bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Professional preparation for service quality and organizational excellence
Authors: Ngee Goh Thong 
Published: July 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this article is to examine some of the considerations in the preparation of professionals for service quality and organizational excellence.

Design/methodology/approach
– Effectiveness, rather than academic principles, is the basis of methodologies for quality excellence.

Findings
– The conventional approach to quality is rooted in manufacturing which has served its purpose, but is not necessarily effective in modern days.

Research limitations/implications
– The work is not based on empirical data, but on the rationale behind quality management.

Practical implications
– Reasoning of this paper would have important implications on the way education and training of future professionals are trained, especially those for quality of service.

Social implications
– The concept of “customer satisfaction” must be viewed in a different context vis-à-vis the new realities of globalization and importance of service industries.

Originality/value
– This is a subject that has not gained sufficient attention before, though the implications of education and training are far reaching.
Long-term prior return patterns in stock and sector returns in India
Authors: Sehgal Sanjay , Jain Sakshi 
Published: July 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to analyze long-term prior return patterns in stock returns for India.

Design/methodology/approach
– The methodology involves portfolio generation based on company characteristics and long-term prior return (24-60 months). The characteristic sorted portfolios are then regressed on risk factors using one factor (capital asset pricing model (CAPM)) and multi-factor model (Fama-French (FF) model and four factor model involving three FF factors and an additional sectoral momentum factor).

Findings
– After controlling for short-term momentum (up to 12 months) as documented by Sehgal and Jain (2011), the authors observe that weak reversals emerge for the sample stocks. The risk model CAPM fails to account for these long-run prior return patterns. FF three-factor model is able to explain long-term prior return patterns in stock returns with the exception of 36-12-12 strategy. The value factor plays an important role while the size factor does not explain cross-section of average returns. Momentum patterns exist in long-term sector returns, which are stronger for long-term portfolio formation periods. Further, the authors construct sector factor and observe that prior returns patterns in stock returns are partially absorbed by this factor.

Research limitations/implications
– The findings are relevant for investment analysts and portfolio managers who are continuously tracking global markets, including India, in pursuit of extra normal returns.

Originality/value
– The study contributes to the asset pricing and behavioral literature from emerging markets.
Innovation capability for SME success: perspectives of financial and operational performance
Authors: Saunila Minna 
Published: July 2014

Purpose
– The relationship between overall innovation and innovation capability, and performance has been a topic of several earlier studies. However, the effects of the aspects of innovation capability on performance of a firm have stayed unfamiliar. The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between organizational innovation capability and firm performance. The study contributes to the current understanding by presenting the important aspects of organizational innovation capability that affect firm performance. The effects are studied to both financial and operational performance.

Design/methodology/approach
– The approach of this study is quantitative. The data used to test the hypotheses were gathered from Finnish small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a web-based questionnaire. The sample covered 2,400 SMEs employing 11-249 persons and having a revenue of two to 50 Meuro. The sample was randomly selected.

Findings
– The findings showed that three aspects of innovation capability, namely ideation and organizing structures, participatory leadership culture, and know-how development, has some effect on different aspects of firm performance. Surprisingly, the aspects of innovation capability were found to be more influential to the financial performance than operational performance.

Practical implications
– The paper contains suggestions for improving performance through developing innovation capability. The paper aims to support practice in two ways. First, organizations can identify aspects of innovation capability that affect operational and financial performance. In that way, organizations can benefit the results by applying these aspects in their everyday operations. Second, the results of the paper may help professionals to begin to understand that leveraging innovation capability may improve an organization's performance.

Originality/value
– Previous research has often either concentrated on innovation capability as a one dimension without studying the relationship aspect by aspect or studying only the effects of one aspect of innovation capability. The results of the study take one step further by investigating the relationship of multiple aspects of innovation capability and firm performance.
The method in their madness: chaos, communication, and the D.C. snipers
Authors: Suzanne Horsley J. 
Published: July 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explicate chaos theory metaphorically from a social science perspective to expand upon a relatively new theoretical framework for crisis communication in the public sector. Using the 2002 Washington, DC, area sniper shootings as a case study, the author unravel chaos theory in terms of a public safety crisis that required crisis communication by government officials.Design/methodology/approach– The author analysed front-page coverage inThe Washington PostandThe New York Timesas well as CNN coverage during the three weeks of the sniper shootings, 2 October through 25 October. In total, 56 (69 per cent) of the newspaper stories were published inThe Washington Post, and 78 news segments were used from CNN archives. Each story was reviewed for evidence of chaotic elements and crisis communication responses using a code sheet, and the resulting thematic analysis created a composite description of the case.Findings– This case exhibited the main characteristics of a chaotic system, including fractals, error of scale, bifurcation points, self-organisation, feedback, and strange attractors. The results describe how each element of chaos influenced the crisis communication efforts.Originality/value– To date, there is no known research on law enforcement's efforts in crisis communication during the DC sniper shootings. There is also limited research in chaos theory and crisis response. This research may aid in communication efforts during future public safety crises and disasters.
Market efficiency and the basis in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme
Authors: Gregoriou Andros , Healy Jerome , Savvides Nicola 
Published: July 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the validity of the cost of carry model by examining the time series properties of the deviation between future and spot prices in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) over the time period 2005-2012. The paper utilizes a non-linear mean reverting adjustment mechanism, and discovers that although deviations of future from spot prices can exhibit a region of non-stationary behaviour, overall they are stationary indicating market efficiency in the trading of carbon permits.Design/methodology/approach– The methodology involves non-linear mean reverting unit root tests.Findings– The findings provide insights into the functioning of the EU-ETS market. They suggest that it is informationally efficient and does not permit arbitrage between spots and futures.Originality/value– The authors are the first study to examine efficiency in the EU-ETS by investigating the validity of the cost of carry model. The authors are also the only study to look at efficiency in both Phase I and Phase II of the scheme.
Software piracy, inequality and the poor: evidence from Africa
Authors: Asongu Simplice 
Published: July 2014

Purpose
– Poverty and inequality undoubtedly remain substantial challenges to economic and human developments amid growing emphasis on intellectual property rights (IPRs) (with recent advances in information and communication technology (ICTs)) and good governance. In the first empirical study on the incidence of piracy on inequality in Africa, the purpose of this paper is to examine how a plethora of factors (IPRs laws, education and ICTs and government quality) are instrumental in the piracy-inequality nexus.

Design/methodology/approach
– Two-stage least squares estimation approaches are applied in which piracy is instrumented with IPRs regimes (treaties), education and ICTs and government quality dynamics.

Findings
– The main finding suggests that, software piracy is good for the poor as it has a positive income-redistributive effect; consistent with economic and cultural considerations from recent literature. ICTs and education (dissemination of knowledge) are instrumental in this positive redistributive effect, while good governance mitigates inequality beyond the piracy channel.

Practical implications
– As a policy implication, in the adoption IPRs, sampled countries should take account of the role less stringent IPRs regimes play on income-redistribution through software piracy. Collateral benefits include among others, the cheap dissemination of knowledge through ICTs which African countries badly need in their quest to become “knowledge economies.” A caveat, however, is that, too much piracy may decrease incentives to innovate. Hence, the need to adopt tighter IPRs regimes in tandem with increasing income-equality.

Originality/value
– It is the first empirical assessment of the incidence of piracy on inequality in Africa: a continent with stubbornly high poverty and inequality rates.
Managing knowledge in IT projects: a framework for enterprise system implementation
Authors: Lech Przemyslaw 
Published: July 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this study is to explore the knowledge management (KM) perspective of information technology (IT) projects based on enterprise system (ES) implementations. The study determined what knowledge is needed in each of the project phases (what for, from what sources), how this knowledge is transformed during the project (what knowledge activities are performed concerning this knowledge) and what knowledge-related artifacts are created. A KM framework for ES projects is formulated based upon the results.

Design/methodology/approach
– The research has a qualitative exploratory design based on multiple data sources: documentation, semi-structured interviews and participant observation. A coding procedure was applied with the use of a pre-defined list of codes, as derived from KM literature regarding knowledge types, actors, project phases and activities. Open coding was used to determine the role of each type of knowledge in the implementation process.

Findings
– The study examined the significance of the particular types of knowledge of each project actor across the project phases, and identified the specific knowledge activities that need to be performed for a successful outcome. In contrast to existing literature, this study also demonstrates that project management knowledge consists of two components: generic and product-related. Meta-knowledge, i.e. knowledge about other people’s knowledge was also identified as critical in the initial phases of the project. Solution knowledge was identified as the primary knowledge product. It is the result of the integration of company and product knowledge and is embedded into the system.

Research limitations/implications
– The limitation of this study is that it concentrated on a specific type of the IT project, namely ES implementation. The results cannot be directly extrapolated to other IT projects.

Practical implications
– The results of the study may aid in effective staffing for ES implementations and in identifying the necessary knowledge sources. They may also enable the development of relevant KM procedures for a project.

Originality/value
– No comprehensive project KM framework for ES has been found in the existing KM literature, and this study fills this gap in the research.
The life and times of a senior scholar
Authors: Moore Karl 
Published: July 2014

Purpose
– This paper aims to interview a senior scholar to get their perspectives on the field, it’s history and future.

Design/methodology/approach
– A semi-structured in-depth interview was conducted.

Findings
– The interview reflects the changes in business schools over the interviewee’s decades of experience.

Research limitations/implications
– It is one person’s personal views, albeit, a person with very considerable success in the field of business studies.

Originality/value
– The interviewee offers a very unique perspective.
Rent review 2014
Authors: Dowden Malcolm 
Published: July 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this legal update is to examine the recent case law relating to rent review in England and Wales. The paper argues that as rent terms have reduced in length, and as market conditions have tended to produce nil-uplifts, there have been relatively few review cases before the court. Cases that reach court tend to fall into two broad categories: contractual interpretation and challenges to third-party determination.

Design/methodology/approach
– Review and analysis of case law in England and Wales.

Findings
– There are no special rules for interpreting rent review clauses. The court's approach to contractual interpretation follows House of Lords and Supreme Court rulings culminating in Rainy Sky SA v Kookmin Bank (2011). There are also very limited circumstances in which the court will set aside an arbitrator's award, informed by a policy that favours upholding arbitration awards as a quick and cost-effective way to settle rent review disputes.

Practical implications
– Rent review clauses must be interpreted in accordance with the normal rules of contractual interpretation. The court is unlikely to be swayed by submissions asserting the “general purpose” of rent review.

Originality/value
– This is an original analysis of case law.
Loss reserve variability and loss reserve errors
Authors: Nii Boi Quaye Enoch , Andoh Charles , Q.Q. Aboagye Anthony 
Published: July 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to assess the level and variability of Ghanaian property and liability insurer’s reserve estimates to examine its sources and ascertain if reserve errors are random or not (i.e. manipulated or not).Design/methodology/approach– It uses information on insurer claim reserve provisions, claims outstanding, claims incurred and claims paid for the period of 2000-2010. Categorizing the sources of variation as endogenous and exogenous, the authors use the panel correlated standard error regression model to determine sources and magnitude of industry reserve error.Findings– The study finds that size, age, lag of loss reserve error, inflation rate and real gross domestic product are significant in determining the degree of reserve error variation. Type of ownership (domestic or foreign) is, however, not a significant source of variation. Further, the authors found that industry reserve errors are random (not manipulated) across firms, suggesting that sampled insurers act independently on reserve error decision making and are not influenced by industry trends and competition.Research limitations/implications– The main research study limitation is the difficulty involved in obtaining annual statements from insurance companies in Ghana. Reluctance of companies to make statements available impeded on the smooth flow of the study during data collection.Practical implications– Policy-wise, this suggest that regulatory bodies can uniquely set reserve error levels for existing firms with little influence on competition. Further, the Ghanaian insurance regulator does not to focus on the type of ownership (foreign or local) when setting regulatory standards. However, size of the company and age (length of operation) should be considered.Originality/value– This paper is the first empirical study to examine the loss reserve error and loss reserve variability of Ghanaian property and liability insurance companies.
Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process for the selection of wastewater reuse targets
Authors: Chen Shan-Mei , Wu Yu-Ming , Yang Lei 
Published: July 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the principles on how to reuse the reclaimed wastewater in urban areas and furthermore, to determine appropriate reuse targets and optimize the selection of reuse targets on wastewater.

Design/methodology/approach
– Use Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to suggest the assessment criteria and subject weights of wastewater reuse. Candidate reclaimed wastewater reuse targets in this study includes “agriculture irrigation,” “industrial use,” “environmental use,” “urban use,” “groundwater recharge,” “life-use water,” and “infusion reservoir.”

Findings
– The analysis results of the pairwise comparison of the water targets under different assessment criteria level show that in all water targets, agriculture irrigation is more important than industrial use under the “public acceptance” at first. Then, the order results were used to suggest the future wastewater reuse targets under different assessment criteria levels and conducted an acceptance survey on the people of the urban areas.

Originality/value
– The results of this study can be a useful information for the system analysis of wastewater reclamation and reuse.
Semi-parametric identification of determinants of health expenditures – evidence from inpatients in China
Authors: Zeng Juying 
Published: July 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of average health expenditures for inpatients in China with national data for period 2002-2010 and regional data during 2005-2010.

Design/methodology/approach
– The semi-parametric framework is established to identify the determinants of health expenditures with local-constant least squares (LCLS) and local-linear least squares (LLLS) techniques. The LCLS technique aims to identify correlative determinants among all considered variables, and LLLS technique aims to further distinguish linear decisive and nonlinear control variables among all correlative determinants.

Findings
– First, root mean square error tends to decrease with irrelative variables smoothed out in regression model, validating the modelling reasonability of the semi-parametric approach. Second, the determinants of average health expenditures for inpatients exhibit considerable variation among regions despite the fact that governmental health expenditure, GDP per-capita, and urbanization do impact average health expenditures for inpatients to a certain extent. Third, both linear decisive and nonlinear control variables vary greatly with national, provincial, and regional data.

Practical implications
– First, the illiteracy rate should be further reduced nationally. Second, urbanization development and the average treatment number of inpatients for each physician per day should be strictly controlled in region A and C, respectively, in order to control average health expenditure for inpatients.

Originality/value
– First, the semi-parametric framework with LCLS and LLLS techniques allows for data structure-oriented model in regions rather than a uniform and definite model for underlying structure. Second, the research undertakes for the first time a comprehensive data analysis of the determinants of average health expenditures for inpatients with national and regional data in China.
Exploring the causes, symptoms and health consequences of joint and inverse states of work engagement and burnout
Authors: Moodie Scott , Dolan Simon , Burke Roland 
Published: July 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between the positive and negative psychological states of work (i.e. engagement and burnout, respectively) and their effects on an individual’s mental and physical health. This study analyzes their separate and joint manifestations. In total, 2,094 nurses were segmented into quadrants that represent a 50/50 median split on both engagement and burnout. The four resulting quadrants were then examined in a series of analyses including logistic regression and ANOVA.

Design/methodology/approach
– This is a cross-sectional study based on a very large survey (> 2,000 people) in Spain. Data were collected from nurses in collaboration with the official nurses corporations in half a dozen provinces in Spain. Data were analyzed in stages which included zero-item correlations and ANOVA to determine their independence and suitability for predicting states of engagement and burnout. This was followed by a series of binary logistic regression analyses.

Findings
– The findings suggested that engagement and burnout were generally inversely related (67 per cent of the sample) which is the conventional wisdom in this regard, but 33 per cent of the sample manifested concurrently at either extreme. Burnout was chiefly driven by work demands, as both quadrants of low burnout had lower demands and both quadrants of high burnout had higher demands. Engagement was primarily driven by resources and affinity. Social support acted independently (perhaps as a moderator) by aligning with states of burnout. Worker health was primarily driven by burnout, wherein both states of low burnout exhibited better health and both states of high burnout exhibited poorer health.

Originality/value
– Much of the current research on this topic considers engagement and burnout to be linear dimensions and focuses on building structural models of the precise relationships between variables. That approach is to be encouraged, but there is also a need to jointly deconstruct dimensions and relationships in a tactile manner that can inform future structural models. The secondary benefit of this approach is that these findings can be submitted directly to managers to provide an easily understood approach for assessments and interventions.