bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Benchmarking public school performance by unionized status
Authors: Overton Kathleen , Joo Seong-Jong , Stoeberl Philipp A. 
Published: September 2016

Purpose
There are elevated debates on the role of teacher unions on the effectiveness of education in the USA. The purpose of this paper is to examine if the unionization of education has an impact on the comparative performance of public education in the USA.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors classify states into two groups such as highly unionized states and less unionized states for comparing their performance differences. The analyses consist of two stages. First, the authors apply data envelopment analysis (DEA) to the key performance indicators of the groups. Next, the authors use statistical analysis for confirming the statistical significance of the performance differences that may exist between two groups.

Findings
The authors have confirmed the adverse impact of unionization on public education using DEA models and non-parametric rank-sum tests. However, the authors are cautious for generalizing the finding due to the limitations described in the research limitation section.

Research limitations/implications
The finding is limited within the selection of the variables and model specification and requires additional studies using different variables and models. The authors hope that the study motivates researchers to conduct further studies in this area.

Originality/value
Major contributions of the study include a novel approach for measuring the performance of primary and secondary schools at the state level by classifying and choosing less or highly unionized states and suggesting insights for improvements.
Service quality dimensions and customer satisfaction in a Brazilian university context
Authors: Eberle Luciene , Milan Gabriel Sperandio , Dorion Eric 
Published: September 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and assess the perception of customers (students) about the services provided by Brazilian universities, through the identification of the attributes that impact on customer satisfaction and the dimensions or factors related to quality in services. This may generate a better management and seek more competitive edge in graduate courses.

Design/methodology/approach
The research method was developed in two phases: the first one is characterized by a qualitative and exploratory approach and the second one as a quantitative research of conclusive character. In the qualitative phase, in-depth interviews were implemented with a semi-structured approach. A survey was performed in the final phase and a multivariate statistical technique was used for the data analysis.

Findings
The results echoed in a set of 40 analyzed attributes (variables), distributed in six dimensions of quality in services, in the graduate courses (second cycle) of administration, which could serve as a basis for orienting other Brazilian universities.

Research limitations/implications
The data analysis did not include crossed techniques that could have enriched the analysis process. Another limitation that can be pointed out is the fact of having only adopted a factor analysis method to identify the dimensions of service quality that influence customer satisfaction (students). In addition, data collection was cross-sectional, which does not allow any change verification of the respondents’ perception.

Practical implications
Taking into account the current scenario of increased competition between the Brazilian universities to attract and retain students, the knowledge of student’s preferences and the dimensions of quality service can effectively contribute in the development of strategies and actions for an effective graduate programs management (second cycle), and for their consolidation in the Brazilian market.

Social implications
The development of more adequate courses, in terms of level of quality and relevancy.

Originality/value
The identification of the attributes that represent the quality dimensions, related to the services provided, can assist any Brazilian university to prioritize its strategies and actions and to contribute to excellence in education. In addition, it may encourage customer retention (students) and consolidate its market position. Moreover, the study can contribute as a source of empirical data for transferability and benchmark strategies in other contexts for Brazilian universities.
Search for objective environmental performance indicators of primary schools
Authors: Fehr Manfred , Andrade Viviane Suzana Costa Santos 
Published: September 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to seek to develop environmental scores to complement already existing academic scores in order to evaluate and compare school performance in the context of sustainable societies.

Design/methodology/approach
In a case study on one particular Brazilian school, the authors propose three indexes to grade school performance: academic achievement, sustainable design and environmental behavior.

Findings
The behavior refers to water and energy consumption, environmental education activities, waste production and sorting, noise level, food scraps and traffic density.

Research limitations/implications
The adoption of the scoreboard induces all members of the school community, students, teachers and service personnel, to participate in the measurements and in targeting.

Practical implications
All measured parameters are reduced to dimensionless fractions of ideal values in order to provide a basis for objective targeting within the school and for comparisons within the school universe.

Social implications
The scoreboard is transferable to the school universe in the quest for benchmaking environmental performance.

Originality/value
As a “bottom-up” management procedure, the study develops the ideal reference values suitable to the particular school in an effort to overcome their absence in the municipal context and to induce their application in that context.
Efficiency analysis of banks in ASEAN countries
Authors: Wong Wai Peng , Deng Qiang 
Published: September 2016

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore various efficiency aspects of banks in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in light of their remarkable growth in recent years.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used various data envelopment analysis technique to measure the relative efficiency for a sample of 39 banks in four ASEAN countries over 2000-2010.FindingsThe analyses reveal three findings: first, Malaysian banks are more efficient comparatively to the other three ASEAN countries. Second, large-sized banks in ASEAN are less cost efficient. Third, government banks in the ASEAN region exhibit a substantial improvement in efficiency throughout the years, in contrast to the non-government banks.Originality/valueEfficiency analysis of banks in ASEAN countries, particularly covering this large period, that is, from 2000 to 2010 is very limited, in fact nil. Hence, this paper contributes to the finance and banking areas by providing a detail analysis of banks’ performance in the ASEAN region. This paper thus provides powerful insights to policy makers and bank managers in setting appropriate strategy for financial institutions in the region.
A fuzzy embedded leagility assessment module in supply chain
Authors: Matawale Chhabi Ram , Datta Saurav , Mahapatra S.S. 
Published: September 2016

Purpose
In today’s ever-changing global business environment, successful survival of manufacturing firms/production units depends on the extent of fulfillment of dynamic customers’ demands. Appropriate supply chain strategy is of vital concern in this context. Lean principles correspond to zero inventory level; whereas, agile concepts motivate safety inventory to face and withstand in turbulent market conditions. The leagile paradigm is gaining prime importance in the contemporary scenario which includes salient features of both leanness and agility. While lean strategy affords markets with predictable demand, low variety and long product life cycle; agility performs best in a volatile environment with high variety, mass-customization and short product life cycle. Successful implementation of leagile concept requires evaluation of the total performance metric and development of a route map for integrating lean production and agile supply in the total supply chain. To this end, the purpose of this paper is to propose a leagility evaluation framework using fuzzy logic.

Design/methodology/approach
A structured framework consisting of leagile capabilities/attributes as well as criterions has been explored to assess an overall leagility index, for a case enterprise and the data, obtained thereof, has been analyzed. Future opportunities toward improving leagility degree have been identified as well. This paper proposes a Fuzzy Overall Performance Index to assess the combined agility and leanness measure (leagility) of the organizational supply chain.

Findings
The proposed method has been found fruitful from managerial implication viewpoint.

Originality/value
This paper aimed to present an integrated fuzzy-based performance appraisement module in an organizational leagile supply chain. This evaluation module helps to assess existing organizational leagility degree; it can be considered as a ready reference to compare performance of different leagile organization (running under similar supply chain architecture) and to benchmark candidate leagile enterprises; so that best practices can be transmitted to the less-performing organizations. Moreover, there is scope to identify ill-performing areas (barriers of leagility) which require special managerial attention for future improvement.
Cultural ecology and isomorphism applied to educational planning in China’s Inner Mongolia
Authors: Denman Brian D , James Rosalind 
Published: September 2016

Purpose– Worldwide, dichotomies exist within macro- and micro-educational planning of systems of education. Inner Mongolia represents an interesting case in the sense that its educational system has been influenced by its historical and passive reliance on China’s political reforms and ongoing identity issues. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how cultural ecology and isomorphism can be compared and managed in the form of a dualism, involving complex organisational structures, operational procedures, and learning outcomes. These may be macro in focus but may also promote the development of social and cultural identity at micro levels. Emphasis is placed upon examining cultural ecology, a concept advocated by the cultural anthropologist, Roy Rappaport, but with concern for embracing indigenous knowledge as a complement to traditional educational attainment.Design/methodology/approach– This discussion further considers the feasibility and implementation of a rubric (the Denman-James Rubric (DJR)) that is a custom-tailored pilot project designed to visually demonstrate one’s mastery of creativity and communication, reflective thinking, and analytical and problem solving skills. A demonstration of the DJR is presented to highlight the progress made in its usage and utility in Inner Mongolia and elsewhere.Findings– A primary research goal is to investigate whether differing teaching and learning approaches and the use of alternative assessments over a period of time can promote, encourage, and empower students into taking greater ownership of their learning.Originality/value– This narrative is an original look at Inner Mongolia’s educational system and how it has been influenced by its historical and passive reliance on China’s political reforms and ongoing identity issues.
Barriers to accurately measuring patients’ dietary intake in hospitals using the visual estimation method
Authors: Kawasaki Yui , Kojima Yui , Akamatsu Rie 
Published: September 2016

PurposeVisual estimation, an easy-to-perform technique, is commonly used in hospitals to assess dietary intake in patients. The authors performed a qualitative study where the authors interviewed nurses and dietitians about their perceptions of barriers to accurately measuring patients’ dietary intake in hospitals using the visual estimation method. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachTen dietitians and ten clinical nurses responded to 30-minute individual interviews in Tokyo, Japan, in September 2014. Each interview was conducted using a common protocol of open-ended questions focusing on the challenges of the visual estimation method and barriers to accurately measuring patients’ dietary intake as part of their routine work. The tape-recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed based on grounded theory.FindingsFive main categories emerged: hospitals, meals, colleagues, raters, and patients. Various individual barriers such as skill, attitude, knowledge, and others that had not been considered in previous studies also emerged. External barriers that were out of the raters’ control, such as shortage of time, human resources, financial ability, and others, emerged from the “hospitals” category.Research limitations/implicationsResearch participants were all females and many of them had less than ten years of experience.Practical implicationsIn addition to standardizing the visual estimation process, medical staff need to overcome various other internal and external barriers to accurate measurements.Originality/valueThis is the first study to articulate some important barriers that influence reliability and validity when measuring patients’ dietary intake by visual estimation methods in typical clinical settings.
Evaluation of patient wristbands and patient identification process in a training hospital in Turkey
Authors: Cengiz Canan , Celik Yusuf , Hikmet Neset 
Published: September 2016

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the utilisation of patient wristbands (PWs) and patient identification (PI) process in a training hospital in Ankara, Turkey.Design/methodology/approachThis descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted in a training hospital with 640 beds, accreditied by Joint Commission International. The views of 348 patients and 419 hospital personnel on the implementation of patient wristbands and identification process were evaluated.FindingsThe results indicated that lack of information among patients about the importance of PWs and the misknowledge among staff participants on when, where, and by whom PWs should be put on and verified were the weakest points in this hospital.Research limitations/implicationsPI process must be strictly implemented according to the standard procedures of patient safety. Both patients and hospital personnel should be trained continuously, and training sessions must be held to increase their awareness about the importance of PWs and identification process.Practical implicationsFinding new ways and using new methods for increasing knowledge about PI and PWs are necessary. Hospital management should prepare a written PI and PW policy and procedure documents by taking the views of patients and hospital personnel and share these with them.Originality/valueThis study incorporates the views and attitudes of patients and health care personnel in improving health care quality by increasing awareness about PI and wristbands.
Stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities regarding quality of care
Authors: Huotari Päivi , Havrdová Zuzana 
Published: September 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe how different stakeholders (society, managers, employees and clients) can together ensure the quality of care.

Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative data were collected from four focus group interviews conducted in three countries. All interviewees were pursuing a master’s degree in social and/or health care management and had begun working in their field after completing their bachelor’s degree. The data were analysed using inductive content analysis.

Findings
The society and managers are responsible for the care system as a whole and must apply system-oriented, rather than sector-oriented, thinking. Employees are responsible for ensuring the continuity of client services in their work, and managers and employees share the responsibility of achieving the organisational goals and quality standards. The clients are responsible for acting as responsible service users and providing the required information to obtain care. Communication was strongly emphasised in the data, and it necessitates cross-professional and organisational boundaries, professional and political boundaries, as well as boundaries between the professional and the client.

Research limitations/implications
Since the interviewees were all pursuing a master’s degree in social and/or health care management, when reflecting on their work experience, they may have also been reflecting what they had learned in university.

Practical implications
This study emphasises the importance of collaboration and communication between stakeholders in ensuring the quality of care. Unpredictable economies, the ageing population and the ongoing integration and reorganisation of health and social care services in Europe highlight systematic and strategic approach in quality of care.

Originality/value
This paper claims that communication between different care stakeholders gives a more systematic and coherent framework for the quality of care. Quality of care is a strategic choice and part of the strategic decision making at the societal, political, organisational and managerial levels.
Detecting fraudulent financial reporting using financial ratio
Authors: Zainudin Emie Famieza , Hashim Hafiza Aishah 
Published: September 2016

Purpose
The main aim of this study is to analyse the financial ratio (i.e. financial leverage, profitability, asset composition, liquidity and capital turnover ratio) in detecting fraudulent financial reporting (FFR).

Design/methodology/approach
The logit model was used to identify firms that are related to FFR. The sample firms that engage in fraudulent reporting were obtained from the media centre of Bursa Malaysia. The firms were selected based on their contravention of the Listing Requirements of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad. The data cover a period of seven years from 2007 to 2013.

Findings
The results suggest that financial leverage, asset composition, profitability and capital turnover were significant predictors of FFR.

Practical implications
The findings of this study may assist investors in making decision for their investments.

Originality/value
This study describes firms that breach the Listing Requirements of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad using the financial ratio.
Board diversity and corporate social responsibility in Jordan
Authors: Ibrahim Abdul Hadi , Hanefah Mustafa Mohd 
Published: September 2016

Purpose
This study aims to investigate the impact of board diversity characteristics, namely, independence, gender, age and nationality of directors on the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures.

Design/methodology/approach
Content analysis was used to determine CSR disclosure. This study used panel data analysis to investigate the influence of board diversity characteristics on CSR disclosures.

Findings
Panel data analysis show that the level of CSR disclosure has increased over the period of study. Results also reveal a positive and significant association between the level of CSR disclosure and board diversity variables.

Research limitations/implications
This study examined only companies listed on Amman Stock Exchange. Therefore, the generalisation of the results might be limited to the listed companies only.

Practical implications
Findings are relevant to policymakers, professional organisations and practitioners in Jordan and in other Arab countries.

Social implications
The role of women in the boardroom is important to ensure more CSR activities by the listed companies. Jordan being a Muslim country should take the initiative to introduce laws to increase the number of women to the board.

Originality/value
This study offers significant contributions to existing CSR literature in Jordan and in other Arab countries by introducing female directors. Findings are important to policymakers. They should implement quotas for women in the boardroom, and adopting such a policy will increase the participation of women in the decision-making process of the companies and reduce gender bias.
Market structure and performance of Malaysian banking industry
Authors: Ab-Rahim Rossazana , Chiang Sheen Nie 
Published: September 2016

Purpose
The main purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the market structure and financial performance of Malaysian commercial banks over the period of 2000 to 2011 by testing the structure-conduct-performance (SCP) and efficient-structure (ESH) hypotheses.

Design/methodology/approach
Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is employed to measure the efficiency of banks, while concentration ratio is used to assess the market structure of Malaysian banks. Next, utilizing the least squares method, both variables – market structure and efficiency of banks – among other explanatory variables (market share, operating expenses, loans ratio and size of banks) are regressed upon the dependent variable, namely financial performance of banks represented by return on asset (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and net interest margin (NIMTA).

Findings
The concentration of Malaysian banking industry is at a declining trend; structurally speaking, Malaysian banks are more competitive due to less market concentration. In terms of efficiency, the DEA results reveal that Malaysian banks are operating below their capacity at 40 per cent of efficiency. Thus, Malaysian banks could reduce their utilization of inputs by 60 per cent to operate on the efficient frontier. Next, the results offer support to ESH, which implies that market concentration and banking efficiency determines the profitability performance of Malaysian commercial banks.

Originality/value
Past studies on Malaysian banking sector had tended to focus either on measuring the performance or assessing the market structure of banks. Thus, this study attempts to fill the gap in the literature by testing the nexus between the market structure and the performance of banks.