bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Motivations for issuing standalone CSR reports: a survey of Canadian firms
Authors: Thorne Linda , S. Mahoney Lois , Manetti Giacomo 
Published: June 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the companies’ motivations to issue or not issue voluntary standalone corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports in the Canadian context.Design/methodology/approach– The authors realized a questionnaire survey that asked Canadian companies why they do or do not issue standalone CSR reports, what their motivations and costs are, and the extent to which they comply with GRI guidelines.Findings– The results show that larger firms issue standalone CSR reports. As larger firms have more political visibility and are subject to greater external scrutiny than smaller firms (Watts and Zimmerman, 1986), the findings indicate that firms primarily issue standalone CSR reports in response to external scrutiny by stakeholders, which is consistent with a stakeholder perspective. The survey also identifies that ancillary motivations for Canadian firms for issuing standalone CSR reports are consistent with legitimacy and signalling perspectives.Research limitations/implications– The authors acknowledge that the generalizability of the findings is limited due to the sample being situated within a single national context. The inferences drawn from such a sample in Canada may not be applicable to other countries with different national institutional contexts. In addition, the small size of the sample may limit the generalizability of the findings. The authors also did not specifically consider the quality of the CSR reports in the study. Finally, the work may be affected by the inherent weaknesses associated with survey research, including the inherent bias of the individuals responding to the survey.Originality/value– The research adds to the growing body of research on voluntary CSR disclosures, with particular reference to the Canadian context.
Improving customer retention management through cost-sensitive learning
Authors: Coussement Kristof 
Published: June 2014

Purpose
– Retailers realize that customer churn detection is a critical success factor. However, no research study has taken into consideration that misclassifying a customer as a non-churner (i.e. predicting that (s)he will not leave the company, while in reality (s)he does) results in higher costs than predicting that a staying customer will churn. The aim of this paper is to examine the prediction performance of various cost-sensitive methodologies (direct minimum expected cost (DMECC), metacost, thresholding and weighting) that incorporate these different costs of misclassifying customers in predicting churn.

Design/methodology/approach
– Cost-sensitive methodologies are benchmarked on six real-life churn datasets from the retail industry.

Findings
– This article argues that total misclassification cost, as a churn prediction evaluation measure, is crucial as input for optimizing consumer decision making. The practical classification threshold of 0.5 for churn probabilities (i.e. when the churn probability is greater than 0.5, the customer is predicted as a churner, and otherwise as a non-churner) offers the worst performance. The provided managerial guidelines suggest when to use each cost-sensitive method, depending on churn levels and the cost level discrepancy between misclassifying churners versus non-churners.

Practical implications
– This research emphasizes the importance of cost-sensitive learning to improve customer retention management in the retail context.

Originality/value
– This article is the first to use the concept of misclassification costs in a churn prediction setting, and to offer recommendations about the circumstances in which marketing managers should use specific cost-sensitive methodologies.
E-relationship marketing: a cognitive mapping introspection in the banking sector
Authors: Brun Isabelle , Durif Fabien , Ricard Line 
Published: June 2014

Purpose– The aim of this paper is to explore and better understand e-relationship marketing and to identify elements (key concepts) that are predominant to ensure success via the internet.Design/methodology/approach– The exploratory cognitive mapping technique (Cossette, 2004) employs three types of respondents, namely a banking expert, online banking customer and academic expert.Findings– The study points up similarities with traditional relationship marketing (e.g. satisfaction, commitment by bank) and identifies several new concepts spawned by the web-based environment. More precisely, the study highlights the importance of the simplicity and ease of the customer's web experience.Research limitations/implications– The exploratory and qualitative nature of this study opens the door to validation with a broader sample using a self-administered questionnaire developed based on the cognitive mapping technique.Practical implications– In addition to guaranteeing customer satisfaction, it is important: that customers perceive the bank's investment in and commitment to the e-relationship strategy; and, that customers enjoy a highly positive web experience (e.g. perceived quality of site and ease-of-use).Originality/value– Research findings result in an enhanced understanding of e-relationship marketing. Also, given the combination of sparse use of cognitive mapping in marketing and investigation of three different types of subjects (banking expert, online banking customer and academic expert), the findings lend originality while making a substantive theoretical contribution to topical literature.
A customer lifetime value model for the banking industry: a guide to marketing actions
Authors: Ekinci Yeliz , Uray Nimet , Ülengin Füsun 
Published: June 2014

Purpose
– The aim of this study is to develop an applicable and detailed model for customer lifetime value (CLV) and to highlight the most important indicators relevant for a specific industry – namely the banking sector.

Design/methodology/approach
– This study compares the results of the least square estimation (LSE) and artificial neural network (ANN) in order to select the best performing forecasting tool to predict the potential CLV. The performances of the models are compared by the hit ratio, which is calculated by grouping the customers as “top 20 per cent” and “bottom 80 per cent” profitable.

Findings
– Due to its higher performance; LSE based linear regression model is selected. The results are found to be highly competitive compared with the previous studies. This study shows that, beside the indicators mostly used in the literature in measuring CLV, two additional groups, namely monetary value and risk of certain bank services, as well as product/service ownership-related indicators, are also significant factors.

Practical implications
– Organisations in the banking sector have to persuade their customers to use certain routine risk-bearing transaction-based services. In addition, the product development strategy has a crucial role to increase the CLV of customers because some of the product-related variables directly increase the value of customers.

Originality/value
– The proposed model predicts potential value of current customers rather than measuring current value considered in the majority of previous studies. It eliminates the limitations and drawbacks of the majority of models in the literature through simple and industry-specific method which is based on easily measurable and objective indicators.
Addressing utilization of the ICDS programme in Tamil Nadu, India: how class and caste matters
Authors: Diwakar G. Dilip 
Published: June 2014

Purpose
– The reduction in under nutrition is very slow in the past two decades in India even with high-economic growth rate and expansion in the ICDS programme. The ICDS evaluation studies majorly stressed on the general factors but they fail to acknowledge the structural factors - class and caste - while providing solutions. In Tamil Nadu nutritional status and utilization of ICDS services are better as compared to all-India average. The purpose of this paper is to explore the nutritional status of the poor and scheduled caste (SC) in Tamil Nadu and their utilization of ICDS services and to examine the role of group-specific factors in low reduction of nutritional status and utilization of ICDS programme.

Design/methodology/approach
– Multivariate analysis and logistic regression method were used using SPSS.

Findings
– The reduction of underweight is slow among the poorest and SC, moreover, the disparity between the richest and poorest as well as upper caste and SC is increasing. Logistic regression analysis shows that the poorest are marginalized, children belonging to poorer income group have higher chances of using the ICDS than the poorest and it is significant. After making the wealth quintile constant, the utilization of ICDS services across social groups showed that, though the poorest quintile has less access, within them the SC had utilized less compared to the other backward class (OBC). This indicates the poorest SCs are more vulnerable and marginalized across all quintiles and social groups.

Research limitations/implications
– In Tamil Nadu there is no sufficient sample of other caste/tribe and scheduled tribe. It would have given more insight on the utilization pattern. Lack of qualitative data has limited in explaining few phenomena to get more insight.

Social implications
– It will help the government to formulate more inclusive policy and address the issue of exclusion of marginalized people.

Originality/value
– The main core argument was based on the Tamil Nadu National Family Health Survey (NFHS) III unit-level data.
Slurry erosion performance of CeO2-modified Ni–WC coatings
Authors: Purkayastha Surajit , Kumar Dwivedi Dheerendra 
Published: June 2014

Purpose
– This paper aims to deal with the study of effect of cerium oxide (CeO2) modification on the sand slurry erosion resistance of Ni – tungsten carbide (WC) coatings.

Design/methodology/approach
– Flame-sprayed conventional and CeO2-modified Ni–WC coatings were developed on a mild steel substrate. Slurry erosion tests were carried out in an in-house-designed and fabricated pot-type slurry erosion test rig to evaluate wear behavior of conventional and modified coatings. The erosive wear test was conducted using 5 per cent silica sand slurry at 850 rpm.

Findings
– Modified coatings exhibited increased hardness as compared to the conventional coating. Slurry erosion resistance of most modified coatings was superior to that of the unmodified coating. Hardness of coating doped with 0.9 per cent CeO2 was highest among all coatings, and concomitantly this composition also showed the least wear. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that microcutting was much less in the modified coating.

Originality/value
– Slurry erosion wear of Ni–WC flame-sprayed coatings in sand slurry media is substantiated by extensive SEM study.
What happens to the “hand that rocked the cradle”? A study of elderly abuse in India
Authors: Bhattacharya Sonali , Bhattacharya Shubhasheesh 
Published: June 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to analyse the possible causes of elderly abuse in India and its repercussions for the society, based on the real cases and reports.Design/methodology/approach– A multiple case study approach has been used for the study sourced from archival newspaper reports, crime reports, and narration.Findings– Greater vigilance and more effective legislation would be required to solve the problem related to elder abuse.Originality/value– There is not much study of causes, consequences, effectiveness of the legal system with respect to elderly abuse in India. In that way, it will be a unique contribution.
Factors affecting online community commitment in China: a conceptual framework
Authors: Zhou Yuan , Amin Muslim 
Published: June 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this study is to introduce a conceptual framework for identifying the antecedents that affect members' online community commitment in the context of China. Understanding members' online community behaviour is important for e-marketers as it has been predicted that the online communities bring new opportunities and challenges to the business.

Design/methodology/approach
– The framework is derived from the resource-based perspective. It addresses the main variables and explains the key stages of conducting the study.

Findings
– This study conducted a suitable process to develop the framework which identifies the antecedents of members' online community commitment. In recent years, the social media has captured a major part of people's daily communication and internet users actively participate in the online community activities; therefore, understanding the factors influence members' online community engagement and commitment is perceived to positively capture the online market.

Research limitations/implications
– This study proposes a conceptual framework of the antecedents of individual's online community commitment in the context of China on the basis of the previous research in this domain. An empirical study will be beneficial in supporting this framework and suggesting needed modifications.

Originality/value
– The study provides a more holistic understanding of the factors that influence members' online community commitment. It identifies antecedents from two perspectives: individual psychological attachment and online community characteristics influence.
CHALCO: building a global brand while passing industry crisis
Authors: Sam Al-Kwifi Osama , U. Ahmed Zafar 
Published: June 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this study is to explore the strategies that companies could adopt to build a global brand during industry turbulence. CHALCO company was selected as a case study to conduct this research.

Design/methodology/approach
– A multi-faceted approach to data collection is used to demonstrate that a company strategy in the form of targeted global branding is the main factor behind success. CHALCO annual reports and public announcements were collected and analyzed. Different secondary sources are exploited to confirm the research results and explore industry structure.

Findings
– Results show that CHALCO is building a global brand by adopting master brand Strategy, in which the company is focusing on a straightforward strategy with two components: develop CHALCO as a strong master brand and remain to support the sub-brands. To achieve this strategy, CHALCO were seeking more innovations to reach better quality and reliability.

Originality/value
– The literature reports considerable research that investigates global branding. However, this case study presents practical example of how companies can build global branding in turbulent environment.
“With recruitment I always feel I need to listen to my gut”: the role of intuition in employee selection
Authors: Miles Andrew , Sadler-Smith Eugene 
Published: June 2014

Purpose– This qualitative study of managers’ use of intuition in the selection process aimed to understand if and how managers use intuition in employee hiring decisions and suggest ways in which the use of intuition might be improved. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach– Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with managers from a range of backgrounds, and with varying experience of recruitment and selection.Findings– Findings revealed that reasons for the use of intuition included personal preferences, resource constraints and recognition of the limitations of more structured approaches. Intuition was used an indicator for performance, personality and person-environment fit. Intuition tended to be used with requisite caution; participants were aware of its limits, the potential for bias and the difficulties in justifying its use; several participants used their intuitions in concert with more structured, non-intuition based approaches.Research limitations/implications– The small-scale investigative study has limited generalisability. The paper concludes with five specific recommendations on how to improve managers’ understanding and use of intuition in employee selection.Originality/value– Despite increased interest in intuition in management there is a paucity of qualitative studies of intuition-in-use in management in general and in personnel in particular. This research helps to fill this gap.
Quality in qualitative management accounting research
Authors: Nørreklit Hanne 
Published: June 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the quality ofQualitative Research in Accounting & Management(QRAM) is manifested through the conceptualization of knowledge about functioning actions that are applicable for local management accounting practices.Design/methodology/approach– Drawing on language game theory and pragmatic constructivism, the paper analyzes the “practice doing” embedded in key language games of the case descriptions of three articles on intra-organizational buyer-supplier relations published inQRAMwith the aim of revealing how they contribute to the development of a performativity in management accounting topos that integrates facts, possibilities, values and communication.Findings– The analysis documents that the threeQRAMarticles on inter-organizational cost management make a common contribution to the knowledge related to what to do to make functional actions within the practice of inter-organizational cost management. Together, the articles provide conceptual rigour with a complexity in content that can encompass the four dimensions of integration.Research limitations/implications– In providing a framework for analyzing practice relevance, the paper has implications for contemporary discussions on doing research that is relevant for practice.Originality/value– The paper provides novel insight into the analysis of quality in management accounting research. Additionally, it provides a framework for reflecting on the accumulation of practice-relevant knowledge and identifying areas requiring more research.
“What's in a name”: or why create another journal?
Authors: Hooper Keith 
Published: June 2014

Purpose– This paper aims to sets out to provide encouragement to new researchers and challenge the widespread belief that in order to get published you need to travel on the coat tails of a Big Name in accounting research. With this in mind, the argument is that a key contribution ofQualitative Research in Accounting & Management(QRAM) has been to provide such encouragement.Design/methodology/approach– The approach is conceptual and theoretical employing the theories of Bourdieu on social dominance and status, and the work of Plantinga on the nature of perception and belief.Findings– These take the form of an argument that all social fields are structured so that levels of dominance are inevitable given the disposition (or habitus) of actors in the field to be so structured. Thus, the structure awards capital, in the form of status, while denying capital to others. Coupled with this human tendency to form structured fields is a reasoning that is inductive, and, as Plantinga points out, based on underlying beliefs and perceptions.Originality/value– Hopefully, this paper will prove controversial with many denying that in the liberal environment of accounting research something less than an egalitarian meritocracy could possibly exist. It is piously hoped, however, that among “lowly” researchers the paper will strike a chord that resonates.
A pragmatic view on engaged scholarship in accounting research
Authors: J. ter Bogt Henk , Jan van Helden G. 
Published: June 2014

Purpose
– This paper aims to discuss the question of how the possible gaps between academic and practical accounting research can be reduced and how academics could make a contribution to solving the practical problems of organizations.

Design/methodology/approach
– A reflection on Van de Ven and Johnson's ideas about “engaged scholarship” as a way for overcoming the gap between academic and practical knowledge creation, illustrated with examples coming from public sector accounting research.

Findings
– Although academic consultant/researchers, who conduct research of direct relevance to practice, ideally must have research objectives in mind that go beyond the practical problems of the organization in order to address academically relevant goals, this is often not feasible. This is due to the fact that academically relevant research questions can often only be identified when a practice-oriented research project has already taken shape. The authors argue and illustrate that a pragmatic form of engaged scholarship in public sector accounting research implies that such research results in a variety of outputs. Some of the outputs will have direct relevance to the practitioners and others to the academics involved, whilst the outputs that are relevant to each of these two groups will only partly show connections and overlaps.

Practical implications
– The preoccupation of academic researchers with publications in high-ranking journals, due to pressures from their universities and peer groups, threatens research projects with a potential relevance for practice, because their publication opportunities are uncertain in advance. The authors welcome researchers who want to take this type of risk, and the authors challenge university officials and journal editors to broaden their view on excellence in research beyond the scope of their traditional academic domains.

Originality/value
– The paper offers a realistic way out of serving two seemingly different research goals, practice-relevance and academic rigour.
Qualitative management accounting research in QRAM: some reflections
Authors: Burns John 
Published: June 2014

Purpose
– This paper aims to offer a brief personal reflection upon, and celebrates, the 10th anniversary of Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management (QRAM). More specifically, the author highlights the journal's contributions towards advancing qualitative management accounting research over the last decade, and the author suggests possible future avenues.

Design/methodology/approach
– This short paper mainly constitutes a review of qualitative management accounting articles published in the first ten years of QRAM's publishing life, plus some personal reflection and suggestions for future directions.

Findings
– The author celebrates the impressive achievements of QRAM's founding editors, and the author is encouraged to offer the personal views on how the journal might excel further in years to come.

Research limitations/implications
– Although the piece is primarily personal reflection, there is hopefully some food for thought with regard to fruitful directions in tomorrow's qualitative management accounting research. In particular, arguments are made for more undertaking of processual qualitative research and also for more targeted focus on the connections between management accounting and other relevant disciplines such as management and organisation studies.

Practical implications
– The paper offers no practical implications as such, but does discuss, and in fact heeds some caution against, the apparent trend of (possibly too uncritically) seeking to tease out practical implications from qualitative management accounting research.

Social implications
– Again, while this paper offers no specific discussion on its social implications, the author would add that any qualitative management accounting research paper inherently carries at least some implications for society; management accounting and the wider society are continually intertwined through time.

Originality/value
– The author would not claim that there is much that is original in this short piece – most of what is offered simply gathers others' past contributions. But hopefully there will be some values in the ideas offered with regard to the exciting future ahead for qualitative management accounting research in QRAM.