bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On Conclusions
Authors: Lederach John Paul
Published: April 2005

This chapter argues that if we are to survive as a global community, we must understand the imperative nature of giving birth and space to the moral imagination in human affairs. We must face the fact that much of our current system for responding to deadly local and international conflict is incapable of overcoming cycles of violent patterns precisely because our imagination has been corraled and shackled by the very parameters and sources that create and perpetrate violence. The stories in this book recount ways that people in the worst of conditions spawned precisely that kind of imagination. Four pathways to assist its birth, and the significant implications of these pathways for peacebuilding and for the conducting of human affairs in general are discussed.
Form
Authors: Moevs Christian
Published: April 2005

This chapter seeks to recover the medieval understanding of the fundamental relations that link the human mind, the world, and God, relations that make the pilgrim's journey possible. The first section engages Aristotle's penetrating analysis of the metaphysical notion of form and its relation to mind — an analysis that provides the philosophical foundation for medieval reflections on how human intelligence can transcend space and time, in both the Neoplatonic tradition and the late-medieval Aristotelian revival. The second section traces the Neoplatonic (and Christianized) heritage of Aristotle's analysis in a few essential features, focusing on the relation, and ascent, of the human mind to its “source”. The third section traces this inherited philosophical understanding in Dante as the framework for the Comedy's salvific mission and poetics, which is relevant in the last subsection of the chapter, and in the remaining chapters of the book.
Moral Rules
Authors: Gert Bernard
Published: April 2005

This chapter provides the defining conditions of moral rules, including their formal features such as their universality and generality, and their content, which is prohibiting causing harm. It examines commonly offered but inadequate definitions such as the religious definition, societal definition, and utilitarian definition. It discusses the attitude that rational persons take toward the moral rules.
Justifying the Moral Rules
Authors: Gert Bernard
Published: April 2005

This chapter argues that the moral rules: do not deceive, keep your promises, do not cheat, obey the law, and do your duty, are justified moral rules. It provides analyses of deception, promises, cheating, law, and duties. After showing the importance of fallibility, it points out some problems with rule consequentialism.
Moral Ideals
Authors: Gert Bernard
Published: April 2005

This chapter distinguishes moral ideals from utilitarian ideals, religious ideals, and personal ideals. It examines the concept of the summum bonum, and its relationship to happiness and the virtues. It discusses the psychological concepts of compassion, love, jealousy, and envy.
Moral Judgments
Authors: Gert Bernard
Published: April 2005

This chapter examines several linguistic theories of moral judgments, and shows that none of them is able to distinguish between moral judgments and non-moral judgments. It uses the distinction between moral standards and responsibility standards to clarify the difference between praise and condemnation, which are related to the former, and blame and credit, which are related to the latter. It shows that the phrases, morally good, morally bad, morally right, morally wrong, and morally ought are not redundant, and differ in meaning from good, bad, right, wrong, and ought.
Morality and Society
Authors: Gert Bernard
Published: April 2005

This chapter shows that even though the same moral system applies to individuals and governments, governments may be justified in violating a moral rule in a situation where an individual would not be justified in violating the same rule. An examination of theories of justice shows that there is sometimes no unique correct answer to a pressing social problem such as designing a just health care delivery system. Recognizing that morality is an informal public system does not always provide a unique correct answer that provides strong moral support for democracy over other forms of government.
RESPONSES TO CHANGE: THE LAITY AND THE CHURCH
Authors: HEAL FELICITY
Published: April 2005

This completes the trilogy on the years of rapid religious change in England. The lay adherence to traditional religion is considered, followed by investigation of the circumstances in which new ideas were appropriated. Reformers, lay and clerical, English and Scottish are discussed.
THEOLOGY AND WORSHIP
Authors: HEAL FELICITY
Published: April 2005

This chapter analyses the main currents of doctrinal change in England and Scotland. It investigates the confessions of faith, the evolution of English forms of Protestantism and the possibility of a Calvinist consensus in the late years of the century.
Strategy and Economic Organization in the Knowledge Economy
Authors: Foss Nicolai J.
Published: April 2005

The emergence of the knowledge economy has led to a proliferation of theorizing on the nature of firm strategy and organization in such an economy. However, much of this originated very recently, most within the last 10 years. Thus, theoretical foundations may require modifications. A brief overview of the chapters in this volume is presented.
The ‘Strategic Theory of the Firm’
Authors: Foss Nicolai J.
Published: April 2005

Strategy research is increasingly influenced by economic theories of the firm, particularly modern organizational economics (OE) and a host of currents classified as ‘knowledge-based view of the firm’ (KBV). There is a tendency in strategy research to draw on only one of these two approaches: ‘isolationism’ and ‘integrationism’. Isolationism implies that the strategic theory of the firm should be found in either the KBV or on OE. Integrationism implies that research on the strategic theory of the firm should be based on ideas from both OE and KBV. An argument in favour of integrationism is presented.
Introduction
Authors: Davies Michael
Published: April 2005

Highlights the critical approach taken in ‘graceful reading’, in revising our understanding of Bunyan’s Calvinist theology and in pursuing a reader-response approach to his writings, especially in relation to Stanley Fish’s work. The study also identifies similarities between postmodernist fictive strategies, as discussed by Brian McHale and Bunyan’s narrative style.
First Among Sequels: John Bunyan's Other Allegories
Authors: Davies Michael
Published: April 2005

Like Thomas Sherman’s Part 2, which rewrites The Pilgrim’s Progress to rid it of romantic ‘froth’, Bunyan’s Badman and The Holy War too could in no way be mistaken as mere ‘romances’. Despite being less critically acclaimed and less popular than The Pilgrim’s Progress, Badman and The Holy War are much more accomplished theological narratives. The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part II presents Bunyan’s ideal readers of The Pilgrim’s Progress and demonstrates that Bunyan’s theological and doctrinal beliefs did not mellow between the publication of The Pilgrim’s Progress and his Part II.
Postscript: The Legacy of The Pilgrim's Progress
Authors: Davies Michael
Published: April 2005

The enduring success of Bunyan’s allegory has been upheld largely by re-inscribing it as a universally religious or moralistic book rather than one that deals strictly with Bunyan’s Calvinist theology of grace, as in the anonymous Part 3 of The Pilgrim’s Progress or Alcott’s Little Women. Only by returning Bunyan’s theology to the text, in ways often avoided by Bunyan’s literary commentators, can The Pilgrim’s Progress be recognized as a work holding more radical, nonconformist literary implications.
Increasing Wage Inequality
Authors: Knight John , Song Lina
Published: April 2005

This chapter examines wage inequality in urban China. Increased wage discrimination against women and minorities was observed in favour of Communist Party members. The market forces operating in the growing private sector and the relative immunity of the state sector from those forces increased wage segmentation among types of ownership. Provincial differences in the pace of reform and economic growth created spatial segmentation in wages that could not be removed by the equilibrating movement of labour.
4 White‐Hot Piety: The Early Methodist Laypeople
Authors: Hindmarsh D. Bruce
Published: April 2005

Typically, the early Methodist laity turned not to journals to give voice to their experience, but to oral testimony in band meetings or to familiar letters written to the very Methodist preachers whose message had first awakened and converted them. These lay narratives of conversion were written ‘white hot’ in the heat of experience and forged into evangelical shape largely under the oversight of their Methodist pastors. A collection of lay narratives in manuscript at the John Rylands Library, Manchester, addressed for the most part to Charles Wesley, provides superb evidence of the character and formation of early Methodist autobiographical culture and includes a number of examples from women and men with a range of educational backgrounds. These narratives illustrate the charismatic nature of the early revival when early Methodists seemed to walk in a cloud of wonders, and lived very much on the cusp of religious emotion at a time when so much about evangelical experience seemed novel. The experience of these converts was narrated with less structure than, for example, some of the later narratives of the lay preachers and illustrate the bringing of inchoate religious experience into an orderly narrative form through a process of individuation and mimesis.
9 The Seventeenth Century Reprised: Conversion Narrative and the Gathered Church
Authors: Hindmarsh D. Bruce
Published: April 2005

Examines the narratives of evangelical Dissenters in the eighteenth century, whose experience looked back to the Commonwealth sects of the seventeenth century while still resembling in other respects the experience of evangelical conversion among their contemporaries in other churches. This is illustrated in the cases of Anne Dutton and John Ryland, Jun., who, being raised within the high Calvinist milieu of particular Baptist churches, experienced conversion as adolescents as part of their spiritual formation. Schooled in the ways of conversion from childhood, both Ryland and Dutton learned the grammar of conversion before ever they experienced it for themselves. Their conversion experiences therefore represented an act of affirmation, or a rite of passage, more than a protest against social custom or filial piety. Conversion narrative proved to be one of the most potent means of passing the piety of one generation on to another.
8 ‘President Persson’—How Did Sweden Get Him?
Authors: Aylott Nicholas
Published: April 2005

Sweden is undoubtedly a parliamentary democracy. Indeed, many felt that the legislature had become too strong, and the executive too weak. But recently, this argument has been turned round. The Social Democratic Prime Minister, Göran Persson, has frequently been described as a ‘presidential’ figure. Has Sweden become presidentialized?

Organizational changes, including the empowerment of the Prime Minister's Office and the country's accession to the EU in 1994, have certainly enhanced the chief executive's resources. Just as important, though, has been the interaction of the Swedish style of ‘negative parliamentarism’ and the contemporary party system. While the Left bloc has a parliamentary majority, the practical consequence is to make any alternative to a Social Democratic prime minister highly unlikely. With full control of his party, his position becomes nearly impregnable. Other ministers are increasingly recruited from outside parliament, as in a presidential system. When it comes to the electoral face, the picture is less clear. The media are certainly more party-leader-focused. But persuasive evidence that this also applies to voting behaviour has not (yet) been found. In sum, Sweden has become somewhat ‘presidentialized’. But electoral shifts, especially if they lead to change in the party system, could set the process back.
God in Se and quoad Nos
Authors: Helm Paul
Published: April 2005

An exposition of Calvin's distinction between God as he is in himself and as he is toward us is offered. His view is compared to that of Aquinas and is found to be very similar. The importance of the distinction for Calvin's anti-speculative approach to theology is demonstrated.
Free Will
Authors: Helm Paul
Published: April 2005

For Calvin there are 'two issues', the fallenness of humanity and God's providence over all, which must be kept separate in our thinking. Using his The Bondage and Liberation of the Will, this Chapter shows for Calvin how the Fall results in the loss of free will in the sense that mankind is no longer able to choose the good. But his ability to choose between alternatives in 'earthly things' is unimpaired. How far the 'two issues' can be kept separate is considered, and the deterministic implications of Calvin's general approach are considered further.
The Angels
Authors: Helm Paul
Published: April 2005

Rather surprisingly, Calvin's consideration of angels provides a window into his attitude to divine and human righteousness, divine power, human merit, and the Fall. It reveals his indebtedness to mediaeval discussions of angels, and also the originality of aspects of his treatment. The Chapter considers these topics chiefly by the use of material from Calvin's monumental Sermons on Job.
The Power Dialectic
Authors: Helm Paul
Published: April 2005

Develops the theme of divine power raised in the previous chapter. Is God for Calvin a tyrant, a God of pure will? In the light of a consideration of the mediaeval 'power dialectic between God's 'absolute' and ordained' power, it is shown how Calvin upholds the essence of this distinction but deplores separating God's power from his righteousness. There is a discussion of the relation between the will of God and the atonement of Christ, and of the extent to which it is reasonable to think that Calvin was a 'Scotist'.
Deviance
Authors: Enç Berent
Published: April 2005

Deals with the problem that a causal theory of action must be able to distinguish, in purely causal terms, between ‘deviant’ and ‘normal’ causal pathways. The objection goes as follows: there are clear intuitions that guide us in judging whether a behavioural output is an action or not. Since these intuitions cannot be explained in causal terms, they must be based on some non-causal conception of action. Hence, even if a causal account of action were true, it needs to be supplemented by something else. This chapter reviews the vast literature on this problem and offers a general and original solution to it.
Introduction
Authors: Klosko George
Published: April 2005

Reviews the basic features of a theory of political obligation on the basis of the principle of fairness, discusses the criteria a successful theory of obligation should satisfy, and explores the claim that most people believe that they have political obligations.
Introduction: Democratic Accountability in Latin America
Authors: Mainwaring Scott
Published: April 2005

This introductory chapter begins with a discussion on the challenges of democratic accountability in Latin America. It then presents the three main themes that run throughout the book. These are the controversies about the definition of accountability, the relationship between electoral accountability and mechanisms of control and oversight of public agencies, and the shortcomings and advances of non-electoral forms of accountability in contemporary Latin America.
Horizontal Accountability: Concepts and Conflicts
Authors: Kenney Charles D.
Published: April 2005

This chapter explores the concept of horizontal accountability in Latin America. It presents a definition of horizontal accountability in which the agents of accountability are limited to those within the state, and in which the scope of accountability is limited to actions or omissions that are unlawful. It argues that the democratic legitimacy achieved by undemocratic leaders such as Fujimori in Peru and Chavez in Venezuela lies in their massive public support which constitutes a democratic trump of their more republic opposition. Those who raise the republican banner of horizontal accountability have themselves lost even the republic bases for legitimacy.
Horizontal Accountability and the Rule of Law in Central America
Authors: Dodson Michael , Jackson Donald W.
Published: April 2005

This chapter examines the efficacy of justice reform in creating effective mechanisms of horizontal accountability in El Salvador and Guatemala. There is little evidence to suggest that reforms have instilled in judges, prosecutors and the police a commitment to horizontal accountability. Moreover, the public remains skeptical about the impact of reform in promoting horizontal accountability.
Pleonastic Propositions
Authors: Schiffer Stephen
Published: April 2005

Pleonastic entities are entities whose existence is secured by something-from-nothing transformations, these being conceptually valid inferences that take one from a statement in which no reference is made to a thing of a certain kind to a statement—often a pleonastic equivalent of the first statement—in which there is a reference to a thing of that kind. The possibility of pleonastic entities is further explained in terms of the notion of one theory being a conservative extension of another. Propositions are pleonastic entities, and the way in which they are individuated shows how pleonastic propositions are both fine-grained and unstructured.
Overview
Authors: Cullity Garrett
Published: April 2005

The final chapter explains the relationship between the two parts of the book: it explains how Part II has refuted the iterative argument for the Extreme Demand in Part I. It also explains the qualified nature of the conclusion that has been reached: it is a conclusion about the requirements of beneficence, not justice; and it is not the conclusion that morality can never demand extreme personal sacrifices. The implications for direct life-saving action are discussed, and the main strengths of the book’s argument are surveyed.
Searching For Truth
Authors: Lloyd Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

Both the ancient Greeks and the ancient Chinese used a variety of terms to distinguish between truth and falsehood in different contexts. While one tradition of Western epistemology, derived from the Greeks, presents correspondence and consistency as mutually exclusive and exhaustive alternatives, this study argues that it is a mistake to accept them as such, and indeed that it is a mistake to attempt a global theory of truth. It is important to allow for the fact that warranting and verification take different forms in different subject areas, such as law, history, and mathematics.
Understanding Ancient Societies
Authors: Lloyd Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

How far is it possible to arrive at an adequate understanding of ancient societies? In contrast to those who have invoked the notion of 'incommensurability' in order to cast doubt on whether proper understanding is possible, this study argues that the problems do not differ in any radical way from those presented by attempts to understand our own contemporaries although we must allow for the bias and lacunae in our sources and be particularly careful to avoid anachronism and teleology. However, to invoke an unqualified principle of charity in interpretation (such as is proposed by Quine and Davidson) runs into difficulties in doing justice to the possibility of deliberate deception and does not pay enough attention to how we may adapt our own conceptual framework as we learn about others' viewpoints.
Corporeality and Concealment
Authors: Cooper Adam G.
Published: April 2005

How do we come to know God? What is the structure of divine revelation? Indebted to the Origenian hermeneutical tradition, Maximus regards creation, history, Scripture and Christ as integral and irreducible economies of a two-way, progressive engagement between God and humanity. Revelation is a symbolic pedagogy entailing the penetration of material symbols towards union with their subject.
Corporeality and the Christian
Authors: Cooper Adam G.
Published: April 2005

Deification manifests itself in the Christian life under the veil of suffering, mortification of the flesh, and death. The restoration of the divine image in baptism leads via the life of ascesis, in which Christ is incarnate in the virtues, towards a supernatural mode of existence, culminating in the gracious attainment of the divine likeness and the cessation of natural human activity.
A Growth Collapse with Diffuse Resources: Ghana
Authors: Osei Robert.
Published: April 2005

This chapter examines the growth collapse in Ghana. The country’s development trajectory followed that of staple strap model of resource-abundant countries. The model predicts that in the absence of either a developmental autonomous benevolent state or a consensual democracy, a resource-dependent country will drift towards an inward looking trade policy and dependence on a weakening primary sector; an external shock to such an economy is likely to cause a growth collapse. Policy failure was the main cause of Ghana’s growth collapse.
Chapter 2 INTENTION AND THE CREATION OF ART
Authors: Livingston Paisley
Published: April 2005

An examination of the functions of intention in the making of art begins with the contrast between inspirationist and rationalist perspectives on artistic creativity. As an alternative, Livingston emphasizes the blending of spontaneous and deliberate, planned and unintentional moments in the creative process. Intentions are necessary to art-making and are linked to the assumption that a work of art is always evaluable in terms of one kind of potential artistic value—artistry or virtuosity. Intentions are linked to artists’ projects, to the distinction between complete and incomplete works of art, as well as to the several senses of ‘fragment’ in critical discourse.
Chapter 4 INTENTIONS AND OEUVRES
Authors: Livingston Paisley
Published: April 2005

People often take an interest in more than one work by a single artist or author. In so doing, they discover that individual works of art created by a single artist (or group of collaborating artists) stand in various relations to other works produced by the same person (or persons). Some of these relations are intended by the artist, others are not, and this difference makes a difference to our appreciation of the artist’s achievement. With reference to examples including Karen Blixen, Virginia Woolf, Mishima Yukio, and Ingmar Bergman, Livingston outlines an actualist, genetic perspective on work/life-work relations, with an emphasis on the role of intentions and plans in the life of the temporally situated artist.
Spatial Inequality and Development
Authors: Kanbur Ravi , Venables Anthony J.
Published: April 2005

What exactly is spatial inequality? Why does it matter? And what should be the policy response to it? These questions have become important in recent years as the spatial dimensions of inequality have begun to attract considerable policy interest. In China, Russia, India, Mexico, and South Africa, as well as most other developing and transition economies, spatial and regional inequality—of economic activity, incomes, and social indicators—is on the increase.

Spatial inequality is a dimension of overall inequality, but it has added significance when spatial and regional divisions align with political and ethnic tensions to undermine social and political stability. Also important in the policy debate is a perceived sense that increasing internal spatial inequality is related to greater openness of economies, and to globalization in general.

Despite these important concerns, there is remarkably little systematic documentation of what has happened to spatial and regional inequality over the last 20 years. Correspondingly, there is insufficient understanding of the determinants of internal spatial inequality. This volume attempts to answer the questions posed above, drawing on data from 25 countries from all regions of the world. They bring together perspectives and expertise in development economics and in economic geography and form a well-researched introduction to an area of growing analytical and policy importance.
Are Neighbours Equal? Estimating Local Inequality in Three Developing Countries
Authors: Kanbur Ravi , Venables Anthony J.
Published: April 2005

Based on a statistical procedure that combines household survey data with population census data, this chapter presents estimates of inequality for three developing countries at a level of disaggregation far below that allowed by household surveys alone. The authors show that while the share of within-community inequality in overall inequality is high, this does not necessarily imply that all communities in a given country are as unequal as the country as a whole. In fact, in all three countries there is considerable variation in inequality across communities. The authors also show that economic inequality is strongly correlated with geography, even after controlling for basic demographic and economic conditions.
Scepticism in Contemporary Debate
Authors: Pritchard Duncan
Published: April 2005

I examine one key way in which the problem of radical scepticism is motivated via an appeal to an infallibility thesis—as expressed, for example, in the work of Peter Unger—and highlight how this construal of the sceptical problem presupposes a certain view about epistemic luck. Furthermore, I explore the manner in which an infallibilism-based scepticism gives rise to the kind of template-sceptical argument that is the focus of much of the contemporary discussion of scepticism and which turns on the ‘closure’ principle that knowledge is ‘closed’ under known entailments.
Public attitudes towards genetically‐modified food
Authors: Miles Susan , Ueland Øydis , Frewer Lynn J.
Published: April 2005

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the impact of information about traceability and new detection methods for identifying genetically‐modified organisms in food, on consumer attitudes towards genetically‐modified food and consumer trust in regulators in Italy, Norway and England. It further aimed to investigate public preferences for labelling of genetically‐modified foods in these three countries.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire was designed to investigate public attitudes toward genetically‐modified food and trust in different information sources. Participants were recruited in Italy, Norway and England for this study. A between subjects design was used, where each participant was randomly allocated to either the experimental “information condition”, or the control “no information condition”.

Findings

Receiving information about new detection methods and traceability did not directly influence consumer attitudes towards genetically‐modified foods or trust in regulators. However, response to the development of an effective system of traceability for genetically‐modified food and ingredients throughout the food chain was positive. People's preferences for labelling of genetically‐modified food were “process‐based”, in that there was a desire for all food produced using genetic modification or containing genetically‐modified ingredients to be labelled.

Originality/value

An open and transparent system of labelling regarding genetically‐modified foods and ingredients, coupled with effective traceability mechanisms, is likely to provide the best basis for consumer choice regarding the consumption of genetically‐modified foods. This information will be useful for both national and international regulators, and the various sectors of the food industry. The study provides useful information about likely public reaction to new EU labelling and traceability regulations.
Employee‐centred management in a call centre
Authors: Halliden Bill , Monks Kathy
Published: April 2005

Purpose

This paper presents the findings of research undertaken in a customer contact centre in Ireland in which a series of measures were introduced to implement employee‐centred work practices. The paper examines the processes by which the measures were undertaken and considers the changes to performance that were attributed to the involvement initiatives.

Design/methodology/approach

An action research approach was utilised in studying the problem and a variety of measures were utilised to identify alterations in employee perceptions and employee performance over the period of the introduction of the changes.

Findings

The results of the interventions within the call centre indicated improvements in employee perceptions of their work situation as measured by the dimensions of the survey instrument. In addition, performance also improved during this time. However, while the thrust behind the change initiatives was one of involvement, at the same time decisions about which issues were open to an involvement process were made by management and there were indications of a dualist approach in the introduction of the employee‐centred initiatives.

Research limitations/implications

The research was confined to one organisation which limits the extent to which the findings are generalisable.

Practical implications

Provides insights into the range of approaches to involvement that might be utilised within a call centre.

Originality/value

The paper considers an array of techniques which are now being used to manage employees within a call centre environment.
Local house price developments and housing supply
Authors: De Vries Paul , Boelhouwer Peter
Published: April 2005

Purpose

In this paper, we identify the relationship between (local) housing supply and (local) house price developments, especially in The Netherlands.

Design/methodology/approach

We measure the influence of new building on house prices by comparing areas designated for concentrated new building (main Dutch cities) with areas where no large housing projects are developed. On the basis of classical economic theory, if the housing market is functioning as it should, then supply will soon respond to a shock in demand and restore stability in house prices.

Findings

For the main Dutch cities, we found that an increase in supply triggers a fall in prices. In other areas the correlation coefficients are more or less zero, which can lead us to conclude that the expansion of the housing stock is market‐compliant.

Research limitations/implications

The housing market is not functioning, as it should: new supplies depend on the complex decisions of the suppliers, thus making it difficult to express statistically the causality between the house price developments and the new supplies.

Practical implications

Most studies suggest that macro data are unable to measure the true dependency between the house prices and the new building and claim at the same time that micro data sets are incomplete. Also our research was hampered by a shortage of usable data.

Originality/value

New building can push up the value of the surrounding housing because it is associated with a qualitatively better housing stock. We conclude that in regions where new building has been concentrated in designated areas, the relationship between housing production and price development is inverse.
To what extent do enablers explain results in the EFQM excellence model?
Authors: Carlos Bou‐Llusar J. , Escrig‐Tena Ana B. , Roca‐Puig Vicente , Beltrán‐Martín Inmaculada
Published: April 2005

Purpose

To take an in‐depth look at the EFQM Excellence Model by assessing how enabler and result criteria are interrelated, and how enablers as a whole affect the complete set of results.

Design/methodology/approach

Provides new insight and understanding of the associations between the EFQM criteria. Canonical correlation analysis is used to measure the relationships between enablers and results, while accounting for interdependences within those sets of variables. To test the suggested causal relationship, data from a questionnaire survey conducted on 446 companies (manufacturing and service sectors) is used.

Findings

The set of enabler criteria is strongly related to the result criteria set and, with the exception of policy and strategy criteria, all the enablers and result criteria in the EFQM Excellence Model make a significant contribution to this relationship. All the enabler criteria contribute in the same way to result improvements, consequently a balanced approach in the development of enablers allows correlation between enablers and results to be maximised, thereby obtaining an optimal benefit from the EFQM Excellence Model.

Research limitations/implications

The data obtained are based only on sample of Spanish firms. Studies in other countries should be conducted to ensure the reliability of the results obtained. A natural extension of this paper would be to analyse the existence of differences between industries in the EFQM Excellence Model.

Practical implications

A greater understanding of the linkages between the elements making‐up the EFQM model, facilitating the guiding role that award models play in the implantation of TQM systems.

Originality/value

A new perspective for examining the linkages between the EFQM criteria in depth. The study of the relationships between all its elements is taken into account, thereby avoiding testing isolated associations. A holistic approach to studying the relationships in the EFQM Excellence Model.
A new single‐sample failure model and its application to a special CNC system
Authors: Zhou Guangwen , Jia Yazhou , Zhang Haibo , Wang Guiping
Published: April 2005

Purpose

This paper is to present a new failure model that can be applied to single‐sample failure data of a single system under testing.

Design/methodology/approach

The Bayesian method is used for the reliability evaluation. The weighted least squares method is used for determining the parameters of the reliability function.

Findings

The authors have observed the operation of a special computer numerical control (CNC) system for a period of over two years, and maintained a reliability database will all the collected failure data, from which the main source of failures can be identified.

Research limitations/implications

Preliminary research results are very encouraging. However, more work will be necessary to validate the new failure model.

Practical implications

The determination of the parameters of the reliability function of a system under testing helps to identify its failure characteristics and potential quality problems.

Originality/value

It is hoped that the paper can help understand some of the challenges in modeling the failure behavior of special CNC systems.
Work team effectiveness in organizational contexts
Authors: Gil Francisco , Alcover Carlos‐María , Peiró José‐María
Published: April 2005

Purpose

This introductory paper aims to provide a contextualization of recent research and applications on work team effectiveness in organizational contexts carried out in Spain and Portugal and to describe connections between this research and the main trends in the international scene.

Design/methodology/approach

Since the 1990s, new occupational and organizational realities have deepened scientific interest in work teams in both Spain and Portugal. A range of recently published (1992‐2004) works in this area are reviewed. The selected sources are papers published in Spanish, Portuguese and international journals.

Findings

Reviewing this work, four major trends are identified that synthesize the key concerns of researches in both countries: work teams and new information/communication technologies; intra‐ and inter‐group conflicts in organizational contexts; definition, dimensions and measurement criteria for work team effectiveness; and teams in innovation and change processes.

Originality/value

This paper fulfils a panoramic vision of this research area in both Spain and Portugal, and provides an overview of the papers included in this special issue and an outlook for the future.
Types of intragroup conflict and affective reactions
Authors: Medina Francisco J. , Munduate Lourdes , Dorado Miguel A. , Martínez Inés , Guerra José M.
Published: April 2005

Purpose

Seeks to evaluate the link between task and relationship conflict, and their influence on some employees' affective reactions such as satisfaction, wellbeing, and propensity to leave a job; and to analyse the mediated and moderated role of relationship conflict.

Design/methodology/approach

The study involved 169 employees from six service organizations (hotels) in Andalusia (Spain). A questionnaire was used containing different measures: task and relationship conflict, wellbeing, job satisfaction, and propensity to leave the job.

Findings

The two types of conflict have different consequences. Data show that relationship conflict is negatively associated with affective reactions, while task conflict does not relate directly to affective reactions in a predictable way; relationship conflict has a positive influence on the desire to leave the current job, while task conflict does not affect it negatively; the interactive effect of relationships and task conflict shows that this interaction contributes substantially to predict the propensity to leave the current job; and relationship conflict mediates in the link between task conflict and affective reactions.

Research limitations/implications

A high level of task conflict may backfire by boosting relationship conflict as well, thus having a negative effect on affective reactions. Thus some conclusions can be drawn with a view to improving conflict management in teams. First an attempt must be made to understand the type of conflict that is taking place. Second, managers should encourage open discussion of task‐related issues. Third, special attention should be paid to the level of each conflict because of its interactive effects on some affective outcomes. Thus, in spite of the generally beneficial effects associated with task conflict, the intensification of task‐related conflict may backfire when interacting with dysfunctional affective‐dissent.

Originality/value

Serves too analyze the mediated and moderated role of relationship conflict and to test the role of types of conflict on affective reactions such as wellbeing and propensity to leave the job.
Exploring the effects of intragroup conflict and past performance feedback on team effectiveness
Authors: Margarida Passos Ana , Caetano António
Published: April 2005

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test a model of the effects of intragroup conflict (relationship conflict, task conflict and process conflict), past performance feedback and perceptions of team decision‐making effectiveness on team performance and affective responses.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 183 individuals, working in 47 different teams, participated in this study. All the teams were involved in a national management challenge for a five‐week period. Three questionnaires were sent directly to team members by e‐mail at different times of the challenge period to collect data concerning demographic data (questionnaire 1), perceptions of team functioning (questionnaire 2) and perceptions of team decision‐making effectiveness as well as the affective responses (questionnaire 3). The level of analysis in this study was the group. Thus, all individual survey responses were aggregated to the team level for statistical analysis.

Findings

Results showed a full mediation effect of perceptions of team decision in the relationship between process conflict and team performance. Task and relationship conflict showed no significant relationships with team performance and satisfaction with the team. The result that effective past performance feedback directly influences team performance, in a positive way, suggests that past effective decisions may reinforce the decision‐making processes previously used by team members.

Research limitations/implications

One possible limitation of this study is the fact that measurements were taken at different times of the management challenge. In fact, while intragroup conflict was measured two weeks after the beginning of the challenge, the other variables were measured at the end of the challenge. This time measurement difference could raise some questions concerning the stability of the intragroup conflict over time in work teams. Future research should address this hypothesis. Future research should also elucidate the influence of contextual variables, such as cultural values, on the relationship between intragroup conflict and performance outcomes.

Practical implications

This study helps managers to understand how to benefit from conflict. In a highly competitive environment, disagreement among team members about “how to do it” seems to decrease decision‐making effectiveness.

Originality/value

This study fills a gap in the conflict literature concerning the impact of intragroup conflict in the team members' perceptions of decision‐making effectiveness and how it affects the overall performance. Moreover, this study also clarifies the importance of past performance to the actual team outcomes.
Effects of task interdependence and type of communication on performance in virtual teams
Authors: Rico Ramón , Cohen Susan G.
Published: April 2005

Purpose

To investigate the effects of within‐group task interdependence and the degree of communications synchrony on performance in virtual teams (VT).

Design/methodology/approach

A 2 × 2 factorial design of 240 participants in Spain, randomly assigned to 80 three‐person teams, was used. Teams worked virtually (not meeting face‐to‐face), performing a merit‐rating task in a laboratory setting.

Findings

The analyses revealed an interaction effect between task interdependence and synchrony of communication. High values of VT performance were found both under conditions of “low task interdependence” and “asynchrony of communication” and under conditions of “high task interdependence” and “synchrony of communication”. The results show that superior VT performance is contingent on the match between the nature of the task and the choice of communications modality.

Research limitations/implications

First, additional research will be needed to confirm and extend the findings in actual working environments. Second, a closer look is necessary at the different mediation processes employed by teams in situations where there is a better or worse fit between task characteristics and type of communication (e.g. team strategy).

Practical implications

This study makes it clear that it is necessary to optimize and nurture one's investments in communication technologies, and calls for further consideration of the requirements for the design of technological solutions in accordance with task interdependence.

Originality/value

This work complements past research that has focused mainly on virtual teams using asynchronous technologies or comparing them with face‐to‐face teams.
A model of socially responsible buying/sourcing decision‐making processes
Authors: Park Haesun , Stoel Leslie
Published: April 2005

Purpose

Socially responsible buying/sourcing (SRB) has become a critical issue in many companies. The purpose of this study was to build an exploratory model to describe buying/sourcing professionals' SRB decision‐making process.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting business ethics and attitude theories, the SRB process was hypothesized to be a composite of cognitive processing and affective reactions to personal sources of information (e.g. peers). The mail survey data obtained from buying/sourcing professionals in the US apparel/shoe companies were analyzed using a Structural Equation Modeling technique.

Findings

SRB generally followed a cognitive decision framework and was partly influenced by the decision maker's affective reaction to peer buying/sourcing professionals' behaviors. Emotional reaction to top‐management, however, was not significant.

Research limitations/implications

The SRB scale created for this study is focused on the apparel/shoe buying context, which may limit its applicability to other industries. Also, SRB was measured through subjective perceptions of the respondents, which may be subject to some degree of social desirability bias.

Practical implications

The results suggest that changing the organizational environment where employees observe peers and providing standards of what is socially acceptable can improve SRB.

Originality/value

By employing individual decision makers as the unit of analysis, this study advances the field of ethical decision making by providing empirical evidence that SRB decisions are a product of both cognitive processing and emotional responses.
Bricks, clicks, and pix: apparel buyers' use of stores, internet, and catalogs compared
Authors: Goldsmith Ronald E. , Flynn Leisa R.
Published: April 2005

Purpose

To compare and contrast clothing buyers who buy in stores, on the internet, and through catalogs so as to better understand these behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

We surveyed 805 US consumers. They reported attitudes and shopping behaviors. These were compared among those who shopped chiefly in stores, on the internet, and through catalogs.

Findings

Consumers who shopped more and spent more for clothing did so via all three shopping modes. Buying on the internet was more highly related to buying by catalog than it was to store buying. Heavy buyers of clothing by all three shopping modes were more involved with fashion, more fashion innovative, and more innovative regarding online buying than light and medium buyers regardless of the shopping mode. Fashion opinion seeking and reliance on sales associates for information were unrelated to amount of buying for all three shopping modes.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are limited to US consumers and the convenience sample. Other limitations include the specific measures used, and the cross‐sectional survey method prevents us from making causal statements. The effects of other, unmeasured variables could not be assessed. Future studies could avoid these limitations by using data from several countries, representative samples, and additional variables.

Practical implications

Brick and mortar stores have less to fear from the internet than often thought. Catalogs are more likely to lose sales to the internet than are stores. The most profitable apparel companies might be catalogs or physical retailers who add/build web sites, while pure play companies may have a more difficult time achieving profitability. Apparel managers should focus research attention on learning more about the psychology of their buyers. While involvement with clothing leads to buying more via all three shopping modes, it is more important for store buying than buying by catalog or internet. Remote buyers of clothing are less fashion involved. Catalogs and apparel web sites might wish to feature new fashions, but they may be more successful in selling “standard” or normal clothing online than the latest fashions. They might broaden the selection of fabrics and colors to offer buyers more choices in the styles they already like. Clothing innovators shop more frequently via all three modes, but are most strongly drawn to stores.

Originality/value

Little research compares shopping across modes. Because modern clothing retailing involves all three modes, the study provides an unusual picture of this shopping behavior.