bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluating the influences of religiosity and product involvement level on the consumers
Authors: Yousaf Salman , Shaukat Malik Muhammad
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the connection between the degree of religiosity and the product involvement level in determining the various constructs of consumer behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

On the basis of a small survey, clothes were selected as a high involvement product, and snacks were selected as a low involvement product. A modified version of Sproles and Kendal's Customer Style Inventory scale was used to profile the behaviour of consumers, using confirmatory factor analysis approach. Worthington et al.'s Religious Commitment Inventory scale was used to measure the religiosity levels. Data were collected from students of five universities located in different regions of Pakistan.

Findings

Consumer behaviour varies with the level of involvement and the degree of religiosity. In the case of high involvement product category, the highly religious group was found to be less recreational, fashion conscious and impulsive in their shopping orientations. It was also determined that the higher religious group was more socially influenced in making purchase decisions, more conscious about their lifestyle and less confused by information over choice, as compared to the less religious group. In the case of the low involvement product category, it was determined that religiosity negatively influenced the brand consciousness of consumers. The results indicated that higher religious consumers were less impulsive and did not give much consideration to advertisements in making purchase decisions; but it was opposite for the less religious consumers. Highly religious consumers in the low involvement product category were also found to be more socially influenced and not as confused by excessive information in making their purchase decisions. Overall, it was established that in order to better understand the intricacies of the behaviour of consumers, their purchasing habits should be studied in the context of varying levels of religiosity and product involvement.

Research limitations/implications

This study focused on youth only, so results derived might not be generalized to the other segments of the population.

Originality/value

The current study aims to understand how religiosity and involvement level complement each other in determining the behaviour of consumers and whether the level of religiosity equally determines the behaviour of consumers in the low involvement product category and high involvement product category or not. No previous study has been conducted to explore this dimension of consumer behaviour, and this paper categorically strives to fill this gap.
Cultivating export market oriented behavior in halal marketing
Authors: Abdul‐Talib Asmat‐Nizam , Abd‐Razak Ili‐Salsabila
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the development of global halal marketing by assessing its current status, challenges and issues within and measures taken to improve it. Strategic marketing conception from the perspective of export market orientation behaviors is offered to help foster industrial innovation to create a halal economy.

Design/methodology/approach

The development of a global halal market is first assessed and its current status is highlighted. The issues and challenges within are identified and explored, followed by a consideration of measures already taken to rectify and improve the situation. Strategic export market orientation behaviors perspective is offered to encourage industrial innovation within the complex global halal market, to ultimately establish a halal economy. This is done by going through the relevant scholarly discussions in various international conferences and available published literatures.

Findings

The paper identifies three major issues and challenges in global halal marketing and what has been done and can been done to rectify and improve the situation, particularly from the perspective of strategic export market orientation behaviors.

Research limitations/implications

The discussion is limited to its conceptual boundaries and in the long run requires empirical research to enhance its applicability.

Practical implications

The discussion offered in the paper is expected to be valuable for global halal marketers seeking strategic marketing design in undertaking the complex market structure and confronting the issues identified.

Originality/value

The paper discusses issues and challenges for halal marketing and how to address the issues through the perspective of strategic export market orientation behaviors, for an industrial innovation to form a halal economy.
Cricket as a vehicle for community cohesion: building bridges with British Muslims
Authors: Yassim Mazia
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review practices and research within the social change and community cohesion disciplines with a view to applying them in the context of British Muslims and cricket. The paper aims to discuss the role of sport and especially cricket to help build community cohesion and bring about social change between British Muslims and the wider British society.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses an inductive and critical approach.

Findings

This paper suggests that the apolitical nature of sport and the popularity of cricket within the South‐east Asian British Muslim community can be used as an effective tool to build relationships between British Muslims and the wider British society. It calls for reflexive thought and action on the part of cricket management to engage in community projects that will enhance the image of cricket as well as genuinely benefitting the society.

Originality/value

Growth of British Muslims has created a great amount of interest from a marketing perspective. Research into Islamic marketing and British Muslim consumers is still in its infancy. This paper introduces an under‐researched area of British Muslims (to date), namely British Muslim sport spectators, and calls for cricket managers and marketers to take an active approach to embarking upon social change.
Work values as predictors of entrepreneurial career intentions
Authors: Hirschi Andreas , Fischer Sebastian
Published: June 2013

Purpose

Work values are an important characteristic to understand gender differences in career intentions, but how gender affects the relationship between values and career intentions is not well established. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether gender moderates the effects of work values on level and change of entrepreneurial intentions (EI).

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 218 German university students were sampled regarding work values and with EI assessed three times over the course of 12 months. Data were analysed with latent growth modelling.

Findings

Self‐enhancement and openness to change values predicted higher levels and conservation values lower levels of EI. Gender moderated the effects of enhancement and conservation values on change in EI.

Research limitations/implications

The authors relied on self‐reported measures and the sample was restricted to university students. Future research needs to verify to what extent these results generalize to other samples and different career fields, such as science or nursing.

Practical implications

The results imply that men and women are interested in an entrepreneurial career based on the same work values but that values have different effects for men and women regarding individual changes in EI. The results suggest that the prototypical work values of a career domain seem important regarding increasing the career intent for the gender that is underrepresented in that domain.

Originality/value

The results enhance understanding of how gender affects the relation of work values and a specific career intention, such as entrepreneurship.
Evolutionary dynamics of high technology industry: modeling of semiconductor sector in China
Authors: Zhang Yue , Yu Jiang , Liu Yanmei
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explain how institutional elements and market conditions shape and then reshape the development of high‐tech industries in large emerging countries.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper develops a new framework to assess the impact of market and institutions on the high‐tech industry evolution in large emerging economies such as China. The qualitative approach based on historical data and interviews are provided to support the framework.

Findings

The framework and empirical research suggest that the institution systems and market dynamics will interact and influence the transformation process of industrial structure and the strategic choice of partnership arrangement between the domestic and foreign firms. The complementary assets which are considered as proxy to the resource accessibility in the market are also identified in the framework and it was verified in the case study.

Practical implications

This study has important implications for business strategy in emerging economies. The authors' observations indicate building close ties with domestic firms is an important asset to minimize the liability of foreignness for multinational firms. The paper has alluded to co‐evolutionary dynamics in the development of high‐tech industry in China by linking market initiative with institutional environment.

Originality/value

First, the study contributes to institutional‐based view of business strategy by explaining the choice of strategic partnerships between indigenous and foreign players arising from institutional and market considerations. Second, the study extends our understanding of technological catch up in newly‐industrializing countries by showing the interrelation between market elements and institutional arrangements and the corresponding changes to meet technological development needs.
Resident co‐creation: the case of the 2010 Soccer World Cup
Authors: Berndt Adele , Klopper H.B. , Niemann‐Struweg Ilse , Meintjes Corne
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to investigate the involvement and actions (co‐creation) of residents of South Africa prior to the commencement of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, which was held in South Africa during June and July 2010.

Design/methodology/approach

Quantitative research was conducted in the three major metropolitan centres in South Africa, using a self‐completion questionnaire among residents in South Africa, using purposive sampling. The questionnaire consisted of two sections. Data collection was supervised by trained fieldworkers.

Findings

The responses of 1,352 respondents who took part indicate significant differences between the involvement of the genders, language groups and nationalities, while in the case of actions, significant differences were found between genders and income groups. The study also found an association between the involvement and actions in the case of this mega‐event.

Research limitations/implications

The research was conducted one month prior to the event, and those who had exhibited actions may have been predisposed to taking part in the event. Research was limited to three major centres in South Africa.

Practical implications

This has implications for the marketing of mega‐events in other countries as well as events other than sports events, specifically in the development of the marketing strategy associated with the event and more specifically the marketing communication strategy, focussed on attracting residents.

Originality/value

The importance of the study can be found in the scarcity of the literature that primarily investigates the role of residents in the co‐creation associated with a mega‐event.
A comparison of FMCG logistics operations in the UK and South Africa
Authors: Sanchez Rodrigues Vasco , Potter Andrew
Published: June 2013

Purpose

International comparison studies provide a useful opportunity in logistics to benchmark logistics practices. Given this, it is perhaps surprising that there do not appear to be any benchmarking studies comparing performance between the developed and developing world. The paper aims to address this shortcoming, focusing on fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) distribution networks from the UK and South Africa as comparator countries.

Design/methodology/approach

A two‐stage study has been undertaken. Firstly, a focus group approach was undertaken to identify the main causes of supply chain uncertainty affecting freight transport operations in FMCG distribution. In the second phase, four case studies (two in the UK and two in South Africa) were undertaken to examine how logistics is managed and the impact of uncertainty.

Findings

In the focus groups undertaken in both countries, the uncertainty clusters found were very similar, if not the same. However, when looking into the findings from the case studies, the extra miles generated due to uncertainty within the supply chains studied was greater in the South African distribution networks studied than in their UK counterparts. Furthermore, the UK distribution networks studied seem to be more effective in terms of uncertainty preparedness and responsiveness than their South African counterparts.

Originality/value

The paper has identified significant differences in terms of uncertainty preparedness and responsiveness within the distribution networks studied from the UK and South Africa. Nevertheless, more case studies need to be run in both countries, and in different sectors, to verify those differences.
Trials and tribulations: marketing in modern South Africa
Authors: Petzer D.J. , De Meyer C.F.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a background into the challenges and developments faced by marketers in South Africa as well as those wanting to enter the South African market.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents the viewpoints of the authors based on their knowledge of happenings within the marketing field in South Africa.

Findings

Marketers in South Africa face both challenges and developments from the macro and market environment. These challenges and developments include the diverse nature of the South African consumer, competition, infrastructure issues, government legislation and bureaucracy.

Practical implications

South African marketers need to adapt their marketing strategies to accommodate the developments in the market. Furthermore, marketing strategies need to be adapted to meet the new challenges in South Africa markets in terms of the diversity of consumers in order to be successful.

Originality/value

The originality and value of this paper lies in the fact that it highlights the challenges and developments that marketers in South Africa face. In many cases, marketers are marketing their products and services as they did two decades ago, without realising the need to change their marketing strategy in order to target consumers as highlighted in this paper.
What makes Santander a great place to work
Authors: Fayers Rachel
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the policies and practices that have helped to make Santander UK a great place to work.

Design/methodology/approach

Explains the reasons for the policies, the form they take and the results they have achieved.

Findings

Details specific policies in areas such as work‐life balance, caring for carers, diversity, employee development, employee health, employees with school‐age children, employee engagement and community involvement.

Practical implications

Advances the view that a major factor in engagement is in employees feeling that the company, and particularly senior leaders, genuinely cares about their well‐being. That is the culture the bank strives for.

Social implications

Reveals that the bank matches the money raised by employees in their fund‐raising activities in the community.

Originality/value

Discusses the wide range of benefits available to employees at Santander UK and assesses the impact on individuals and the organization as a whole.
China's civil service adopts e‐HRM … up to a point
Authors: Han Yong , Zhang Jing‐jing , Huang Sheng‐tao
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe how public‐sector organizations in the Chinese autonomous region of Guangxi Zhuang are applying e‐HRM practices.

Design

Concentrates on the operation of e‐recruitment, e‐training, e‐compensation, e‐benefits and e‐appraisal.

Findings

Reports that blended conventional and electronic HRM practices exist and are likely to continue for a little while into the future.

Practical implications

Reveals that, where e‐HRM is being used, its prime benefit is in reducing the amount of repetitive paperwork that HR specialists have to carry out.

Social implications

Explains that there is still a tendency for people to work too hard in the Chinese civil service, partly because it is seen as the decent thing to do and partly for employees to earn a lot of money. But there are signs, too, that increasing numbers of employees are seeking a decent work‐life balance.

Originality/value

Reveals how e‐HRM operates in the context of the Chinese public sector.
Bridging risk management perceptions and processes: the case of the National Mall and Memorial Parks
Authors: Daniels Margaret J. , Park Minkyung , Harmon Laurlyn K. , Brayley Russell E.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze two studies pertaining to the National Mall and Memorial Parks in Washington DC, to gain a better understanding of risk management perceptions and processes as applied to urban cores that consistently host tourists and special events.

Design/methodology/approach

The first study is a qualitative analysis of open‐ended commentary that addresses issues pertaining to safety and security to garner an overarching sense of risk management perceptions that National Mall visitors have when considering these parklands. The second study involves participant observation, quantitative documentation and analysis of specific risk management processes utilized during the 2007 National Independence Day Celebration.

Findings

The findings of the first study suggest that personal safety is viewed as paramount and that visitors are not overly worried about the threat of terrorist activity, as illustrated by the strong feelings of displeasure towards access obstructions and barricades. The results of the second study demonstrate how separate areas of event risk management, including security checkpoints, public information provision and law enforcement, merge during times of crisis.

Originality/value

The combined findings of the two studies suggest a level of psychological disconnect in terms of acceptance of safety measures that protect people versus those that protect facilities, even though these measures are often synchronized. The sensibility to risk management aesthetics that emerged is a valuable contribution that merits additional study.
Becoming entrepreneurial: gaining legitimacy in the nascent phase
Authors: Williams Middleton Karen L.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how legitimacy as “an entrepreneur” is gained in relation to others during the nascent phase.

Design/methodology/approach

The author studies two firm creating teams over a 12‐month incubation period. Data collected through participant observation, documentation and interviews are emploted as narratives in order to explore how nascent entrepreneurs gain legitimacy through social interaction. Positioning theory is used to explore how negotiated rights and duties are employed towards legitimacy‐gaining strategies.

Findings

Conforming, selecting and manipulating strategies are used to gain legitimacy during a process of firm creation through interactive dialogue with key stakeholders (role‐set). Positioning facilitates a process of negotiated rights and duties that helps to define the role of “entrepreneur” to which the nascent entrepreneurs aspire.

Research limitations/implications

The study is bounded to a specific contextual setting and thus initial findings would benefit from further investigation in comparable and control settings. Findings illustrate the ways in which nascent entrepreneurs employ legitimacy‐gaining strategies through interaction with key stakeholders, an area of research not well understood. This contributes to an understanding of how entrepreneurial identity is developed.

Practical implications

Designed firm creation environments can facilitate interaction with key stakeholders and support positioning of nascent entrepreneurs as they attempt to gain legitimacy in the role of “entrepreneur”, while creating a new firm. Legitimacy‐gaining strategies can strengthen entrepreneurial identity development, which can be applied to multiple entrepreneurial processes.

Originality/value

The article accesses individuals in the process of becoming entrepreneurs, a phenomenon most often studied in hindsight. Emphasis on stakeholder interaction as contributing to entrepreneurial development is also understudied. Legitimacy‐gaining strategies are explored through narratives using positioning theory, an approach which has been discussed conceptually but not readily applied empirically.
Tackling the crisis through concession bargaining: evidence from five German companies
Authors: Zagelmeyer Stefan
Published: June 2013

Purpose

This paper aims to present an analysis of the nature and drivers of company‐level concession bargaining during the financial crisis 2008‐10 in Germany.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on five company case studies. Data collection methods include document analysis and semi‐structured interviews.

Findings

Using the five cases, it was possible to identify different ways in which companies were affected by the financial crisis itself, by various company‐level adjustment strategies, and by various implications of the crisis and the collective agreements resulting from it. The author found that company‐level social partners, supported by public policies, were able to avoid redundancies and keep employees in work, while helping the company to survive.

Practical implications

The findings show that social partners at company level are able to agree on cooperative solutions to reduce labour costs in order to ensure the company's viability.

Originality/value

The findings are important for understanding key aspects of the German “job miracle” both during and after the global financial crisis.
The impact of the global financial crisis on employee participation – two German case studies
Authors: Kranz Olaf , Steger Thomas
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The article aims to explore the link between corporate crises and decisions about employee participation in the context of the global financial crisis (GFC).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors complement Weick's sensemaking perspective with some distinctions taken from social systems theory. The paper examines the influence of a communicated corporate crisis on decisions regarding employee participation in two German companies over a two‐year period immediately following the outbreak of the GFC.

Findings

The meaning of a communicated and enacted corporate crisis sets a company in a state of alert and provokes some distinctive reactions. These include an accentuation of a traditional hierarchical style of decision making and an authoritarian leadership style, some distinctive key personnel changes, and a strong orientation towards senior management. Any reforms of immaterial employee participation are rejected and the institutions that represent employees engage in a passive co‐management.

Practical implications

The authors’ findings highlight the importance for companies of introducing a formal crisis management system before a crisis occurs, which provides the chance to safeguard a balance of centralization and decentralization in the decision‐making process during crises.

Originality/value

The study offers some novel insights about the meaning of crisis and of employee participation as well as about how these meanings affect decision‐making processes.
Relationships between environment, culture, and management control systems
Authors: Reginato Luciane , Guerreiro Reinaldo
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between external environment and organisational culture, and the subsequent relationship of organisational culture with the adoption of management control systems in large Brazilian companies.

Design/methodology/approach

The research involves 109 of the “Best and Biggest” companies in Brazil, as designated by the Brazilian financial magazine Exame. Data are collected by a research questionnaire distributed electronically to senior managers of the sample companies. The data are analysed by multivariate structural equation modelling.

Findings

The results show that a significant relationship exists between the constructs of “external environment” and “organisational culture”, thus indicating that the environment exerts a significant influence on planning, execution, control elements, and managers' characteristics and skills. The results also show a significant relationship between the constructs of “organisational culture” and “management controls”, thus indicating that organisational culture has a strong influence on the choice of management control systems in practice in the companies.

Originality/value

Although isolated studies have investigated various aspects of the external business environment, organisational culture, and management control systems, few studies have explored the relationships among them.
Private firms, public entities, and microeconomic incentives
Authors: Keating Barry , Keating Maryann
Published: June 2013

Purpose

Public private partnerships (PPPs) centralize decision making into a hybrid type of firm, consisting of a government entity with a private firm, that is either a profit‐seeking or non‐profit entity, that initiates, constructs, maintains, or provides a service. The PPP model recognizes that both the public and the private sectors have certain comparative advantages in the performance of specific tasks. PPPs, grounded in cost/benefit analysis, have been used in Australia for decades and are presently being introduced in the USA as a form of innovate contracting. This paper aims to evaluate PPPs as a potentially transferable model for the delivery of public services. PPP firms are evaluated in terms of capital asset management, productive and allocative efficiency, transfer of risk between the public and private sectors, rights to the residual, and the public interest. A case study comparison of Fremantle Ports (Australia) and the Indiana Toll Road (USA) is employed to demonstrate PPP design and function.

Design/methodology/approach

A description and evaluation of public private partnerships (PPP) is presented and two original and primary case studies are reviewed.

Findings

A PPP functioning as a monopoly provider of a common pool public asset approximates economic efficiency when user fees cover virtually full cost. Identifying optimal output and quality assessment is more challenging in the case of social goods in which the public goal is subsidy minimization and clients cannot assess quality. Best practices are helpful; they guarantee the PPP process, but not the outcome. All PPPs, in whatever country or industry, are vulnerable to bureaucratic expansion whenever they are given access to subsidized loans underwritten by taxpayers.

Originality/value

The two case studies in this paper are 100 percent original; they were examined in person by the authors, and the managers of the two entities were interviewed in Indiana (USA) and Fremantle, Western Australia.
Going global – a trajectory of individual and organizational development
Authors: Osmundsen Tonje C.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

This paper aims to show how the internationalization process of a multinational corporation (MNC) is shaped and formed by actors engaging in collaborative inquiry. Faced with a centralized strategy grounded in Scandinavian organizational solutions, leaders of foreign subsidiaries reinterpret their local institutional frameworks in creating new organizational practices. Their ability to create acceptance for these practices both locally and with the central management determines which practices prevail.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a qualitative comparative study of organizational units in Norway, Sweden, Mexico, the USA, South Korea and Poland. Over a four‐year period, 165 interviews were conducted with both employees and management.

Findings

Through a perspective on learning, it is possible to show how organizational members make use of their institutional environment as they mutually attempt to build shared ideologies for conducting their business. To view organizational change as a learning process allows for explaining how both actors and structures intertwined represent the dynamic for change. Cultural‐cognitive institutions are seen here as active living phenomena which are created and enacted by individuals in their historical and geographical contexts.

Originality/value

Much research on MNCs has focused on explaining the development of such organizations either as a result of experiential learning (i.e. the Uppsala model), systematic planning (economic rationality) or contextual factors (contingency perspectives). This study provides a closer and more detailed look at how these organizations develop through the action and interaction of people in one MNC.
Consumer preferences for sustainability and their impact on supply chain management
Authors: Bask Anu , Halme Merja , Kallio Markku , Kuula Markku
Published: June 2013

Purpose

Consumer values increasingly favor sustainable development in products and services, thereby fostering the need to develop new operational and managerial practices that support sustainability in supply chain management. The purpose of this study is to identify relevant product features related to sustainable development in this context, and use the choice of mobile phone as an example in measuring their importance.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used two different methods (qualitative and quantitative) in two phases. First it organized focus‐group discussions in order to identify the features of sustainability that affect the choice of a mobile phone. The most significant features served as a starting point for the choice of attributes to be included in the final step, choice‐based conjoint analysis (CBC), which assesses respondents' value functions by means of latent class clustering. Between the two major phases it carried out two additional pre‐tests in order to reduce the number of attributes.

Findings

The results provide fundamental information concerning the relative importance of sustainability features in the selection of a mobile phone. The study identified four different clusters of purchasers: updaters, budgeters, environmentalists, and long‐life users. According to the findings, some consumers are willing to pay a premium for sustainability features. The authors discuss the potential implications of the results in the context of supply chain design.

Originality/value

The literature on supply chain management tends to see the consumers as a “black box”. This paper reports the first results of opening this box by linking the supply chain perspective to consumer choice behavior.
Natural resource scarcity and the closed‐loop supply chain: a resource‐advantage view
Authors: Bell John E. , Mollenkopf Diane A. , Stolze Hannah J.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

This research aims to provide a theoretical framework for exploring how firms can respond to the growing threat of natural resource scarcity. Specifically, the role of closed‐loop supply chain management is examined as a means for creating resource advantages that can lead to marketplace competitive advantages.

Design/methodology/approach

The research extends previous theoretical research, integrating natural resource scarcity and closed‐loop supply chain management for the first time. Resource‐advantage theory is employed as the theoretical lens for the research model and propositions.

Findings

The findings deepen understanding of the forces that create natural resource scarcity conditions in the supply chain, and highlight the need for higher order closed‐loop capabilities that have the ability to mitigate natural resource scarcity.

Research limitations/implications

The theoretical model and six research propositions suggest relationships between natural resource scarcity, closed‐loop capabilities, and firm level performance that need to be tested empirically. Future research opportunities and methodologies are suggested.

Practical implications

Growing natural resource scarcity is already having a major impact on many firms and industries; therefore, this research has significant managerial implications due to supply risks and potential disruptions caused by insufficient natural resources in current and future supply chains.

Originality/value

This paper seeks to increase discussion about natural resource scarcity and bring it into focus as a relevant supply chain topic related to closed‐loop supply chain capabilities and the internal firm level resources needed to ensure performance in a changing world.
Green performance criteria for sustainable ports in Asia
Authors: Lirn Taih‐cherng , Jim Wu Yen‐Chun , Chen Yenming J.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to measure a port's green performance. The literature is reviewed and a survey is carried out to identify major green port performance indicators and to evaluate three major ports' overall green performance in Asia. Indicators located in the critical quadrants with a high degree of importance and low degree of performance are identified and resources are suggested that can be employed to improve the ports' overall sustainability performance effectively.

Design/methodology/approach

Port performance indicators are reviewed to select the green‐related ones by a session of brain storming with academicians from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in the shipping discipline. Selected indicators are used to design an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) questionnaire. The weight and degree of performance of each of the 17 green indicators among three major container ports are calculated by the data obtained from the AHP round survey respondents.

Findings

Avoiding pollutants during cargo handling and port maintenance, noise control, and sewage treatment were perceived to be the three critical indicators by respondents in two of the three ports investigated. Among the three investigated ports, Shanghai port had the highest number of critical indicators to be improved. Air pollutants avoidance, encouraging the use of low‐sulphur fuel, and using electrically powered equipment were three of the five critical indicators found in Shanghai port, but not in the other two investigated ports in this study.

Originality/value

The theoretical implications of this research are the development of a conceptual framework to measure the degree of importance of a set of green port performance indicators, and to provide a decision support system to help port authorities to evaluate their performance regarding the 17 green port performance indicators compared with that of other ports.
Evaluation and implementation: two regeneration programmes
Authors: Hordern Jim
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss different approaches to evaluation taken in the case of two regeneration programmes in England and Wales and identify how assumptions about the nature of policy and programme implementation affect evaluation and considerations of its use in the public sector.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an analysis of evaluation reports relating to two regeneration programmes, a distinction is drawn between two approaches to evaluation. This distinction is then articulated further with reference to differing perspectives in policy implementation studies. Related issues of policy and programme success and failure are discussed, in addition to the potential for policy learning.

Findings

There is a difference between the two approaches to evaluation employed in the two cases, which is likely to reflect contrasting beliefs about the nature and process of implementation. Implementation research indicates that while a process of evaluating progress against a set of specific objectives clearly has legitimacy in a public sector environment, it is likely to be inconclusive or even counterproductive. This is due to the inevitability of policy evolution, the multiple reformations of policy at the micro level, and the constraints engendered by norms of appropriacy in the wider policy environment.

Originality/value

This article suggests how ongoing debates in implementation studies can inform and illuminate decisions made about approaches to evaluation. The dynamic between conceptions of implementation and the purpose of evaluation is illustrated through a comparison of the use of evaluation in two regeneration programmes.
Improving employment and women's well‐being in regeneration programmes
Authors: Escott Karen , Buckner Lisa
Published: June 2013

Purpose

How does women's labour market disconnection impact on health and well‐being? The paper seeks to explain how economic isolation can cause low self esteem for women. Neighbourhood analysis provides the opportunity to explore some of the operational contradictions in public policy and how they are experienced in regeneration areas.

Design/methodology/approach

Local dynamics of employment and health are examined in neighbourhoods in two UK cities. The research draws on focus group data involving local women as well as interviews with representatives of statutory and voluntary organisations. Examination of relevant statistical data supports the evidence base on women's well‐being in these regeneration areas.

Findings

By analysing labour market characteristics and local women's experiences, depression and low esteem in relation to low incomes, barriers to employment and discrimination emerge as particularly important aspects of well‐being. The paper suggests that policy makers often fail to make the connections between women's marginalisation from the labour market and the causes of persistently high levels of poor health.

Practical implications

Policy implications suggest that public agencies seeking to promote economic sustainability need to consider health issues along with other neighbourhood characteristics as part of a holistic approach to labour market activation.

Originality/value

The originality lies in engagement with several areas of public management practice aimed at addressing poverty and improving community well‐being. By exploring issues of economic inactivity, employability and ill health among women the findings help inform policies seeking to address problems of worklessness in local neighbourhoods.
Modernising pathology services: modelling effective IT project collaboration
Authors: Wainwright David W. , Shaw Christopher S.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to adapt a causal modelling approach to investigate the organisational collaboration and information technology (IT) project management issues concerning the planning and adoption of inter‐organisational IT systems across NHS hospital pathology departments.

Design/methodology/approach

The researchers adopted an interpretive research approach utilising qualitative methods and in particular template analysis. Themes and categories were initially derived from a review of the literature based on critical success factors from enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects.

Findings

A causal loop modelling approach was adapted to define key linkages between success factors. This highlighted virtuous and vicious cycles associated with IT project management and team collaboration – influencing the adoption process of large‐scale integrated IT systems.

Research limitations/implications

Single case studies can be problematic in terms of generalising from the research. The study had a limited number of interview participants due to the focus on strategic management. Future studies could extend the number of stakeholders involved and also focus on end‐users of services, such as clinicians in primary care.

Practical implications

The discussion and conclusions assess the appropriateness and utility of using a causal modelling approach, and an adapted causal loop model, to inform more effective approaches to IT planning, project management, team collaboration and adoption of integrated systems.

Social implications

The findings indicate that a more enhanced understanding of project team collaboration involving technical, administrative and clinical stakeholders has the potential to inform more effective strategies for modernisation of hospital clinical services such as pathology.

Originality/value

This study investigates the anatomy of a high‐profile IT project under the umbrella of strategic modernisation of health services. Privileged access to key stakeholders has enabled the development of a causal model for IT project collaboration and management. This will form the basis for further development of more refined models to enhance project outcomes in the future.
Enablers and challenges in implementing a comprehensive workplace health and well‐being approach
Authors: Mellor Nadine , Webster Jennifer
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify key enablers and challenges in the implementation of a comprehensive approach to the management of employee well‐being.

Design/methodology/approach

A large organization which had implemented such an approach was chosen as a case study. Company documents and data regarding the corporate well‐being strategy were analysed, informing the content of the approach. Interviews with implementers and managers were conducted to identify how it was done.

Findings

The focal organization had several health management systems capable of addressing the requirements for employee well‐being management. These included occupational safety and health, health promotion, management of ill‐health and human resource management. Key enablers identified were strong senior leadership support, dedicated resources, involvement of stakeholders and intensive communication. Challenges revolved around the integration of these systems into a coherent whole, striking a balance between a focus on occupational risks and lifestyle risks; readiness of managers to bring attention to the concept of employees’ well‐being and their ability to monitor employees’ health‐related needs. Together with a target‐driven work culture, these challenges worked against promoting well‐being.

Research limitations/implications

This case study is exploratory. Further research needs to gather direct views of both managers and employees on how the well‐being approach had been received. Explanatory research models that integrate health promotion and work management systems to better inform implementation strategy and the roles of managers are needed.

Originality/value

The paper shows that line managers need to make greater use of regular management processes such as work planning, formal and informal interactions, and resourcing, to monitor employees’ well‐being needs. They also need to continually self‐assess how their own leadership style may affect employee well‐being.
New firms … old assets
Authors: Hefferan Michael J. , Wardner Pamela
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate, through the Delphi technique, how demand drivers and accommodation priorities for emerging knowledge‐intensive firms are understood and how corporate property and asset managers can respond to them.

Design/methodology/approach

This empirical paper discusses the results emerging from a Delphi study in four rounds with ten experts. This research focuses on the high growth, commercial sector in south‐east Queensland in Australia.

Findings

The accommodation priority demands of knowledge‐intensive firms varied depending on the stage of their lifecycle, that is, start‐up, established or mature. For start‐ups, accommodation cost was of primary importance; however, for the established and mature firms, their priorities were directly related to those supporting the progress of the firms itself and the productivity of its employers.

Practical implications

Many of the findings are likely to be applicable to commercial environments elsewhere and would provide a basis for investors, developers, asset owners and managers to better align their “old” assets, through better asset management, to these “new” firms within this rapidly changing environment.

Originality/value

The use of the Delphi technique in this multi‐faceted research topic captures the practical knowledge, wisdom and intuition of experts who deal with such issues on a day‐to‐day basis. Most real estate issues usually involve diverse specialities and perspectives – this paper illustrates how common ground through consensus can be achieved.
The asset allocation of sustainable real estate: a chance for a green contribution?
Authors: Geiger Peter , Cajias Marcelo , Bienert Sven
Published: June 2013

Purpose

Given the growing market awareness concerning responsible investments in recent years, the purpose of this paper is to bridge the gap between real estate companies which implemented a corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda and the possible role within a multi‐asset portfolio optimisation framework. The behaviour of the asset class sustainable real estate (SRE) together with its diversification characteristics are the main focus.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is an explorative empirical analysis applying a portfolio optimisation algorithm. First, the authors developed a sustainable real estate index comprehending listed real estate companies from 2004 until 2010 acting in line with a CSR agenda. Second, the authors introduced SRE into the opportunity set of an UK investor and finally, generated the theoretical optimal asset allocation of SRE within different risk‐return portfolios.

Findings

The unique risk‐return pattern of SRE enables the asset class to be allocated across all portfolios ranging from low to high risk along the efficient frontier. In the low‐risk levels, SRE behaves as a diversifier whereas in the medium‐ to high‐risk portfolios SRE is represented as the main allocated asset. Sustainable real estate thus offers opportunities to numerous investors in view of their investment preferences and corporate strategies.

Practical implications

The results could encourage institutional investors to take investments in CSR‐driven listed real estate companies into account and to rethink their strategic asset allocation approach in view of the identified asset characteristics and the behaviour within a portfolio framework.

Originality/value

The paper provides a first insight in the field of portfolio management by introducing SRE into the opportunity set of a UK investor. The study raises SRE to an aggregated level and delivers theoretical as well as empirical evidence of the role sustainable real estate is playing within a multi‐asset portfolio.