bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Strategic alliances’ effects over hospital efficiency and capacity utilization in México
Authors: Giménez Víctor , Prior Diego , Keith Jorge R.
Published: February 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the efficiency implications of belonging to a strategic hospital alliance (SHA) and measuring the effects over capacity utilization of such agreements in a Mexican healthcare context.

Design/methodology/approach

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is the nonparametric methodology used, which supports both objectives. Technological gaps ratios are calculated by using DEA-metafrontier approach to compare efficiency between SHA members and a hospital’s control group. Also, hospital capacity utilization ratios are used as the maximum rate of output possible from fixed inputs in a frontier setting using directional distance functions. Data were collected from an alliance called Consorcio Mexicano de Hospitales in México, which has 29 general private hospitals and a group of 47 hospitals with same characteristics from a database made by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía for year 2014.

Findings

The results indicate that efficiency is better at hospitals that belong to an alliance; it also shows an improvement of installed capacity management for hospital alliances in México.

Originality/value

The results can be useful for both private health organization managers and regulators themselves to adopt management practices that may end up having a favorable impact on cost and prices containment. Additionally, there are no previous studies neither in Mexico nor in Latin America that analyze the impact of strategic hospitality alliances on the efficiency and utilization of the capacity of private hospitals.
A method to encourage and assess innovations in public tenders for infrastructure and construction projects
Authors: Lenderink Bart , Halman Johannes I.M. , Boes Hans , Voordijk Hans
Published: February 2020

Purpose

Stimulating innovation in projects can contribute to achieving policy goals, addressing societal challenges and meeting objectives within programs and projects. Despite their potential, innovations are rarely included in tender assignments and evaluated in the award of civil engineering projects. One explanation for this is the perceived difficulty in triggering and objectively assessing innovations in the awarding of projects. The aim of this paper is to develop, implement and evaluated a method to encourage and assess innovations in the awarding of bridge construction projects to address this problem.

Design/methodology/approach

A design science research (DSR) approach is used to develop, implement and evaluate a method to trigger and assess innovations in tenders for bridge projects. DSR approaches are used to develop “well-tested, well-understood and well documented innovative generic designs, dealing with authentic field problems or opportunities” (van Akenet al., 2016).

Findings

The findings show that the application of the developed method in a bridge project led to the inclusion of a broad range of innovations in the tender offers. Despite the broad support for the defined criteria, there were some differences in the way the criteria were interpreted by the public procurement team and by the tenderers. Despite these differences, no legal claims were filed in court.

Practical implications

Further development and wider adoption of the method is likely to have a positive impact on the application of innovations in bridge projects. With some adjustments, the method would also be appropriate for other civil engineering and construction projects.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the discussion on how the terms innovation and innovativeness can be operationalized and used in the literature and practice. The developed method provides definitions for assessing the degree as well as the level of innovations in tenders for bridge projects. Further, it provides a way to rank innovations and determine the additional value of the offered innovations in terms of a notional reduction in tender price. Finally, it provides insights into how to encourage innovations through public procurement in civil engineering projects.
Workplace friendship, psychological safety and innovative behavior in China
Authors: Cao Feiyuan , Zhang Haomin
Published: February 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to clarify the influences of workplace friendship, psychological safety on employees’ innovative behavior and the moderated role of transformational leadership and face.

Design/methodology/approach

The current research proposes and tests a theoretic framework to explore the mechanism of workplace friendship in influencing employees’ innovative behavior. Based on a sample of 441 respondents from various Chinese companies, this paper used SPSS 22.0 and Amos 22.0 to examine the hypotheses.

Findings

Results indicate that workplace friendship positively related to innovative behavior and psychological safety functioned as a mediator between them. Moreover, it examines the moderating roles of transformational leadership and face. Transformational leadership and desire to gain face strengthen the relationship between psychological safety and employees’ innovative behavior but fear of losing face is negatively related to the strength of this relationship.

Originality/value

The current research is meaningful for managerial practice. Then, the theoretical framework will contribute to providing a new perspective for understanding complex friendship at studies thus explore its boundary conditions, which help to lead to desirable outcomes. Besides, the findings advance nascent theory on face under oriental culture background.
Numerical modelling of heat transfers between inductively heated metallic and dielectric phases
Authors: Bourrou Rémi , Budenkova Olga , Lafon Christophe , Gagnoud Annie
Published: February 2020

Purpose

Heating with a low-frequency induction is a key phenomenon in a process dedicated to the treatment of nuclear wastes. This paper aims to present a step of the numerical model being developed to study this process.

Design/methodology/approach

A hydrodynamic model for the processing of a liquid charge consisting of a metallic phase and a dielectric one is developed based on a volume of fluid (VOF) approach coupled with electromagnetic calculations. The latter allows one to calculate the distribution of the Joule heating in the setup and radiative heat exchange inside the crucible is accounted with a surface-to-surface (S2S) model coupled with VOF.

Findings

Numerical results are compared with the measures obtained on the prototype of the process. The results are in good agreement but the model needs to be improved to consider the varying viscosity of the glass.

Originality/value

The usage of a S2S radiation model coupled to the VOF model is not common for studies of materials melted by electromagnetic induction. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of this approach.
Good times and bad: responsibility in brand alliances
Authors: Newmeyer Casey E. , Ruth Julie A.
Published: February 2020

Purpose

Marketing managers have strategic choices when forming brand alliances. One such choice is integration, defined as the extent to which the offering is a fusion in the form and function of the partner brands. The paper aims to investigate how integration affects consumer attribution of responsibility to brand alliance partners.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper builds on the previous study on brand alliances and attribution theory. Multiple experiments are used to test three hypotheses.

Findings

This research shows that consumers are sensitive to the level of alliance integration, which, in turn, affects attributions of responsibility for the joint offering. Consistent with attribution theory, results show that responsibility for each brand varies systematically by integration and lead brand status vis-à-vis the alliance: while consumers perceive both brands as equally responsible for higher integration brand alliances, responsibility attributions diverge in lower integration alliances based on whether the brand is the alliance host. This pattern also holds for product-harm events.

Research limitations/implications

It is important to explore brand alliance characteristics and to date, the level of integration between the partners has not been considered from a consumer standpoint. Consumers are sensitive to the level of partner brand integration and this perception influences perceptions of responsibility.

Practical implications

Managers should be aware that the level of brand alliance integration and lead brand status lead to different attributions of responsibility, which is strategically important, as brands seek to take credit in positive contexts and avoid blame for negative events.

Originality/value

This paper explores brand alliances via the level of integration and leads brand status, which are key determinants of consumer attributions of responsibility.
Mentee characteristics in inter-organizational mentoring for managers: a hybrid Delphi survey
Authors: Gisbert-Trejo Nuria , Albizu Eneka , Landeta Jon , Fernández-Ferrín Pilar
Published: February 2020

Purpose

Inter-organizational mentoring (IOM) is a human resource development tool that is used when the mentor and mentee belong to different organizations. As mentees are the focus of the IOM process, the success of this type of program is highly reliant on their characteristics. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to derive the most desirable characteristics for mentees in IOM.

Design/methodology/approach

An intensive review of the literature on mentoring for managers and business professionals was carried out to identify mentee characteristics. These characteristics were then ranked for their importance to IOM using the Hybrid Delphi method (with 130 informants taking part in a Delphi survey and 19 expert IOM practitioners taking part in Focus Group and Nominal Group Technique sessions). An exploratory factor analysis identified the three main underlying factors behind the listed mentee characteristics.

Findings

In total, 17 relevant mentee characteristics were identified and ranked and then synthesized into three essential factors for the mentee. The results were discussed in the light of existing studies.

Originality/value

The mentee characteristics and factors identified in this study will be of great practical value to coordinators of IOM programs. Also, the review of the literature and the obtained results will help other researchers who wish to expand on this topic.
Residualisation in supported housing: an organisational case study
Authors: Hobson Jonathan , Lynch Kenneth , Lodge Alex
Published: February 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how residualisation is experienced across a supported housing provider in an English county. The analysis is in three parts: firstly, it focuses on organisational provision, including impacts of change on decisions on market entry and exit; secondly, it reviews evidence on service provision and the adaptations services are making to reflect the changing pressures of the sector; finally, it considers the impacts on service delivery and the experiences of those that rely on the provision.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis uses interview data across the organisation, together with material from the UK Government department consultation (2017) and a UK Parliamentary Select Committee inquiry (2017) to examine the impacts across the different tiers of service, including the day-to-day experience of residualised services for those that deliver and receive that support.

Findings

The paper concludes that residualisation is a direct outcome of the neoliberalisation of welfare states, introducing limits to state involvement and funding, a greater emphasis on quasi-market involvement in the sector and a shifting of responsibility from government to individuals.

Research limitations/implications

It not only demonstrates the impacts of reducing state support on the supported housing sector but also emphasises the importance of residualisation as a conceptual framework applicable to the wider implications of austerity and neoliberal ideology.

Practical implications

This paper demonstrates the way that the burden of responsibility is being shifted away from the public provision of support and onto the individuals. This can be problematic for the individuals who are vulnerable as a result of their economic medical or social circumstances.

Social implications

The retreat of the state from supported housing is both a political change and an austerity-led change. This article provides insight from a single-supported housing provider. In so doing, it illustrates the pressure such an organisation is under.

Originality/value

This paper provides a unique insight from the perspective of all levels of a supported housing service provider, combined with the analysis of government consultation and parliamentary inquiry.
Toward sustainable development in post-flood relocation of rural settlements in Iran
Authors: Garakani Seyed Amirhossein , Lak Azadeh , Niyasati Masoomeh
Published: February 2020

Purpose

Man has always faced natural hazards and thus attempted to reduce their financial and loss-of-life damages. Assuring sustainable development in the post-disaster reconstruction of areas requires predictive measurements (i.e. vulnerability assessment). This study aims to assess the outcomes of relocating villages after the 2005 flood in the east of Golestan Province in Iran through sustainable development.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is an applied research combining qualitative content analysis and quantitative cross-sectional surveys. The statistical population comprises the inhabitants of Faraghi New Town (formed by aggregating 11 villages) and the villagers returning to their former rural settlement. The independent samples t-test was used to compare the outcomes of reconstruction for the samples. Data were collected using a questionnaire and in-depth interviews with the residents. The gathered data were analyzed by content analysis.

Findings

The results indicate that building new settlements – while reducing physical vulnerability – cannot be classified as a step toward sustainable development in economic and social aspects because the increasing trend of migration to urban areas, return to former villages, tribal disparities, reduced production, increased bank debts and increased urban insecurity are among the primary adverse social and economic consequences of rural relocations. This finding helps to assist planners and post-disaster designers to reconstruct more sustainable societies.

Originality/value

This study tries to investigate the effects of post-disaster reconstruction in rural settlement in Iran through sustainable development aspects for the first time. It would benefit for policymaking and urban planners and designers to make more resilient societies after disasters.
Examining occupational stress, job satisfaction and gender difference among bank tellers: evidence from Ghana
Authors: Dartey-Baah Kwasi , Quartey Samuel Howard , Osafo Grace Asiedua
Published: February 2020

Purpose

Bank tellers have been ignored in stress research. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between occupational stress, job satisfaction, and gender difference among bank tellers in Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a cross-sectional survey approach, the authors used questionnaires to collect data from bank tellers in Ghana. Valid questionnaires were retrieved from 112 tellers across four banks. The hypotheses were tested using Pearsonr-test, standard multiple regression and independentt-test.

Findings

The results revealed that tellers are more likely to exhibit counterproductive behaviours such as job dissatisfaction due to work-related stress. The results further showed that gender is not a strong determinant of job satisfaction and occupational stress among the bank tellers. Thus, both male and female tellers can have similar stress perceptions and experiences. Also, both male and female tellers can be satisfied with their jobs.

Research limitations/implications

The findings must be interpreted with caution because cross-sectional surveys are often criticised for causality issues. The causality issue here is that the use of cross-sectional data did not allow the study to examine any changes in some of the constructs examined with time. Also, the results are occupation, industry and country-specific.

Practical implications

To reduce counterproductive behaviours due to occupational stress, human resource managers and line managers of the banks urgently need to train bank tellers on stress management. Emotional intelligence training is also necessary for bank tellers to obtain the needed resources and competencies to deal with daily stress.

Social implications

A stressful work environment negatively affects employee and organisational productivity and performance. The socioeconomic consequences of occupational stress are expensive for organisations, economies and society. The indirect effect of stress on employees' families and friends are often ignored by organisations.

Originality/value

The transactional stress theory has been applied towards an understanding of occupational stress and job satisfaction among bank tellers. The examination and establishment of particular relationships between occupational stress, job satisfaction and gender difference are significant for human resource managers and other line managers.
Impact of accreditation on performance of healthcare organizations
Authors: K.S. Swathi , Barkur Gopalkrishna , G. Somu
Published: February 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the accreditation research in specific to its effect on the performance of healthcare organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

A comprehensive search and analysis of literature on the effect of healthcare accreditation were conducted between June 2017 and May 2018. The study identified 62 empirical research studies that examined the effect of healthcare accreditation programmes. Study particulars such as year of publication, objectives, focus of the study, research settings and key findings were recorded. A content analysis was performed to identify the frequency of the main themes in the literature. Knowledge gaps needing further examination were identified.

Findings

Majority of the accreditation impact studies were carried out in the developed nations (n= 49). The thematic categories, that is the impact on “patient safety and healthcare quality” (n= 26), “healthcare professionals’ views” (n= 28) and “clinical process and outcomes” (n= 17) were addressed more times. Whereas the other two thematic categories “organizational performance” and “consumers’ views or satisfaction,” each was examined less than 10 instances. This review reveals mixed views on effect of healthcare accreditation. The varied quality of studies and the availability of a few studies on consumers’ perception of accreditation effectiveness were the important limiting factors of this review.

Originality/value

The findings are valuable to healthcare managers and hospital administrators in accreditation decisions, whereas findings are of value to researchers and academicians in terms of gaps identified for future research studies pertaining to the impact of healthcare accreditation. Future studies need to consider holistic theoretical frameworks for assessing the effect of accreditation on performance of healthcare organizations to achieve precise results.
Externalities of development of the sharing economy in tourism cities
Authors: Jaremen Daria Elżbieta , Nawrocka Elżbieta , Żemła Michał
Published: February 2020

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to identify the state-of-the-art of scientific research on externalities generated in cities by the sharing economy in tourism (SET) based on an extensive literature review.

Design/methodology/approach

This review detected benefits and costs of the SET in cities development described in the literature using the economic externalities theory approach. The SALSA (Search, AppraisaL, Synthesis and Analysis) research procedure was used to collect relevant academic articles. For findings, the qualitative and quantitative content analysis combined to make a critical analysis of selected papers was conducted.

Findings

Thirty articles devoted to the impact of the SET in cities were identified. Five topics that gained researchers’ attention were recognized: real estate market; transportation; quality of life and gentrification; entrepreneurship and innovativeness of citizens; and local budgets’ incomes. The studies that present externalities of development of the SET in a more complex way are extremely rare.

Research limitations/implications

Research limitations are related to the methods used. The subjectivism of the research is a limitation to possibilities to achieve similar results when analyzing the same set of papers by different researchers. The results then are not to be generalized.

Practical implications

The research reveals a list of problems with externalities of the development of the SET in tourism destinations. Those problems are to be solved by policymakers in cities.

Originality/value

This study identified the gaps of previous research on the impacts of the SET on cities’ development. The paper presented an original conceptualization of future research.
Oil prices and bank credit risk in MENA countries after the 2008 financial crisis
Authors: Wang Rui , Luo Hang (Robin)
Published: February 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the oil price–bank risk nexus by considering the heterogeneity of bank characters.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper empirically tests the effect of oil price movements on bank credit risk by using a sample of 279 banks in the Middle East and North Africa countries from 2011 to 2017.

Findings

Authors find robust evidence that the credit risk of bank loan portfolios is negatively associated with increased oil prices. The heterogeneity analysis indicates that the effect of asset quality improvement brought about by rising oil prices is more salient in conventional banks, and banks with small size, low liquidity and whose funding source relies on customers’ deposits.

Practical implications

The results favor the diversification of bank funding sources, the improvement of a country’s financial development, the adoption of explicit deposit insurance and macroprudential policies, such as countercyclical liquidity buffers, to weaken the adverse impact of oil prices declines.

Originality/value

The present paper enriches the literature of oil price–bank risk nexus by analyzing the heterogeneity of bank characters and advances our knowledge on the determined factors of bank riskiness and vulnerability.
Spotlight on design: strengthening innovation for more product and service sales
Authors: Nakata Cheryl , Bahadir S. Cem
Published: February 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether and how managing three aspects of design – the strategic role of design, outsourcing of design and organizational resistance to design – contribute to new product and service sales success.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted through an online survey of US-based innovation managers. Measures were developed from past literature. In total, 324 managers with at least two years of innovation experience in diverse industries completed the survey. The collected data was checked for measurement reliability and then was used to test a model through regression analyses.

Findings

The model was significant, and each of the three aspects of design management was found to influence innovation sales in unique ways. The strategic role enhances sales, organizational resistance impedes sales and outsourcing strengthens then lowers sales. It makes no difference in results if the firms are manufacturers or service providers, indicating the model is robust across industries.

Practical implications

Strategic (design role), operational (design outsourcing) and cultural (design resistance) elements of design management matter to innovation. To better ensure strong new product and service sales, firms should elevate the role of design in innovation, apply a combined approach of externalizing and internalizing the design function and reduce organizational resistance to design.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the first to empirically examine the innovation impacts of design management, specifically determining the effects of design’s strategic importance, limits when outsourced and organization resistance on new product and service sales.
Person-centred rhetoric in chronic care: a review of health policies
Authors: Sobolewska Agnieszka , Byrne Amy-Louise , Harvey Clare Lynette , Willis Eileen , Baldwin Adele , McLellan Sandy , Heard David
Published: February 2020

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to explore how the national, state and organisational health policies in Australia support the implementation of person-centred care in managing chronic care conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative content analysis was performed regarding the national, state and organisational Queensland Health policies using Elo and Kyngas' (2008) framework.

Findings

Although the person-centred care as an approach is well articulated in health policies, there is still no definitive measure or approach to embedding it into operational services. Complex funding structures and competing priorities of the governments and the health organisations carry the risk that person-centred care as an approach gets lost in translation. Three themes emerged: the patient versus the government; health care delivery versus the political agenda; and health care organisational processes versus the patient.

Research limitations/implications

Given that person-centred care is the recommended approach for responding to chronic health conditions, further empirical research is required to evaluate how programs designed to deliver person-centred care achieve that objective in practice.

Practical implications

This research highlights the complex environment in which the person-centred approach is implemented. Short-term programmes created specifically to focus on person-centred care require the right organisational infrastructure, support and direction. This review demonstrates the need for alignment of policies related to chronic disease management at the broader organisational level.

Originality/value

Given the introduction of the nurse navigator program to take up a person-centred care approach, the review of the recent policies was undertaken to understand how they support this initiative.
How much information is lost when sampling driving behavior data? Indicators to quantify the extent of information loss
Authors: Liu Jun , Khattak Asad , Han Lee , Yuan Quan
Published: February 2020

Purpose

Individuals’ driving behavior data are becoming available widely through Global Positioning System devices and on-board diagnostic systems. The incoming data can be sampled at rates ranging from one Hertz (or even lower) to hundreds of Hertz. Failing to capture substantial changes in vehicle movements over time by “undersampling” can cause loss of information and misinterpretations of the data, but “oversampling” can waste storage and processing resources. The purpose of this study is to empirically explore how micro-driving decisions to maintain speed, accelerate or decelerate, can be best captured, without substantial loss of information.

Design/methodology/approach

This study creates a set of indicators to quantify the magnitude of information loss (MIL). Each indicator is calculated as a percentage to index the extent of information loss (EIL) in different situations. An overall information loss index named EIL is created to combine the MIL indicators. Data from a driving simulator study collected at 20 Hertz are analyzed (N = 718,481 data points from 35,924 s of driving tests). The study quantifies the relationship between information loss indicators and sampling rates.

Findings

The results show that marginally more information is lost as data are sampled down from 20 to 0.5 Hz, but the relationship is not linear. With four indicators of MILs, the overall EIL is 3.85 per cent for 1-Hz sampling rate driving behavior data. If sampling rates are higher than 2 Hz, all MILs are under 5 per cent for importation loss.

Originality/value

This study contributes by developing a framework for quantifying the relationship between sampling rates, and information loss and depending on the objective of their study, researchers can choose the appropriate sampling rate necessary to get the right amount of accuracy.
Dynamic capabilities during the internationalization of MNCs from post-socialist emerging markets
Authors: Panibratov Andrei , Klishevich Daria
Published: February 2020

Purpose

This study aims to examine, which dynamic capabilities (DC) are used by companies from post-socialist emerging markets (PSEM) during their internationalization.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a DC perspective together with the new internalization theory to examine the internationalization of companies from PSEM. It uses qualitative data from the interviews with 7 PSEM experts and the 16 cases of the multinational companies from PSEM.

Findings

PSEM companies develop particular DC while expanding abroad whereby innovation capability helps them internationalize beyond neighboring countries and overcome the stigma of being less competitive than advanced economies. Adaptability is the DC that helps private companies, which differ from state-owned PSEM firms, overcome the uncertainties of the changing environment. Innovation capability and absorptive capability help PSEM firms surmount their geographical position. Alliancing activity is the DC that is used at the initial stages of internationalization to boost technological development.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the body of knowledge on the internationalization of companies from transition economies and sheds light on the nature of DC for the successful international expansion of PSEM firms. It attempts to address the lack of empirical studies on DC. Methodological value is in the combination of case studies’ analysis and interviews with experts, which adds novelty to the studied subject.
Ironies of narrative accounting research and the case for professional accounting judgement in accounting scholarship
Authors: Rutherford Brian A.
Published: February 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to advance the case for accounting scholars possessing substantial professional accounting expertise to use judgement drawing on that expertise (target-disciplinary judgement) as a major component of their research methodology.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper addresses methodological issues drawing on the criteriological debate within the methodological literature, a review of the ironies of contemporary narrative accounting research, including professional firm research, and an analysis of epistemological congruence seeking analogous cases in mainstream social scientific research.

Findings

The paper shows that, within a vocationally related subject like accounting, appropriately trained and qualified scholarly researchers have the opportunity to deploy their professional expertise to make expansive target-disciplinary judgements in ways that satisfy accepted social scientific methodological criteria and offer epistemological convergence comparable to that of mainstream approaches like insider anthropology and autoethnography.

Research limitations/implications

Using target-disciplinary expertise to make expansive judgements provides scholars with a way of expanding the range of research questions they address, including resuming evaluative-descriptive surveys that can, among other things, examine the quality of disclosures holistically rather than in the highly atomistic way often adopted by academics at the moment.

Social implications

The approach defended in this paper offers accounting scholars the opportunity to apply their particular skills to investigate questions likely to be of interest to preparers and users of financial statements, to explore issues of wider interest, such as the adequacy of environmental or social responsibility disclosures, and to test and augment professional firm findings. In so doing, scholars can go some way to remedying the gap between academic research and practice.

Originality/value

Little attention has been given to the use of expansive, expert target-disciplinary judgement in the methodological literature.
Social entrepreneurship in Russia and Asia: further development trends and prospects
Authors: Popkova Elena G. , Sergi Bruno S.
Published: February 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to determine the trends and prospects of the development of social entrepreneurship in Russia and Asian countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology includes trend, regression, and correlation analysis and scenario (imitation) modeling and elaborates on perspectives and recommendations for further development of social entrepreneurship in Russia and Asia.

Findings

Despite the active development of social entrepreneurship in Russia and Asian countries (its share in the structure of GDP of these countries constituted 2.6% on average in 2018), it accounts for a small contribution to domestic development of socio-economic systems. These countries of Asia in 2018 were peculiar for low level of social freedoms (70th position in the world), low level of healthcare (51st position), moderate level of ecological effectiveness (61.33 points out of 100), moderate level of education (0.767 points out of 1) and low level of development of infrastructure (39 points out of 100). In the provision of social freedoms and healthcare, social entrepreneurship is least developed and is peculiar for a tendency for a decrease. The difference between demand and offer of social entrepreneurship causes an imbalance of the market of social (non-profit, volunteer and charity) services in these countries. This imbalance is to be overcome with the recent tendency of digitization of social entrepreneurship in Russia and Asian countries.

Originality/value

Digitization occupies the last position among the factors of the development of social entrepreneurship. Tax stimulation of social entrepreneurship is preferable, so it is recommended to pay primary attention to it until 2022, for the provision of the balance of the market of social services.
Exploring native advertising in Turkey: insights from digital immigrants and digital natives
Authors: Misci Kip Sema , Umul Ünsal Pınar
Published: February 2020

Purpose

This study aims to achieve broad insights into perceptions and attitudes of Turkish digital immigrants (DI) and digital natives (DN) toward native advertising (NA) format.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on extant review of literature, semi-structured interview questions helped to solicit subjective interpretations, perceptions and attitudes of Turkish consumers toward NA format. In-depth interviews with 36 participants were conducted.

Findings

The study gains new knowledge on issues related to NA format, such as self-determination of viewing, privacy and accuracy of information. Findings provide whys and wherefores for these undiscovered issues, as well as for preexisting themes such as format recall and recognition, disclosure, communication/marketing aims, attitudes toward NA format, brand and publisher, NA placement and “nativity” of the format. In terms of perceptions and attitudes of DIs and DNs, both similarities and differences exist. DNs consider viewing NA content under their own initiative, so their perceptions and attitudes toward NA are shaped accordingly.

Research limitations/implications

The interviews were carried out in a single setting; with a convenience sample of consumers living in Izmir, Turkey. Certain age and education levels were considered desirable as main criteria for selection.

Practical implications

The study identifies consumer concerns on the NA format and content; and provides suggestions for advertisers, publishers and ad professionals on disclosure, relevancy and frequency of exposure, which can be applied in practice. Implications for public policy are also discussed.

Originality/value

This is the first known study to explore perceptions and attitudes of DIs and DNs toward NA format in the Turkish context. This study uncovers and discusses insights into underlying reasons of DI/DNs’ perceptions and attitudes. The study extends prior findings of quantitative research on NA, offering fruitful insights for future research.
Why do millennials use Facebook? Enduring insights
Authors: Ambrose Grace J. , Meng Juan (Gloria) , Ambrose Paul J.
Published: February 2020

Purpose

This study aims to address the following questions: What is enduring about consumer behavior on social media given that digital and social media (DSM) technologies change rapidly? Why do millennials use social media to the extent they do? The authors’ review revealed that a prevailing theoretical approach that may help answer these questions is inadequate. The technology acceptance model (TAM) from information systems was grafted into marketing to explain consumer technology adoption. TAM predicts Facebook adoption effectively, as demonstrated in the authors’ first study, but does not go beyond that in explaining the why’s behind its use. In a second study, the authors used the means-end approach (MEC) complementarily to unearth the why’s of millennials’ use of Facebook.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a mixed-methods design combining the structural modeling of TAM with the probing one-on-one interviews and laddering of MEC.

Findings

The authors found that the laddering process both widened and deepened TAM’s scope. It not only confirmed the importance of the TAM attributes, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, but it also revealed others, in determining adoption. It was also able to dig deeper from these to uncover a mesh of fundamental values that millennials used Facebook to satisfy, such as belongingness, pleasure, social acceptance and inner harmony, in their quest for inner and relational contentment. The authors also found negative aspects that kept consumers away, such as its lack of privacy and the overwhelming nature of unwanted video in its feed, tying these back to important values.

Research limitations/implications

The authors build on prior exploratory work relating to DSM use and uncover psychological drivers of consumer behavior on social media, by blending TAM in a consumer context, and the MEC approach. The TAM-MEC framework used here offers a technology-independent template for other DSM research, by focusing on how and why consumers use media socially.

Practical implications

Managerially, the authors discuss the building of sustainable marketing strategy on enduring consumer values rather than on transient attributes or technologies. The authors also discuss potential areas of vulnerability for Facebook, such as its increasing use of video and live content, which creates negative consumer sentiment and which may drive consumers to competitors.

Originality/value

By blending the quantitative TAM and the qualitative MEC, something that has not been done before in marketing, this research provides trustworthy answers to the research questions. In so doing, this study also contributes some cohesion to the fragmented DSM research field, as called for recently in prominent journals, by anchoring DSM study in well-established theories in marketing.
Exploring emotional traces in families’ recollection of experiences
Authors: Clauzel Amélie , Guichard Nathalie , Damay Coralie
Published: February 2020

Purpose

From experiences recollections, this study aims to explore the place of emotions in the souvenir’s step of the family consumption process of luxury hotels stays.

Design/methodology/approach

To explore the emotional dimension, this exploratory research is based on a triple qualitative approach (software, manual and a psychology-based approach). In total, 1,055 e-reviews, following a family stay in four- and five-star hotels, were collected.

Findings

The findings highlight an omnipresent emotional dimension in the recollections of experiences of consumers who have travelled with their families. These emotional traces differ according to the hotel’s positioning. Overall, positive emotions are much more prominent in the most luxurious hotels, while negative emotions are more related to the four-star hotels. Moreover, the four-star hotels reviews mainly associate emotions with the tangible aspects of the offer. Those in five-star hotels are more structured through intangible aspects.

Research limitations/implications

The study of family decision-making dynamic, with a focus on the role of each family member, is a first perspective. That of experiences recollections apart from the digital approach is also to be considered.

Practical implications

On the one hand, the objective is to extend the literature about the role of emotions in a service consumption process, and especially in a family context, trying to understand the post-purchase step of these customers. On the other hand, it is interesting for hotel managers to identify to which aspects of the offer (e.g. comfort, room, catering, decoration) the emotional traces that have remained in the customers’ memory are associated.

Originality/value

This study considers the family unit in a new way, that of its emotional memories’ traces of luxury hotels experiences. The post-consumer stage of the purchase process based on many spontaneous online reviews analysis is investigated.
Customer-to-customer value co-creation in different service settings
Authors: Pandey Sneha , Kumar Divesh
Published: February 2020

Purpose

This study aims to identify and classify the types of value stemming from cooperative creation of experience among customers present in various social and interaction-rich service settings, thus leading to customer–customer value co-creation.

Design/methodology/approach

This exploratory qualitative study uses phenomenological approach and involves ten semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted in different interaction-rich service settings. The interviews were analysed using soft laddering interview technique to uncover various customer-to-customer (C2C) co-created values.

Findings

Based upon the literature available and the interviews conducted, the types of value classified in this study are hedonic value (further classified as relational/social/interactional value, emotional value, epistemic/novelty/learning/information-seeking, personal value and symbolic/expressive value), atmospheric value and economic/utilitarian value (efficiency and quality).

Research limitations/implications

One of the major limitations would be the small number of interviews conducted in a few service setups, which makes it difficult to generalise the results. Also, customer–customer interactions, leading to value co-creation online, were not considered.

Practical implications

By facilitating C2C value co-creation, service firms would be able to obtain increased contributory support among customers and also facilitate its customers in providing superior customer experience indirectly to others present, which is considered to be the ultimate goal of a firm.

Originality/value

This would be among the first studies to classify the types of value taking place when customers interact among themselves and to provide concrete suggestions for the managers fostering C2C value co-creation during a service.
Establishing psychological relationship between female customers and retailers
Authors: Edirisinghe Dilini , Nazarian Alireza , Foroudi Pantea , Lindridge Andrew
Published: February 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate how young female customers establish psychological relationships with small- to medium-scale retail stores over time forming purchase intentions, actual purchase patterns and repurchase behaviour. Role of various customer typologies was also considered.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study approach was implemented to collect and analyse data, where data was collected from 20 young female customers and ten clothing retailers using purposive sampling via semi-structured interviews. Interviews with customers were conducted in a place of their choice such as in a coffee shop, whereas data from retailers were collected in the retail stores. Both online and offline retail patronage was considered to incorporate the growing tendency towards online shopping. Results were analysed using thematic analysis.

Findings

This study managed to reveal a number of interesting findings on how female customers form and develop psychological relationships with clothing retailers over time that ultimately builds customer loyalty. Customer behaviour in pre-purchase, purchase and re-purchase stages can significantly vary according to their individual perceptions, whereas they have a few favourite clothing brands that they frequently shop for. Preference for online shopping was found to be minimal, most of them enjoying in store experiences. Further, word of mouth and unique designs emerged as key contributors in establishing retail brand loyalty.

Practical implications

This paper provides better insights for clothing retailers and industry practitioners in understanding how customer perceptions affect clothing purchase decisions.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the retail literature by emphasizing on various elements that should be amalgamated through proper synthesis to serve customers. The research is unique as it analyses customer behaviour using a recreational activity model as opposed to marketing models to demonstrate how customers develop relationships with retail brands overtime.
Swarm-based chaotic gravitational search algorithm for solving mechanical engineering design problems
Authors: Rather Sajad Ahmad , Bala P. Shanthi
Published: February 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of chaotic gravitational search algorithm (CGSA) in solving mechanical engineering design frameworks including welded beam design (WBD), compression spring design (CSD) and pressure vessel design (PVD).

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, ten chaotic maps were combined with gravitational constant to increase the exploitation power of gravitational search algorithm (GSA). Also, CGSA has been used for maintaining the adaptive capability of gravitational constant. Furthermore, chaotic maps were used for overcoming premature convergence and stagnation in local minima problems of standard GSA.

Findings

The chaotic maps have shown efficient performance for WBD and PVD problems. Further, they have depicted competitive results for CSD framework. Moreover, the experimental results indicate that CGSA shows efficient performance in terms of convergence speed, cost function minimization, design variable optimization and successful constraint handling as compared to other participating algorithms.

Research limitations/implications

The use of chaotic maps in standard GSA is a new beginning for research in GSA particularly convergence and time complexity analysis. Moreover, CGSA can be used for solving the infinite impulsive response (IIR) parameter tuning and economic load dispatch problems in electrical sciences.

Originality/value

The hybridization of chaotic maps and evolutionary algorithms for solving practical engineering problems is an emerging topic in metaheuristics. In the literature, it can be seen that researchers have used some chaotic maps such as a logistic map, Gauss map and a sinusoidal map more rigorously than other maps. However, this work uses ten different chaotic maps for engineering design optimization. In addition, non-parametric statistical test, namely, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, was carried out at 5% significance level to statistically validate the simulation results. Besides, 11 state-of-the-art metaheuristic algorithms were used for comparative analysis of the experimental results to further raise the authenticity of the experimental setup.