bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Strategic management: the case of NGOs in Palestine
Authors: Analoui Farhad , Samour Akram
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether non‐governmental organizations' (NGOs') managers think and use strategy in their daily operations, to assess the impact of its applications on the performance of NGOs and to test the validity of the “dynamic model of strategic management” originally used for small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

Design/methodology/approach

This empirical study is concerned with NGOs' managers located in the Gaza Strip in Palestine. Survey questionnaire was the main data collection instrument. A combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, triangulation, is employed for data analysis.

Findings

It was discovered that most NGOs used strategic management systems and perceived strategic management as an important tool for increasing the quality of service delivery, achieving goals and increasing overall organizational performance. Moreover, the principles of the “dynamic model” developed for SMEs are applicable to the NGOs in Palestine.

Research limitations/implications

This research focused on local NGOs in Gaza Strip, while the contribution and significance of local NGOs and the civil society sector as a third sector is recognized around the world, inclusion of a number of international NGOs in the study would have yielded more significant results and would have helped to identify best practices in the sector.

Practical implications

NGOs in Palestine and elsewhere must become more strategic in their planning and operations in order to increase their performance, productivity and efficiency in providing quality service.

Originality/value

This first‐time study contributes to the current stock of knowledge and our present understanding of strategic management, as perceived by NGO managers, by contextualising its use in Palestine.
Understanding managers of businesses in desert Australia
Authors: Vilkinas Tricia , Cartan Greg , Saebel Judith
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand what was important to managers of businesses in desert Australia, and in particular, what they needed for the businesses to be successful.

Design/methodology/approach

There were two studies. In Study 1, 88 managers of business in remote desert Australia were interviewed. In Study 2, 112 managers who had business in regional desert Australia participated in an on‐line survey.

Findings

In both studies, the respondents claimed that their businesses were reasonably successful. In Study 1, the interviewees said that making a living and seeing the business grow were important indices of success. In Study 2, customer/client satisfaction was the strongest indicator of business success. Factors such as safe and all‐weather roads, internet/e‐mail access and reliable power supplies were important to this success. The importance to business success of a number of leadership behaviours was also identified.

Research limitations/implications

Future research needs to encourage a larger number of managers to participate. In addition, suppliers and customers of the businesses need to be included.

Originality/value

This is the first study in which managers were included, because normally, only owner‐managers are involved. It is also the first study of its kind to be undertaken in desert Australia.
Patronage factors of Malaysian local customers toward Islamic credit cards
Authors: Amin Hanudin
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the probability of Islamic credit card usage intention among Islamic banks' customers. Financial cost, knowledge of Islamic credit card, attitude, financial recommendation and demographic items were examined in order to determine whether these factors are influencing the Islamic credit card usage intention or not.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing upon the theory of reasoned action (TRA), this study proposes a conceptual model to examine the factors determining the Islamic credit card usage intention. The research model is evaluated using survey data from 354 respondents with the help of a questionnaire.

Findings

The results reveal that “financial recommendation”, “knowledge on Islamic credit card”, “age (young)”, “marital status”, “religion” and “education level” are significantly affecting the Islamic credit card usage intention. The research also concludes that “attitude on Islamic credit card” appears to have no effect on the Islamic credit card usage intention.

Research limitations/implications

The research has two limitations. The limitations however provide support for future researches in the area of Islamic credit card. Despite the limitations, the study contributes to the body of academic knowledge by shedding more light onto the factors affecting Islamic credit card usage intention.

Practical implications

Insights reported from this study are of particular importance to bank managers, providing them with an improved understanding pertaining to the Malaysian bank customers' usage intentions for Islamic credit cards. The research helps them to better plan for Islamic credit card facilities, in order to cater for the financial needs of Malaysia bank customers.

Originality/value

The contribution of the research lies in achieving a more profound understanding of Malaysia bank customers' usage intentions for Islamic credit cards. The research manages to discover the factors which particularly determine the use of Islamic credit cards. It also expands the literature on Islamic credit cards.
Designing for commitment in regional strategic networks
Authors: Andrésen Edith , Lundberg Helene , Roxenhall Tommy
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to model the impact of structural factors and activities on commitment in a regional strategic network (RSN) context.

Design/methodology/approach

A longitudinal case study examines two regional strategic networks acting in different business areas in mid Sweden.

Findings

Competition‐neutral, social, and personal goals were found to be powerful drivers promoting shared values and commitment among competitors, whereas business‐related goals worked well for complementary firms, providing a more stable basis for network commitment. In the RSN with a large number of members, sensitivity to absence was low, but it took longer for members to get to know one another, slowing commitment development. The RSN including members with complementary resources proved a more favorable setting than did the RSN including competitors, and frequent activities that favored social relationship development increased commitment.

Research limitations/implications

This study identifies important factors influencing the development of commitment in network contexts, but is limited to two cases. The topic merits further research: other factors need consideration, and the factors discussed here should be evaluated in other contexts.

Practical implications

The impact on network commitment of the factors discussed here needs to be considered by RSN initiators and hubs.

Originality/value

Few studies treat commitment in RSN contexts. This paper addresses this deficit by identifying structural factors and activities that influence commitment development.
Buyer‐supplier relationships in a servitized environment
Authors: Bastl Marko , Johnson Mark , Lightfoot Howard , Evans Steve
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine a buyer's adoption of servitization and the associated implications for the relationships with its suppliers.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use the case study approach to examine the tripartite relationship between a manufacturing company and two of its two suppliers. The paper explores the perspectives of employees on multiple organisational levels, and collects evidence on both sides of a relationship. The authors use template analysis utilising Cannon and Perreault's relationship connectors framework to analyse the data.

Findings

There are overarching implications of servitization adoption for buyer‐supplier relationships. The implications are notable in all five relationship connectors. Parties expected more open exchange of information, operational linkages were strengthened and changes in the structural arrangements of relationships were witnessed. Legal contracts are complemented by relational norms. The authors also observed a departure away from a win‐lose mentality and increased levels of supplier adaptation to support the buyer's provision of integrated solutions.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are confined to this tripartite relationship and to an extent are context specific.

Practical implications

The study unveils buyer‐supplier relationships in a servitized context and provides managers with a better understanding of some of the potential implications that the adoption of a servitization strategy may have for managing buyer‐supplier relationships.

Originality/value

This is the first empirical study that explores the implications of servitization on buyer‐supplier relationships. It advances the understanding of the implications that the adoption of servitization has on the manner in which two parties interrelate and conduct commercial exchange.
Supply chain collaboration for improved forecast accuracy of promotional sales
Authors: Ramanathan Usha
Published: May 2012

Purpose

In general, demand for functional products is dependent on a range of promotions offered in various retail outlets. To improve promotional sales many retailers collaborate with manufacturers for planning, forecasting and replenishment. The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize that collaborative forecasting will improve the forecast accuracy if all the partners can relate their demand forecast with underlying demand factors.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the author uses a case study approach to study various demand factors of soft drink products of the UK based company which offers frequent promotions in retail outlets. The paper represents the case study findings in a conceptual framework called Reference Demand Model (RDM). Further, the case study findings are validated empirically by means of multiple linear regression analysis using actual sales data of the case company.

Findings

Surprisingly, some of the demand factors specified as very important by the case company are not found to be highly significant for actual sales. The paper uses the identified demand factors to suggest levels of collaboration.

Practical implications

Understanding the importance of product specific demand factors through regression models and incorporating the same in managerial decision making will aid managers to identify the necessary information to make accurate demand forecasts.

Originality/value

This approach unveils the presence of three levels of collaboration namely preparatory, progressive and futuristic levels among supply chain partners based on the information exchange. The proposed method will aid decision making on information sharing and collaborative planning among manufacturer and retailers for future promotional sales.
Trends in production relocation and backshoring activities
Authors: Kinkel Steffen
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical investigation of recent trends and changes in companies' production relocation and backshoring behaviour against the background of the global economic crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical research is based on a large data set of 1,484 German manufacturing companies as part of the European Manufacturing Survey (EMS). The paper employs a structured set of probit analyses to identify the differences of production relocation and backshoring determinants before and within the crisis.

Findings

Against common belief the paper finds that not only the relocation of production to emerging countries, but also thebackshoringof once offshored manufacturing capacities to the home base is a relevant phenomenon. Since the emergence of the global economic crisis, relocation activities declined significantly, whereas the level of backshoring activities has remained stable. Far‐shore destinations in Asia gain in attractiveness over near‐shore locations in Eastern Europe. Particularly export‐intensive companies tended recently towards (re‐)concentrating of their production capacities, trying to exploit the benefits of higher capacity utilisation and a superior relation of variable costs to fix costs at their existing locations.

Research limitations/implications

Although covering a significant range of industrial sectors in Germany, more empirical evidence is needed from other branches and countries. Looking forward it is proposed to systemically integrate scenarios on the future development of the most influential environmental factors in future research frameworks for global production decisions and value chains.

Practical implications

The findings strongly recommend a revision of established decision‐making schemes for production relocations based on pure cost efficiency considerations. Decision‐making should integrate qualitative environmental factors and dynamic considerations using scenario‐based tools. Companies need to understand and prepare for dynamic developments at different locations which can strategically necessitate backshoring after a certain time.

Originality/value

The research considerably widens the empirical knowledge on recent trends in relocation activities and their inherent risks, which in a dynamic perspective are sometimes forcing backshoring activities.
Product platform replacements: challenges to managers
Authors: Sköld Martin , Karlsson Christer
Published: May 2012

Purpose

It is argued in this article that too little is known about product platforms and how to deal with them from a manager's point of view. Specifically, little information exists regarding when old established platforms are replaced by new generations in R&D and production environments. To shed light on this unexplored and growing managerial concern, the purpose of this explorative study is to identify operational challenges to management when product platforms are replaced.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a longitudinal field‐study approach. Two companies, Gamma and Omega, fulfilled important sampling criteria and were selected as strategic samples for the study. The two companies were studied for 42 and eight months, respectively, and were chosen for their long and rigorous experiences of platform development. Together with managers from Gamma and Omega, one major platform replacement was chosen in each company.

Findings

The study shows that platform replacements primarily challenge managers' existing knowledge about platform architectures. A distinction can be made between “width” and “height” in platform replacements, and it is crucial that managers observe this in order to challenge their existing knowledge about platform architectures. Issues on technologies, architectures, components and processes as well as on segments, applications and functions are identified.

Practical implications

Practical implications are summarized and discussed in relation to a framework distinguishing between platform replacement “height” and “width”. Seven groups of managerial measures for dealing with the issues are recommended.

Originality/value

The study aims to contribute to the existing literature by taking a managers' perspective of product platform development. Its specific originality and value is achieved by focusing on product platform replacements believed to represent a growing management challenge.
Impure public technologies and environmental policy
Authors: Markandya Anil , Rübbelke Dirk T.G.
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of transfers as a means to overcome inefficiencies in the provision of impure public goods. The paper employs the example of international conditional transfers targeted to overcome suboptimal low climate protection efforts by influencing the abatement technology choice of countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper applies the Lancastrian characteristics approach and conduct numerical simulations for divergent degrees of substitutability between different characteristics. The paper takes into account climate‐protection benefits (global pollution reduction) as well as co‐benefits (local pollution reduction) of climate protection activities.

Findings

The analysis shows that individual country solution can be improved upon by making transfers from the richer countries to the poorer ones, if the latter have a lower relative preference for the global public goods (global pollution reduction) than the former. The magnitudes of such transfers will depend on the relative benefits of the global and local pollutants in the two countries. The authors also investigated the dependency of the potential for transfers on the degree of complementarity between global and local pollution characteristics. With a “Cobb Douglas” type of function used here the elasticity of substitution between the two is of course one. With a zero degree of substitutability the adjustment to a lower level of the global public good in fact starts to happen at a lower per capita income level. The scope for conditional transfers is still there, although the gains can be slightly smaller than when adjustment on the “global pollution characteristic – local pollution characteristic” margin is possible.

Originality/value

This paper is a contribution to the literature on impure public goods. In particular, the authors examine the role of international transfers in obtaining an efficient global allocation of resources in the presence of such public goods. To date the analysis of impure public goods has not examined the case of a continuum of technologies where an efficient solution requires conditional transfers, i.e. payments from one country to another to undertake a different supply of global and local public goods than the second country would wish to undertake.
Financial assets, linear and nonlinear policy rules
Authors: Kasaï Ndahiriwe , Naraidoo Ruthira
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) sets monetary policy rate.

Design/methodology/approach

Given the controversial debate on whether central banks should target asset prices for economic stability, the authors analyse whether the SARB policy‐makers pay close attention to asset and financial markets in its policy decisions in the context of both linear and nonlinear Taylor type rule models of monetary policy.

Findings

The main findings are that the nonlinear Taylor rule provides the best description of in‐sample SARB interest rate setting behaviour as the financial crisis unfolds. The SARB policy‐makers pay close attention to the financial conditions index when setting interest rates. The SARB's response of monetary policy to inflation is greater during business cycle recessions with not much weight on output and seems to place high importance on inflationary pressures of output during boom periods. The 2007‐2009 financial crisis witnesses an overall decreased reaction to inflation, output and financial conditions amidst increased economic uncertainty.

Originality/value

This paper introduces a financial condition index into a Taylor monetary policy rule and examines whether nonlinear models can provide additional information over a linear model.
Financial crises, stock returns and volatility in an emerging stock market: the case of Jordan
Authors: AM Al‐Rjoub Samer , Azzam Hussam
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine stock returns behavior during financial crises for an emerging market from 1992 to 2009. The authors identify episodes of significant price declines “crashes” and watch the stock price behavior during these episodes.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines seven historical episodes of stock market crashes and their aftermath in the ASE over the last 18 years. The authors examine the behavior of stock returns and volatility in ASE during global, regional and local events. For this purpose the GARCH‐M model is used to capture changes in variance. The data covers the period from January 1, 1992 to July 2, 2009 with different data frequency of daily, weekly and monthly closing prices for ASE general weighted price index. The authors use the crisis specification adopted by Mishkin and White where they define stock market crash as 20 percent decline in the stock market, and the one adopted by Patel and Sarker where they use a 35 percent or more fall in emerging stock market from its historical maximum as a definition of stock market crash, and the authors extend by adopting a third scenario to account only for the 2008‐2009 crisis.

Findings

The results show that crises in general have negative impact on stock returns for all sectors, with the banking sector being the most affected. The effect of the 2008‐2009 crash is the most severe, with the largest drop in stock prices and high volatilities. The paper provides an evidence of high persistence in volatility and strong reverse relationship between stock return and its volatility before and after the crises.

Research limitations/implications

The paper does not include rest‐of‐the‐world economies.

Practical implications

Stock return behavior change around financial crises, it can help the investment world and the academics predict stock return behavior and the dynamics of the first two moments during crises.

Originality/value

The authors use three crisis specifications in one paper adopted by Mishkin and White (2002), Patel and Sarker (1998) and extend by adopting a third scenario to account only for the 2008‐2009 crisis. The paper tests for robustness of the results using daily, weekly, and monthly frequencies. Few studies have examined the behavior of stock returns and volatility during financial crises with the majority of work done on developed markets.
Do happiness and foreign aid affect bilateral migrant remittances?
Authors: Mak Arvin B. , Lew Byron
Published: May 2012

Purpose

Studies on the determinants of remittances focus primarily on a single country or undertake cross‐country analyses using aggregate data. By comparison, there is a dearth of empirical evidence on the determinants of remittances from multiple host to multiple destination countries. To address this deficiency, the purpose of this paper is to use a novel dataset which captures these bilateral flows.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper concentrates on three sets of explanatory variables: those which characterize the pair relationship, those that pertain to migrants' host country, and those related to the migrants' home country.

Findings

Cultural and political factors play a fundamental role. Altruism is not key in migrant remittances; investment motives are more important. Bilateral aid inflows bear a direct relationship to remittances. The marginal effect of happiness (in migrants' host and home countries) on remittances is positive for a large percentage of countries in the sample.

Practical implications

Results nullify the oft‐asserted role of remittances in assisting with adverse economic conditions, such as inflation. They also identify a possible nexus between remittances and foreign aid – a link that heretofore has not been identified or discussed in the literature or recognized by policy‐makers.

Originality/value

The contribution of the paper is its use of bilateral data to present evidence on remittances capturing not only North‐South, but also South‐South flows. The paper also contributes to the literature by considering, for the first time, some additional variables as potential determinants of remittances, chief among them the level of happiness of migrants' host and home countries, as well as the level of aid disbursed to migrants' home country.
Untangling the non‐linear causal nexus between exchange rates and stock prices
Authors: Chen Shyh‐Wei , Chen Tzu‐Chun
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between stock prices and exchange rates in 12 OECD countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors examine the nexus of stock prices and exchange rates for 12 OECD countries by using the vector error correction model, the bounds testing methodology and linear and non‐linear Granger causality methods.

Findings

The empirical results substantiate that a long‐run level equilibrium relationship among the exchange rates and stock prices exists in only seven out of twelve countries. The results of the linear causality tests indicate that significant short‐run and long‐run causal relationships exist between the two financial markets. The results of the tests for non‐linear Granger causality suggest that unidirectional and bidirectional non‐linear causal relationships exist between stock prices and exchange rates among these OECD countries.

Originality/value

The findings from this paper suggest the causal relationships between stock prices and exchange rates are not only linear, but also non‐linear.
Has the Korean chaebol model succeeded?
Authors: Park Seung‐Rok , Yuhn Ky‐hyang
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how Korean conglomerates (chaebol) have rapidly ascended to international prominence. The success of Korean chaebol firms seems to be associated with internal market transactions. Just as Japanese keiretsu firms succeeded by utilizing a bank‐centred financing system, Korean chaebol firms devised an internal financing system such as payment guarantees and collateral provisions in a restrictive regulatory environment.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examines the effects of such internal market transactions on the technical efficiency of chaebol firms using a stochastic frontier function for a panel data set of 1,675 firms from 1992 to 1998.

Findings

The study has found that chaebol firms have achieved a net gain in technical efficiency by utilizing internal market transactions as a way of mitigating liquidity constraints. Thus, the chaebol's role as an internal capital provider has given Korean conglomerates a competitive advantage in product pricing and capital financing, which is the main source of the success of Korean chaebol firms.

Originality/value

What is new in the paper is that the positive effects of the Korean chaebol on the Korean economy have outweighed the negative effects of the chaebol. The paper has provided empirical evidence that the chaebol played a major role in transforming the Korean economy from an agricultural economy to an IT‐led economy. The main value of the paper may be found in its attempt to analyze the technical efficiency of Korean large business groups using a stochastic frontier production approach. The paper will appeal to readers who are interested in the driving forces of rapid economic growth in a developing economy.
The effects of increasing product variety and shortening product life cycles on the use of quality management systems
Authors: van Iwaarden Jos , van der Wiele Ton
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how in many industries manufacturing complexity and unpredictability have increased in recent years because of increasing product variety and shortening product life cycles. Simultaneously, manufacturers in these industries appear to have more problems with maintaining high quality levels.

Design/methodology/approach

The research studies the effects of increasing product variety and shortening product life cycles on one control system: quality management.

Findings

In situations of shortening product life cycles, the empirical data support the increased use of interactive quality control systems, as predicted by the model. However, in situations of increasing product variety the expected increase in interactive control systems has not been found. Application of a control model in the field of quality management is found to be useful in explaining how contextual factors influence the management of quality.

Originality/value

This research takes a novel approach by applying a model from the field of management control to case studies at three European automotive manufacturers.
Extreme value charts and analysis of means based on half logistic distribution
Authors: Rao Boyapati Srinivasa , Kantam R.R.L.
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine extreme value charts and analyse means based on half logistic distribution.

Design/methodology/approach

Variable control charts with subgroup observations based on the extreme values at each subgroup are constructed without specially going to any subgroup statistic. The control chart constants depend on the probability model of the extreme order statistic of each subgroup and the size of the subgroup. Accordingly the proposed chart is normal as extreme value chart. As a by‐product the technique of analysis of means for a skewed population is exemplated through half logistic distribution and extreme value control charts. The results are illustrated by examples on live data.

Findings

H.L.D is found to be better test for the data of the three examples, ANOM gave a larger (complete) homogeneity of data than those of Ott.

Research limitations/implications

Supposing arithmetic means of k subgroups of size “n” each drawn from a half logistic model. If these subgroup means are used to develop control charts to assess whether the population from which these subgroups are drawn is operating with admissible quality variations. Depending on the basic population model, we may use the control chart constants developed by the authors or the popular Shewart constants given in any SQC text book. Generally the authors say that the process is in control if all the subgroup means fall within the control limits. Otherwise it is said that the process lacks control.

Originality/value

Half logistic distribution is a better model, exhibiting significant linear relation between sample and population quantiles.
How organizational citizenship behavior mediates between internal marketing and service quality
Authors: SeyedJavadin SeyedReza , Rayej Hamzeh , Yazdani Hamidreza , Estiri Mehrdad , Aghamiri Seyed Ali
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of internal marketing on service quality and the mediating role of OCB in their relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 162 random samples of the customers and employees of the Greater Tehran Gas Company were taken. The applied research methodology is based on survey design techniques, specifically structural equations modelling. To test the model questionnaire was designed, applied and then analyzed.

Findings

Findings clearly demonstrate that internal marketing actions can have a direct, meaningful and positive effect on organizational citizenship behaviours. Furthermore, the conceptual model shows that organizational citizenship behaviours act as a mediator between internal marketing and service quality.

Research limitations/implications

The present study does have a number of methodological limitations that suggest areas for future research. First, the sample was from a public company, and this unique setting may limit the external validity of the findings. Second, the country in which the authors tested the hypothesis is an Islamic country with different cultural values from western countries and this fact might limit the generalization of the findings. But the authors believe that the proposed model and results of this research can aid service organization to offer better service quality to both their internal and external customers.

Originality/value

The paper may be of high value to researchers and managers in Marketing and Human Resource Management scopes. Results of this research have valuable guideline that can have tangible outcome for organization.
The moderating influence of product orientation on coordination mechanisms in total quality management
Authors: Jayaram Jayanth , Ahire Sanjay , Nicolae Mariana , Ataseven Cigdem
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to verify whether product orientation (make‐to‐order versus make‐to‐stock) affects how coordination mechanisms combine to influence quality performance in total quality management (TQM).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used survey response data from a large sample of single industry respondents (auto supplier industry) to test the research model.

Findings

The study found support for the idea that organizational and inter‐organizational coordination mechanisms influence product and process quality performance. Moreover, significance of many of these linkages varied according to whether the product orientation was make‐to‐order or make‐to‐stock. The study is one of the first to suggest that the influence of select coordination factors on performance can vary according to product orientation.

Research limitations/implications

The study suggests that plant managers may pursue different approaches to implement select coordination factors (not all) according to whether their product focus is make‐to‐stock or make‐to‐order.

Practical implications

The research isolates those select coordination mechanisms which have significantly different performance effects in one product orientation environment (make‐to‐order) versus another (make‐to‐stock). Managers interested in TQM implementation can gain insights into those select coordination mechanisms identified in this study that could positively enhance product quality and process quality performance.

Originality/value

To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that has examined the contextual influence of product orientation on the relationships between select coordination mechanisms in TQM implementation and their impact on process and product quality.
Maintenance and recurrent event analysis of circuit breaker data
Authors: Bumblauskas Daniel , Meeker William , Gemmill Douglas
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review cotemporary maintenance programs and analyze factory production data for an SF6 gas filled circuit breaker population. Various maintenance techniques and studies are reviewed to understand the reliability of circuit breaker models and the impact manufacturing can have on long term maintenance considerations.

Design/methodology/approach

Production and field event data were analyzed using statistical analysis tools. The population data were formatted so that a recurrent event analysis could be conducted to establish the mean cumulative function (MCF) by model and product family (class). Average Field Two‐year Recorded Event Rate (AFTRER) is introduced and compared to commonly used Field Incident Rate (FIR) and Mean‐Time between Failure (MTBF) measures.

Findings

Common managerial operating questions can be answered as exhibited for the provided circuit breaker population. This includes the longevity of field issues, the anticipated life cycle of a model or class, and AFTRER for models or classes of interest. These statistical analysis tools are used to make critical production quality and asset management observations and aid in decision‐making.

Research limitations/implications

Due to limitations in existing database systems, the cost of events and explanatory variables related to event rates were not included in the analyses. There remains much work to be done in terms of the installation and retro‐fitting of breakers with conditions monitors in the field.

Practical implications

A framework to analyze maintenance data from fleet of similar assets using recurrent event data analysis is provided. The methods illustrated here would be useful for quality and asset managers to make operating decisions. This includes resource allocation decisions across a network of equipment.

Social implications

Data analyzed are for power circuit breakers which are a critical element in the operation and reliability of the US power grid.

Originality/value

Using recurrent event data analysis to review and develop solutions to production quality and asset management problems including a comparison of AFTRER to FIR and MTBF measures.
Improving the house of quality with maximum difference scaling
Authors: Garver Michael S.
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to put forth maximum difference scaling to more accurately identify importance scores for customer requirements, which will also allow need‐based segments to be recognized and utilized within the QFD process.

Design/methodology/approach

An overview of research methods to explore customer requirements are discussed, followed by survey data analysis of customer requirements which compares and contrasts stated importance ratings to maximum difference scaling results.

Findings

The results from this study suggest that maximum difference scaling offers some advantages compared to traditional stated importance ratings, as well as other traditional methods for determining importance ratings. Providing significantly more discriminating power among customer requirements, maximum difference scaling allows researchers to have a more accurate and valid view of the relative importance of customer requirements as well as the ability to form need‐based segments.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations of all research methods are discussed, including those limitations of maximum difference scaling.

Practical implications

The method put forth in this article provides practitioners with an improved methodology for determining the importance of customer requirements.

Originality/value

While maximum difference scaling has been proposed and tested in other fields, this is the first article of maximum difference scaling being applied to a QFD project.
Strategic brand venturing: the corporation as entrepreneur
Authors: van Rensburg Deryck J.
Published: May 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to outline a corporate entrepreneurship growth strategy for large consumer packaged goods (CPG) firms that involves venturing with brand entrepreneurs to access innovative or disruptive new brands called “strategic brand venturing” (SBV).

Design/methodology/approach

An emerging development among large CPG firms known for their branding and marketing prowess has been to create dedicated brand/consumer venturing units (e.g. Coca‐Cola; P&G; Nestle; Clorox; General Mills; Unilever) as a means of enlarging their innovation boundaries. As president of an SBV unit for The Coca‐Cola Company, the author notes this recent development and opportunity. He provides a descriptive account of its nature, strategic value, and organizational considerations.

Research implications

Researchers are encouraged to empirically examine this new option in further depth.

Practical implications

The capabilities and organizational considerations involved in establishing an SBV unit are briefly outlined.

Originality/value

External corporate venturing in technology‐intensive industries is an established and growing practice. However, equity investments by large CPG corporations in entrepreneurial brand firms represent a corporate entrepreneurship opportunity that has hitherto received scant/no attention in the literature. A revised typology of brand growth strategies is therefore proposed encompassing venturing.
Pulling off the comeback: shrink, expand, neither, both?
Authors: Braun Michael , Latham Scott
Published: May 2012

Purpose

In this paper, the authors aim to build a prescriptive framework to help managers in turning around their ailing organizations. Their framework focuses on the extent of contractionary and expansionary initiatives needed to rebuild long‐term competitive advantage. They make the case that managers engaging in a pro‐active and balanced approach to scaling down and growing their organizations can boost the success of their recovery efforts.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors build their framework based on academic research on corporate turnarounds, their scholarly work on corporate restructuring, and their combined experiences and observations in industry. Their framework proposes four possible outcomes of the turnaround process: comeback, adrift, running‐on‐empty, and collapse. They provide examples to describe each outcome.

Findings

The authors' framework suggests that the interaction between two restructuring actions – retrenchment and repositioning ‐ determines the outcome of corporate turnarounds. By overemphasizing downsizing, managers fail to jumpstart entrepreneurial growth that can propel the firm towards long‐term competitive advantage. Similarly, stresses arising from excessive growth programs can quickly drain firm resources. As such, all managers need to assess the alignment between downsizing efforts and growth‐oriented initiatives. By bringing awareness to the interdependency between retrenchment and repositioning, the authors' framework can guide managers in making necessary adjustments on the way to fixing their organization.

Originality/value

Retrenchment and repositioning represent the means available to managers attempting corporate turnaround. However, corporate turnarounds often fail due to an overemphasis on one phase of the restructuring process, at the expense of the other. This framework points to the delicate retrenchment‐repositioning required to achieve successful turnaround.
Transistors, electric vehicles and leapfrogging in China and Japan
Authors: Kimble Chris , Wang Hua
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The goal of the article is to use the concepts of catching‐up and leapfrogging that are most often found in the literature on developmental economics to explore the process by which newcomers overturn an established market leader.

Design/methodology/approach

The article uses two case studies, one of the initial development of the transistor radio by the Japanese and the other of the development of electric vehicles in China, to illustrate the application of these concepts to concrete examples.

Findings

The way in which Sony caught up with, and jumped ahead of, American radio manufacturers is explained using the concepts of catching‐up and leapfrogging to emphasize the different phases in the process. This is contrasted with the development of electric vehicles in China which is a process that is still unfolding. The potential importance of one particular development, the low speed electric vehicle, is highlighted.

Practical implications

The concepts of catching‐up and leapfrogging provide a simple method to visualize the ways in which a newcomer might overtake an incumbent. Their application to the case studies also highlights the crucial importance of a sound business model in this process.

Originality/value

Although the case of Sony and the transistor radio is relatively well known, this article places it in a new conceptual framework. The case of the development of electric vehicles in general, and the example of the low speed electric vehicle in particular, is new and has not been widely explored.
Extending the enterprise for improved innovation
Authors: Filieri Raffaele , Alguezaui Salma
Published: May 2012

Purpose

Complexity, turbulence, and unpredictability have driven the emergence of a new firm's model, namely the extended enterprise (EE). The EE is an emerging business framework, addressing the current challenges related to innovation and competition in complex scenarios. The purpose of this paper is to provide a clear and unambiguous description of the EE, and how it differentiates from the network firm. Moreover the paper discusses also how the EE is evolving and what are the key strategies enabling the EE to attain his goals.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews different literature, such as supply‐chain, manufacturing, marketing, innovation, and management with the aim to provide a clear definition of the EE.

Findings

This article identifies the key characteristics of the EE, such as opening the innovation process to external innovators, acquiring and redistributing knowledge with different stakeholders, network coevolution, trust, and technologies. Increasingly, it discusses the importance of fostering tacit and explicit knowledge sharing and of aligning values to achieve the goals of the EE.

Originality/value

There are very few papers discussing the characteristics of the EE and they are all outdated. This is one of the first papers that attempts also to identify the governance mechanisms that managers can adopt to achieve the goals of the EE.
Because it's there
Authors: Marren Patrick
Published: May 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to examine some lessons that can be gained from the Everest reconnaissance expedition of 1921 for business strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopts an essay approach.

Findings

There are at least six lessons to be drawn from the initial Royal Geographical Society reconnaissance of Mt Everest: strategies can be framed as expeditions; the right people need to be assigned the correct roles to make the strategy work; headquarters should respect the judgment of the people in the field and not arbitrarily impose their distant opinions on them; a team of one mind cannot normally succeed; a compelling goal makes up for a lot of shortfalls in other areas; a “failed” strategy can still be valuable if you learn from it.

Originality/value

The paper examines these issues in what is hoped to be a unique way.
Value co‐creation through collective intelligence in the public sector
Authors: Wise Sean , Paton Robert A. , Gegenhuber Thomas
Published: May 2012

Purpose

On the basis of the Collective Intelligence Genome framework, which was developed to describe private, for profit ventures, this study aims to review the recent public sector initiatives launched by the American federal government and the European Union. The study's goal is to examine if, and how, the Genome construct would apply to not for profit.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper builds on an existing classification methodology for collective intelligence initiatives and extends it to pubic sector initiatives.

Findings

The findings suggest that, although the framework offers a generally good fit, it does not fully address all the factors at play and the paper proposes expanding the gene pool. In addition, it confirms that Collective Intelligence initiatives do indeed co‐create value and conform to the emerging services dominant logic concept.

Originality/value

With the growing success of profit motivated internet‐based collaborative ventures, including Innocentive, VenCorps, Threadless and many others, governments have taken notice and engaged. Recent public sector initiatives, including Open.gov, Peer 2 Patent, innovation.ED.gov among others, have begun to leverage collaborative internet media through similar means. These initiatives not only engage a broader community in the co‐creation of value, but also foster what has been termed as Collective Intelligence. This paper details one of the first forays into what might be termed sense making within the public sector usage of Collective Intelligence using the Genome framework and, as such, provides researchers and practitioners with a means of assessing value, potential impact and making comparisons.
The firm‐specific nature of debt tax shields and optimal corporate investment decisions
Authors: Eisdorfer Assaf , O'Brien Thomas J.
Published: May 2012

Purpose

While an operation's unlevered value is objective, the value of the debt tax shield is subjective since it depends on the capital structure policy of the firm that owns the operation. The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of this subjective nature of debt tax shield value for corporate investment decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

The study develops a simple theoretical model.

Findings

The paper shows that even a low probability of selling a project in the future to a firm with a different tax shield value can significantly affect a project's weighted average cost of capital (WACC) and total value.

Practical implications

Managers should be aware of this issue when making corporate investment decisions.

Originality/value

This is the first study to address the implication of the subjective nature of debt tax shield value.