bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Brand counter‐extensions for fight‐back and appeal strategies
Authors: Chang Kuei‐Feng , Yang Hao‐Wei 
Published: May 2013

PurposeFaced with the aggressive and invasive behavior of a competitor, it is necessary for a firm to adopt strategies to protect its market share. This study aims to examine brand counter‐extension strategy as a means of fighting back against strong competitors.Design/methodology/approachThe study applies a measure of conditions among competitors, namely market position and extension outcome, as well a firm's own technological capability, in order to develop the fight‐back strategy of brand counter‐extensions.FindingsThe results verify that utilizing a competitor's market position does not help in the firm's brand counter‐extension, although the outcome of the competitor's previous successful extension could facilitate it.Practical implicationsTwo practical implications could be addressed to enable firms to utilize their competitors' conditions: first, to utilize the competitor's market position to enter a new market at the introduction stage of a product's life cycle; second, to utilize the outcome of a competitor's brand extension to build support for a new product at the growth stage of its life cycle; a two‐step appeal strategy with the aim of learning the degree of support and purchase intention of consumers.Originality/valueThis study proposes that the strength of the firm's technological capability is critical for a successful counter‐extension. Moreover, the combination of successful experience and technological capability could enhance a customer's intention to purchase.
Impact of service quality dimensions on the formation of customer value in B to B services
Authors: Munnukka Juha , Järvi Pentti , Outi Uusitalo 
Published: May 2013

PurposeCustomer and value‐oriented business strategies are increasingly important in the context of business to business services. However, little is known about the construction of customer value of B to B services. Also the influences of specific dimensions of service quality on customer value are open to debate. This study aims to explore the construction of customer value of B to B services, and to examine how specific dimensions of service quality contribute to customer value.Design/methodology/approachThe research data consists of 90 questionnaires which were collected through the structured interview method among Finnish business organizations. Hypothesis testing was conducted through linear multiple‐regression analysis.FindingsThe results suggest that customer value of B to B services is composed of attribute and consequence level elements. Reliability, responsiveness, and assurance were found as the key contributors of consequence level customer value. Attribute level customer value is affected by empathy, responsiveness and assurance dimensions of service quality. Thus, by focusing on right dimensions of service quality organizations are most effectively able to cultivate customer value.Originality/valueThe study identifies the dimensional structure of customer value and suggests a detailed method to investigate the relationship between service quality and customer value.
Organizational policy as a moderator between online social networking and job performance
Authors: Wickramasinghe Vathsala , Nisaf M.S.M. 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating effect of organizational policy on the relationship between online social networking (OSN) and job performance of IT professionals engaged full‐time in offshore outsourced IT firms in Sri Lanka.Design/methodology/approachSurvey methodology was used and a random sample of 215 respondents who fulfilled the selection criteria set for the study, responded. To examine the hypothesized relationships, factor analysis and multiple regression were used.FindingsIt was found that individuals engaged in online social networking while at work enjoy several benefits such as solving work‐related problems collaboratively. However, individuals also suffer from several drawbacks, which could be mainly categorized into two in terms of interference to job tasks and interference to workplace. Further, it was found that online social networking has significant effects on individual job performance; organizational policy moderates the relationship between online social networking and job performance.Originality/valueAlthough online social networking has attracted a substantial amount of media attention over the last few years empirical research attempts have not taken off worldwide. Therefore, the influence of online social networking on employee job performance would be of interest to academics and practitioners worldwide. It is expected that the findings of this study will provide insight into benefits, challenges and issues associated with OSN to allow individuals, organizational leaders, and IT decision‐makers to better understand and utilize online social structures for success. Further, it is expected that the findings of this study will be a source of general guidance in stimulating future research in this area.
The Latin American path towards digitization
Authors: Katz Raul L. , Koutroumpis Pantelis , Callorda Fernando 
Published: May 2013

PurposeDigitization is defined as the social transformation triggered by the massive adoption of digital technologies to generate, process, share and transact information. This paper seeks to present a methodology followed to calculate the Digitization Index, a concept originally developed by Booz & Company, the global management consulting firm, with the support of the authors.Design/methodology/approachThis index consists of six elements capturing Ubiquity, Affordability, Reliability, Speed, Usability and Skill and 24 sub‐indicators measuring tangible parameters of perceived digitization metrics.FindingsThe index indicates that countries are clustered as Digitally Constrained, Emerging, Transitional or Advanced, with varying degrees of contribution of digitization to economic growth. The Index is used to assess the situation of Latin American countries in terms of their progression to digitally advanced societies. In this context, the areas to focus on in the formulation of Latin America digital agenda are outlined.Originality/valueUntil now, most indices that measure progress towards this new era have focused primarily on metrics such as wireless telephony penetration, access to the internet and broadband adoption. The paper argues that these indices, even those that are more comprehensive in scope (Network Readiness Index by the World Economic Forum, or the Digital Opportunity Index by the International Telecommunication Union) capture only a portion of the ongoing transformations.
Excess volatility and closed‐end fund discounts
Authors: Bleaney Michael , Todd Smith R. 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the conditions under which discount risk leads to closed‐end funds trading at a discount.Design/methodology/approachA model of investor portfolio choice is developed in which investors face proportional fees for holding managed funds but fixed transaction fees for purchasing other risky assets. The conditions under which investors will hold shares in closed‐end funds are derived.FindingsIt is shown that, with fixed transaction costs in the market for risky assets, investors with wealth below a certain threshold will hold pooled index funds that charge a proportional fee, rather than the market portfolio chosen by wealthier investors. If a portfolio of closed‐end index funds yields greater volatility of returns to investors than open‐end index funds (i.e. displays “excess volatility”), and charges the same fees, the closed‐end funds need to trade at a discount in equilibrium to attract buyers. The same applies to actively managed funds if higher fees fully reflect extra expected returns from the managers' skill.Practical implicationsA primary determinant of closed‐end fund discounts is discount volatility and co‐movement across funds.Originality/valueUntil now it has been argued that discount risk needs to be systematic (correlated with market returns) to be priced. The evidence that discount risk is systematic is weak. There is strong empirical evidence of excess volatility and co‐movement of discounts across closed‐end funds, which in our model are a sufficient condition for funds to trade at a discount, under plausible assumptions. This model thus provides a stronger argument that discount risk explains why discounts exist.
Computational investigation of shock‐mitigation efficacy of polyurea when used in a combat helmet
Authors: Grujicic M. , Arakere A. , Pandurangan B. , Grujicic A. , Littlestone A. , Barsoum R. 
Published: May 2013

PurposePolyurea falls into a category of elastomeric co‐polymers in which, due to the presence of strong hydrogen bonding, the microstructure is of a heterogeneous nature and consists of a compliant/soft matrix and stiff/hard nanometer size hard domains. Recent investigations have shown that the use of polyurea as an external or internal coating/lining had substantially improved ballistic‐penetration resistance of metallic structures. The present work aims to use computational methods and tools in order to assess the shock‐mitigation ability of polyurea when used in the construction of different components (suspension‐pads, internal lining and external coating) of a combat helmet.Design/methodology/approachShock‐mitigation capability of combat helmets has become an important functional requirement as shock‐ingress into the intra‐cranial cavity is known to be one of the main causes of traumatic brain injury (TBI). To assess the shock mitigation capability of polyurea, a combined Eulerian/Lagrangian fluid/solid transient non‐linear dynamics computational analysis of an air/helmet/head core sample is carried out and the temporal evolution of the axial stress and particle velocities (for different polyurea augmented helmet designs) are monitored.FindingsThe results obtained show that improvements in the shock‐mitigation performance of the helmet are obtained only in the case when polyurea is used as a helmet internal lining and that these improvements are relatively small. In addition, polyurea is found to slightly outperform conventional helmet foam, but only under relatively strong (greater than five atm) blastwave peak overpressures.Originality/valueThe present approach studies the effect of internal linings and external coatings on combat helmet blast mitigation performance.
Optimizing fusion zone grain size and hardness of pulsed current micro plasma arc welded Inconel625 sheets using Hooke and Jeeves Algorithm
Authors: Siva Prasad Kondapalli , Srinivasa Rao Chalamalasetti , Nageswara Rao Damera 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to optimize the fusion zone grain size and hardness using Hooke and Jeeves Algorithm.Design/methodology/approachExperiments are conducted as per four factors, five levels response surface method based central composite design matrix. Empirical relations for predicting grain size and harness are developed. The effect of welding variables on grain size and hardness are studies. Grain size and hardness are optimised using Hooke and Jeeves Algorithm.FindingsThe developed empirical relations can be effectively used to predict grain size and hardness values of micro plasma arc welded Inconel 625 sheets. The values of grain size and hardness obtained by Hooke and Jeeves Algorithm matches with experimental values with great accuracy.Research limitations/implicationsThe developed mathematical models are valid for 0.25 mm thick Inconel 625 sheets only.Practical implicationsIn the present paper only four important factors namely peak current, back current, pulse rate and pulse width are considered, however one may consider other parameters like plasma gas flow rate, shielding gas flow rate, etc.Originality/valueThe present work is very much useful to sheet metal industries manufacturing metal bellows, diaphragms, etc.
Stories from the lived and living fieldwork process
Authors: Cole Courtney E. 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a more expansive recounting of the process of fieldwork, taking place over a number of years in diverse locations, in order to show how research design develops through the process of field research, as well as to highlight the complexity of fieldwork, especially issues of access, identity, and power.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on the author's fieldwork experiences in Sierra Leone, working from and expanding upon fieldnotes from time in the field. Reflexive, autoethnographic personal narratives of fieldwork experiences are juxtaposed with theoretical writing about ethnographic observation and qualitative research.FindingsThe expansive discussion of the process of fieldwork and the development of the research project through time demonstrates and explicates the complexity and temporal dimensions of qualitative field research. Issues of access, identities, and power/privilege are also crucial aspects of the fieldwork process.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper shows the importance of acknowledging and articulating the development of fieldwork and research design over time and in different places. It also discusses the complexity of fieldwork due to issues of access, identity, and power. Its claims are limited by its focus on one case, the author's fieldwork.Social implicationsThis piece will help members of society better understand the process of qualitative fieldwork. Given its format and writing style, this piece can be easily read and understood by interested members of the public.Originality/valueThis paper provides narratives and commentary that provide a more complete picture of the practice of field research and the development of research design over the course of time and in diverse locations. This will be valuable to researchers, especially those preparing for field experiences for the first time or for their first time in a particular field, as well as students interested in learning about qualitative fieldwork practices.
Agricultural trade and farm employment in China during 1994‐2009
Authors: Zhu Jing , Zhang Shu , Yu Wusheng 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThis paper therefore aims at systematically estimating the agricultural trade induced farm employment effects in China.Design/methodology/approachUsing detailed agricultural trade and production data during 1994‐2009, the authors estimate the “labor contents” of agricultural trade flows and use these estimates to compute the farm employment effects.FindingsThe authors find that China's agricultural trade has indeed generally developed along its widely believed comparative advantages and disadvantages; however, the farm employment “creation” effect due to labor‐intensive exports has actually been dominated by the employment “substitution” effect due to increased land‐intensive imports, thereby mostly resulting in negative net farm employment in the post‐WTO accession era.Originality/valueFindings from this first systematic attempt to estimate the trade‐induced farm employment effects do not lend support to the popular notion that increased agricultural trade would help increase farm employment and have important implications for evaluating current and future trade policy in China and elsewhere.
Project design, village governance and infrastructure quality in rural China
Authors: Liu Chengfang , Zhang Linxiu , Huang Jikun , Luo Renfu , Yi Hongmei , Shi Yaojiang , Rozelle Scott 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThis paper aims to explain why the quality of infrastructure projects in rural China differs from village to village and how project quality is correlated with project design attributes and governance factors.Design/methodology/approachUsing primary data collected by the authors on three types of infrastructure projects in villages across China, they created measures of project quality for each village. They then used both descriptive and multivariate approaches to examine how quality varies from village to village and factors correlated with quality.FindingsBetween‐project within‐village quality differences are small and project design has little explanatory power. Between‐village variations are large. There are strong correlations between the ways villages govern themselves and project quality. The authors conclude that it is difficult to make good projects work in communities that lack good governance.Originality/valueDisaggregated data on the quality of infrastructure (and its determinants) were collected by the authors to allow for variation in the type of infrastructure projects (roads, irrigation, and drinking water) and variation in village governance, making it possible to identify and contrast the effects of project design and village governance factors on project quality. As its chief contribution, this work identifies potential ways to improve the quality of infrastructure projects in rural development.
Optimal investing stopping in stochastic environment
Authors: Xu Shuang , Zhang Ran 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how to determine optimal investing stopping time in a stochastic environment, such as with stochastic returns, stochastic interest rate and stochastic expected growth rate.Design/methodology/approachTransformation method was used for solving optimal stopping problem by providing a way to transform path‐dependent problem into a path‐independent one. Based on option pricing theory, optimal investing stopping time was thought of as an optimal executed timing problem of American‐style option.FindingsFirst, the authors transform a path‐dependent stop timing problem to a path‐independent one with transformation under very general conditions, to directly use the existing conclusion of optimal stopping time literature. Second, when dynamics of capital growth is homogeneous, the authors changed the two dimensional optimal stop timing problem into a single dimension problem based on the assumption of zero exercise costs. Third, the authors investigated the comparative dynamics about asset selling boundary on asset value, state variable and return predictability. With constant discount rate and growth rate, the optimal selling timing depends on the simple comparison between capital cost and growth rate.Originality/valueThe paper's contributions to analysis method may be as follows. The authors demonstrate how to transform a path‐dependent stopping problem into a path‐independent one under general conditions. The transform method in this article can be applied to other path‐dependent optimal stopping problems. In particular, a Riccati ordinary differential equation for the transformation is set up. In most examples commonly met in finance, the equation can be solved explicitly.
An empirical study of the pricing of reverse floating interest rate‐linked products
Authors: Tian Yi‐xiang , Yang Qiu‐ping , Yuan Jing‐tao 
Published: May 2013

PurposeReverse floating interest rate‐linked structured products are important innovative products for investors to achieve a relatively high yield at low interest rates, and the reasonable pricing of such products is an important factor to influence investors' needs and issuers' profits. The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the rationality of the pricing of reverse floating interest rate‐linked products.Design/methodology/approachThis paper combines the Itô's Lemma and introduces the Black‐Derman‐Toy (BDT) model into the time‐varying volatility to build a binary tree interest rates BDT model under the time‐varying volatility, and to establish the pricing model of reverse floating interest rate‐linked products. Dozens of product data of ABN AMRO Bank and other world‐renowned banks or financial institutions are empirically analyzed.FindingsThe results show that the average pricing of these products is high, and the expected rate of return of the product is lower than the same period of the Five‐year US Treasury Bill rate.Originality/valueThis paper has combined the theory and practice together. The research method described in this paper is of significance to the pricing of interest rate‐linked structured products, and the pricing method of binary tree BDT model to solve the term structure of interest rates and estimation problem of volatility term structure of interest rates.
The impact of adolescent stuttering and other speech problems on psychological well‐being in adulthood: evidence from a birth cohort study
Authors: McAllister Jan , Collier Jacqueline , Shepstone Lee 
Published: May 2013

AbstractBackgroundDevelopmental stuttering is associated with increased risk of psychological distress and mental health difficulties. Less is known about the impact of other developmental speech problems on psychological outcomes, or the impact of stuttering and speech problems once other predictors have been adjusted for.AimsTo determine the impact of parent‐reported adolescent stuttering and other speech difficulties on psychological distress and associated symptoms as measured by the Rutter Malaise Inventory.Method & ProceduresA British birth cohort dataset provided information about 217 cohort members who stuttered and 301 cohort members who had other kinds of speech problem at age 16 according to parental report, and 15,694 cohort members who had experienced neither stuttering nor other speech difficulties. The main analyses concerned associations between adolescent stuttering or speech difficulty and score on the Rutter Malaise Inventory at age 42. Other factors that had previously been shown to be associated with score on the Malaise Inventory were also included in the analyses.Outcomes & ResultsIn the adjusted analyses that controlled for other predictors, cohort members who were reported to stutter had higher malaise scores than controls overall, indicating a higher level of psychological distress, but they were not at significantly more likely to have malaise scores in the range indicating a risk of serious mental health difficulties. Cohort members who were reported to have other speech difficulties during adolescence had malaise scores that overall did not differ significantly from those of controls in the adjusted analyses, but they were at significantly greater risk of serious mental health difficulties.Conclusions & ImplicationsThese findings support those of other studies that indicate an association between stuttering and psychological distress. This study is the first to have shown that adolescents who experience speech difficulties other than stuttering are more likely than controls to be at risk of poorer mental health in adulthood. The results suggest a need for therapeutic provision to address psychosocial issues for both stuttering and other developmental speech disorders in adulthood, as well as further research into the consequences in adulthood of stuttering and other developmental speech disorders.