bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Exploring quality challenges and the validity of excellence models
Authors: Eriksson Henrik , Gremyr Ida , Bergquist Bjarne , Garvare Rickard , Fundin Anders , Wiklund Håkan , Wester Michael , Sörqvist Lars 
Published: September 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore important quality-related challenges facing organizations, and investigate how current excellence models incorporate these challenges.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a Delphi study of Swedish organizations. Forty-nine challenges were generated and ranked according to importance and the ten top-ranked challenges were compared to the principles of four excellence models.

Findings
The excellence models still seem to be relevant since their content matches many of the identified challenges. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the Swedish Institute for Quality models were found to have the most comprehensive coverage, while the International Organization for Standardization model had limited coverage.

Research limitations/implications
Three areas for further research were identified: first, how quality management (QM) can evolve in different contexts that have varying needs in terms of adaptive and explorative capabilities; second, the interfaces of QM and sustainability, and ways to understand how customers and stakeholders can be active contributors to improvements; and third, the roles of the owners and board of directors regarding QM, and how to organize and distribute responsibilities of the QM work.

Practical implications
There are three important challenges that future revisions of excellence models could address: first, making QM a strategic issue for company owners; second, involving customers in the improvement activities; and third, developing processes that are robust yet still easily adaptable.

Originality/value
The Delphi study identified upcoming challenges in the QM area based on input from 188 quality professionals.
Value in the middle: cultivating middle managers in healthcare organizations
Authors: Belasen Alan , Belasen Ariel R. 
Published: September 2016

PurposeSenior executives in healthcare organizations increasingly display preference for a closer handling of operational levels, bypassing middle managers, and de-emphasizing the need to cultivate the next cadre of leaders, creating the potential for leadership and performance gaps. The authors argue that middle managers are a vital resource for healthcare organizations and review the benefits for including them in leadership development and succession planning programs. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachCurrent theories and common practices in addition to data collected from government sources (e.g. BLS), business and industry surveys and reports (e.g. Moody’s, Witt/Kieffer, Deloitte, American Hospital Association) are used to classify the roles, skills, and strategic value of middle managers in healthcare organizations.FindingsThe combination of a greater executive span with less hierarchical depth creates a dual effect of devaluing middle management, and a decrease in middle managers’ autonomy. Healthcare middle managers who stay away or lay low further trigger perceptions of low expectations leading to low morale and high levels of stress. Others become hypereffective or develop exit strategies. Major problems are: rising turnover costs; and insufficient attention to succession planning, internal promotion, and leadership development.Practical implicationsThe outcomes of this study are useful for management development, particularly at times of change. Practitioners and researchers can have a better understanding of the value of middle managers and their development needs as well as the factors and dynamics that can influence their motivation and affect retention.Originality/valueUnderstanding and implementing the ideas developed in this paper by healthcare organizations and other companies can lead to a drastic change in the current perceptions of the importance of middle managers and should lead to long-term retention, well-being, and extrinsic benefits for both the company and its employees.
Customer experience formation in today’s service landscape
Authors: Lipkin Michaela 
Published: September 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review customer experience formation (CXF) by first locating and analyzing how researchers approach CXF in the service literature and the theoretical underpinnings of these approaches, and then assessing which approaches are best suited for understanding, facilitating, and examining CXF in today’s service landscape.

Design/methodology/approach
This study systematically reviews 163 articles published between 1998 and 2015 in the service field.

Findings
This study illustrates how researchers approach CXF on the individual level by applying stimulus- interaction- or sense-making-based perspectives. These reflect researchers’ theoretical underpinnings for how individuals realize the customer experience within environmental, social, and temporal contexts through intermediation. Researchers further apply contextual lenses, including the dyadic and service- or customer-ecosystem lenses, which reflect their theoretical underpinnings for explaining how various actor constellations and contextual boundaries frame individual-level CXF. Finally, this study shows why the sense-making-based perspective, together with a service- or customer-ecosystem lens, is particularly suitable for approaching complex CXF in today’s service settings.

Research limitations/implications
To advance theory, researchers should choose the approaches resonant with their research problem and worldview but also consider that today’s complex service landscape favors holistic and systemic approaches over atomistic and dyadic ones.

Practical implications
This study provides managers with recommendations for understanding, facilitating, and evaluating contemporary CXF.

Originality/value
This study advances the understanding of CXF by systematically reviewing its multiple layers, approaches, and dimensions and the opportunities and challenges of each approach.
Customer response to interactional service experience
Authors: Albrecht Carmen-Maria , Hattula Stefan , Bornemann Torsten , Hoyer Wayne D. 
Published: September 2016

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine causal attribution in interactional service experiences. The paper investigates how triggers in the environment of a customer-employee interaction influence customer behavioral response to employees’ negative and positive affect. Additionally, it studies the role of sympathy and authenticity as underlying mechanisms of this relationship.Design/methodology/approachTwo scenario-based experimental designs (N1=162; N2=138) were used. Videotaped scenarios served as stimulus material for the manipulation of two focal variables: the employee’s emotional display as either negative or positive and the availability of an emotion trigger in the interaction environment to convey the attribution dimension of cause uncontrollability. The emotion trigger’s visibility was varied in the two studies. Customer response was captured by buying intentions.FindingsCustomer responses are more favorable for both positive and negative interactional experiences when customers have access to information on cause uncontrollability (i.e. notice triggers in the interaction environment). Analyses reveal that these effects stem from feelings of sympathy for negative experiences and authenticity for positive experiences.Originality/valueThis research supports the relevance of causal attribution research on interactional service experiences, which have high-profit impact. Moreover, the findings underline the importance of the experience of fact in service interactions and thereby provide a more nuanced view on the discussion of whether service providers should use impression management strategies to engender customer satisfaction even when this behavior is “faked.”
Reliability centered maintenance actions prioritization using fuzzy inference systems
Authors: Awad Mahmoud , As’ad Rami Afif 
Published: September 2016

Purpose
Deploying an effective maintenance strategy across an organization stands out as an essential risk mitigation measure that plays a critical role toward improving the reliability and availability of production facilities. The purpose of this paper is to propose a simple, yet well-structured approach toward prioritizing maintenance actions as part of a reliability centered maintenance (RCM) implementation plan, and selecting the most important subset of those actions subject to time and budget constraints.

Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive RCM actions prioritization methodology is proposed using four criteria: severity, benefit to cost ratio, customer satisfaction, and easiness of action implementation. The method utilizes fuzzy inference system (FIS) to incorporate subject matter experts’ feedback into the decision-making process. The output of the FIS, which takes the form of a numerical weight that assesses the relative importance of each criterion, is then fed into a binary integer program that selects the optimal maintenance actions out of a set of possible actions.

Findings
The implementation of the developed methodology is demonstrated using a real-life example of a hydraulic brake system circuit that is used in construction equipment. The computational results illustrate the validity of the proposed approach and indicate that the selection of which maintenance actions to carry out is impacted by the relative importance (i.e. weight) of the considered criteria.

Originality/value
The work presented in this paper provides the decision makers with a systematic procedure that helps in selecting the most relevant maintenance actions instead of making the selection in a complete ad hoc manner or based merely on subjective opinions.
Property investment decision making by Australian unlisted property funds
Authors: Parker David 
Published: September 2016

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the property investment decision-making process of Australian unlisted property funds.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on previous research into property investment decision making by Australian REITs, a normative model of the unlisted property fund investment decision-making process is proposed. Based on exploratory investigation through semi-structured interviews with senior Australian unlisted property fund decision makers, a descriptive model of the property investment decision-making process by Australian unlisted property funds is developed. The normative model and descriptive model are compared and a prescriptive model of the Australian unlisted property fund investment decision-making process proposed.FindingsA four-stage, 20-step process proposed in the normative model was found to be generally supported by the descriptive model developed, potentially comprising a possible prescriptive model for the Australian unlisted property fund investment decision-making process.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research is required to investigate risk-return issues, whether the prescriptive model is generalisable across other property investment decision-making groups or over time and whether it may lead to “good” decisions.Practical implicationsThe prescriptive model proposed may contribute consistency and transparency to the decision-making process, if adopted by Australian unlisted property funds, potentially leading to better decisions.Social implicationsGreater consistency and transparency in property investment decision making by Australian unlisted property funds may lead to the optimal allocation of capital and greater investor confidence in the sector.Originality/valueThe findings comprise the first possible prescriptive model of the Australian unlisted property fund investment decision-making process, forming a basis for comparative investigation of that process adopted by other property investment decision-making groups such as Australian REITs and Australian retail property funds.
Internal auditing and assurance of corporate social responsibility reports and disclosures: perspectives of some internal auditors in Ghana
Authors: Simpson Samuel Nana Yaw , Aboagye-Otchere Francis , Lovi Ruby 
Published: September 2016

Purpose
This study aims to examine the nature and extent of internal auditors’ (IAs) involvement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) assurance. It also ascertains the capacity building requirements to legitimise the role of IAs as a credible form of providing CSR assurance.

Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research approach was adopted, where data were collected through semi-structured interview of IAs of companies in Ghana that produce CSR reports.

Findings
Findings suggest that companies appreciate the fact that the internal audit function could provide independent assurance on CSR reports. However, there is limited information on the nature and scope of the assurance procedures. Moreover, most IAs seem to lack the requisite knowledge and skills needed to effectively carry out CSR assurance engagements. These evidences suggest a relatively low level of reliance being placed on CSR assurance services provided internally.

Research limitations/implications
Findings are purely based on the perceptions of IAs. Future studies may include the views of those who appoint IAs (i.e. management).

Practical implications
Findings engender discussions on the need for IAs and regulators of IAs (e.g. the Institute of Internal Auditors), particularly those in developing countries to begin to conscientise practitioners on the changing roles of the IA in the areas of CSR and CSR assurance.

Originality/value
This study is one of the very few studies on CSR assurance from the perspective of IAs and it also based on evidence from an African context. Also, the study provides evidence on the need for a deliberate effort to equip internal audit practitioners to provide at least some minimal assurance on CSR disclosures and reports.
Corporate social responsibility and shareholder support for corporate governance changes
Authors: Cullinan Charles P. , Mahoney Lois S. , Roush Pamela 
Published: September 2016

Purpose
This paper examines whether shareholders consider corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance when voting on corporate governance change proposals submitted by dissident shareholders. These proposals recommend changes to the corporate governance status quo and are made by dissident shareholders who are dissatisfied with the company’s existing governance practices.

Design/methodology/approach
Using 195 governance change proposals voted on during 2013, the paper examines the relationship between CSR performance (obtained from the MSCI database) and the level of voting support for these proposals.

Findings
This study finds that shareholder support for corporate governance change proposals submitted by dissident shareholders is positively related to firms’ CSR concerns, especially environmental concerns.

Research limitations/implications
The findings suggest that shareholders may be concerned with the potentially adverse effects of weak CSR performance, especially poor environmental performance, and may support changes to corporate governance structures when a company’s CSR and environmental performance is weaker.

Originality/value
As the first research to examine the relationship between CSR and proposed changes to corporate governance, this study provides unique insights into shareholder perceptions of the value of CSR based on shareholders’ support (or lack thereof) for governance changes proposed by dissident shareholders.
Corporate social and financial performance in different industry contexts: the chicken or the egg?
Authors: Tuppura Anni , Arminen Heli , Pätäri Satu , Jantunen Ari 
Published: September 2016

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to examine empirically Granger causality relationships between corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CFP) in four different industries.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses the Granger causality test to analyse the causality relationships between CSP and CFP in clothing, energy, food and forest industries in the USA. The panel data used combined CSP and CFP measures over the years 1991-2009. CSP strengths and concerns are handled as distinct constructs.FindingsThere is some evidence of bidirectional causality between CSP and CFP in the clothing, energy and forest industries; but in the food industry, CSP appears not to Granger-cause CFP. The results encourage accounting for the industry in empirical analyses, as well as the use of more than one measure for CFP in the analyses.Originality/valueThe direction of causality between CSP and CFP has been specifically addressed in only a few studies. Because the causality relationship may, in addition, be concealed when multi-industry data are used, this paper contributes to the literature by examining the Granger causality between CSP and CFP in four different industry contexts using two different measures of CFP.
Booster juice – big shoes to fill
Authors: Fergus Andrew , Bell Tony 
Published: September 2016

Synopsis
Ian Henson was about to take the biggest financial risk of his life. He had just agreed to purchase three Booster Juice franchise stores in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. Henson knew that transitioning leadership at companies was a difficult task, and he was aware that he was replacing a popular leader: Natalie Peace. Compounding the challenge ahead of Henson were two major hurdles, the first was demographic in nature: Booster Juice’s employee group was young (on average below 20 years old) and many adored Peace, he was certain that whoever replaced her would have a difficult transition. The second challenge was managing change: Henson needed to cut costs. Peace had several generous policies that Henson needed to consider altering or removing, a potentially unpopular task. Initially, this case puts students in Henson’s shoes: How should he handle the specific aspects of this leadership transition? It allows professors to examine the broader issue of managing a change process.

Research methodology
Data for the case were collected from various sources. Public records, historical documents, and media reports were the main source for general background information and context. Primary data were collected through a series of interviews with the present and past owners of the Booster Juice franchises discussed.

Relevant courses and levels
This case was developed for use in an undergraduate management course or where change management and leadership are specific modules, an organization behavior class is a good example of where the case should fit. The objective of the case is to illustrate the challenges that resulted from a change in leadership and examine how to manage the change process. The thought-provoking element in this case is the leaders involved have very different leadership styles. The authors anticipate this case would be one used early in the course, as it is concise and straightforward to read, and clearly illustrates the issues to be examined. It provides an effective tool through which to introduce students to change management and styles of leadership. The added value is that the case is based on a company built by an undergraduate student and thus students tend to be very interested in the business itself.

Theoretical bases
The main theoretical base for the case is based on change management and exemplary leadership. To facilitate this the authors use Kurt Lewin’s models of change, Kotter’s eight step process, specifically referring to Kotter (1995). The authors then use Kouzes & Psoner five practices of exemplary leadership, referring to Kouzes, and Posner (2003). The authors specifically reference Northouse (2010).
Selling all good: how small new entrants can compete
Authors: Collins Eva , Kearins Kate , Tregidga Helen , Bowden Stephen 
Published: September 2016

Synopsis
Chris Morrison and two partners introduced the first Fairtrade bananas in New Zealand in a bid to improve the social and environmental impacts of banana consumption. The trio started All Good Bananas in 2010. Using social media as a key marketing tool, the startup had grown to take a 5 percent market share in a fiercely competitive industry dominated by big players. In 2012, the entrepreneurs needed to decide the best way to increase sales of ethically sourced products under the All Good brand. Should they expand their share of the banana market or diversify into drinks?

Research methodology
The case is primarily based on tape-recorded interviews by the authors with the founding entrepreneur and three employees of All Good from May to July 2012 and an analysis of the company’s website and social media activities. Other publicly available information sources were drawn upon, and a discussion held with a New Zealand national grocery chain CEO.

Relevant courses and levels
This case has been written for use in classes in undergraduate and graduate level entrepreneurship, strategic management and sustainability. The case can be used to illustrate how very small resource-constrained startups can compete in an industry dominated by large multinational corporations, and how Fairtrade might provide a worthy differentiation focus. It is open to a consideration of judo economics. While several of the questions ask students to consider the New Zealand context in which this case is set, knowledge of New Zealand and the various industries beyond what is offered in the case is not necessary.

Theoretical bases
At a broad level the case illustrates how a small, resource-constrained startup can compete against much, much larger players through a niche Fairtrade product focus and the use of alternative marketing strategies such as guerrilla marketing and social media. In relation to the competitive dynamics within an industry, this case can be used to illustrate the concept of judo economics (also referred to as judo strategy). Both the utility and potential limits of judo economics can be demonstrated through the case by considering current activities and potential future dynamics.