bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Advancing hermeneutic research for interpreting interfirm new product development
Authors: Woodside Arch G. , Pattinson Hugh M. , Miller Kenneth E.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The principal objective here is to describe conceptual and research tools for achieving deeper sense‐making of what happened and why it happened –including how participants interpret outcomes of what happened and the dynamics of emic (executive) and etic (researcher) sense‐making.

Design/methodology/approach

This article uses a mixed research design including decision systems analysis, cognitive mapping, computer software‐based text analysis, and the long interview method for mapping the mental models of the participants in specific decision‐making processes as well as mapping the immediate, feedback, and downstream influences of decisions‐actions‐outcomes.

Findings

The findings in the empirical study support the view that decision processes are prospective, introspective, and retrospective, sporadically rational, ultimately affective, and altogether imaginatively unbounded.

Research limitations/implications

Not using outside auditors to evaluate post‐etic interpretations is recognized as a method limitation to the extended case study; such outside auditor reports represent an etic‐4 level of interpretation. Incorporating such etic‐4 interpretation is one suggestion for further research.

Practical implications

Asking executives for in‐depth stories about what happened and why helps them reflect and uncover very subtle nuances of what went right and what went wrong.

Originality/value

A series advanced hermeneutic B2B research reports of a specific issue (e.g., new product innovation processes) provides an advance for developing a grounded theory of what happened and why it happened. Such a large‐scale research effort enables more rigorous, accurate and useful generalizations of decision making on a specific issue than is found in literature reviews of models of complex systems.
Determinants of export performance across service types: a conceptual model
Authors: La Vinh Q. , Patterson Paul G. , Styles Chris W.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To highlight the relative importance of service‐specific export performance drivers that help successful exporting.

Design/methodology/approach

A gap between the antecedents of manufacturing and service firms was identified via an extensive review on the export performance as well as services literature. Taking the resource‐based view and the contingency approach, a series of research propositions relating to the determinants of export performance among service firms are developed.

Findings

This paper suggests that traditional export performance models, developed for and tested with manufacturing firms, cannot be assumed to apply equally well in service settings. Further, service specific export theory needs to adopt a contingency approach which in turn provides insightful and value‐added research for academics and practitioners in the services exporting sector.

Originality value

The paper provides recognition of the relative importance of the different export performance and value drivers; value propositions can be more effectively designed in order to gain competitive advantage.
Service providers and customers: social exchange theory and service loyalty
Authors: Sierra Jeremy J. , McQuitty Shaun
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper extends Lawler's argument (in “An affect theory of social exchange”) that social exchanges can create a sense of shared responsibility to service settings, and predict that inseparability produces customer perceptions of shared responsibility for service outcomes, resulting in greater emotions. When emotions are positive, there should be increased loyalty to the service provider.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire was used to obtain cross‐sectional data pertaining to our model's constructs: inseparability, shared responsibility, emotional response, and service loyalty. A structural equation model evaluated the strength of relationships between these constructs.

Findings

Support was found for the predicted relationships between inseparability and shared responsibility, shared responsibility and emotions, and emotions and service loyalty.

Research limitations/implications

Inseparability and shared responsibility have not been measured before, and more research is needed to validate and test the scales we develop. Goods are seldom sold without some service attached, and anything that contributes to perceptions of inseparability and shared responsibility may affect emotional responses and brand loyalty for both services and goods.

Practical implications

Service employee training programs should emphasize the customer's role in the service experience to increase perceptions of shared responsibility and to create a positive emotional experience for customers.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the services marketing literature by viewing inseparability as a potential source of service brand loyalty, developing original scales for measuring inseparability and shared responsibility in a services setting, and applying a previously untested theory to a marketing context.
The impact of service provider emotional intelligence on customer satisfaction
Authors: Kernbach Sally , Schutte Nicola S.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This study seeks to examine whether higher emotional intelligence displayed by service providers leads to greater customer satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

A community sample of 150 participants viewed video clips depicting a service provider displaying three different levels of emotional intelligence in high or low service difficulty transactions.

Findings

Higher emotional intelligence displayed by the service provider led to greater reported satisfaction with the service transaction. Further, there was an interaction between emotional intelligence of the service provider and transaction difficulty. In the low transaction difficulty condition there was progressively more satisfaction at each higher level of emotional intelligence of the service provider. In the high transaction difficulty condition, there was low satisfaction in the low service provider emotional intelligence condition, but no significant difference in satisfaction between the high and medium levels of service provider emotional intelligence.

Research limitations/implications

A limitation of the research is that the study's experimental design sacrificed some external generalizability in order to maintain internal validity and obtain more definite information regarding the causal effects of service provider emotional intelligence on customer satisfaction. Future research might examine the replicability of the present results in a field study of actual service encounters.

Originality/value

The findings of the present study lend support to theoretically‐based claims of the importance of service provider emotional intelligence in determining customer satisfaction.
Competitive environment, market orientation, and the use of relational approaches to the marketing of charity beneficiary services
Authors: Bennett Roger
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This empirical investigation aims to examine the approaches to “beneficiary marketing” adopted by a sample of charities in sectors such as homelessness, eating disorders, domestic violence, addiction, etc., and the possible antecedents and consequences of particular marketing styles.

Design/methodology/approach

A mail questionnaire was sent to the heads of 618 charities or their regional offices in the UK's 20 largest cities, resulting in 172 replies. It was hypothesised that a charity's competitive market situation influenced its level of market orientation and hence its adoption of relationship marketing vis‐à‐vis beneficiaries. The impacts on marketing behaviour of an organisation's “strategic intent” and the existence of innately competitive instincts among its senior managers were explored. Possible connections between, on the one hand, market orientation and relationship marketing in relation to beneficiaries and, on the other, the same tendencies in respect of a charity's financial supporters were examined.

Findings

The results suggested that certain competitive factors known to drive conduct in the commercial domain also affected the behaviour of many of the sample charities. Organisations in the sample that were market‐orientated in relation to fundraising were also market‐orientated when they marketed their services to beneficiaries. Equally, charities that practised relationship marketing vis‐à‐vis donors also applied relationship marketing to their beneficiary marketing activities.

Originality/value

The paper adds value to pre‐existing literature concerning the alleged existence of a significant link between market orientation and performance. Additionally the research discovered a powerful connection between relationship marketing and charity client satisfaction, implying the need for charity managers to develop effective beneficiary relationship‐marketing strategy.
The impact of customer‐to‐customer interactions in a high personal contact service setting
Authors: Moore Robert , Moore Melissa L. , Capella Michael
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To empirically examine the development and influence that customer‐to‐customer interactions (CCI) have in a high personal contact setting.

Design/methodology/approach

Using responses from patrons of different hair salons, the role that salon atmospherics had on the formation of CCI was assessed. Then, the relative influence of CCI on satisfaction with the firm, loyalty to the firm and firm word‐of‐mouth, in a model of service outcomes, was examined.

Findings

Results indicate that atmospherics do influence CCI, which in turn is a strong predictor of loyalty to the firm and positive word‐of‐mouth.

Research limitations/implications

Care should be taken when generalizing these findings to other service settings. It should be noted that all female respondents were generally more educated and had higher incomes than the general population.

Practical implications

This study suggests that positive perceptions of atmospherics will lead to positive CCI effects. If managers determine that they would like to enhance the quality of CCI, they should incorporate changes to the physical settings that enhance the type of interactions they desire.

Originality/value

In terms of how to assess CCI, the authors provide a simple four‐item scale which can be used by managers to assess the degree in which their customers interact and the effect that the interaction has on their experience.
Exploring loyal qualities: assessing survey‐based loyalty measures
Authors: Rundle‐Thiele Sharyn
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper sets out to provide a step towards simplifying and shortening loyalty surveys for marketers and to summarise and to categorise more than 30 survey‐based loyalty measures administered in previous academic surveys.

Design/methodology/approach

This research took a step back from theory to re‐define the concept of loyalty. An exploratory perspective using two service markets was taken to examine a broad range of survey‐based loyalty measures.

Findings

The results of this research provide support for the more recent view that there are different ways in which customers can be loyal. The results of this research suggest that attitudinal loyalty could be the most important dimension for marketers to monitor. The exploratory method selected in this research suggests that dimensions of loyalty may include propensity to be loyal, behavioural intentions, complaining behaviour, resistance to competing offers, attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty.

Practical implications

There are important managerial implications arising from this research. First, loyalty should be considered as more than one thing. Second, this research has provided a step towards consolidating a wide range of survey‐based loyalty measures that exist in the academic literature, helping to simplify loyalty measurement for marketers. This research paper provides a guide of the better survey‐based measures by identifying “pure” measures of loyalty for marketers. Marketers will be able to better understand what type of loyalty a measure captures.

Originality/value

Valuable for marketers who can be helped to simplify and shorten their surveys by better understanding what type of loyalty a survey measure captures and which measures may be most appropriate for their needs.
The power of explanations in mitigating the ill‐effects of service failures
Authors: Mattila Anna S.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To examine the role of explanations in influencing customer perceptions of service failures, this study investigated the impact of two types of explanations: retrospective excuses and anticipatory excuses on customers' fairness perceptions and their tipping behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

A 3 (explanation: absent, anticipatory, retrospective) × 2 (service recovery effort: no tangible compensation or 20 percent off the total bill) between‐participant design was used to test the hypotheses. Simulated dining experiences were enacted and videotaped to represent the six conditions.

Findings

The findings of this study imply that customer‐contact employees might be able to influence customer impressions by offering a causal explanation for a service failure.

Research limitations/implications

Owing to the restaurant‐oriented focus of this study, these results may not be generalizable to other service industries. Second, our stimuli involved service encounters that were clearly inadequate in terms of interactional treatment. Third, due to the research method employed in this study the dyadic nature of the service encounter is minimized. Fourth, the student sample somewhat limits the generalizability of the results.

Practical implications

The results indicate that retrospective excuses might enhance customers' fairness perceptions more than anticipatory excuses. Yet, it is important to keep in mind that explanations for failures, even when combined with tangible compensation, are poor substitutes for inadequate interpersonal treatment.

Originality/value

The findings of this study add to the evidence that offering an explanation for a service failure can positively influence customer perceptions. Moreover, the paper introduces tipping as a surrogate of satisfaction to the service recovery literature.
The impact of involvement on satisfaction for new, nontraditional, credence‐based service offerings
Authors: Prenshaw Penelope J. , Kovar Stacy E. , Gladden Burke Kimberly
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the satisfaction formation process under conditions of varying involvement for new, nontraditional, credence‐based service offerings.

Design/methodology/approach

Hypotheses were tested using an on‐line simulation of a service encounter, beginning with perceptions of an advertisement and continuing through satisfaction with the completed service report. ElderCare, an assurance service provided by Certified Public Accountants to the children of an elderly parent, was the context of study.

Findings

The findings indicated expectations were not influential in the satisfaction formation process for these services, regardless of involvement. Under conditions of high involvement, performance evaluation was the dominant predictor of satisfaction. Low‐involvement subjects used disconfirmation to assess satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations of the research stem from the use of a convenience sample in a simulated service encounter. Future research should examine the influence of individual characteristics, particularly innovation, on the results. Additional research examining the determinants of model variables, from disconfirmation to involvement, across subjects in a variety of situations would also be valuable.

Practical implications

This research suggests a heightened need to guide the consumer experience where expectations are hard to develop and performance is hard to evaluate. Providers should carefully spell out key service dimensions, provide tangible information about performance outcomes for high‐involvement individuals, and focus on emotional appeals, provider qualities and sensory aspects of the service for low‐involvement individuals.

Originality/value

This paper helps researchers and practitioners better understand the applicability of expectancy disconfirmation theory and role of involvement in the context of new, nontraditional, credence‐based services.
A service perspective on modelling intentions of on‐line purchasing
Authors: Hackman David , Gundergan Siegfried P. , Wang Paul , Daniel Kerry
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between behavioural intentions and its antecedent factors in online services settings.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from a national survey of Australians with experience purchasing online. A conceptual model linking behavioural intentions and its key antecedents was tested using partial least squares.

Findings

The results suggest that behavioural intentions are directly influenced by online service quality, online service value and online service satisfaction. Online service satisfaction, in turn, is affected by online service value and quality; whereas online service value is determined by the online service quality and related sacrifice.

Research limitations/implications

These findings suggest that existing services marketing models developed in offline settings can be adapted to online settings to explain behavioural intentions. Although the sample included a wide range of people, generalisations of the findings should be made with caution. In addition, further scale development and theory building are needed to improve the proposed conceptual model.

Practical implications

Managerially, results of this study suggest that online service managers do not need to reinvent their business models. Instead they should modify the way in which some of the constructs like service quality are measured.

Originality/value

The study is unique in that it comprehensively addresses an extensive set of factors affecting behaviour intentions in online service contexts. Thus, it adds knowledge to the growing field of online services research.
The theoretical underpinnings of emotional dissonance: a framework and analysis of propositions
Authors: Phillips Brendan , Tsu Wee Tan Thomas , Julian Craig
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The research objective of this paper is to study the broad context of emotional labor and dissonance and its importance to service marketing. This knowledge would provide a better understanding of the factors that contribute to job performance and job satisfaction amongst high contact service workers.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review is used to define and set out the main conceptual framework and propositions for further research.

Findings

Three key hypotheses divided into six sub parts are set out to test the relationships between emotional dissonance and customer orientation, job satisfaction and performance.

Research limitations/implications

The study should be extended beyond the conceptual stage by the conduct of empirical research across high contact service workers in different businesses and industries and also to explore the role of geographical and cultural settings on emotional dissonance.

Practical implications

The managerial implications would extend to improving the recruitment of customer service employees and evaluating the effectiveness of staff training programs. It would also develop among human resources personnel a good understanding of the role of emotional dissonance and its contribution to employees' job satisfaction and performance.

Originality/value

This paper fills a gap in knowledge on the role of emotional dissonance among high contact service workers. It provides a sound multi disciplinary framework for the study of emotional dissonance in service marketing.
PILOT payments: a potential revenue source for public libraries
Authors: Nichols Jerry
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To inform library administrators about the funds generated from tax‐exempt entities intended to support various government services, such as libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

Using New York State in general, and the Brentwood Public Library in particular, the article illustrates the amount of revenue collected with the intent of funding local libraries.

Findings

While substantial funds are collected from tax‐exempt entities, often the portion intended to support public libraries does not find its way to the libraries they support.

Originality/value

Alerts library administrators to the possibility that they may not be receiving all the revenue that has been collected to support their institutions.
Potential for fee‐based library services in Pakistan
Authors: Mahmood Khalid , Hameed Abdul , Jalaluddin Haider Syed
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To identify which library services could be provided on a fee‐based model in Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

Surveying experts in Pakistani libraries, a questionnaire was administered to determine both the types of library services that could generate revenue and the viability of charging for library services.

Findings

Out of 32 identified information services, 12 were identified as excellent candidates for the fee‐based model. Another 16 were identified as having a better than 50 percent chance of success.

Originality/value

Identifies a minimum of 28 library services that may generate funds for Pakistani libraries if they are changed to a fee‐based model.
Getting beyond the pain: understanding and dealing with declining library funding
Authors: Holt Glen E.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Aims to investigate the suggestion that the library‐funding crisis is real and that it is far more serious if one looks at it as a national and international phenomenon.

Design/methodology/approach

Surveys recent library literature to ascertain the current health of library budgets. Specific examples are used.

Findings

The changed focus in funding libraries reflects a change in civic values and institutional approaches to funding. Rather than rely on past strategies that once worked, new initiatives need to be developed.

Originality/value

Suggests five ways in which libraries can position themselves for better funding support in light of current public values.
Conversations with two of the best
Authors: Wilson John S.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To share the experience of two library fund‐raisers with other development officers.

Design/methodology/approach

Uses interviews with two successful academic library fund‐raisers to have them share what they have learned.

Findings

Raising funds for any institution can be one of both the hardest and the most rewarding jobs one can do. It requires a lot of personal attention and patience.

Originality/value

Identifies five key elements that should be a part of any successful development officer's job.
13 ways of looking at Googlebrary
Authors: Maxymuk John
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To present both the pros and cons that may come from Google's recent effort to digitize vast collections from five large research libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

Presents several questions and issues relevant to libraries and suggests what impact Google Print may have in providing information.

Findings

Google Print has great potential for broadening access to the world's written legacy.

Originality/value

Digitization projects have been around for several years. As such, it is interesting to see how Google Print is both the same and different, and what benefits Google's digitization effort may hold for information professionals.
Fitting library services into the lives of the poor
Authors: Holt Glen E.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper sets out to provide an overview of the current state of library services to the poor, and to suggest how it can be improved.

Design/methodology/approach

Uses examples to illustrate the gulf between how public libraries often address services to poor patrons, and the obstacles faced and services required for poor patrons to use the library.

Findings

While many libraries think they are adequately serving their poorer constituents, often this is not the case. While one removes barriers to the traditional services one provides, determining the services they want or need is often neglected.

Originality/value

Uses examples of how libraries can better serve poor patrons, and offers sound advice on establishing reasonable limits in developing such services.
Development is dysfunctional …
Authors: Noel Jennings Karlene
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to assist and offer workarounds for dysfunctional situations in library development situations.

Design/methodology/approach

Uses practical solutions gained from experience to avoid or deal with dysfunctional situations.

Findings

Development, by its very nature, is anything but straight forward. For a number of reasons, development efforts can get off track.

Originality/value

Suggests practical strategies for minimizing dysfunctional elements in library development efforts.
Reading the future
Authors: Maxymuk John
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper seeks to see how libraries measure up to futurists' predictions of libraries of the future.

Design/methodology/approach

Compares the ten points in futurist Thomas Frey's paper, “The future of libraries” with the reality of current library services.

Findings

By and large, much of what Frey predicts for future libraries is already a reality.

Originality/value

Confirms that librarians and libraries are at the forefront of technology and providing information through different media and methods.
Intellectual capital and strategy: a primer for today’s manager
Authors: Roos Göran
Published: January 2007

This paper discusses the value of applying the intellectual capital perspective in strategic theory and application. It draws on the historic development of the strategy field, to introduce the concept of the intellectual capital perspective. The author argues that the intellectual capital perspective, in its latest form, has made a major contribution to our way of thinking and working with strategy, specifically in organizations with a high dependence of intellectual capital resources or a high dependence of resources that can be classified as intangible. The paper recommends that researchers and practitioners alike put the intellectual capital perspective to use to increase the awareness and value that it provides and also to provide insights into areas of research that would further improve the intellectual capital perspective.
The organizational trust of elementary schools and dimensions of student bullying
Authors: Smith Page A. , Birney Larry L.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This research aims to analyse student bullying and faculty trust in elementary schools in the state of Texas.

Design/methodology/approach

Two dimensions of school bullying (teacher protection and student bullying) and three aspects of faculty trust (in clients, colleagues and the principal) were examined.

Findings

In general, the better the organizational trust of a school, the less student bullying. In addition, the greater degree of faculty trust in a school, the more teacher protection was evident. However, as predicted, different dimensions of faculty trust were more or less important in affecting the aspects of student bullying. In addition, two simple and parsimonious research instruments designed to measure salient organizational characteristics are identified.

Research limitations/implications

This study represents an addition to the extant literature on bullying in schools; particularly the relationship between organizational trust and school bullying. It, however, represents a beginning and not an end to the examination of school bullying and trust. Hence, questions remain. For example, what are the institutional mechanisms that foster school trust? To what extent does each of the aspects of trust examined in this study relate to school bullying as perceived by students? To what extent is the collective efficacy of the faculty related to school bullying? Does faculty gender influence teacher perceptions of organizational trust and school bullying?

Practical implications

One of the more important findings of this study was that teacher trust in the principal did not play an important role in encouraging staff to protect students from their peers. The current research reaffirms the need for principals to assume an active role in ensuring that teachers do not disassociate themselves from attempts to monitor, regulate and confirm incidents of student aggression.

Originality/value

This study provides further groundwork to assist school administrators in identifying other areas sensitive to school‐based aggression and trust issues such as after school events, extracurricular activities and parent‐teacher interactions.
A new management element for universities: satisfaction with the offered courses
Authors: Marzo Navarro Mercedes , Pedraja Iglesias Marta , Rivera Torres Pilar
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The university environment is experiencing important changes that have to be managed in order to ensure the university's survival. One of the most notable changes is the appearance of a new kind of student who wants to update and/or expand his/her knowledge. This has caused universities to expand their educational offer through seminars, Master's programmes, special courses. This work endeavours a dual objective: to analyse the elements that determine the attendees' satisfaction with the stated courses; and to analyse the relationship between the satisfaction experienced by the course attendees and their loyalty to the institution that offers the courses.

Design/methodology/approach

The information from a survey of the attendees of these kinds of courses at a Spanish university has been used.

Findings

The work herein developed shows how the teaching staff, the teaching methods and course administration are key elements to achieving student satisfaction and their subsequent loyalty.

Research limitations/implications

This research has been applied to a specific university, and it would be appropriate to expand the research to other institutions of higher education.

Practical implications

The appropriate management of the determinants of satisfaction is vital to the strategic decisions of universities.

Originality/value

The work centres on the analysis framework, on a new kind of student and on these students' specific demands, specifically on the demands satisfied through short courses aimed at updating previously acquired knowledge. Most prior works focus on analysing the satisfaction with university degrees and on the educational offer that these organisations can provide, such as continuing education and/or complementary courses.
Problem‐based learning: lessons for administrators, educators and learners
Authors: Yeo Roland
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper aims to explore the challenges of problem‐based learning (PBL) as an unconventional teaching methodology experienced by a higher learning institute in Singapore.

Design/methodology/approach

The exploratory study was conducted using focus group discussions and semi‐structured interviews. Four groups of people were invited to participate in the research involving administrators, management personnel, lecturers and students.

Findings

Key findings of the research point to three pertinent enablers in developing PBL in higher education. They are the role of people, process and purpose in the implementation of PBL. These three areas are interconnected in many ways but their relationship is not entirely linear.

Research limitations/implications

Although the study is limited by the single context from which data were drawn, it offers considerable implications for research in higher education as PBL has been regarded as an emerging paradigm. Much discussion and debate of PBL have centered on the compatibility of subjects, backgrounds of students and the level of preparedness institutions are willing to adopt such an approach.

Practical implications

Implications for practice and policy include strategic communication of PBL rationale, appropriate structuring of PBL lessons, careful allocation of resources, identification of suitable PBL facilitators and ensuring of the right mixture of students in PBL group formations.

Originality/value

Although a number of studies have been carried out in Singapore, very few have concentrated on how PBL has been implemented in engineering education. More importantly, while current studies center on the pedagogical aspects of PBL, this study provides a fresh perspective on educational management.
E‐commerce and graduate education
Authors: Orr Stuart , Bantow Ray
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Online education has been growing rapidly, but has not had the benefit of the extensive teaching pedagogy development of traditional face‐to‐face teaching. This paper aims to provide a review of the current literature and present the results of a survey, conducted to determine the effectiveness of a graduate online subject.

Design/methodology/approach

The literature was reviewed to identify measures of success and quality in online education delivery. These measures were then considered in relation to their application in practice via a case study based around a survey conducted at Deakin University in Australia.

Findings

A total of 16 relevant measures of teaching quality were identified in the literature. Most measures had elements of bias and some were more generally applicable to online learning. The case study suggested that the value of computer mediated learning in an online environment was limited and that a combination of print and computer mediated conferencing performed better in more of the identified quality matrices.

Practice implications

Online learning does not save teaching resources if standards of quality are maintained. It can be used to provide a remote teaching facility, provided it is backed up by resources such as printed study guides. For the subject evaluated, online mediated learning did not the provide the same quality of education.

Originality/value

Whilst some research has been conducted in this area, no substantive grounded theory has been applied to postgraduate or fee‐paying online education regimes. As a result, case studies of such applications can be very helpful in the design of future teaching systems.
Development of multiple thinking and creativity in organizational learning
Authors: Cheong Cheng Yin
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Based on a typology of contextualized multiple thinking, this paper aims to elaborate how the levels of thinking (data, information, knowledge, and intelligence), and the types of thinking as a whole, can be used to profile the characteristics of multiple thinking in organizational learning, re‐conceptualize the nature of creativity in organizational action and thinking, and provide a new systematic framework to broaden the possibilities and approaches to developing multiple thinking and creativity in organizational action and learning in education and other sectors.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a theoretical framework of multiple thinking and creativity in organizational learning.

Findings

Based on the typology of contextualized multiple thinking, a new theoretical framework can be proposed to facilitate understanding and development of multiple thinking and creativity in organizational learning and to enhance the effectiveness of action of individuals and organizations in education and other sectors in a complicated context.

Originality/value

The theoretical framework provides a new direction and new strategies for conceptualizing research, development and practice, designed to promote thinking, creativity and effectiveness in organizational action and learning in education and other sectors in a new era of globalization and great transformation.
Top‐down management: an effective tool in higher education?
Authors: Tsai Yau , Beverton Sue
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the strengths and weaknesses of top‐down management in a university that has embraced globalisation with a strong market‐led ethos and to suggest the ways in which adjustments might be made to top‐down management processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of top‐down management by drawing upon relevant literature and further explores its related problems through a case study of a department in the universities of one country.

Findings

Several studies have concluded that top‐down management through its exercise of direct power is still a preferable means of reducing the chaos resulting from teachers caught up in de‐stabilising and confusing change processes. In the current globalisation context, it is also concluded that the success of top‐down management is predicated upon a willingness or readiness of the faculty to allow it to exist.

Research limitations/implications

Although this paper explores the strengths and weaknesses simply through literature, it provides a case study to understand the problems with top‐down management in higher education. The case study illustrates some of the issues that may or may not be proved by ensuing or larger‐scale research to be generalisable, but for the specifics of this case the issues discussed would appear to be important.

Originality/value

This paper recognizes the importance of top‐down management to higher education in the global society and sheds light on how to make top‐down management more efficient in higher education.
Programme feedback: it only takes a minute!
Authors: Drummond Graeme
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper aims to examine the practicalities of implementing the one‐minute paper (OMP) concept and to consider whether claimed benefits are likely to be achieved without significant increases in resources.

Design/methodology/approach

The study makes use of a literature review to establish the claimed OMP benefits. These benefits are then examined in an operation context using a student survey over a two‐year period.

Findings

The research demonstrates that numerous benefits claimed from OMP (e.g. enhanced student/staff feedback) are achievable with only modest resource requirements. However, staff need to “sell” the concept to students and deploy simple strategies to manage the process. Additionally, the research highlights that OMP may help improve student retention rates.

Research limitations/implications

The use of OMP as a retention technique would merit further study.

Practical implications

The paper examines the theoretical concept in a practical setting and suggests practical guidelines aimed at achieving the optimum benefit from the system.

Originality/value

The study provides a fresh perspective on OMP with the focus on practical classroom management. The concept is extended into the area of student retention, with OMP providing a functional method to identify/help students who may struggle to progress in a specific subject.
School principal preparation in Europe
Authors: Thody Angela , Papanaoum Zoi , Johansson Olof , Pashiardis Petros
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This article seeks to centre on Cypriot, English, Greek and Swedish selection and training of principals. This was part of a 2001‐2002 European Union (EU) funded study which created a distance learning CD ROM for principals.

Design/methodology/approach

National education systems and principals' selection and training were analysed and compared using documents, focus groups, principals' interviews and an international seminar.

Findings

The most centralised systems of Greece and Cyprus had less principal preparation, and more government involvement in principal selection, than the less centralised Sweden and England.

Originality/value

The extent of training was perceived to matter less in successful principalship than selecting the right people, although even a good leader can be improved through training and principals were concerned about their lack of formal training.
Balanced scorecards in managing higher education institutions: an Indian perspective
Authors: Umashankar Venkatesh , Dutta Kirti
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper aims to look at the balanced scorecard (BSC) concept and discuss in what way it should be applied to higher education programs/institutions in the Indian context.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on extant literature on the balanced scorecard concept per se, as well as applications of BSC in higher education as reported by other researchers.

Findings

The BSC approach offers an institution the opportunity to formulate a cascade of measures to translate the mission of knowledge creation, sharing and utilization into a comprehensive, coherent, communicable and mobilizing framework – for external stakeholders and for one another.

Research limitations/implications

In the absence of any specific Indian case study, the possible impact could only be conjectured or deduced.

Practical implications

A useful model is proposed that can be adapted with appropriate modifications to the management of tertiary institutions of education in India, whether it be a university, affiliate college, autonomous institution or private educational institution.

Originality/value

In the absence of evidence of the application of BSC to the educational institutional domain in India, the current paper may be a starting‐point for a debate and possible strategies to implement BSC methodology in this area.
Taming enterprise dementia in public sector organizations
Authors: Girard John P.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to report the finding of an exploratory research project that considered how public service organizations may conquer the debilitating effects of enterprise dementia.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on the seminal research of Michael Earl, this project sought to solicit the view from the front, which in this case are the middle managers of the Canadian public service. Specifically, the aim was to determine which of Earl's schools of knowledge would be most appropriate in curbing the organizational memory loss and taming the information anxiety that are common place today.

Findings

The sample of public service middle managers overwhelmingly opted for a single strategy. The organizational school surfaced as the strategy most likely to fit respondents' perceived needs. Through collaboration, Earl's organizational school focuses on maximizing the use of social networks with a view to knowledge sharing.

Practical implications

This paper provides a compendium of knowledge strategies that may be useful for public service executives.

Originality/value

This the first project to consider how Earl's taxonomy of knowledge strategies may be implemented in a Canadian public service environment.
Measuring performance on a local government level in a transitional country: the case of Serbia
Authors: Šević Željko
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper seeks to discuss the process of performance management and measurement system‐building in the public sector in a transitional country, with particular reference to Serbia.

Design/methodology/approach

A short description of the general legal framework within which the local governments in Serbia operate is given, followed by a discussion of the usual, and to some extent well‐known, problems of performance management system‐building and implementation.

Findings

The detailed interviews with a number of mayors and senior local Civil Servants pointed out that a number of issues, believed to have been resolved in the Western countries, have emerged as being problematic in the policy implementation process in the region.

Originality/value

This paper not only analyses the stages in the system‐building process, but also tries to explain why “measurement revolutions” may fail in a constantly changing transitional environment.
Exploring work‐family backlash in a public organisation
Authors: Haar Jarrod M. , Spell Chester S. , O'Driscoll Michael P.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This study aims to test the belief that work‐family practices could have a negative influence in the workplace for non‐users of these practices.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative approach was undertaken, where users and non‐users of work‐family practices reported on a number of job‐related attitudes. Organisational justice theories suggest that employees will report lower attitudes if they feel that they are missing out on some benefit or practice. T‐tests were used to compare differences in these attitudes between users and non‐users.

Findings

There were no significant differences in any of the examined attitudes between users and non‐users of the organisations' work‐family practices.

Research limitations/implications

Implications are that firms should not necessarily decline the adoption of work‐family practices if they fear a “backlash” from their employees who would not use work‐family practices. The authors suggest that the social good these practices may provide might remove any negative feelings towards the organisation by employees who cannot use these practices.

Practical implications

Practical implications for public sector organisations might be offering work‐family practices that target the widest array of employees. Further, future research into work‐family backlash should compare actual users of multiple practices as explored here.

Originality/value

This is one of the few papers to explore users and non‐users of multiple work‐family practices. It confirms previous research into work‐family backlash, indicating that the non‐users are not adversely affected by work‐family practices that they do not or cannot use. However, unlike other studies, this paper explored the use of multiple work‐family practices, providing stronger and more realistic findings for managers to have confidence in their work‐family practices.
Exporting new public management: performance agreements in a Pacific microstate
Authors: O'Donnell Michael , Turner Mark
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to explore the export of new public management (NPM) to developing countries and to describe and evaluate the introduction of these initiatives in very different environments from their origins.

Design/methodology/approach

The article traces the introduction of performance agreements into the public service of Vanuatu. Performance agreements are identified as an initiative typically promoted by NPM. The Vanuatu case is set within a review of the origin, use and record of performance agreements in countries such as Australia, the UK and the USA.

Findings

The adoption of performance agreements has been slow and has enjoyed limited success. Among the difficulties encountered are suspicion, lack of incentives, an unreceptive environment, and possible identification as being donor‐driven. It is difficult to see performance agreements in their current form making an impact on performance improvement in the Vanuatu public service.

Practical implications

NPM initiatives must be carefully considered before being transferred to other countries. They may offer benefits but what has worked in one environment will often need considerable modification, certain preconditions and lengthy lead‐in time to be effective in another environment.

Originality/value

There are few case studies of attempts to transfer NPM‐style reforms to developing countries and none on performance agreements, yet many countries in the Pacific and elsewhere are becoming interested in this mode of performance management. This case study helps to fill this gap through description and analysis of the Vanuatu experience and provides practical lessons for others considering policy transfer of NPM initiatives such as performance agreements.