bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Retailers' new product acceptance decisions: incorporating the buyer‐supplier relationship perspective
Authors: Lin Jiun‐Sheng Chris , Chang Yun‐Chi
Published: January 2012

Purpose

Given the increasing number of new products competing for limited shelf space, retailer acceptance of new products is crucial to both retailers and suppliers. However, limited empirical research has investigated what drives retailers to accept or decline a new product offering. Extant research on retailers' new product acceptance focuses mainly on product and market factors. Despite the growing importance of buyer‐supplier relationships in new product marketing, few studies have addressed their influence on retailers' acceptance of new products. This study aims to fill the research gap by proposing a model of retailers' new product acceptance that incorporates the buyer‐supplier relationship perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

This study develops an integrated research framework assessing the determinants of retailers' acceptance of new products. Four constructs were derived from the literature on buyer‐supplier relationship marketing and new products literature to investigate their influence on the retailer's decision to adopt a new product. The constructs include buyer‐seller relationship factors (relationship intensity and channel motivation) and non‐relationship factors (product advantage and market competitiveness). Hypotheses were developed and tested with a sample of retailers.

Findings

Owing to the lack of appropriate existing scales for the four constructs that influence retailers' adoption of new products, this study developed and validated multiple‐item scales through psychometric scale development procedures. Hypotheses were then tested with ordinary least squares regression analysis, and all factors were found to have a positive relationship with the retailer's acceptance of new products. Results further show that buyer‐supplier relationship factors are stronger predictors of retailer new product adoption than traditional non‐relationship factors.

Research limitations/implications

This research represents an attempt to incorporate the buyer‐supplier relationship into the process of retailer new product acceptance. Future research directions are discussed, with an emphasis on two‐way viewpoints, multiple supplier choice, and product sales performance after acceptance.

Practical implications

The willingness of a retailer to stock a new product does not depend solely on product and market factors. In an age of intense competition and seemingly limitless product choices, suppliers must also consider the implications of the buyer‐supplier relationship before entering negotiations with retailers regarding the stocking of a new product.

Originality/value

This paper represents the first study to propose and empirically test a research model that incorporates the literature regarding both buyer‐supplier relationship marketing and new product literature. Suppliers can strengthen their competitive advantage by understanding and enhancing their performance in these factors.
The effects of buyer‐supplier relationships on buyer competitiveness
Authors: Prior Daniel D.
Published: January 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to propose a new theoretical model based on the AAR framework (actor bonds, activity links and resource ties) to examine the effects of the identified buyer‐supplier relationship elements on four indicators of relative competitive advantage for the buyer firm.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper bases its findings on data gathered through a survey of 216 key informants within the Australian manufacturing sector. AMOS v. 18 is used to perform confirmatory factor analysis and to estimate a structural model of the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

The paper finds support for the notion that actor bonds between the firm and its largest supplier provide a source of competitive advantage that result in higher relative customer satisfaction, innovation, market efficiency and market effectiveness for the buyer firm. The paper also supports the notion that a positive relationship between information sharing and asset efficiency exists.

Practical implications

This paper demonstrates that the maintenance of positive relationships with the firm's largest supplier has implications for the firm in terms of its competitive outcomes. There is now more support for managers when building and maintaining relationships with important suppliers since there are potential implications for the firm's own competitive position.

Originality/value

The findings of this study extend previous research in the area of relationship marketing by providing a new link between relationship elements and direct competitive outcomes in a follow‐on market. It also shows that these elements have differential effects on these competitive outcomes.
How to increase supplier flexibility through social mechanisms and influence strategies?
Authors: Chu Po‐Young , Chang Kuo‐Hsiung , Huang Hsu‐Feng
Published: January 2012

Purpose

This study aims to examine the means by which influence strategies and social mechanisms (trust and shared vision) influence the flexibility of suppliers, and its ultimate effect on the performance of manufacturers.

Design/methodology/approach

This study bases the major components of marketing research on previous studies related to influence strategies and flexibility in the supply‐chain. This empirical study utilized 162 SMIT survey samples.

Findings

Results show that using coercive influence strategies and developing a shared vision promote supplier flexibility and fully mediate the effects of trust on supplier flexibility. In addition, supplier flexibility has a significant positive impact on the performance of manufacturers.

Research limitations/implications

The perceptions of manufacturers regarding influence strategies and social mechanisms formed the basis of this study. Future studies could focus on the reciprocal strategies of suppliers, and the influence of these actions on the effectiveness of the influence strategies employed by manufacturers.

Practical implications

This paper adds to the existing management guidelines addressing the problem of ensuring increased flexibility from suppliers to enable a more rapid response to the demands of customers to enhance performance.

Originality/value

The paper provides novel insights into the impact of influence strategies and social mechanisms on the flexibility of suppliers.
A business sustainability model: a European case study
Authors: Høgevold Nils M. , Svensson Göran
Published: January 2012

Purpose

“Business sustainability” refers to the total effort of a company – including its demand and supply chain networks – to reduce the impact on the Earth's life‐ and eco‐systems. The objective of this paper is to describe a business sustainability model based upon a case study of a European manufacturer.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study approach was applied describing the efforts of business sustainability in the demand and supply chain networks of a Norwegian office chair producer. It is based upon a series of semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with top executives of the company as well as observations and content analyses of internal and external documents about the company's efforts of business sustainability.

Findings

The case study shows that business sustainability is not about doing just one thing, but that a multitude of simultaneous efforts (e.g. actors, resources and activities) should be in place. Furthermore, business sustainability is not only about a company's own business operations, but its whole demand and supply chain networks which need to be included and taken into consideration.

Research limitations/implications

The case study in focus is limited to just one company's effort of business sustainability and its demand and supply chain networks. It provides a business sustainability model that offers opportunities for further research.

Practical implications

Focusing on the corporate impact of the natural environment can be highly profitable. Business sustainability and by extension the carbon footprint of demand and supply chain networks is becoming a criterion in the decision‐making process of customers across industries. Business sustainability is a concern to everybody in society as the indicatives of climate change and global warming become more evident and troublesome. No one can have missed the fact that the weather is becoming more extreme, causing damage around the globe.

Originality/value

The authors argue that research into business sustainability needs at this stage of development to be inductive rather than deductive – it may be an irreversible mistake to try to re‐package existing theory into business sustainability, as climate change prediction and the poor condition of the Earth have not been fully understood or comprised in previous theory.
Fifty years of publication
Authors: Oplatka Izhar
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the legacies of the Journal of Educational Administration (JEA) since its foundation in 1963 to the present (2011) and to illuminate the main contributions of the Journal to the academic field of educational administration (EA) worldwide.

Design/methodology/approach

The method employed in analysing the Journal's articles was “qualitative content analysis” which includes constant comparisons for discovering patterns, emphases and themes in an array of documents. The first stage of analysis included extensive reading, sorting and searching through the Journal's abstracts resulting in the coding of categories, key words and themes. In the second stage, themes and categories were identified and compared until main themes and sub‐categories in each abstract emerged.

Findings

The paper traces the Journal's legacies in every decade since its foundation, and highlights the dynamic nature of this publication. Likewise, the dominance of the “empirical legacy” as compared to the other five legacies is emphasised, and the rise and fall of different topics and perspectives throughout the years are illuminated. Some thoughts about plausible future directions of the Journal conclude the paper.

Originality/value

The historical review provides an opportunity to glean information about the distinctive intellectual identity of the field of EA. Likewise, reviewing existing research and scholarship in the JEA may increase our intellectual and theoretical understanding of the ways by which the scholarly boundaries of EA as a field of study have been shaped and reshaped, after all, JEA has long been an outlet for hundreds of works from the four corners of the earth.
Science, systems, and theoretical alternatives in educational administration
Authors: Evers Colin W. , Lakomski Gabriele
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical reflection on ideas that have been published in theJournal of Educational Administrationover the last 50 years that present perspectives on the nature of educational administration and its various aspects, that are alternatives to the mainstream systems‐scientific view of educational administration.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper employs a standard analytic philosophy methodology with a focus on argument structures found in epistemology. The approach is to argue that the content and structure of administrative theories is shaped significantly by background epistemologies that determine the nature and justification of administrative knowledge

Findings

Epistemologies for both the traditional systems‐science approach to educational administration and a range of alternatives are identified and specified, and the most characteristic features of these approaches that follow from their epistemologies are described. The paper permits inferences about theory choice, and what approach is best, based on a discussion of the merits of the different epistemologies.

Originality/value

The principal value of the paper is to classify and demonstrate the most general features of the arguments that have been behind the large‐scale theoretical differences in the field of educational administration.
School characteristics that make a difference for the achievement of all students
Authors: Hoy Wayne
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to trace a 40‐year research journey to identify organizational properties that foster the achievement of all students, regardless of socio‐economic status (SES).

Design/methodology/approach

The author describes a search for school properties that have an impact on the cognitive and social‐emotional development of faculty and students, with special emphasis on academic achievement.

Findings

Three characteristics of schools were identified that make a positive difference for student achievement controlling for the SES: collective efficacy, collective trust in parents and students, and academic emphasis of the school. Further these three measures are elements of a latent construct, academic emphasis of school, which is a powerful predictor of student achievement regardless of SES.

Originality/value

The paper identifies school variables that are often as important, or more important, than SES in explaining academic achievement, and a new model is created to explain how academic optimism influences student achievement.
An empirical investigation of the influence of optimum stimulation levels in retailing
Authors: Wang Liz C. , Chang Lu‐Hsin , Wysong Scott
Published: January 2012

Purpose

A person's optimum stimulation level (OSL) reflects one's desired level of environmental stimulation and predisposition to act in the presence of environments. The purpose of this paper is to propose a comprehensive model, which illustrates that consumers with different levels of OSL have differing evaluations of retail store elements, shopping value and subsequent shopping behaviours.

Design/methodology/approach

To examine the relationship between OSL and consumer perceptions and behaviours, interviews were conducted with retail shoppers in Taiwan (n=147).

Findings

Taiwanese shoppers with a high OSL were found to have more favourable evaluations of a store's ambient, design, layout and density elements than did consumers with a low OSL. Additionally, the high OSL shoppers reported higher hedonic and utilitarian values from their shopping. Most importantly, the shoppers with a high OSL spent more time and money in stores.

Practical implications

With this research, hopefully retailers will pay even more attention to the ambient, design and layout elements of their stores. In doing so, they might be able to attract more consumers with a high OSL and entice them to spend more money.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the growing body of international retailing research by examining the effects of shoppers' optimum stimulation levels on their perceptions toward store elements, perceived shopping value, and purchase behaviours. Moreover, a comprehensive framework is put forth to assist future research.
Store experience and co‐creation: the case of temporary shop
Authors: Russo Spena Tiziana , Caridà Angela , Colurcio Maria , Melia Monia
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on Temporary Shops, a recent communication and distribution innovation used by firms in order to improve interaction with customers and to reinforce brand loyalty and equity. The main aim of the study is to frame the Temporary Shops phenomenon in Italy and to analyze its value co‐creation potential.

Design/methodology/approach

The DART model proposed by Prahalad and Ramaswamy has been chosen as the theoretical framework for understanding the Temporary Shops phenomenon. The authors investigate the process of value co‐creation inside the Temporary Shops through its four key building blocks, namely, dialogue, access, risk/benefits and transparency. Through a multiple‐case study, the authors study in‐depth evidence from five leading firms that represent the main Temporary Shops in Italy over the last two years.

Findings

Temporary Shops provide a locus of value co‐creation in which the interactive and experiential relationship between the firm and the customer is engaged and value co‐creation emerges.

Research limitations/implications

There are two main limitations: this study is exploratory and analyzes co‐creation only from the company perspective. Further studies may widen the unit of analysis from firm to customer's network and thus provide further insights about antecedents and implications of the interaction in a multi‐sensory context.

Originality/value

The work contributes to understanding the role of experiential environment in value co‐creation processes, as well as analyzing the contribution of a new distribution phenomenon with respect to co‐creation through the application of the DART model.
Young female consumers' intentions toward fair trade consumption
Authors: Jin Ma Yoon , Littrell Mary A. , Niehm Linda
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine young female consumers' purchase behaviours related to non‐food fair trade products. Interrelationships among beliefs, attitudes, perceived behavioural control, and purchase intentions in regard to fair trade products were examined within a framework of the theory of planned behaviour to arrive at an in‐depth understanding of young female consumers' fair trade consumption.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a probability sampling approach, 810 complete responses were collected via web‐based surveys from 18‐28 year old female college students at a large Midwestern university. Path model analysis was employed to test the proposed model and research hypotheses.

Findings

The results revealed that young female consumers' beliefs about the fair trade concept and product attributes, attitudes toward fair trade purchases, and perceived behavioural control in regard to fair trade purchases, were all important factors in determining consumers' intentions to purchase a fair trade product.

Research limitations/implications

Several important strategic implications emerged in this study for fair trade retailers targeting young female consumers. The generalization of the findings to the US population may be limited because the data were collected from a small to medium‐sized community with a fair trade specialty store.

Originality/value

This study focused on providing insights for a previously unaddressed fair trade consumer segment – a younger female consumer group between ages 18 and 28. The results of this study may provide insight to artisan producers and retailers in expanded opportunities to distribute, market, and promote fair trade products to this consumer segment.
Assessing category vulnerability across retail product assortments
Authors: Dass Mayukh , Kumar Piyush
Published: January 2012

Purpose

A critical issue faced by retailers is determining the composition of the product assortment in every category and setting the price levels for each product without compromising category‐level customer demand or operational efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel, model‐based clustering approach to bring parsimony to retailers' assortment configuration and pricing process. The objective of the model is to group alternative assortment configurations into sets to which the category exhibits equivalent vulnerability.

Design/methodology/approach

In this method, each possible assortment and pricing configuration is first conceptualized as a unified entity and then these entities are clustered based on the vulnerability of category level sales. The authors illustrate the benefits of this new method for category planning using two sets of data for brands of soft drinks and enhanced water, collected from a panel of adult customers.

Findings

The results from both data sets show that several assortment configurations, varying significantly in terms of numbers of products and prices, result in similar levels of category vulnerability. In other words, several widely‐different product‐pricing combinations result in similar levels of category demand.

Originality/value

The paper's findings imply that retailers can bring parsimony to their category management process by shifting their strategic focus from individual brands to assortment clusters. Specifically, they can select the most efficient or the smallest assortment from each cluster without sacrificing category demand. Overall, the authors' approach can help simplify the complex decision‐making process related to product selection and price setting, and help retailers achieve the dual objective of operational efficiency and high category demand.
Toward creating competitive advantage with logistics information technology
Authors: Hazen Benjamin T. , Byrd Terry Anthony
Published: January 2012

Purpose

Successfully implementing and exploiting the right information technologies is critical to maintaining competitiveness in today's supply chain. However, simply adopting off‐the‐shelf technologies may not necessarily induce this competitiveness unless the organization combines these technologies with additional complimentary resources. This study draws on the logistics innovation literature, resource‐advantage theory, and the resource‐based view of the firm with the purpose of investigating performance outcomes of logistics information technology (LIT) adoption and the proposed moderating effect of a complimentary resource. The paper posits that combining LIT with positive buyer‐supplier relationships may set the stage for organizations to achieve competitive advantage.

Design/methodology/approach

A meta‐analysis of 48 studies that report outcomes of EDI or RFID adoption was performed. Regression was used to investigate the moderating effect of the buyer‐supplier relationship on the relationship between LIT adoption and performance outcomes.

Findings

The findings suggest that adoption of LIT promotes enhanced levels of effectiveness, efficiency, and resiliency for the adopting firm and that the quality of the buyer‐supplier relationship moderates the degree of efficiency and resiliency realized via adoption.

Research limitations/implications

The results of this study suggest that adoption of a logistics innovation by itself may not necessarily produce a sustained competitive advantage. Instead, when combined with complimentary firm resources, the innovation may yield a sustained competitive advantage for the adopting firm.

Originality/value

Logistics innovation needs greater theoretical development in the literature. This research extends a foundational logistics innovation model by incorporating relevant theory to propose and test an additional dimension of the model.
Modal shift for greener logistics – the shipper's perspective
Authors: Eng‐Larsson Fredrik , Kohn Christofer
Published: January 2012

Purpose

A commonly suggested measure to make logistics greener is a shift to intermodal road‐rail transportation. Most research addresses the issue from the carrier's perspective, arguing for ways to improve the service production to better fit the shippers' demand. In this article the issue is addressed from the shipper's perspective. The purpose is to understand what contextual factors and operations changes that are possible and/or necessary for the shipper to make a fit to the current production system.

Design/methodology/approach

Six case companies selling non‐bulk, fast moving goods are examined. These firms have gone against the mainstream and shifted modes of transport. They are investigated through a multiple case‐study design.

Findings

The findings indicate that contextual factors stressed in the carrier‐focused literature, or rule of thumb decisions made by shipping logistics management, do not always clearly predict the success of a modal shift. However, some common denominators emerge among successful cases: large transport purchasing resources, high general carrier performance, low demand volatility, and centralized system control. The study also poses some propositions regarding the success of a modal shift.

Research limitations/implications

The research is qualitative in nature and thus limited to the companies and their respective logistics systems. However, the models could be further evaluated empirically through quantitative and qualitative methods alike.

Practical implications

The paper poses a number of propositions of what constitutes a successful modal shift from a shipper's perspective, based on the identified factors and operational changes.

Originality/value

Previous research on the shift to intermodal road‐rail solutions are predominantly made from a carrier's perspective. This research addresses the issue from the shipper's perspective.
Supply risk management: model development and empirical analysis
Authors: Kern Daniel , Moser Roger , Hartmann Evi , Moder Marco
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for upstream supply chain risk management linking risk identification, risk assessment and risk mitigation to risk performance and validate the model empirically. The effect of a continuous improvement process on identification, assessment, and mitigation is also included in the model.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review is undertaken to derive the hypotheses and operationalize the included constructs. The paper then tests the path analytical model using partial least squares analyses on survey data from 162 large and mid‐sized manufacturing companies located in Germany.

Findings

All items load high on their respective constructs and the data provides robust support to all hypothesized relationships. Superior risk identification supports the subsequent risk assessment and this in turn leads to better risk mitigation. The model explains 46 percent of the variance observed in risk performance.

Research limitations/implications

This study empirically validates the sequential effect of the three risk management steps on risk performance as well as the influence of continuous improvement activities. Limitations of this study can be seen in the use of perceptional data from single informants and the focus on manufacturing firms in a single country.

Practical implications

The detailed operationalization of the constructs sheds further light on the problem of measuring risk management efforts. Clear evidence of the performance effect of risk management provides managers with a business case to invest in such initiatives.

Originality/value

This is one of the first large‐scale, empirical studies on the process dimensions of upstream supply chain risk management.
The joint effects of compensation frames and price levels on service recovery of online pricing error
Authors: Lii Yuan‐shuh , Lee Monle
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to explore the joint effect of compensation frames and product‐price levels on consumer attitudinal reactions and behavioral intentions after a service failure involving online pricing error.

Design/methodology/approach

A 2 (compensation frames: dollar off versus percentage off) x 2 (product‐price levels: high‐price versus low‐price) between‐subjects factorial design was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The findings indicate that consumers perceive a price reduction for compensation framed in dollar terms as more (less) fair than the same price reduction framed in percentage terms for high‐price product (low‐price product). The higher consumer perceptions of compensation fairness are, the more likely consumers are to have positive post‐recovery satisfaction and trust. Consequently, consumers who are satisfied with the compensation effort are more likely to trust the service firm, engage in positive eWOM behavior, and purchase the item.

Practical implications

When online retailers decide to honor their erroneous pricing on their web sites by compensating consumers with price reduction, they must learn the product‐price conditions in which the effectiveness of compensation frames can reach a higher level.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, no previous studies have examined the joint effect of compensation frames and product‐price levels on consumers' attitudinal reactions and behavioral intentions involving service recovery of online pricing errors.
Joint service development – the creations of the prerequisite for the service development
Authors: Gottfridsson Patrik
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to describe how parted or divided service development is carried out, where interactions and cooperation need to take place with other actors in order to create the foundations for the service, in the form of a coherent specification of the extended service concept.

Design/methodology/approach

This study builds empirically on an in‐depth longitudinal case‐study approach using data from a development project within the public transport sector. By the time this study is published, the phase that deals with the development of the system requirements and specifications will be in its final stages, while the next phase – the actual creation of the technology‐based systems and the test launch – will have been initiated.

Findings

In this study, three important groups of actors were identified. The first group, the information carriers, are the actors from the different organisations participating in the project who possess the important knowledge that should be tapped out and translated. The second group is the translators who are the ones that gather the knowledge from the other actors and interpret and translate this knowledge. In order to make this possible and to facilitate the process, the third group, the supporting actors or facilitators, plays an important role.

Originality/value

This study provides an alternative view of new service development from a knowledge transfer perspective, which is in contrast to the highly structured and sequenced models that have characterised most of the existing research on service development.
Satisfaction and zone of tolerance: the moderating roles of elaboration and loyalty programs
Authors: Wu Li‐Wei , Wang Chung‐Yu
Published: January 2012

Purpose

This study seeks to understand how elaboration and loyalty programs affect the relative importance of satisfaction and the zone of tolerance (ZOT) in determining customer loyalty to an airline service provider.

Design/methodology/approach

Hierarchical moderated regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Customers with high elaboration rely more heavily on satisfaction than the ZOT to maintain customer loyalty. In addition, loyalty programs can decrease the effect of satisfaction on customer loyalty, but cannot increase the strength of the relationship between the ZOT and customer loyalty.

Originality/value

This study is a preliminary attempt to integrate the ZOT and satisfaction in determining customer loyalty in a simultaneous model. The findings suggest that there is a trade‐off between the effects of satisfaction and the ZOT on customer loyalty. Most importantly, the results provide new insights into the loyalty response with regard to dissatisfaction.
Customer loyalty and the role of relationship length
Authors: Wang Chung‐Yu , Wu Li‐Wei
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The objective of this study is to examine the effect of corporate image, perceived value, and switching costs on customer loyalty in customer/provider relationships of different length.

Design/methodology/approach

Five key constructs, namely: corporate image, perceived value, switching costs, customer loyalty, and length of relationship, were employed. Using a systematic sampling technique, student interviewers randomly approached customers exiting hair salons. The final survey sample consisted of 279 respondents.

Findings

This paper supports a contingency model with regard to customer loyalty and its antecedents. The results suggest that corporate image impacts customer loyalty in both newer and older relationships. Whereas in newer relationships, corporate image has a cardinal influence on switching costs, in more‐established relationships switching costs are influenced primarily by perceived value. In both cases, switching costs influence customer loyalty.

Research limitations/implications

As extant research claims that relationship quality, and not length, moderates the relationship between loyalty/repurchase behavior and their antecedents, future research could adopt relationship quality as a moderator to test the model of the present study.

Practical implications

The results support the importance of enhancing corporate image to retain newer customers. In longer‐established relationships, corporate image remains a determinant of repurchase decisions. However, customer value also has a significant influence on switching costs and loyalty.

Originality/value

The current study moves beyond customer‐perceived value, switching costs, and corporate image to demonstrate that relationship length has a significant influence on customer loyalty.
Effects of customer expertise on spillovers between products and services
Authors: Ding Yi , Chai Kai‐Hin
Published: January 2012

Purpose

Based on associative network theory and a service systems perspective, this study aims to investigate the spillover effects of quality and customer satisfaction between products and services and, in particular, the role of customer expertise in this process.

Design/methodology/approach

Overall, 457 valid responses were collected through a questionnaire survey. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Empirical support was found for spillover effects. For tech‐savvy users, spillover from network service quality has a positive impact on the formation of satisfaction with handsets; however, for non‐tech‐savvy users, spillovers only occur between satisfaction and loyalty.

Research limitations/implications

The paper has extended understanding of the relationships between quality, satisfaction, and loyalty in a multi‐context setting. Future research could study spillovers longitudinally and examine such effects in other emerging mobile contexts.

Practical implications

Managing quality and satisfaction is increasingly complex given that customers are seeking for a holistic experience. Measurement based on pure‐product or pure‐service should be improved by taking a more systematic approach. Mobile phones render people unprecedented connections with the world, thus transforming every aspect of the society. A reorientation to the user and their use contexts can contribute to better mobile communication experiences.

Originality/value

This study views the product and service as part of a service system that holistically delivers value‐in‐use. Furthermore, the role of customers as resource integrators is recognized by including their knowledge as an input for need fulfilment.
HR strategy delivers industry‐leading performance at Mitchells & Butlers
Authors: Phillips Liz
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe how a coherent HR strategy focused on delivering the company's key strategic goals has helped Mitchells & Butlers, a UK operator of restaurants and pubs, to post industry‐leading sales and profit growth over the past three years.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explains the reasons behind the reforms, the form they took and the results they have achieved.

Findings

Reports, among other things, increased employee engagement, higher job satisfaction, lower staff turnover, a 500 percent return on investment in a multi‐unit leadership program and a 5.2 percent rise in productivity.

Practical implications

Reveals, for the company as a whole, an increased operating margin, growth in market share, higher customer satisfaction, lower departmental costs, a rise in like‐for‐like food sales and average profits per pub the highest in the industry.

Originality/value

The paper gives an inside view of strategic transformation at a key UK company.
Training and coaching boost performance of sales staff at B&Q
Authors: Drake‐Knight Nick
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe a Model of Excellence™ that has helped to improve the performance of sales staff at retailing giant B&Q, among other organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explains the background to the Model of Excellence™ and some of the results it has achieved.

Findings

There are three levels of influence of the Model of Excellence™ – explicit standards, consistency and sustainability. The paper reveals how the Continue & Begin™ fast‐coaching model for on‐the‐spot coaching of sales employees and their colleagues is being used by many of the world's leading automotive and retail operators to reinforce sales training.

Practical implications

The paper shows that the fast‐coaching approach is ideal for use when observing sales behaviors in situ as well as being a proven method for making the most of mystery‐shop video footage or telephone‐call recordings.

Originality/value

The paper highlights the importance of creating an explicit set of standards (the sales process) that people can relate to, that they believe could be achievable, that they can incorporate into their daily lives, and training sales staff to deliver them.
Work‐life balance at Shanghai Shuozhi Management Consulting
Authors: Han Yong , Zhao Hongdan
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe family‐friendly policies at Shanghai Shuozhi Management Consulting Co. Ltd.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examines the background to the policies, the form they take and some of the results they achieve.

Findings

The paper reports the role of stable monthly pay and perks; family‐supportive supervisors; family‐friendly colleagues; professional‐development programs; child‐related support programs; and physical health and psychological well being programs at Shanghai Shuozhi Management Consulting.

Practical implications

The view is advanced that organizations and employees in China who want to have a work‐family benefits workplace should adopt the strategies mentioned in this paper. The paper situates family‐friendly policies at Shanghai Shuozhi Management Consulting in the context of Chinese society as a whole.

Originality/value

The paper considers some of the similarities and differences between work‐life balance policies at Shanghai Shuozhi Management Consulting and those in the west.
When Fintel fails to connect
Authors: Khan Anas , Khan Riad
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to outline the importance of having a close and integrated human resources (HR) relationship for good customer service. The paper focuses on the examples of Telecom Fiji Limited (TFL), Fiji International Telecommunications Limited (Fintel) and Connect Internet Service Fiji Limited.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on data collected from various company and government publications, plus the HR literature.

Findings

It is argued that everyone in an organization needs to work in collaboration to deliver optimal customer service. The paper reveals, through examples, that if an organization does not have a climate conducive to close and integrated relationships, customer service and organizational performance will be impaired.

Practical implications

The paper highlights the importance of HR executives imposing the right environment to ensure close and integrated relationships among employees for optimal performance, and emphasizes the effects of close relationships in the organization on customer contentment.

Originality/value

The paper presents the arguments in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.
Supporting the underperforming manager
Authors: Garwood Rosie
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to lament the poor quality of many managers and highlight four key skills that can help to improve their performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper emphasizes the importance of self‐awareness, delegation, communication and organizational skills.

Findings

Details the key role of training in helping to impart these skills.

Practical implications

The paper highlights the role of a supportive organizational culture in management development and draws attention to the cost to the economy as a whole of poorly performing managers.

Originality/value

The paper examines how middle managers' potential can be developed and maximized to benefit individual organizations and the economy as a whole.
Interview with Maggie Craddock, author of Power Genes: Understanding Your Power Persona – and How to Wield it at Work
Authors: by William Strange Interview
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to provide an interview with Maggie Craddock, author of Power Genes: Understanding Your Power Persona – and How to Wield It at Work.

Design/methodology/approach

The interview is conducted by an independent interviewer.

Findings

Maggie Craddock is an Executive Coach and author of The Authentic Career: Following the Path of Self‐discovery to Professional Fulfillment. Prior to coaching, she received two Lipper Awards for managing the top mutual fund in its class nationwide. She is an Ackerman‐certified family therapist.

Practical implications

Maggie Craddock discusses the professional implications of her Power Personas model and how this can be used to draw on existing strengths and resolve conflict.

Originality/value

Self‐awareness of individual power styles is an invaluable tool for mastering your professional and personal skills.
The indeterminacy of a flexible exchange rate system when financial markets are dormant
Authors: McPherson Sandra , Suliman Osman , Sweidan Osama
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which a flexible exchange rate system is able to function given a least developed economy where financial markets are inactive and economic growth is low.

Design/methodology/approach

A theoretical general equilibrium model is developed to examine the determinacy of a flexible exchange rate system on a small open market economy on the verge of subsistence. Using data from Sudan, an empirical analysis is conducted to find support for the theoretical results.

Findings

The theoretical analysis finds that in economies on the verge of subsistence with inactive financial markets, a flexible exchange rate system is indeterminate and thus will not work. In support of the theoretical results, the empirical analysis indicates that the financial deepening of an economy has a significant positive impact on the determinacy of the exchange rate.

Research limitations/implications

The robustness of the empirical results would be strengthened by examining the significance of financial deepening on exchange rates for additional economies with a large subsistence sector beyond Sudan.

Practical implications

A policy recommendation for economies on the verge of subsistence such as Sudan is to develop their financial institutions in order to increase their competitiveness in the exchange rate market. Moreover, future empirical studies on the impact of exchange rate changes should include monetary variables in order to reflect the degree of an economy's financial market advancement.

Originality/value

The paper illustrates that under conditions of subsistence, general equilibrium models of devaluation are determinant only when supply functions are based on absolute prices and not relative prices.
Toward a learning‐based view of innovation
Authors: Dai Zong
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify learning‐based management innovation that is essential to the firm's competitive advantage, and to develop a conceptual model of learning‐enabled innovation and research propositions for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines how four business firms develop their enterprise learning‐based innovation as a solution for a business crisis they face. The research methodology employs a fact‐based principle that combines quantitative and qualitative methods. Data were collected and analyzed at the corporate level of the subject organizations.

Findings

The cases in this study exemplify that in business crises a firm can be successful by developing a learning‐based innovation that is different from the classical paradigm of technology‐enabled innovation.

Research limitations/implications

The cases in this study are successful stories from the best practice in organizational learning. Even if learning‐enabled innovation successes were repeated in large numbers of cases, they would still be tentative research propositions for scientific exploration in the future.

Practical implications

The conceptual model of learning‐enabled innovation developed by this study would be practical and useful for business firms that seek a competitive solution for succeeding in a business crisis. A business or organizational transformation through learning‐based innovation would be much less painful than an ordinary organizational changing process and would more likely be successful.

Originality/value

This paper has tentatively developed a conceptual framework and a research proposition for future research in the learning‐based view of innovation.
K‐economy in the SAARC integration: a comparative study among the member countries
Authors: Hossain Amzad
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare the indicators of k‐economy to assess whether their status of development helps to improve such indicators in the SAARC. Furthermore, the study also aims to create linkage among the indicators of k‐economy, economic integration process in the SAARC, and the knowledge conversion model.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts comparative analyses of the indicators of k‐economy. Indicators are considered under three tracks such as: socio‐economic, economic and ICT infrastructure. Socio‐economic indicators – poverty index, literacy rate, public expenditure on education, R&D expenditure, enrolment of tertiary education, number of researchers in R&D, participation in international agency. Economic indicators – per‐capita real GDP, real GDP growth rate, share of GDP by sector, structure of trade, inflation and unemployment rate. ICT infrastructure indicators – telephone main lines per 100 people, cellular users per 100 people, broadband per 100 people, and internet users per 100 people. The data are obtained from publications, existing reports and web sites of international organizations.

Findings

The indicators of k‐economy demonstrate deprived developmental status with increasing trends in the SAARC member countries. As a result, SAARC demonstrates poor growth in terms of knowledge development as compared to other economic integrations in Asia such as APT. There is a considerable variation in most of the indicators among the member states as measured by CV (coefficient of variation) although they lay in low‐income county status. The people of the SAARC countries like to adopt with the ICT easily if the opportunity is provided. The study revealed that the countries in the SAARC should carefully follow the knowledge creation, conversion, implementation and reverse follow‐up process to meet specific indicator based needs of the specific sector of particular members considering their social and financial affordability in the local context.

Research limitations/implications

The study does not use the same year's data for all the indicators applied in this paper due to lack of data availability.

Practical implications

The findings of this paper will be useful to formulate effective policies to improve the indicators of k‐economy in the SAARC. This will be influential for the SAARC to be a competitive integration.

Originality/value

This study provides comparative empirical evidence of variation in the indicators of k‐economy among the SAARC member countries contribute to improve such indicators. The paper also creates linkage among the indicators of k‐economy, economic integration process in the SAARC, and the knowledge conversion model.