bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nutrient intake and body composition in relation to making weight in young male Taekwondo players
Authors: Fleming Sarah , Costarelli Vassiliki
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the nutritional intake and body composition of Taekwondo (TKD) athletes during a two‐week period of weight management as they prepare to make weight classification for an international competition.

Design/methodology/approach

Seven male, 17‐28 years old, international TKD athletes were recruited from a known World Taekwondo Federation TKD Club in London. Habitual and pre‐competition dietary intake was assessed using a three‐day and a five‐day food diary, respectively. Body weight and percentage body fat (Holtain Calipers, seven sites) were measured at the beginning of the study and 24h before competition. Body weight was also measured on the day of competition.

Findings

Energy, total carbohydrate, calcium and water intakes were below recommendations for athletes, particularly, before competition and consumption of fat and salt exceeded recommendations. Compared with baseline, the two‐week weight management period induced a significant reduction in the athletes body weight (1.2 per cent, P<0.05), however, there was no significant reduction in percentage body fat which remained stable at a very low average of 3.2 per cent (±0.8). During the 24‐h prior to weigh‐in for competition, the athletes significantly reduced their body weight by a further 3.4 per cent (2.2kg, P<0.05). The dietary analysis showed that the athletes were consuming a sub‐optimal diet both habitually and pre‐competition, which may compromise their performance and short‐ and long‐term health.

Originality/value

There has been a distinctive lack of literature on nutritional studies conducted on TKD athletes. This paper helps to fill that gap.
The transition from higher education into work: tales of cohesion and fragmentation
Authors: Holden Rick , Hamblett John
Published: October 2007

Purpose

This series of papers aims to explore the transition from higher education into work. It reports on research undertaken over a period of two years and which sought to track a number of young graduates as they completed their studies and embarked upon career of choice.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach adopted is defined and discussed as one of “common sense”. Alongside the notion of “common sense” the paper deploys two further concepts, “convention” and “faith” necessary to complete a rudimentary methodological framework. The narratives which are at the heart of the papers are built in such a way as to contain not only the most significant substantive issues raised by the graduates themselves but also the tone of voice specific to each.

Findings

Five cases are presented; the stories of five of the graduates over the course of one year. Story lines that speak of learning about the job, learning about the organisation and learning about self are identified. An uneven journey into a workplace community is evident. “Fragmentation” and “cohesion” are the constructs developed to reflect the conflicting dynamics that formed the lived experience of the transitional journeys experienced by each graduate.

Research limitations/implications

Whilst the longitudinal perspective adopted overcomes some of the major difficulties inherent in studies which simply use “snap shot” data, the natural limits of the “common sense” approach restrict theoretical development. Practically speaking, however, the papers identify issues for reflection for those within higher education and the workplace concerned with developing practical interventions in the areas of graduate employability, reflective practice and initial/continuous professional development.

Originality/value

The series of papers offers an alternative to orthodox studies within the broader context of graduate skills and graduate employment. The papers set this debate in a more illuminating context.
Project manager vs. executive perceptions of sponsor behaviors
Authors: Kloppenborg Timothy J. , Stubblebine Patrick C. , Tesch Debbie
Published: October 2007

Purpose

To identify differences in perceptions between executive sponsors (ESs) and project managers (PM) regarding sponsor involvement on projects, for the purposes of contributing to project management practice and encouraging further sponsor‐related research.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey of 365 executives and managers interested in project management investigated differences between ESs and PMs in perceived importance on eight dimensions of ES behavior and three dimensions of project success during the initiation stage of a project. This study followed a previous exploratory analysis study that identified sponsor behaviors. Factor analysis and t‐tests were used to develop variables and test for differences, respectively.

Findings

Results indicated significant differences between ESs and PMs on the perceived importance of ES involvement on the critical dimension of mentoring and assisting PMs with executives indicating higher importance.

Research limitations/implications

Three specific suggestions are made which are directed toward improving project management practice. Further, additional research is encouraged on the role and influence of the ES in the initiating stage of the project management process.

Originality value

The value of this research is two‐fold. One, the investigation identified a critical project management dimension on which sponsors and PMs differ, which may account for disruptive conflict during a project. Two, the present study adds to the limited body of research on the role of project sponsors.
Determining the importance of key criteria in web usability
Authors: Pearson J. Michael , Pearson Ann , Green David
Published: October 2007

Purpose

This research aims to investigate the relative importance of five key criteria in assessing web usability. These criteria are navigation, download speed, personalization, ease of use, and accessibility. It is believed that these factors play a significant role in assessing web usability.

Design/methodology/approach

This study utilized a scenario‐based, multi‐criteria decision‐making approach. The method (policy capturing) utilizes multiple scenarios to determine the relative importance of the criteria of interest. Based on the responses to these scenarios (assessing web usability), linear regressions, and Tukey's honestly significant differences were utilized to determine the relative importance of the five web usability criteria.

Findings

The research indicated that, as expected, ease of use was the criteria that the respondents considered most important in assessing web usability. Interestingly, personalization and customization was consistently reported as the least important criteria. It was also found that males and females view these web usability criteria differently.

Practical implications

The findings from this study have practical implications for web site designers.

Originality/value

The results indicate that less effort/resources should be devoted to personalization and customization, and more in making sure that web sites are easy to use and have clear navigation capabilities.
Disaster response based on production network management tasks
Authors: Smirnov Alexander , Levashova Tatiana , Pashkin Mikhail , Shilov Nikolai , Komarova Anna
Published: October 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to present an approach to decision‐making in disaster response operations. The approach is based on ontology‐driven knowledge sharing and application of well‐developed tasks from the area of production network management, that in turn, enables using the existing problem‐solving methods and tools.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach applies the decision‐making tasks used in production network management to solving the above‐mentioned problem.

Findings

It is shown that there exist many common features and requirements for decision‐making in industrial environment and in disaster relief operations. They both require applying such technologies as ontology and context management, constraint satisfaction and profiling. Sample tasks used in the considered problem domains are presented.

Originality/value

The described research is a step forward in extension of integrating relatively well‐developed technologies implemented in production networks to the quite new areas of disaster relief and humanitarian logistics.
Evolution of operations management: past, present and future
Authors: Bayraktar Erkan , Jothishankar M.C. , Tatoglu Ekrem , Wu Teresa
Published: October 2007

Purpose

This paper seeks to analyze the evolution of shift in the area of operations management (OM) and attempts to anticipate potential developments in the relevant areas of OM.

Design/methodology/approach

A hybrid approach is adopted to understand how the field of OM has evolved over time relying on the perspectives of both academics and business practitioners. This evolution of shift in the area of OM is examined based on a thorough literature review and the authors’ industrial experience.

Findings

From the days of functional point solutions relying on concepts like reorder point to finite capacity planning, OM research at present deals with a set of important problems facing both private and public sectors at the organizational level. Most prominent of these include e‐business, supply chain management, production planning and scheduling, product development, decision support systems, information‐based strategy, systems development and implementation, risk and environmental management. OM has also embraced several organization‐wide philosophies including lean production, mass customization and agile manufacturing.

Practical implications

With the advent of Internet and burgeoning of the new economy, this paper provides important insights regarding the evolution of OM in the past, recent developments at present and what the future holds for this field. It is envisaged that a focus on the issues central to OM will soon propel both researchers and industry practitioners beyond existing technologies and also provide the catalyst for developing new ones.

Originality/value

This paper provides useful insights to both researchers and practitioners who are interested in the field of OM.
Prediction of geometrical variations in Airbus wingbox assembly
Authors: Saadat Mozafar , Sim Roy , Najafi Farid
Published: October 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to present a method for predicting dimensional variation in assembly processes of a wingbox structure concentrating on the assembly of skin panels to rib feet.

Design/methodology/approach

Finite element modelling and experimental tests are conducted on the rib structure based on the site measurement gathered from the Airbus assembly factory.

Findings

The results have shown that the simulated model has the capability of predicting to an acceptable degree of accuracy the overall geometrical variations of the ribs and skin panels, as well as the positional variations of each individual rib foot.

Originality/value

The authors believe that no previous research has offered a similar prediction method for large aerostructures.
The Bard and the boardroom: Shakespeare's continuing relevance for business
Authors: Simmons John
Published: October 2007

Purpose

This paper analyses how Shakespeare's plays are relevant to modern business.

Design/methodology/approach

The author uses a book called The Bard & Co: Shakespeare's Role in Modern Business for the analysis.

Findings

Shakespeare's language can help improve the language of business.

Originality/value

Shakespeare provides an opportunity to think in unexpected ways about familiar subjects.
A marketing paradox
Authors: Hill Mark E. , McGinnis John , Cromartie Jane
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explain and discuss a paradoxical tension in the practice of marketing and the consequent dilemmas posed for practitioners in general and planners in particular.

Design/methodology/approach

A “Viewpoint” contribution, with implicit permission to “think aloud.” Informed opinion and logical argument are in this case founded on but not exclusively derived from the existing research‐based marketing literature, plus selected transfer of principles from other disciplines.

Findings

The paradox is that, by concentrating on the contribution of accepted theory and principles to practice, in fact intellectual and conceptual progress might be hindered. A way out of this dilemma is to shift the focus from marketing‐as‐content (doing) to marketing‐as‐questioning (thinking). A new working definition emphasizes the value of this focus and the benefits of equal participation in the process by both academics and practitioners.

Practical implications

A route map is offered for productive collaboration across the much‐discussed academic‐practitioner gap, which should lead to mitigation of the constraining (hindering) effect of the conventional wisdom and the way it is applied to strategy.

Originality/value

The paper presents a point of view, to stimulate lateral thinking and alternative positions. It shifts the focus from “what” to “how” and “why” and exhorts academics and practitioners to move in the same direction together.
“Everything and nothing”: habits of simulation in marketing
Authors: Brownlie Douglas
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore recent arguments about the nature of the marketing discipline, to state a point of view, and to stimulate debate.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the approach of a response to recent viewpoints, with implicit permission to think aloud.

Findings

Marketing's “identity” crisis is alive, well and profitable, and has manifested itself most recently as the “critical” movement within contemporary marketing scholarship. The reasons are firmly embedded in conventionalized scholarly tradition and the silent institutions that support it, whereby marketing scholars mobilise convenient rhetorics to shift goalposts and build declarative statements that often confuse ontology with tautology.

Research limitations/implications

The integrative work that the discipline requires will be facilitated by a clearer understanding of the evolving institutional horizon, and how it defines acceptable knowledge‐making practices.

Practical implications

An improved understanding of the functions of institutions in defining admissible knowledge‐making practice will help reform structures by means of which academic practitioners relate to the subjects they research, puncturing over‐inflated and unhelpful debates about relevance, or theory and practice. This will benefit students, consultants, planners, strategists, and everyone in general.

Originality/value

The paper presents a glimpse of oneself, if one is a marketing academic, and how one makes marketing “marketing” in a world of increasing specialization and the canonization of minutiae.
Surf tribal behaviour: a sports marketing application
Authors: Moutinho Luiz , Dionísio Pedro , Leal Carmo
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate “tribal” consumption behaviour and its relationship to branding, in the particular context of the surfing community in Portugal.

Design/methodology/approach

Two focus group meetings with “surfers” and “fans” respectively, in April 2006, were enriched by computerised projective techniques and program‐assisted design (PAD) technology, backed by high quality video prompts. Qualitative data analysis was enhanced by quantified data collected in the PAD phase. The design was expressly directed at future quantification and model building.

Findings

Four research propositions, derived from an extensive literature review, were mostly confirmed: surfing does exhibit characteristics of a cult. There are three distinct types of adherent, their associative behaviour characterized by affiliation, social recognition, socialization and symbolism. Surfers and fans exhibit strong brand awareness and less strong preferences for surf‐linked brands, in different ways.

Research limitations/implications

Interpretation is limited by the scope of the study: two focus groups in one country. There is some compensation in the richness of the data.

Practical implications

Marketers involved with cult consumers and tribal brands need a body of knowledge on which to base their marketing intelligence gathering and strategic planning.

Originality/value

This paper provides exploratory research findings related to one classic example of the tribal brand‐consumption behaviour that accounts for significant consumer spending around the postmodern world.
Information overload: a cross‐national investigation of influence factors and effects
Authors: Klausegger Claudia , Sinkovics Rudolf R. , “Joy” Zou Huan
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature and negative effects of the “information overload” phenomenon, exacerbated in recent years by organizational design issues and rapid advances in information and communication technology, through a multidisciplinary lens.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from a five‐country East‐West published study of information overload in the Reuters organization are used to examine the influences on information overload and to compare the effects on respondents in each country.

Findings

Results of the re‐manipulation of the survey data demonstrate significant negative relationships between information overload and the fulfilment of job responsibilities in all five countries surveyed. Information overload was perceived to be most stressful in the USA and UK.

Practical implications

Marketing managers face the dilemma of receiving too much information, but too little that is “right” for their planning responsibilities. The challenge is thus to convert “information” into “intelligence” that can effectively support strategic marketing planning. Suggestions are offered for reducing the duplication of information and adopting appropriate information‐management strategies.

Originality/value

Information overload has serious practical consequences for management and planning in marketing no less than in any other discipline. A clear and comprehensive view of the phenomenon and its effects on everyday job responsibilities is therefore useful in tackling the problem. The cross‐national analysis permits adjustments to local management style and behaviour in the major economies of the East and West.
Characteristics of early adopters in mobile communications markets
Authors: Munnukka Juha
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study consumers' adoption of mobile communications services, and to explore common denominators uniting those most likely to be early adopters; thereby, to help practitioners to predict early adoption and segment the market.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected by postal questionnaire from 26 per cent of a sample of 3,000 customers of a telecommunications service provider in Finland, stratified into three sub‐samples according to type of usage. For this paper, the returns from the two sub‐samples with the highest rates of use were analysed.

Findings

Previous experience of related types of communications services significantly and positively influenced adoption of new mobile services. Certain of the respondents' demographic characteristics were also closely associated with early adoption.

Research limitations/implications

Further studies are required before the findings can be applied beyond Scandinavia. Qualitative research could enhance understanding of the roles of personal innovativeness and income, in particular, in adoption of mobile communications services.

Practical implications

Mobile communications service providers in Scandinavia now have a tested basis for identification of early adopters, segmentation of the market, and targeting of marketing campaigns.

Originality/value

The study tested theoretical constructs used widely in other fields, and identified adjustments required for transfer to the mobile communications service context.
Linking quality improvement with patient satisfaction: a study of a health service centre
Authors: Tam Jackie L.M.
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate empirically the impact of improvement in service‐delivery quality on customer satisfaction and repeat patronage, in the context of health services.

Design/methodology/approach

A longitudinal study of patients at a health care centre in Hong Kong assessed the effect of quality improvements made in response to the findings of its first phase, with respect to patient satisfaction and intention to revisit. Data were collected by questionnaire‐based interviews with more than 1,000 patients visiting the centre.

Findings

Exploratory factor analysis, varimax rotation and t‐tests show that basing a service quality improvement programme on feedback from the patient survey did improve satisfaction and intention to revisit. Conclusions include the importance of management commitment to quality for effective outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

The results are based on the responses of clients of a single health centre, during surveys conducted outside the premises in real time, and can be generalized to other settings only with due caution.

Originality/value

Empirical evidence is provided of the positive impact of quality improvement on patient satisfaction and revisit intention in a real situation.
The influence of personal character on information communication and activity effect
Authors: Wu Shwu‐Ing
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore information‐processing in response to a specific promotional information campaign in a “social marketing” setting, and to devise a target audience segmentation strategy on the basis of the findings.

Design/methodology/approach

The case examples of on‐campus cultural events and activities at three universities in Taiwan are the focus of data collected by questionnaire from 759 students in three personality‐based clusters and subjected to analysis by structural equation modelling and MANOVA.

Findings

A model of the information‐processing structure exhibited a good fit to the data. There were clear differences among the clusters with respect to the individual elements of the model.

Research limitations/implications

Restriction of the sampling frame to three universities in one country, chosen specifically for similarities in their on‐campus cultural provision, limits the generalisability of the findings and conclusions to other social marketing situations.

Practical implications

Personal characteristics were the single most important influence on students' processing of the information and participation in the events and activities. Conclusions are drawn for target audience segmentation in this specific case.

Originality/value

This study has developed an effective measurement index and structural model, which can serve as a point of reference for marketing planners in comparable situations.
A new conceptual framework for business‐consumer relationships
Authors: Vrontis Demetris , Thrassou Alkis
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the complex of factors affecting the present and future of empowered consumer behaviour that has evolved in developed countries, and to apply the outcome to the construction of a conceptual framework for the contemporary business‐consumer relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on a wide literature, a large number of macro‐ and micro‐environmental elements are woven into a unique and personal view of the business‐consumer relationship in developed countries.

Findings

This research examines the gradual formation of a dynamic equilibrium between consumers' rising power and businesses' enhanced ability to affect consumers' perceptions. Furthermore, consumer “needs” are found to be increasingly manifested into “wants” which are intangible, of obscure value, affective in nature and vulnerable to marketing communications.

Research limitations/implications

The paper maintains an idiosyncratic approach to the subject, aiming to generate scholarly discussion and further research, not to offer definitive answers. Pointers are offered to further studies to test the validity of the proposed framework.

Practical implications

It is hoped that the new conceptual framework may help marketing strategists and planners to better understand patterns of consumption in developed countries, and their causes. Branding seems to hold strong promise as a means to manage the business‐consumer relationship in the twenty‐first century.

Originality/value

Though not quite a “Viewpoint”, this paper contains much food for thought.
Advertising and mutual fund asset flows
Authors: Korkeamaki Timo , Puttonen Vesa , Smythe Tom
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The paper aims to examine the effect of advertising on mutual fund cash flows in the Finnish fund market.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper's unique data set allows the observation of the effects of monetary advertising spending and the choice of advertising media.

Findings

The paper finds that neither past year's performance nor advertising alone is sufficient to produce increased cash flows. However, advertising together with past performance is found to significantly affect cash flows. The positive effect of advertising is limited to the use of non‐perishable advertising media. Additionally, it is found that fund families spending proportionately more on advertising receive higher asset flows.

Originality/value

The data are unique in that they can identify fund families that advertise, and also how much they spent on advertising in a given year and the dollar amount spent on five different media types. Obviously, having also fund level data available would enable more thorough analysis.
Determinants of banks selection in USA, Taiwan and Ghana
Authors: Blankson Charles , Ming‐Sung Cheng Julian , Spears Nancy
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to investigate bank choice/selection criteria in a range of cultural and country economic scenarios. More specifically, the purpose of this study is to understand international consumers' selection criteria of banks using the USA, Taiwan, and Ghana as illustrations.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a literature review, the paper adopts the classical multi‐step scale development process which demanded that thorough attention be paid to every step of the process. The study employed exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to assess the reliability of the results.

Findings

The study reveals three key dimensions/factors/strategies that are consistent across all three economies. The paper concludes that open and liberalized business climate appear to explain consumers' decisions.

Research limitations/implications

This research is based on the college student cohort and thus the results do not represent the public. This poses generalizability questions without further replications and validations. This study did not examine whether there were consumers' switching behaviors involving banks.

Practical implications

Insights derived from this study will provide bank managers and advertising executives with the building blocks for understanding consumers' choice criteria of banks in industrialized, newly industrialized and liberalized developing economies.

Originality/value

A comprehensive validated scale measuring international consumers' selection of banks is proposed. In view of the scarce stream of empirical studies dealing with consumers' selection of banks in liberalized developing nations, this research comes at an opportune time, as several governments in these economies are encouraging bank savings, channeling college students' loans through bank accounts and proactively attracting global banks to establish branches in their countries. This study complements the extant literature dealing with consumers' selection of banks. Finally, a cross‐national and cross‐cultural dataset of consumers' choice criteria of banks have been put forward that would enhance further appreciation of the subject of banks selection in varying economies.
Interaction channel choice in a multichannel environment, an empirical study
Authors: Gené Albesa Jaume
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumer channel preferences and the motives that induce consumers to use a particular channel in a context of multichannel contact.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper analyses some factors that influence consumer behaviour in channel selection through an empirical study in the financial sector. Some hypotheses are presented and tested.

Findings

The paper reveals the influence of some variables (perceived convenience, social relationships, knowledge of channel and privacy) on the channel selected (counter, ATM or internet) for the performance of certain operations with the company.

Research limitations/implications

To generalise these findings this study needs to be replicated in other geographical areas and companies.

Practical implications

The multichannel contact centre is one of the fundamental pillars of customer relationship management. It is not enough simply to have the necessary technology (hardware, software and telecommunications). Companies must investigate consumer channel preferences and the motives that induce consumers to use a particular channel.

Originality/value

This study is a reflection on the new environment of the relationship between companies and their clients due to the influence of new information and communication technologies. In this new context, knowledge of the consumer is as necessary as knowledge of the technology.
Managing conflict in collaborative new product development: a supplier perspective
Authors: Kit Lam Ping , Sang Chin Kwai , Fai Pun Kit
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the distribution of conflict over various NPD phases and identify the main sources of conflict and the five conflict handling styles in new product development (NPD) from the context of buyer‐supplier collaboration.

Design/methodology/approach

A list of the sources of conflict was developed and five conflict handling styles in NPD were identified based on literature review and the opinions of manufacturing experts in Hong Kong. An empirical study comprising a series of personal interviews and a mailed survey was conducted to acquire empirical findings from industry practitioners and suppliers on the conflict issues in collaborative NPD. The relationships between NPD performance and conflict intensity as well as conflict handling styles were analysed. Both reliability and construct validity of the study construct were measured.

Findings

The study identified 16 sources of conflict and demonstrated that conflict has a significant negative relationship with NPD performance in terms of product quality, and meeting of target development costs and delivery schedule. The results also showed that cooperative styles (i.e. integrating and obliging) are effective and uncooperative styles (i.e. dominating and avoiding) are ineffective, whereas compromising is a neutral approach.

Research limitations/implications

This research was based on four industry sectors including electronics, toys, machinery, and watches and clocks in Hong Kong. Generalisability to other industries or countries may be limited.

Practical implications

The findings verified that a negative relationship exists between conflict intensity and NPD performance. Both the clients and suppliers should maintain a sustainable level of conflict and should enhance their conflict handling efforts and skills for effective conflict resolutions.

Originality/value

From a suppliers' viewpoint, this paper provides some insights into how client‐supplier collaboration and conflict resolutions could improve NPD performance.
Perceived service quality
Authors: Kyoon Yoo Dong , Ah Park Jeong
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show how firms can enhance their service quality to increase customer satisfaction and thus financial performance? In answer to this question, four factors (i.e. employees, perceived service quality, customers, and financial performance) are critical to the success of service firms. The purpose of this research is to provide a research framework that examines relationships among employees, perceived service quality, customers, and financial performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This research develops valid and reliable instruments to measure employee training, a shared understanding, perceived service quality, customer satisfaction, and financial performance. Structural equation modelling is employed to test hypotheses following the research framework.

Findings

Drawing on a sample of 129 hotels, the results of this research show that employee training has an influence on perceived service quality. A shared understanding among employees plays a critical role in enhancing perceived service quality. In addition, customer satisfaction mediates between perceived service quality and financial performance.

Originality/value

This research illustrates that management may keep the consistency and reliability of perceived service quality by increasing the capability of employees through training and a shared understanding. In the literature, the relationship between perceived service quality and financial performance has shown a mixed picture; both positive and negative influences. This research provides empirical evidence that customer satisfaction mediates between perceived service quality and financial performance. This research may help service firms understand how the important elements (i.e. employees, customers, perceived service quality, and financial performance) interact to influence the overall performance.
Understanding egovernment and egovernance: stakeholders, partnerships and CSR
Authors: Wong K. , Fearon C. , Philip G.
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assist in understanding that eGovernment is more than the implementation of IT. There are changes to the fundamental mechanisms of public governance including roles of citizens, organisations and government. This study explores the views, roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in promoting eGovernance, with a focus on countries that are in the early stages of developing their ICT strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory case study approach is used based on the Malaysian experience. A combination of interviews and comments from questionnaires are used to examine government and citizens' viewpoints concerning eGovernment development.

Findings

While these are preliminary, the qualitative findings are intended for reflection, as well as, suggestions for action. They include: creating eCitizen partnerships; narrowing the digital divide; finding consensus on structures and roles in an eGovernment strategy. The discussion calls for collective stakeholder involvement of government and citizens as partners in order to promote social inclusion.

Research limitations/implications

The study is exploratory and the findings cannot be considered as representative. However, they indicate areas for improvement. A second more robust empirical study is envisaged with more emphasis on application of stakeholder theory and techniques.

Originality/value

The debate is about collective social responsibility, arguing for social inclusion through the development of eGovernance for the national good which promotes concepts such as eDemocracy and eCommunity through stakeholder participation and partnership.
Towards a holistic approach to logistics quality deficiencies
Authors: Forslund Helena
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The first purpose of this paper is to define the relevant types of logistics quality deficiencies (LQDs) in the dyadic order fulfillment process. The second purpose is to find the variables for measuring the different types of LQDs.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper is based on a literature review.

Findings

Approaching LQDs means an expanded application for quality deficiencies in two ways. First, processes are addressed instead of products. Second, the narrow internal scope is widened to encompass also the customer. This implies an expansion of quality deficiency approaches. The established typology of external and internal quality deficiencies was found to be insufficient when an inter‐organizational process in a dyad was addressed. New inter‐organizational logistics quality deficiencies were found.

Research limitations/implications

The implications of this paper are mainly theoretical, conceptualizing a phenomenon and providing a foundation for further theoretical and empirical research.

Practical implications

This article has shown the complex interplay of a number of performance and accomplishment LQDs. The first foundation for empirical measurement of LQDs in the dyadic order fulfillment process is laid.

Originality/value

Conceptual frameworks for logistics quality deficiencies are seldom found.
Failure mode and effects analysis based on fuzzy utility cost estimation
Authors: Dong Chensong
Published: October 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a cost effective failure mode and effects analysis tool to overcome the disadvantages of the traditional FMEA that the cost due to failure is not defined.

Design/methodology/approach

The method presented in this paper is based on the fuzzy utility theory. It uses utility theory and fuzzy membership functions for the assessment of severity, occurrence, and detection. The utility theory accounts for the nonlinear relationship between the cost due to failure and the ordinal ranking. The application of fuzzy membership functions better represents the team opinions. The Risk Priority Index (RPI) is developed for the prioritization of failure modes.

Findings

The advantages of the FUT‐based FMEA are demonstrated through cases studies. It shows that it can take the cost due to failure into account when prioritizing failure modes.

Originality/value

The FUT‐based FMEA presented in this paper provides a convenient cost‐effective tool for failure analysis. It improves the performance FMEA in the risk and failure analysis for product design and manufacturing/assembly process.
Applicability of the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale to educators teaching innovative programs
Authors: Tsigilis Nikolaos , Grammatikopoulos Vasilios , Koustelios Athanasios
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The purpose of the present study is to examine the applicability of the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES, Tschannen‐Moran and Woolfolk‐Hoy) to educators teaching an innovative program, namely, the Olympic Education Program. TSES applicability was inferred from examination of the TSES factor structure, its internal consistency and its logical, theoretical consistent pattern of relations between TSES and other measures.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 175 educators completed a Greek version of the TSES along with the reduced personal accomplishment subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory.

Findings

Exploratory factor analysis showed that TSES can be applied to educators of an innovative educational program to study an overall factor of teachers' sense of competence. Mean values suggested that educators had strong efficacy beliefs. In addition, TSES responses were negatively associated with reduced personal accomplishment scores (r=−0.37).

Research limitations/implications

Self‐reported strong sense of efficacy may not be well‐grounded or authentic, since a variety of factors (e.g. social desirability) may have influenced educators' responses.

Originality/value

The present study extends the existing evidence of the applicability of the TSES in a cultural context different from that for which it was originally developed, namely, in the Greek educational setting, for assessing educators teaching an innovative educational program.
Promoting safety
Authors: Westbrook Mary T. , Braithwaite Jeffrey , Travaglia Joanne F. , Long Debbi , Jorm Christine , Iedema Rick A.
Published: October 2007

Purpose

Patient safety has been addressed since 2002 in the health system of New South Wales, Australia via a Safety Improvement Programme (SIP), which took a system‐wide approach. The programme involved two‐day courses to educate healthcare professionals to monitor and report incidents and analyse adverse events by conducting root cause analysis (RCA). This paper aims to predict that all professions would favour SIP but that their work and educational histories would result in doctors holding the least and nurses the most positive attitudes. Alternative hypotheses were that doctors' relative power and other professions' team‐working skills would advantage the respective groups when conducting RCAs.

Design/methodology/approach

Responses to a 2005 follow‐up questionnaire survey of doctors (n=53), nurses (209) and allied health staff (59), who had participated in SIP courses, were analysed to compare: their attitudes toward the course; safety skills acquired and applied; perceived benefits of SIP and RCAs; and their experiences conducting RCAs.

Findings

Significant differences existed between professions' responses with nurses being the most and doctors the least affirming. Allied health responses resembled those of nurses more than those of doctors. The professions' experiences conducting RCAs (number conducted, leadership, barriers encountered, findings implemented) were similar.

Research limitations/implications

Observational studies are needed to determine possible professional differences in the conduct of RCAs and any ensuing culture change that this may be eliciting.

Practical implications

There is strong professional support for SIPs but less endorsement from doctors, who tend not to prefer the knowledge content and multidisciplinary teaching environment considered optimal for safety improvement education. This is a dilemma that needs to be addressed.

Originality/value

Few longer‐term SIPs' assessments have been realised and the differences between professional groups have not been well quantified. As a result of this paper, benefits of and barriers to conducting RCAs are now more clearly understood.
Safety self‐efficacy and safety performance
Authors: Katz‐Navon Tal , Naveh Eitan , Stern Zvi
Published: October 2007

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest a new safety self‐efficacy construct and to explore its antecedents and interaction with standardization to influence in‐patient safety. Design/methodology/approach – The paper used a survey of 161 nurses using a self‐administered questionnaire over a 14‐day period in two large Israeli general hospitals. Nurses answered questions relating to four safety self‐efficacy antecedents: enactive mastery experiences; managers as safety role models; verbal persuasion; and safety priority, that relate to the perceived level of standardization and safety self‐efficacy. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the scale's construct validity. Regression models were used to test hypotheses regarding the antecedents and influence of safety self‐efficacy. Findings – Results indicate that: managers as safety role models; distributing safety information; and priority given to safety, contributed to safety self‐efficacy. Additionally, standardization moderated the effects of safety self‐efficacy and patient safety such that safety self‐efficacy was positively associated with patient safety when standardization was low rather than high. Hospital managers should be aware of individual motivations as safety self‐efficacy when evaluating the potential influence of standardization on patient safety. Originality/value – Theoretically, the study introduces a new safety self‐efficacy concept, and captures its antecedents and influence on safety performance. Also, the study suggests safety self‐efficacy as a boundary condition for the influence of standardization on safety performance. Implementing standardization in healthcare is problematic because not all processes can be standardized. In this case, self‐efficacy plays an important role in securing patient safety. Hence, safety self‐efficacy may serve as a “substitute‐for‐standardization,” by promoting staff behaviors that affect patient safety.
Are health systems changing in support of patient safety?
Authors: Braithwaite Jeffrey , Westbrook Mary T. , Travaglia Joanne F. , Iedema Rick , Mallock Nadine A. , Long Debbi , Nugus Peter , Forsyth Rowena , Jorm Christine , Pawsey Marjorie
Published: October 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of a health system‐wide safety improvement program (SIP) three to four years after initial implementation.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employs multi‐methods studies involving questionnaire surveys, focus groups, in‐depth interviews, observational work, ethnographic studies, documentary analysis and literature reviews with regard to the state of New South Wales, Australia, where 90,000 health professionals, under the auspices of the Health Department, provide healthcare to a seven‐million population. After enrolling many participants from various groups, the measurements included: numbers of staff trained and training quality; support for SIP; clinicians' reports of safety skills acquired, work practices changed and barriers to progress; RCAs undertaken; observation of functioning of teams; committees initiated and staff appointed to deal with adverse events; documentation and computer records of reports; and peak‐level responses to adverse events.

Findings

A cohort of 4 per cent of the state's health professionals has been trained and now applies safety skills and conducts RCAs. These and other senior professionals strongly support SIP, though many think further culture change is required if its benefits are to be more fully achieved and sustained. Improved information‐handling systems have been adopted. Systems for reporting adverse incidents and conducting RCAs have been instituted, which are co‐ordinated by NSW Health. When the appropriate structures, educational activities and systems are made available in the form of an SIP, measurable systems change might be introduced, as suggested by observations of the attitudes and behaviours of health practitioners and the increased reporting of, and action about, adverse events.

Originality/value

Few studies into health systems change employ wide‐ranging research methods and metrics. This study helps to fill this gap.