bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bhuira Jams: changing lanes to break logjam
Authors: Chakrabarti Somnath , Chadha Vijay , Agarwal Rajiv
Published: September 2019

Learning outcomes

This case provides insights about the importance of market research, market segmentation, distribution, product positioning, branding and advertising for a small but growing enterprise. This case provides insights into nuances about organizing and running a family-owned small business –Bhuira Jams has to objectively decide on its way-forward which can be a pure social enterprise or a pure commercial enterprise. This case provides understanding regarding the differences between the two models in terms of funding, accounting, legal, marketing and operational aspects.

Case overview/synopsis

In January 2017, Linnet Mushran had just won an award from the PHD Chamber of Commerce for her work in generating local employment for rural women in the village Bhuira, Himachal Pradesh, India. This award did make her feel happy. However, more than happiness, it got her thinking as to how would Bhuira Jams – the child born out of her passion for mountains and out of the desire to do something good survive in the coming years? Bhuira Jams was never designed like a formal business. Being a family run socially relevant business, Bhuira Jams faces the challenge of operational efficiency, along with an uphill task in marketing and distribution. Almost 35 per cent of its sales comes from Fabindia, which re-sells the Bhuira products under the Fabindia label. Thus, currently there is very little focus and expenditure in Bhuira on marketing and distribution. Another challenge faced by Bhuira Jams is driven by the health and lifestyle changes occurring in the Indian society. Consumer preferences are shifting towards low fat diets, and there is growing Americanization of the Indian society. This can be a double whammy for Bhuira’s main product line of preserves, which are high on calorie and are traditionally British.

Complexity academic level

Bhuira Jams conceptually is close to a family owned business due to the involvement of husband, daughter-in-law and son-in-law of Linnet. Thus, this case provides insights into nuances about organizing and running a family owned small business.

Supplementary materials

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Subject code

CSS 11: Strategy
Sustainability issues in freshfruggies: hyperlocal fruits and vegetables delivery model
Authors: Arora Ashish , Singh Surabhi
Published: September 2019

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes are as follows: identify the challenges and opportunities in an ecommerce start-up B; understand the issues of operational sustainability of ecommerce start-up; evaluate the sustainability of hyperlocal models to ecommerce start up; and implement innovative solutions to address the issues of e-business models.

Case overview/synopsis

It was the cold winter evening of December 2016 when Puja, a cofounder of freshfruggies, an e-commerce start-up company, made up her mind after meeting her cofounders of reviving the Venture “freshfruggies” as a Hyperlocal Fruits and Vegetables Delivery Company in a non-metro town of Jalandhar in Punjab province of India. She contemplated the poor performance of the company in the past which prepared her for the better planning and execution of operational sustainability of freshfruggies. Puja took the critical decision of revival as she planned to develop the right business strategy for ensuring continuity. freshfruggies had been experiencing constant losses since its inception, and the issues of its sustainability needed attention. It was a dream project for all the co-founders who started with the vision to make freshfruggies a popular ecommerce model of hyperlocal fruits and vegetables delivery in the happening city of Jalandhar. However, lack of trained manpower, weak digital marketing strategy and lack of operating efficiency emerged as major issues of operational sustainability in freshfruggies. The co-founders outlined the possible options to revive freshfruggies after deliberating upon the challenges faced. The choices were limited and time was running out along with finances. The options included either changing the business model to a hybrid retail model or to continue as an ecommerce company after sorting out demand and supply issues. There was an urgent need to take a decision in this regard.

Complexity academic level

This case focuses on undergraduate and graduate courses in entrepreneurship and operations management courses.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Subject code

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.
Tax compliance during fiscal depression periods: the case of Greece
Authors: Lois Petros , Drogalas George , Karagiorgos Alkiviadis , Chlorou Aikaterini
Published: September 2019

Purpose

Governments count on tax revenues in order to finance their fiscal and social activities. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the citizens’ conception of tax compliance and examine the factors affecting tax behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

This survey was conducted through a stratified sample and questionnaires consisted of closed-ended questions. A linear regression and a series of reliability tests including an analysis of variance were conducted with IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences.

Findings

The majority of the respondents demonstrate a positive perspective towards tax compliance and tax administration employees that inspire it. However, while the fairness of the tax system is evident, findings indicate a deeper issue of social and behavioural influences, including the characteristics of tax administrative employees and tax morality.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are subject to over- or sub-representation, since the sample derived from groups whose occupations feature strong tax compliance. The study was conducted in Greece, and it is possible that the results can be generalised to developing countries with similar economic environments and fiscal circumstances.

Practical implications

Non-economic factors affect tax behaviour and the formation of modern tax strategies. This survey enables governments to improve tax compliance rates and increase tax revenues. Fiscal depression tends to decrease state revenues. Tax compliance factors should be taken into account through tax decision-making processes and ensure efficient tax collection.

Originality/value

This paper furthers the existent literature and deepens in non-economic factors of morality, revealing tax behaviours instigated by reasons beyond tax unfairness.
Factors affecting the internal auditors’ effectiveness in the Jordanian public sector
Authors: Alqudah Hamza Mohammad , Amran Noor Afza , Hassan Haslinda
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating effect of task complexity on external auditors’ cooperation (EAC), top management empowerment and internal auditors’ independence, which affect internal auditors’ effectiveness in the Jordanian public sector.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper utilised 117 usable questionnaires from financial managers and internal audit (IA) managers of the Jordanian public sector institutions. The collected data were analysed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

Findings

The results reveal that EAC, top management empowerment, and internal auditors’ independence are the factors which positively and significantly affect the internal auditors’ effectiveness, as supported by the resource-based theory, with incomplete support for the task complexity’s role as a moderator.

Practical implications

The findings are important for the decision-makers and regulators in introducing new legislation and regulation for the IA profession in the Jordanian public sector.

Social implications

It is shown that the factors affecting the internal auditors’ effectiveness can definitely enhance their ability to achieve the role of IA in protecting public funds and limiting financial and administrative corrupt practices, particularly in the public sector.

Originality/value

To the best knowledge of the authors, this study is one of the first studies that addresses task complexity as an interaction effect on the factors affecting internal auditors’ effectiveness in the public sector.
Conceptualizing context in entrepreneurship education: a literature review
Authors: Thomassen Mette Lindahl , Williams Middleton Karen , Ramsgaard Michael Breum , Neergaard Helle , Warren Lorraine
Published: September 2019

Purpose

Context impacts the design and practice of entrepreneurship education, but there is limited focus on context in entrepreneurship education literature. The purpose of this paper is to review the entrepreneurship education literature to understand how context has been addressed, derives contextual elements from prioritized literature and explores how context can be adapted to and designed with in entrepreneurship education.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review is undertaken to explore context in entrepreneurship education literature. Context entrepreneurship education yielded 239 items. After refinement, 232 entrepreneurship education associated publications were reviewed by the team of authors. Using selection criteria, 26 prioritized publications were analyzed and categorized according to a theoretical framework.

Findings

Context has been addressed both conceptually and empirically, quantitatively and qualitatively, and can be categorized across three sociological phenomena levels – micro, meso and macro. Within these levels, more specific context elements emerge from the entrepreneurship education literature. The findings assert that while context is highly influential in relation to entrepreneurship education, it is arbitrarily described, and holds a variety of documented and diffuse elements. Educators have a limited span of control in relation to context elements, however, for the most parts elements can be adapted to or designed with. Finally, due to the influence of context it is difficult to identify a universal best practice of entrepreneurship education because there simply is no ceteris paribus.

Research limitations/implications

Contextual elements which emerged from the literature consider various subjects, spaces, structures and networks. Context is complex and has had limited treatment in entrepreneurship education literature, thus additional analysis and experimentation is necessary.

Practical implications

Context shapes understanding and influences learning. Addressing entrepreneurship education across three levels – micro, meso and macro – and through four framing questions – who, what, where and when – guides educators in how context influences and can be used when designing education.

Originality/value

The paper gives new insight into how context is addressed in entrepreneurship education literature, and how this can influence educational design.
Civic engagement in the Indonesia health sector
Authors: Pratono Aluisius Hery , Djoemadi Firman Rosjadi , Avanti Christina , Sinaga Nur Flora Nita Taruli Basa , Maharani Asri
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of religiosity on civic engagement in the health sector through giving advocacy for people with AIDs, mental health, cancer and disability.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors achieve this aim by proposing a structural equation model, which was derived based on literature. The data collection involved an on-line purposive sampling survey, which targeted young people who intend to work in the health sector. The survey asked about the experience and perception of 610 respondents in Indonesia.

Findings

The results indicate that the respondents with high religiosity were identified to be more caring towards those who suffer from mental health, AIDs, cancer and disability. However, the highly religious were less motivated by empathy in conducting civic engagement in the health sector. In this study, the impact of religiosity on civic engagement was found to be stronger for those who identified with low materialism.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the discussion on altruistic theory by challenging the widespread assumption that feelings of empathy drive civic engagement. The results extend the discussion on how to promote civic engagement in the health sector for young people with high materialism attitude.
Immigrants in the EU5 labour markets: what happened during the economic crisis?
Authors: Quintano Claudio , Mazzocchi Paolo , Rocca Antonella
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand: whether the changes that have occurred in migrants’ conditions over time are smaller than the differences in their conditions existing across countries; and whether the comparison between immigrants and native-born conditions allows the verification of the levels of disparities between them and, therefore, the relative disadvantage suffered by migrant. After a general overview of the 28 European Union countries, this paper analyses the changes that have occurred from 2006 to 2017 in the conditions of migrants in the labour market in the big five European countries (Italy, Spain, France, Germany and the UK).

Design/methodology/approach

Various statistical methodologies were used. First, to gain an overall picture, taking into account both the spatial and the temporal dimensions, dynamic factor analysis (DFA) was applied. Second, time-dependent and cross-sectional time-series models were estimated to better understand the DFA results.

Findings

The results highlight very different scenarios in terms of labour market vulnerabilities, both affecting immigrants and native-born workers. The results also highlight the existence of a very complex framework, due to the high heterogeneity of immigrants’ characteristics and labour market capacities to integrate migrants and also to promote good conditions for the native-born population.

Originality/value

The picture emerging from this study and the evaluation of the policies and legislation in force to cope with migration and to promote integration suggests some reflections on the most efficacious actions to take in order to improve migrants’ integration, counteracting social exclusion and promoting economic growth.
The role of transformational leadership in citizenship behavior
Authors: Kim Eun-Jee , Park Sunyoung
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among transformational leadership, organizational learning, interpersonal trust and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected data from the manufacturing sector in South Korea. A total of 208 responses were analyzed by employing the structural equation modeling method.

Findings

The findings showed that transformational leadership directly affected organizational learning, interpersonal trust and OCB; interpersonal trust positively and significantly influenced organizational learning and OCB; organizational learning had direct and significant effects on OCB; and organizational learning mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and OCB.

Research limitations/implications

This study highlights the value of empirically establishing how employee citizenship behaviors are affected by transformational leadership as an integrative construct bringing together organizational learning and trust.

Originality/value

The study intends to encourage future research by assessing whether organizational learning and interpersonal trust mediates the link between leaders’ behavior and employees’ behavior.
“Help goes around in a circle”: young unaccompanied refugees’ engagement in interpersonal relationships and its significance for resilience
Authors: Johansen Kristina , Studsrød Ingunn
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address how young unaccompanied refugees in Norway actively engage in interpersonal relationships. It explores the significance of these relationships in doing well following adversity, according to the young people’s own perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on a qualitative research design. Data were derived through a combination of participant observation, interviews and research workshops inspired by participatory methods. In total, 12 young unaccompanied refugees, aged 15–20, residing in Norway, participated in the study.

Findings

Participants described actively searching for help and support in order to do well. In addition, they showed concern for others and often described an explicit intention of helping. They engaged in relationships of mutual support and helped others through acts of kindness or social involvement. Nevertheless, the relationships were not only a source of happiness, safety and well-being, but also of pain and worry.

Practical implications

Social workers who want to strengthen the resilience of young unaccompanied refugees should consider and build on the young people’s capacity for involvement and mutual support.

Originality/value

This study offers a unique analysis of young unaccompanied refugees’ engagement in relationships and the significance of these relationships in doing well following adversity.
Moving the body: physical activity among Barbadians
Authors: Tookes Jennifer Sweeney
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the beliefs, self-perceptions, and self-reported behaviors around physical activity among Barbadian women on the Caribbean island of Barbados, and among Barbadian migrant women in Atlanta, Georgia. It investigates their perceptions and practices of physical activity and its relationship to health, and how these ideas and practices differ between the two sites.

Design/methodology/approach

Situated within long-term ethnographic research conducted in both study sites, this paper focuses on qualitative interview data and quantitative physical activity logs from 31 Barbadian women.

Findings

Most study subjects expressed belief that physical activity is valuable to their health. Women in Barbados described their own lives as active, and documented this activity in their physical activity logs. However, women in Atlanta described patterns of limited activity that were evidenced in their logs. Qualitative interviews determined that the overarching reasons for this inactivity are the structural confines of wage labor and the built environment.

Social implications

These findings indicate that rather than health promotions that emphasize individual responsibility, physical activity levels in US migrant populations may more likely be altered by addressing the structural limitations of the American work day or the ubiquitous urban commute time.

Originality/value

This paper is unique in its contribution of dual-sited qualitative research that explores the motivations and limitations of physical activity in a migrant population. In addition, it enhances the existing literature by examining a native-English-speaking, middle-class population in migration.
Impact of life skills training on psychosocial well-being of Tibetan refugee adolescents
Authors: Yankey Tsering , Biswas Urmi Nanda
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of life skills training (LST) to promote psychosocial well-being of Tibetan refugee adolescents in India.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 300 students having low coping strategies, self-confidence and emotional intelligence (EI) participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to experimental (n=150) and control group (n=150). LST consisting of ten core skills was implemented on the experimental group.

Findings

ANCOVA and regression analysis revealed that LST was effective in enhancing coping strategies, self-confidence and EI among Tibetan refugee adolescents.

Research limitations/implications

This study was quantitative in its statistical design and approach. Further research combined with qualitative tools must be explored to gain deeper insight into the personal journey of these young refugees and to corroborate the impact of LST on their psychosocial well-being.

Practical implications

Results from this study will help to integrate LST into regular school curriculum, thereby ensuring its implementation on a daily basis.

Originality/value

Previous studies on Tibetan refugees have focused on physical and mental hardships experienced by them. There is limited research on strategies adopted to address the needs of these young refugees after migration. This is the first school-based intervention study that tailored the WHO recommended ten core skills to suit the social and cultural contexts of these young refugees and equip them with psychosocial skills to increase their capacity to cope with the complexity of migration.
Alcohol use disorders among Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand
Authors: Gaitan Deivi , Daw Tin Shwe Valerie , Bajcevic Predrag , Gagnon Anita
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the prevalence of Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) among Myanmar male migrant workers (> 15 years) living in Mae Sot, Thailand, and their patterns of drinking.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional survey was administered to 512 participants to measure AUDs and drinking patterns. ANOVA and χ2 analyses were performed to assess demographic differences between abstainers, harmful and hazardous drinkers (HHDs) (those showing signs of AUDs) and non-harmful drinkers.

Findings

Results showed that 12.3 percent of male Myanmar migrants were HHDs, a rate only slightly higher than in Thai men (9.1 percent), but much higher than in men still living in Myanmar (2.7 percent) (WHO, 2014). Also, 19 percent of alcohol-consuming Myanmar male migrant workers reported patterns of heavy episodic drinking, which is markedly higher than in alcohol-consuming Thai (4.7 percent) and Myanmar men (1.5 percent) (WHO, 2014).

Originality/value

Given the health risks associated with AUDs and heavy episodic drinking, the findings of this study suggest a need for appropriate alcohol-related health education and intervention for Myanmar male migrant workers.
Firm borrowing capacity, government ownership and real earnings management
Authors: Ben Rejeb Attia Mouna
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine borrowing capacity (BC) of government-owned firms and whether real earnings management (REM) activities moderate the sensitivity of firm BC to government ownership.

Design/methodology/approach

A simultaneous equation analysis is applied to study 210 Tunisian non-financial firms over the 2001–2014 period.

Findings

The empirical results provide substantial evidence indicating that government-owned firms have higher BC and significant REM than other firms; the relationship between government ownership and firm BC is partially moderated by REM activities.

Practical implications

The findings imply that the implicit credit guarantee of government is not necessarily the unique determinant of firm BC and highlight the role of lenders in monitoring discretionary real transactions in government-owned and protected firms. These implications should be taken in to account by public sector policy makers. In particular, the findings predict that the current government accounting reform in Tunisia on the basis of IPSAS will, probably, improve information quality, but it is still insufficient to control real activities in public institutions.

Originality/value

This study extends a growing research stream on the relationship between BC and government ownership by focusing on the moderating effect of REM on this relationship and by considering the endogeneity issue. The findings provide evidence that government-owned firms use REM practices to improve their BC. Examining these practices in developing countries provides an opportunity to evaluate the efficiency of their public sector reforms and their effect on a firm’s performance and financing decisions.
Metadata for diversity
Authors: Clarke Rachel Ivy , Schoonmaker Sayward
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate what metadata elements for access points currently exist to represent diverse library reading materials, either in libraries or from external sources, as well as what metadata elements for access points are currently not present but are necessary to represent diverse library reading materials.

Design/methodology/approach

A field scan of thirteen contemporary metadata schemas identified elements that might serve as potential access points regarding the diversity status of resource creators as well as topical or thematic content. Elements were semantically mapped using a metadata crosswalk to understand the intellectual and conceptual space of the elements. Element definitions and application of controlled vocabularies were also examined where possible to offer an additional context.

Findings

Metadata elements describing gender, occupation, geographic region, audience and age currently exist in many schemas and could potentially be used to offer access to diverse library materials. However, metadata elements necessary to represent racial, ethnic, national and cultural identity are currently not present in specific forms necessary for enabling resource access and collection assessment. The lack of distinct elements contributes to the implicit erasure of marginalized identities.

Originality/value

The search for metadata describing diversity is a first step toward enabling more systematic access to diverse library materials. The need for systematic description of diversity to make visible and promote diverse materials is highlighted in this paper. Though the subject of this paper is library organization systems and, for clarity, uses terms specific to the library profession, the issues present are relevant to all information professionals and knowledge organization systems.
Service providers and firm performance: investigating the non-linear effect of dependence
Authors: Benedettini Ornella , Neely Andy
Published: September 2019

Purpose

Servitized manufacturers can leverage close relationships with external providers of product-related services to mobilize value creation and improve the responsiveness of their offerings to customer needs. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the economic link between the relational embeddedness of external service providers, as arising from the key dimension of dependence, and firm performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The study evaluates financial statement data pertaining to 190 dyadic relationships of servitized manufacturers with service providers operating in downstream channels and accounting for more than 10 per cent of their revenue.

Findings

The results indicate that service providers’ dependence has an inverted U-shaped relationship with manufacturers’ return-on-assets (ROA), via non-linear effects on return-on-sales and asset turnover. The results therefore suggest that the observed U-shaped relationship for ROA is driven by diminishing returns of dependence in terms of both differentiation ability and operational efficiency.

Research limitations/implications

Future research could examine other dimensions of embeddedness, as well as contingency factors that may influence the embeddedness–performance relationship.

Practical implications

The study conclusions suggest that managers of servitized firms should foster the embeddedness of external service providers, but they should also be careful to maintain an adequate level of dependence to maximize benefits and minimize liabilities.

Originality/value

The study adds to the limited research delving into inter-firm relationships between servitized manufacturers and external service providers. It empirically demonstrates the economic effects of service providers’ dependence-based embeddedness, challenging the general assumption about a monotonic positive effect of relational embeddedness.
Do CEO characteristics explain firm performance in India?
Authors: Kaur Rupinder , Singh Balwinder
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The center of concern of this empirical paper is the connection between chief executive officer (CEO) characteristics and firm performance. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper inquires into the hypothesis on the relationship between CEO characteristics (demographic and professional) and accounting measures of firm value. The study is based on second-hand information comprising of Nifty 500 firms for a period of five years ranging from 2012 to 2016. Panel regressions are run on the final sample composed of 1,535 observations to test the hypothesized relationship.

Findings

The stated findings specify that long-tenured CEOs and firms led by female CEOs are negatively related to firm performance. Moreover, the authors find that the greater the CEO share ownership, higher the firm performance stands. Further, duality and foreign CEOs make a significant contribution when firm value is based on ROA. Results also show that CEO outside directorships have a noteworthy positive relationship with ROE.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are limited to non-financial listed companies of the index. Future research can also experiment with financial and unlisted companies to have a different perspective.

Practical implications

The study may provide worthwhile insights to shareholders as they largely seek to hire the most capable CEOs with the relevant combination of skills to achieve shareholders’ goals and improve the Indian competitive power in the global market.

Originality/value

This paper provides a comprehensive picture by inculcating different CEO traits especially in a progressing nation like India with a unique set of economic, political and cultural environment.
How does dysfunctional customer behavior affect employee turnover
Authors: Gong Taeshik , Wang Chen-Ya
Published: September 2019

Purpose

Dysfunctional customer behavior is believed to engender employee stress and, in turn, fuel employee turnover. However, little research has examined the moderating role of individual-level and contextual-level resource variables. The purpose of this paper is to fill these gaps by examining employee embeddedness and individualism–collectivism as putative moderators of the hypothesized mediation chain.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a field study involving 264 service employees working in two hotels operated by the same international hotel chain, one in South Korea (n=138) and the other in the UK (n=126).

Findings

Results show that employee embeddedness weakens the impact of dysfunctional customer behavior on employee turnover via employee stress. In addition, findings suggest that collectivists (individualists) are more (less) likely to be receptive to embeddedness cues.

Originality/value

This is the first known study to show that employee embeddedness can mitigate the impact of dysfunctional customer behavior on turnover via employee stress. This moderated-mediation model is further moderated by employees’ cultural value orientation (individualism–collectivism). Prior literature is not explicit on these complex models.
What to say on social media and how
Authors: Wu Jintao , Chen Junsong , Chen Honghui , Dou Wenyu , Shao Dan
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how nonprofit service providers can better engage their customers through online communication. It identifies two communication styles and three communication functions, and examines their impact on customer commenting, customer liking and customer sharing.

Design/methodology/approach

Similar to Python for Facebook, a software package for the automatic retrieval of web page content was developed specifically for this study to extract data from the microblog Sina Weibo. Following the successful retrieval of 1,500 randomly selected messages from 34 universities in China, a two-level regression was performed using Mplus 7 to examine the association between the proposed relationships.

Findings

The findings reveal that messages with a friendly communication style increase both the number of comments and their positive tone; an authoritative style has no effect on customer engagement. The functions associated with message content (spreading information, building community or promoting action) influence customer liking and sharing. Building community tends to engage more customers than spreading information; promoting action often generates the least customer engagement in social media settings.

Originality/value

The study fills an important research gap in the service marketing literature as it pertains to nonprofit service organizations (i.e. universities) by identifying two types of online identities based on the communication style and the messages posted on social media. This study is the first to investigate the relationship between identity type and audience engagement, and to analyze the moderating factors of this relationship.
Linking knowledge management practices to organizational performance using the balanced scorecard approach
Authors: Chopra Meenu , Gupta Vikas
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop a decomposed model to inspect the effect of knowledge management practices (knowledge sharing culture [KSC], knowledge-based human resource management [KHRM], strategy and leadership [S&L], information and communication technology [ICT] on organizational performance [OP]) by using the four balanced scorecard outcomes (BSC) (learning and growth [L&G], internal process [IP] perspective, customer satisfaction [CS] perspective and financial performance [FP]).

Design/methodology/approach

The research methodology included development of a research model based on comprehensive literature review followed by survey of knowledge-intensive organizations. A sample of 277 employees was obtained and structured equation modeling analysis using SPSS AMOS was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

The study shows that KSC and KHRM have a highly significant effect on all the four aspects of OP; S&L positively and significantly affects only L&G and IP but does not have any significant effect on the other two, i.e. CS and FP, while ICT practices did not affect any of the measures significantly.

Research limitations/implications

The data are limited to 277 middle and senior level managers of Indian firms, which may be a limiting factor for generalizability.

Originality/value

The proposed model uncovers the dynamics of individual relationships between KM practices and measures of performance (proposed by BSC) in comparison to existing models which have mainly focused on the overall effect.
Leadership style as a predictor of employee commitment in university libraries in South-West, Nigeria
Authors: Mayowa-Adebara Okeoghene , Opeke Rosaline Oluremi
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of leadership style (LS) on employee commitment (EC) in university libraries in South-West, Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a survey research design. The population of the study consisted of 684 librarians from 43 universities in the six states of South-West, Nigeria. A validated questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Findings

Findings showed that the level of EC in university libraries in South-West, Nigeria was fairly high (M=2.64 on a four-point scale). LS had a significant influence on EC in university libraries in South-West, Nigeria (β=0.245, R2=0.276, p<0.05). However, transformational LS (β=0.383, p<0.05) relatively contributed more to EC than transactional LS (β=0.183, p<0.05).

Research limitations/implications

A limitation of the study was that the study was done in all the university libraries in South-Western region of Nigeria which may affect the inference of the study results to other university libraries outside this region.

Practical implications

The findings of the study will be of benefit to academic institutions, library management and librarians on planning and decision making regarding personnel management.

Originality/value

The study therefore recommends that administrators, library managers should adopt transformational LS.
Embedded: a systems librarian’s experience in Afghanistan
Authors: Kovalcik Justin D.
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the experience of a systems librarian deployed to Afghanistan as an academic advisor from the US Military Academy, West Point. While discussing tasks and challenges faced, the author provides accounts of events that shaped and strengthened professional lessons learned as the first library academic advisor to the National Military Academy of Afghanistan (NMAA). The focus of the paper emphasizes the importance of listening, collaborating, leadership, immersion and integration of disparate teams into a cohesive unit.

Design/methodology/approach

Utilizing summaries of daily events taken during a six-month deployment along with relevant research on library’s in developing countries and embedded librarianship, this paper provides an overview of the projects, challenges and relationships necessary to become successfully embedded.

Findings

Integration into various aspects of NMAA and the advisor team leads to successful project outcomes and greater relevance of the library in the academy.

Practical implications

Administrators and librarians will be able to review the experience and professional lessons learned of an embedded librarian into a foreign environment and team.

Originality/value

In addition to providing unique perspectives involving embedded librarianship, this paper addresses topics of leadership, team cohesion and influence.
Investigating firm heterogeneity in country-of-origin cluster location choice decisions
Authors: Puig Francisco , Madhok Anoop , Shen Zhi
Published: September 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to analyse which firm-level characteristics drive their location decisions when investing in a foreign country. Focusing on origin clusters, the authors will study the potential influence of the home country context and, in particular, the impact of firm-level factors, both investor- and investment-related, underlying heterogeneity in their location choice decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical analysis draws on data gathered from mainland Chinese MNEs that have invested in Germany between 2005 and 2013 (269 firms). The authors chose a single host (Germany) and a single home (China) country for their representativeness and for methodological reasons to control for country effects. The authors used a multinomial logit model to assess the effects of the independent variables on the probability that each of the three location possibilities would be selected.

Findings

The results suggest that investors preferring co-location in origin clusters have distinct structural and strategic characteristics. From a more structural point of view, Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) undertaken by smaller firms and those without prior experience in the EU prefer an area where there are other Chinese investors. From a more strategic perspective, these FDI flows are more likely to tap into industry agglomerations when the investors’ objective is strategic asset seeking, and they have less knowledge-intensive investments.

Practical implications

The findings may be of great practical value to practitioners and policymakers. Knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of the types of agglomeration networks can help managers to balance the rewards and risks in their decision-making and to select a suitable development path for their FDIs. For policymakers, an understanding of the structure and formation of different groups of firms in one location and the characteristics of investors who may enter the location can help them to improve their regulatory work and to develop policies to attract investments, thereby enhancing local economic development and community stability.

Originality/value

The research shifts the emphasis of the location choice decision beyond justwhereto locate towardwith whomto collocate. It also contributes to the growing research on emerging market multinationals by providing further insight into understanding of FDI location behavior by firms from emerging economies.
Policewomen of color: a state-of-the-art review
Authors: Todak Natalie , Brown Katharine
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to offer a state-of-the-art review of the research on women of color in American policing. Directions for future research are also highlighted.

Design/methodology/approach

Using several online databases, a literature search was performed to collect all relevant empirical studies on the topic. The review includes only studies that examined research questions about minority women officers in their own right.

Findings

The review identified 12 studies focused on recruitment, hiring, retention and the on-the-job experiences of this population. Most studies focused on black policewomen. All data analyzed in these studies are at least 20 years old.

Originality/value

Research on minorities in policing tends to concentrate on either black men or white women. For decades, scholars have called for more research on policewomen of color, yet little progress has been made. The current study takes stock of the existing research and provides a much-needed agenda to fill this research gap.
Quest for quality
Authors: Trivedi Dharmendra , Bhatt Atul
Published: September 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the expectation and perception of the users of a library of reputed special academic institute in India on quality of library services. The paper is an effort to identify a service gap within five SERVQUAL dimensions rated by the library users.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted through a survey methodology. The survey was implemented through a questionnaire based on five SERVQUAL dimensions. The data were collected by using 22 attributes of SERVQUAL for user expectations and perceptions of special academic institute library, and the gap score between expectation and perception of users was calculated. Based on the expectation mean score and gap score of each attributes, the researchers have identified the service shortfall in five SERVQUAL dimensions.

Findings

The result of the study indicates that there is an overall service quality (SQ) gap in services provided by institute library. However, the library is providing relatively satisfactory services to the faculty, but it needs to enhance up to the expectation level of its services to their registered participants. From the study, the average expectation score is very high and it indicates that users expect more from the institute library, particularly in Reliability and Tangibles dimensions. Out of the total 22 SERVQUAL attributes, the result reflects that 10 SERVQUAL attributes have high expectation and high service gap.

Originality/value

This paper will assist libraries to improve their library services, particularly in special academic training libraries. Determining SQ has been originated from marketing discipline that has progressively shown its value in the discipline of library and information science profession. This study contributes to the emergent body associated with SQ measures in libraries. Expectation-service gap chart and expectation-service gap grid are the major contribution and rarely found in SERVQUAL literature.
Media reports of abuse in adult residential care: implications for staff and practice
Authors: Pedley Yvonne , McDonald Paul
Published: September 2019

Purpose

There is often a focus on the negative aspects of residential care for older people. In the UK, there has been increasing media attention on abuse in these and other care settings and this has impacted upon public perceptions and subsequent government policy. Consequently, care staff are “tarred with the same brush”, yet narratives of their views have rarely been investigated. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This undergraduate, qualitative, single-case study aimed to investigate the views of staff and explore the implications for them and their practice. The views of 15 participants in a residential care home were obtained through interviews and a focus group.

Findings

Although the findings reveal sensitivities to the negative portrayal of care roles, they also reveal positive responses through a willingness to change practice, a strengthening of care values and a reduction in risks.

Originality/value

This study will be of interest to those multi-disciplinary residential teams who care for older people as it uncovers a striking sense of guardianship amongst residential care staff, and a willingness to reflect on, and change, practice. The study endorses the value of small practitioner-led research as an illustration of how a residential care team consisting of managers and staff can strengthen its resolve against adverse media coverage and negative public perceptions. This study suggests that this will have positive implications for the health and safety of older people living in residential settings.
Food and habitat provisions jointly determine competitive and facilitative interactions among distantly related herbivores
Authors: Pan Duofeng , Li Xincheng , De Kejia , Wang Ling , Wang Deli , Guo Qinfeng , Gao Chao , Zhong Zhiwei , Zhu Hui , Shen Zhongbao , Seastedt Timothy R.
Published: September 2019

Interactions between distantly related herbivores exert powerful influences on ecosystems, but most studies to date have only considered unidirectional effects. Few have simultaneously examined the mutual effects that vertebrate herbivores and insect herbivores have on one another.

We conducted a set of manipulative experiments to evaluate the potential competition and facilitation between two pairs of distantly related herbivore taxa: an insect caterpillar (Gynaephora alpherakii) and two large vertebrate herbivores, yak (Bos grunniens) and Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries tibetica).

We found that these large herbivores consistently increased the density of caterpillars likely by improving the habitat for caterpillars. The caterpillars, in turn, decreased yak but increased Tibetan sheep foraging time and intake bites by differently changing available food resources of the two large herbivores. Diet preferences of herbivores modified the habitat and food resources, thereby causing a diet‐mediated competition between yak and caterpillars, and facilitation between sheep and caterpillars. The vertebrate herbivores non‐feeding upon Lamiophlomis rotata and Gentiana straminea, the caterpillars preferred habitat, increased densities of the two plant species, thus favouring the caterpillars. In turn, the caterpillar preference for Kobresia pygmaea significantly reduced food resources for yak, while promoting food resources (multiple forbs) for sheep.

Synthesis. Our study indicates that two different mechanisms (the changes in habitat and food availability) induced by herbivore foraging jointly determine competitive and facilitative interactions between distantly related herbivore species. We also suggest that examining the bi‐directional effects between herbivores offers a better understanding of competition and facilitation in terrestrial animal communities.