of human needs within a given hierarchy. An important distinction is made between private utility and social relevance of needs.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors consider a generic hierarchy of needs in a world of similar agents. For the assumed pyramid, agents have to predict the current social value of a need that they will try to fulfill only at some future date. Several possibilities are explored about the way agents predict the social value of future needs.

Findings

It is found that if agents are unable to form an accurate forecast on the social value of a future need, distortions will eventually occur. Complex dynamics may emerge when agents try to learn future social values and use inaccurate learning algorithms.

Research limitations/implications

The paper discusses how individuals measure the value of a need that is fulfilled in some future date. Results are dependent on the assumed learning algorithm. Different learning algorithms may lead to other kinds of long‐term implications.

Practical implications

The paper allows for a better understanding of how human needs can be valued.

Social implications

It is highlighted that aggregate behavior on the evaluation of needs may be different from the behavior of an average agent.

Originality/value

In this paper, the notion of hierarchy of needs is combined with an assessment of how agents form expectations about future events. This furnishes a new paradigm of analysis that can be explored in related future work.
The missing C that threatens to flood us all
Authors: Potts Nick
Published: February 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contrast conventional economists' belief that human needs are optimally satisfied by the market, with Marx's view that capitalism has a narrow focus on money making, where satisfying human needs is at most a by‐product of the system's restricted purpose.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explores conventional economics, then Marx's economics, focusing on the issue of saving the environment, as the most basic human need is having a viable environment.

Findings

Economists' focus on use‐value and optimality is explored. Marx's alternative explanation of capitalism is then introduced. The author explains why Marx thinks capitalism has a tendency to boom and slump and to produce rising levels of inequality and considers how, under capitalism, the environment could be saved, and concludes that both human needs and the environment are best secured in a more advanced social system than capitalism.

Research limitations/implications

To properly understand capitalism, one must look to Marx's unsurpassed analysis of capitalism, rather than conventional economists' attempts to justify, but not actually explain, capitalism.

Practical implications

Saving the environment is likely to be far more difficult and disruptive to the economy than conventional economists imagine.

Social implications

For society to actually focus on satisfying human needs, including, crucially, saving the environment, there needs to be a move to a more advanced social system than capitalism.

Originality/value

The paper challenges orthodox views by applying Marx's deeper understanding of the economy to the question of human needs/the environment.
An economic classification of “health need”
Authors: Williams Ruth F.G. , Doessel D.P.
Published: February 2011

Purpose

Multiple connotations and conceptions of health need are currently in use. The purpose of this paper is to specify some important distinctions regarding this confusing multiplicity in a taxonomic fashion relevant to the economic problems that arise in addressing health need. Classification is possible with the relevant concepts in conventional economic theory. The classification applies wherever economic considerations bear upon health need.

Design/methodology/approach

Initially, some seminal economic ideas about need are presented from Marshall, Pauly, Banfield, Jevons, Deaton and Meullbauer, and Georgescu‐Roegen. Recent discussions of basic needs by Sen and Nussbaum concerning “capabilities” and human flourishing are also considered. Ruger's subsequent developments of these concepts specifically for health are noted. The paper then specifies and classifies the current economic connotations of “health need” by applying positive economic analysis and the framework of economic theory. In particular, the conventional theories of consumer demand and production supply are useful. Geometric tools of analysis along with illustrations from the health sector specify various distinctions and classifications.

Findings

The uses of the generic term “need” relate to quite different economic problems. The findings show how diverse interpretations of need can be specified.

Originality/value

Distinctions over health need are important since, in many Western countries, need is one of the “pillars” of the Welfare State. Effective policy requires sound conceptions and measurements of need. Given the relevance of economics for approaching competing resource uses in the face of health need, measurement of need is improved with taxonomy, and confusion reduced.
Eleven years of scholarly research in the Journal of Services Marketing: Editor's response
Authors: Martin Charles L.
Published: February 2011

Purpose

To reinforce, clarify, illuminate and sometimes counter the findings and discussion of Deon Nel et al.'s article found elsewhere in this issue (“Eleven years of scholarly research in the Journal of Services Marketing”), the Journal's Editor aims to provide his response in this paper.

Design/methodology/approach

Primarily, the Editor/author's comments follow the findings and discussion of the Nel et al.'s content analysis of 417 articles published in the Journal of Services Marketing (JSM) from 1998 through 2008. Realizing that some information about JSM is not publicly available (e.g. the number and content of manuscripts submitted for publication but not published), the Editor/author provides additional analysis and discussion beyond the immediate scope of the Nel et al. article.

Findings

The findings largely reinforce the findings and discussion of the Nel et al. study, but offer some additional insights and alternative explanations for the patterns of publication in JSM.

Practical implications

Along with the Nel team's article, this editorial assists prospective JSM contributors with data and discussion to enhance their likelihood of publication in the Journal. For business practitioners, the articles potentially provide guidance in the search for service‐related information of particular interest.

Originality/value

Periodically assessing where a journal has been and where it is provides some indication of the possible future direction of the publication and of the field it represents. Coupled with the Nel et al. article, this editorial attempts such an assessment.
Customer satisfaction and business performance: a firm‐level analysis
Authors: Williams Paul , Naumann Earl
Published: February 2011

Purpose

This study aims to examine the relationships between customer satisfaction and a variety of company performance metrics at the firm‐level of analysis.

Design /methodology/approach

The primary research method used in the study was a longitudinal analysis of series of quarterly surveys of customer attitudes, in relation to various company performance metrics of one large Fortune 100 company. The data were collected over a five‐year period and were analyzed with several statistical tests of association.

Findings

It was found that there are significant, and moderate‐to‐strong associations between satisfaction levels and a firm's financial and market performance. More specifically, there are strong links between customer satisfaction, and retention, revenue, earnings per share, stock price, and Tobin's q.

Research implications/limitations

The main implication of this study is that the longitudinal findings demonstrate a strong consistent link between customer attitudes and financial performance at the firm level. The study is clearly limited to one firm, from one industry sector, but offers future researchers a wealth of replication opportunities.

Originality/value

Numerous experts have noted that marketing needs to document the financial impact of marketing activities. Unlike most studies in this area, this study investigated these associations at the firm level, rather than at the aggregate or industry level where some relationships are potentially masked. The study also investigated the links between satisfaction and financial performance in the business‐to‐business services sector, rather than in business‐to‐customer services. Finally, the firm provided access to large samples of real customer attitude data over a five‐year period, rather than from a cross‐sectional study.
B2B services branding in the logistics services industry
Authors: Marquardt Adam J. , Golicic Susan L. , Davis Donna F.
Published: February 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to conduct an exploratory study of the branding of business‐to‐business (B2B) services, specifically examining the commodity‐like logistics services industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is of a multiple‐methods research design.

Findings

Managers should first strive to develop compelling and differentiated value propositions associated with their B2B service brands. They should then invest in communicating their brands' value to internal and external audiences. Finally, they should commit resources to ensure consistent and favorable customer experiences with the brand. These three steps influence the strength of the brand, which comprises brand awareness and brand meaning.

Practical implications

B2B service firms in commodity‐like industries such as the logistics service industry cannot rely on differences in product attributes to develop brand meaning. Rather, they should focus on developing distinctive customer experiences with the brand by encouraging meaningful employee‐customer interactions. Such differentiated value propositions based on superior customer experiences build brand awareness and enhance the brand's meaning with current and prospective customers, thereby increasing brand equity.

Originality/value

Knowledge of branding practices in B2B service contexts is limited. This research addresses this knowledge gap.
Entering and developing a service network
Authors: Leek Sheena , Canning Louise
Published: February 2011

Purpose

This paper seeks to investigate the role of social capital in facilitating the entry of new business ventures into service networks.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical work is undertaken via case study‐based research, featuring three service businesses, each entering and operating in a different marketplace.

Findings

Results show that new service businesses are not necessarily able to draw on existing social capital in order to enter a business network and build relationships with potential customers and suppliers.

Research limitations/implications

Future empirical work should re‐examine the distinctions between the role and nature of social capital for new service businesses.

Practical implications

The paper suggests how the new service entrepreneur might invest personal resources in networking to initiate relationships and build a network of customers and suppliers.

Originality/value

The paper presents the little researched area of networking and relationship initiation as a means of developing social capital for new service businesses.
Cognitive representations of institutional change
Authors: Cătălina Iederan Oana , Lucian Curşeu Petru , Vermeulen Patrick A.M. , Geurts Jac L.A.
Published: February 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the cognitive factors explaining how exogenous institutional change (IC) impacts on organizational actions.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors interviewed 121 Romanian entrepreneurs, 69 before and 52 after Romania's ascension to the EU and used cognitive mapping to elicit their cognitive schemas about this macro‐IC. Similarities and differences between cognitive structures are explored and the aggregated cognitive maps before and after the IC are created, in order to understand how managerial cognition changed following IC.

Findings

The results show that the richness of the cognitive schemas before the IC is lower than after the IC took place. Furthermore, the entrepreneurs who framed the IC as a threat adopted isomorphic actions and reported less positive organizational outcomes as compared to the entrepreneurs that represented the IC as an opportunity.

Research limitations/implications

The research described is exploratory in nature and opens new interesting research directions in the cognitive pillar of institutional theory. Moreover, a cognitive mapping technique is used to elicit and represent managerial cognition and in this way adds to the methods used in institutional research.

Practical implications

The results presented in this paper help policy makers to understand that the impact of exogenous IC on organizational actions is not direct, but mediated by the cognitive representations developed by strategic decision makers.

Originality/value

The paper integrates institutional theory with the work on cognition and explores how cognitive representations affect the relation between environmental pressures and organizational responses.