bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
On improvement story by 5 whys
Authors: Myszewski Jan M. 
Published: June 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to establish a procedure to examine an organization's improvement process and its adverse factors.Design/methodology/approachThe objectives were to find a way to represent content of a specific improvement process and analyse reliability of improvement processes conducted at operational, tactical and strategic levels. Inspirations of the text were various heuristic schemes used in a process of problem solving: to stimulate transfer of data by formulation of questions (5W or 5Why); to control the flow of the process (QC Story or 8D etc.); and to document results of operation (Ishikawa, fault‐tree diagram, and others). The outcomes are: a questioning scheme on Improvement Story by 5 Whys, which provides guidance, through a study of an organization's improvement processes related to containment, corrective and preventive type; and diagrams of the Prevention State Transitions and the Improvement Snail, which facilitate navigation through the above processes.FindingsThere is a finite sequence of Why‐questions, which can be used to analyse basic characteristics of systems of improvement processes in organizations. This scheme has a direct graphical representation in the Improvement Snail and the Prevention States Transition diagrams.Practical implicationsThe scheme has a wide scope of applications: it can be used retrospectively or in parallel to a running process of problem solving. A context of the analysis may be auditing an improvement process or monitoring a particular improvement project.Originality/valueThe scheme combines various aspects of improving the effectiveness of an organization's functions. It can represent, in a systematic way, information concerning risk issues related to: the problems and their mechanisms; the effectiveness of improvement processes that are related to various levels of organization: operational, tactical and strategic and their coordination. The scheme is flexible, as it can be combined with various analytical techniques such as fault tree diagram etc. and it can be adjusted to any specific purpose, by modifying the structure and content of questions set.
Gender effects on entrepreneurial intention: a meta‐analytical structural equation model
Authors: Haus Inga , Steinmetz Holger , Isidor Rodrigo , Kabst Rüdiger 
Published: June 2013

PurposeAlthough the percentage of female entrepreneurs has increased over the past several years, it is far below the level of males. Drawing on the theory of planned behaviour and role congruity theory, the purpose of this paper is to specify a model in which the relationship between gender and entrepreneurial intention (EI) is mediated by three essential motivational constructs (i.e. attitude toward starting a business, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control (PBC)).Design/methodology/approachThe study specifies and tests a meta‐analytical structural equation model. The study aggregates the results of 30 studies (n=52,367).FindingsThe study reveals a higher average EI for men compared to women. However, although significant, the gender differences in EI and the motivational constructs were small and cannot sufficiently explain the substantial differences in actually starting a business. Furthermore, moderator analyses show differences in the gender‐EI relationship between Europe and the US and between students and non‐students.Research limitations/implicationsDifferences between men and women seem to be a consequence of differences in turning intentions into implementation. Researchers are called upon to investigate gender differences in hindrances as a potential explanation for different implementations and when and why women give up their entrepreneurial plans. Moreover, future research should investigate further motivational processes beyond those suggested by the theory of planned behavior.Originality/valueThe study analyses the relationship between gender and EI and the results show a weak relationship which indicates that the higher number of male entrepreneurs cannot solely be explained by differences in motivation.
Exploring the financing gap between native born women‐ and immigrant women‐owned firms at the start‐up stage
Authors: Abbasian Saeid , Yazdanfar Darush 
Published: June 2013

PurposeThe main purpose of this study is to provide empirical evidence which identifies the impact of ethnicity and other relevant variables on external capital acquisition among Swedish women‐owned businesses at start‐up.Design/methodology/approachSeveral methods have been employed to analyze the sample including a binary logistic regression model. The sample consists of 836 women‐owned businesses in southeast Sweden; 97 immigrant‐owned, 739 native born‐owned.FindingsThe results indicate that there are partly significant differences between native women‐owned firms and immigrant woman‐owned businesses at start‐up. Unlike the native‐owned firms, the immigrant woman‐owned businesses rely more on loans from family members and less on bank loans.Practical implicationsThe results reveal that age has a positive impact on loans from family members, while the additional job outside one's own business, the amount of the owner's personal start‐up capital and firm size positively influenced access to capital from banks. The owners' level of education, previous business experience, the legal form taken by the firm and the industry affiliation conversely played no significant role in explaining the women owners' attitudes toward loans from either friends or the bank.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, this study is the first empirical investigation addressing this issue in the Swedish context.
Factors that influence Iranian students’ decision to choose accounting major
Authors: Dalcı İlhan , Araslı Huseyin , Tümer Mustafa , Baradarani Sarvnaz 
Published: June 2013

PurposeThe aim of this study is to explore whether there are statistically significant differences in the influence that various career‐choice factors may have on a decision to choose accounting and non‐accounting majors in Iran. The findings derived from this study could assist accounting educators and professional accounting bodies to understand the reasons why students may want to choose an accounting major. In this regard, the findings could help accounting academics and the policy makers in the accounting sector in Iran and in other similar countries develop appropriate strategies to attract proper students into the accounting programs and to recruit bright accounting graduates into the accounting profession.Design/methodology/approachAt the univariate level, t‐tests of significant differences were performed in order to investigate the similarities and differences between the accounting and non‐accounting students with respect to the importance placed on the career‐choice factors. At the multivariate level, discriminant analysis was conducted in order to find out the important determinants of the choice of an accounting major. Moreover, t‐test and ANOVA statistics were employed in order to explore whether differences in gender, age, and university affect each factor.FindingsThe results reveal that the accounting students attach profound importance to financial and job‐market factors and opinions of referents. Intrinsic factors, aptitude for and genuine interest in the subject, perception of the accounting course, and perception of the accounting profession are not found to have significant influence on students’ decision to major in accounting.Originality/valueThis study is unique in that it is the first empirical paper which explores Iranian students’ perceptions of the career‐choice factors in pursuing an accounting major.
Reinventing teaching in mathematics classrooms
Authors: Yuen Law Huk 
Published: June 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the way of how teaching in general and teaching of mathematics in particular can be reinvented by drawing on the perspective of pragmatism. Drawing on long‐standing traditions of John Dewey’s “laboratory model” of learning to teach and Charles Peirce’s semiotic view of scientific inquiry, the design of the lesson study can be reframed or extended through the methodological orientation to reinvention.Design/methodology/approachThe theoretical framework of reinvention for lesson study, following a pragmatic approach, might offer a methodological orientation for mathematics teachers to foster increased self‐awareness in improving their own practices. The conceptualisation of such an orientation, which leads to the reinventing of teaching in mathematics classrooms, begins with an examination of two pragmatic theories: Dewey's concept ofexperienceand Peirce's concept ofpractical belief and judgement. The methodological orientation for reinvention grounded on these concepts will then be outlined and elaborated.FindingsReinvention is a productive “triad of change” through which new possibilities of facilitating the student's learning can be created. Teachers will experience such change by experimenting with their students. In the context of teaching mathematics, reinventing teaching involves the action of an agent carrying out the conversions of mechanisms which bring forth achangeof language, thetransformationof gaze, and the moulding (themetamorphosis) of the individual who does the act of teaching.Originality/valueThe paper offers a theoretical framework of reinvention for lesson study through which teachers’ self‐awareness can be enhanced by improving their own practices. Through the undertaking of pedagogical experiments, teachers are becoming more aware of the need to learn from the learners in order to teach more effectively through the reinvention and unlearning of their own teaching.
Comparison of International Baccalaureate (IB) chemistry students’ preferred vs actual experience with a constructivist style of learning in a Moodle e‐learning environment
Authors: Jordan Carol 
Published: June 2013

PurposeConstructivism is a way of knowing where learners collaborate, reflect and use their own experiences to construct new knowledge. This paper aims to evaluate whether an open source Moodle e‐learning can deliver an instructional model using constructivist learning theories in an International Baccalaureate chemistry class.Design/methodology/approachA review of the literature shows that students’ learning outcomes online are likely to be better when their actual learning environment closely matches their preferred or ideal learning environment. An online learning survey was administered to the students towards the end of their two‐year course and the Wilcoxon signed rank test used to measure the difference between the student's actual and preferred experiences with the online activities that used constructivist theories.FindingsThe findings showed that the activities provided by Moodle do foster a constructivist approach to learning and can provide students with the types of learning experiences they desire. However, their effectiveness is to a large extent dependent on the teacher's role in designing and directing the online learning experience. This is significant because it implies that for an online learning environment to be successful, a strong pedagogical strategy that emphasizes a constructivist approach needs to be consistently emphasized and practiced; having the technology tools available does not guarantee this.Originality/valueThis paper's findings show that constructivism as a learning theory can be translated into practice, and used to design and deliver online learning experiences that provide students with a style of learning they prefer. However, the extent to which this is successful depends on the teacher's role in designing and directing the online learning experience. This is significant because to be successful a strong instructional strategy shaped by the beliefs of the teacher emphasizing a constructivist approach needs to be consistently emphasized.
Effects of benevolence, integrity, and ability on trust‐in‐supervisor
Authors: Poon June M.L. 
Published: June 2013

PurposeThis study aimed to examine the predictive effects of trustworthiness attributes (i.e. benevolence, integrity, and ability) on trust‐in‐supervisor.Design/methodology/approachA field survey using a structured questionnaire was used to gather data from 107 white‐collar employees from diverse organizations in Malaysia. The data were analysed using hierarchical multiple regression analysis.FindingsThe results showed that perceptions of supervisor benevolence, integrity, and ability predicted trust‐in‐supervisor both directly and interactively. Further analysis revealed that integrity and ability interacted in a compensatory manner to predict trust‐in‐supervisor when benevolence was high but not when it was low.Research limitations/implicationsStudy limitations include the use of self‐report cross‐sectional data. The findings underscore the importance of looking beyond statistical models that test only for main and two‐way interaction effects in research examining trustworthiness attributes. Researchers should consider examining three‐way interaction effects or run the risk of having a misspecified model. Also, research to determine the relative importance of trustworthiness attributes and the conditions under which one attribute is given more weight than another is needed.Practical implicationsSupervisors should be made aware of the importance of treating their subordinates with benevolence. Nevertheless, because benevolence is a necessary but insufficient condition for fostering trust, employers must ensure that their supervisors have high integrity and ability or, at the very least, one of these attributes.Originality/valueThis study highlighted the importance of examining higher order effects in research examining trustworthiness attributes and provides what is perhaps the first empirical test of how benevolence, integrity, and ability interact to predict trust‐in‐supervisor.
Branding employment related public policies: evidence from a non‐western context
Authors: Alserhan Baker Ahmad 
Published: June 2013

PurposeWhile the legislative side of workforce nationalization as a key target area for public policies has been extensively studied and scrutinized, the marketing side has not. It remains mostly overlooked, leaving both researchers and practitioners with little or no information to begin with. This “marketing” information gap represents the focus of this paper and it is exactly what the author aims to bridge.Design/methodology/approachA thorough analysis of how nationalization policy has been perceived by the UAE workforce was carried out and the results of that analysis were used to identify the core components of a balanced strategy that aims at enhancing the image of Emiratisation as a public brand, or a public offering, and hence improving the implementation of the policy i.e. increase the employability of citizens and, at the same time, retain the much‐needed expatriate workforce.FindingsThe study, which consisted of 180 interviews collected in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), revealed that workforce nationalization as a government offering has been inadequately branded by stakeholders and the government did not engage the branding process at any level. The branding part of the policy was not addressed at all. In effect, the policy was left on its own in that regard. As a result, “brand Emiratisation” now stands for mutual private‐public distrust, implementation difficulties, and serious misgivings about the nature of the policy.Originality/valueThis is the first study internationally to address labor nationalization policies from a marketing perspective. As such the results and discussions therein have wide implications for the employment decisions in organizations, particularly as the number of countries imposing restrictions on the employment of foreign workers continues to rise.
Evaluation of Malaysian mutual funds in the maximum drawdown risk measure framework
Authors: Reza Tavakoli Baghdadabad Mohammad , Glabadanidis Paskalis 
Published: June 2013

PurposeThis paper aims to evaluate the risk‐adjusted performance of the management styles of Malaysian mutual funds using nine modified performance evaluation measures generated by the maximum drawdown risk measure (M‐DRM) based on the modern portfolio theory. The purpose is to report the findings in a manner which is realizable by the average investors and portfolio managers.Design/methodology/approachThis paper evaluates the performance of more than 400 Malaysian mutual funds using risk‐adjusted returns over the two sub‐periods of 2000‐2005 and 2006‐2011. The M‐DRM, as a different measure from downside risk, is applied to improve nine risk‐adjusted performance measures of Sortino, Treynor, M‐squared, Jensen's alpha, information ratio (IR), MSR, upside partial ration (UPR), FPI, and leverage factor. It proposes a new single‐factor model to test the maximum drawdown beta and alpha in the M‐DRM framework.FindingsThe evidence clearly indicates that the replacement framework in terms of MDB, the maximum drawdown beta, and the maximum drawdown CAPM can be replaced by the conventional frameworks in terms of MVB, beta, and the CAPM and also MSB, downside beta, and D‐CAPM for modifying nine performance evaluation measures from the management styles of Malaysian mutual funds.Practical implicationsThe research evidence reported in this paper can be applied as input in the process of decision making by small and average investors and portfolio managers who are seeking the possibility of participating in the global stock market through mutual funds.Originality/valueThis paper is the first study to estimate a new regression model in the M‐DRM framework to evaluate the performance of Malaysian mutual funds. In addition, it proposes nine modified performance evaluation measures in the M‐DRM framework for the first time.
Perceived justice in South African airline and hospital industries: measurement model
Authors: De Meyer Christine F. , Petzer Daniel J. , Svari Sander , Svensson Göran 
Published: June 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe and test a construct of perceived justice from an airline and hospital industry perspective. Furthermore, the similarities and differences of perceived justice in negative service encounters within the airline and hospital setting, and the validity of the constructs in the two different contexts is investigated.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reports on the results obtained from a South African survey on respondents who experienced a negative service incident in the last year in the airline and hospital industries. The two service settings being used purposely to reveal possible differences in the constructs in settings where life and health are at risk compared to a more hedonistic service. Comparative and confirmatory testing of perceived justice during service encounters in a hospital and airline setting was performed.FindingsThree dimensions of the perceived justice construct tested in the airline and hospital service encounters presented a satisfactory fit and were found to be valid and reliable. The three dimensions are distributive, interactional and procedural justice.Research limitations/implicationsThe main research limitations of this paper include that the construct has only been tested on a sample consisting of specific customer‐firm service encounters in airlines and hospitals in South Africa, which may indicate less applicability in other contexts. Yet, the empirical findings provide a basis for future research to refine and extend corporate endeavors in managing negative incidents in both the health care and tourism industries.Practical implicationsThe findings indicate that the notion of perceived justice is the same regardless of service industry. However, the average perception of justice is lower within hospital than in the airline industry. The similarities within these two industries imply that cross‐industry strategies can be developed to understand and manage the perceived justice in negative service encounters based on three justice dimensions.Originality/valueThe paper adds value by complementing and fortifying current theory and research on the justice construct from a service encounter and complaint handling perspective. By comparing the justice hospital and airline industries, this paper contributes to and complements the overall field of study by identifying similarities and the applicability of the justice concept across service industries.
Examining technological innovation of Apple using patent analysis
Authors: Jun Sunghae , Sung Park Sang 
Published: June 2013

PurposeApple is a representative company of technological innovation (TI) and management. It has launched new and innovative products since 1977, and many companies and business schools around the world have attempted to learn about the success story of Apple's innovation. However, most previous research works on Apple's innovation have been based on qualitative approaches such as experts' opinions. Such studies offer a subjective point of view. By contrast, in this paper the authors aim to study the TI and forecasting of Apple by analyzing its patent applications, which is an objective approach to examining the innovation of Apple from a technological perspective.Design/methodology/approachTI is an important issue concerning technology management for companies and governments. To examine Apple's TI, the authors analyze all applied patents and construct analytical models according to three approaches. First, they build statistical models using the time series regression and multiple linear regression methods to create a technology map. Second, they cluster all Apple's patents to find its vacant technology domain. Lastly, they use social network analysis to search for technologies central to Apple's future.FindingsThe authors' study shows the technological trends and relations between Apple's technologies. This research finds vacant technology areas and central technologies for Apple's TI.Practical implicationsUsing statistical and machine learning methods, the authors analyze all Apple's patents in order to predict the firm's future technologies. This research contributes to examining the TI of Apple. Therefore, the results of the patent analysis can highlight the technological opportunities for Apple's TI.Originality/valueTraditional TI models have been based on qualitative methods. Previous investigations of Apple's TI have also relied on traditional analytical approaches. In this paper, however, the authors develop a quantitative and objective approach for examining Apple's TI.