bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Thinking strategically about pricing decisions
Authors: Piercy Nigel F. , Cravens David W. , Lane Nikala 
Published: September 2010

PurposeHarsh economic conditions have put pricing higher on the agenda but responses to pricing challenges have frequently been tactical. The intent is to build on basic pricing principles to emphasize a strategic perspective on pricing built around opportunities to deliver superior customer value.Design/methodology/approachOur logic is drawn from the observation of company pricing practices and interesting moves from conventional to innovative pricing strategies.FindingsOur observations underline the need for executives to adopt a more strategic view of price and to examine the scope for raising prices, especially in a post‐recession economic scenario.Practical implicationsOur action agenda addresses: why there is an urgent need to make pricing decisions strategically, particularly as economic recovery occurs, with important insights coming from innovative pricing models designed to deliver superior customer value; the role of price in strategic positioning – key management considerations are whether price is to play an active or passive role in marketing the product or service, and whether price is high or low compared to alternatives; the challenges of raising prices in recession and recovery conditions, where analysis underlines the importance of considering product differentiation from a customer perspective and comparing this with how strongly the customer needs the product; and the need to design a value‐based pricing strategy which integrates the conclusions reached about the strategic role of price.Originality/valueViewing pricing as a “quick fix” and the only route to maintaining sales or protecting market share underplays the strategic importance of pricing and its long‐term strategic implications. We propose a management action agenda for making pricing decisions strategically.
The ambidextrous organization: integrating managers, entrepreneurs and leaders
Authors: Dover Philip A. , Dierk Udo 
Published: September 2010

PurposeArgues that three basic archetypes – managers, entrepreneurs and leaders – must exist within the “ambidextrous organization” where a balance must be found between managing the present while preparing for the future. Introduces the MEL‐Index, a measurement tool that represents the managerial, entrepreneurial and leadership capabilities of both individuals and institutions.Design/methodology/approachThe conceptual framework suggests that the interactive roles of the MEL archetypes have a profound impact on the innovation profile of the organization. To test this idea in‐depth, case studies with a sample of SME's and large companies in North America and Western Europe was conducted.FindingsAlthough still at an early stage of data collection, initial findings suggest that: it is difficult for strong managers to co‐exist with visionary entrepreneurs without the facilitating role of leaders; there may be a difference in the balance of archetypes needed in private versus, publicly owned companies; the measurement tool was easy to administer and has strong face validity.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this project are not generalizable to the greater population of businesses in Europe and North America due to the convenience nature of the sample. However, as we continue to collect data confidence will grow at the inferences drawn from our case‐based examples.Practical implicationsBy using the results from an MEL project, companies can adjust their balance of capabilities through more targeted recruitment, focused executive development programs and better internal allocation of personnel.Originality/valueVery little applied research has been undertaken to explore the combination of skills required of executives to guide the ambidextrous organization. Exploration of the MEL interface opens an exciting, applied research stream within management studies.
Pay more get more? What buyers say
Authors: Gelb Betsy D. 
Published: September 2010

PurposeThis study investigated perceptions useful for pricing decisions. Buyers observing premium prices may believe that “you get what you pay for,” but do buyers seeing low prices believe that “you do not get what you do not pay for”? This research tested the idea that these two statements often prompt different perceptions.Design/methodology/approachData came from a questionnaire completed by 105 working professionals in an evening MBA program at a metropolitan university. A randomly selected half received one version, asking about the statement “you get what you pay for.” The other half received an otherwise identical version asking about “you do not get what you do not pay for.” All were asked whether they believed the statement, Yes or No, and then asked to offer an example from their own experience to support that answer.FindingsAs expected, different examples were offered, depending on the statement. Examples agreeing that “you get what you pay for” disproportionately involved quality. Examples of “you do not get what you do not pay for” disproportionately involved service or “extras” – whether they were examples in support of agreeing or disagreeing. Most respondents agreed with whichever statement they saw, but more agreed with “you get what you pay for.”Originality/valueManagers fearful that lowering a price will signal a drop in quality – exemplifying “you do not get what you do not pay for” – may be misreading the way buyers think. Those considering setting a higher price than they otherwise might, to signal better quality, have evidence here to support that view. So do those who, regardless of price level, offer occasional unexpected “extras.”
Channel innovation for the rest of us
Authors: Jackson Stuart E. 
Published: September 2010

PurposeThis article discusses one approach to innovation involving changing the way a product is delivered to customers. Building on the work of Kim and Mauborgne in the book Blue Ocean Strategy, Jackson acknowledges the appeal new product concepts with limited competition in “Blue ocean” competitive environments. The challenge for most consumer goods is coming up with entirely new products that have strong customer appeal, because most consumers have a familiarity and loyalty to products they already use. One solution to this is channel innovation. This involves finding new ways to deliver products that consumers already use and love.Design/methodology/approachThe author uses case studies of successful consumer products channel innovations in the areas of baked goods, juice drinks, pizza, salad and fresh produce.FindingsThe key lessons from the case studies are in three areas: understanding consumer frustrations with how existing products are delivered; understanding the value of the channel innovation through comparison with alternative substitute products or services; and embracing new technology that can make new delivery channels work.Originality/valueThe key message of this article is that innovating new products is good but executives need to recognize and take advantage of consumer loyalty towards products they are already familiar with. Channel innovation provides a valuable lens to develop and evaluate new products ideas that have a much higher chance of consumer acceptance than entirely new to the world innovations.
Lords of Huh?
Authors: Marren Patrick 
Published: September 2010

PurposeReview and discussion of the book Lords of Strategy by Walter Kiechel III.Design/methodology/approachOpinion column.Findings“Strategy” has not been seen as something in which businesses must engage. The “Strategy revolution” Kiechel outlines arose in the 1960s with the new breed of consulting firm, had its heyday then and in the 1970s, and declined thereafter into something like incoherence and a focus on tactical, financial, and cost‐cutting approaches.Originality/valueReviews an important book and extracts some lessons about business strategy.
Edited ethics: corporate governance and Kant's philosophy
Authors: McNutt Patrick A. 
Published: September 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address the debate on an ethical foundation underpinning modern corporate governance and to argue that an ethical foundation is absent in the definition of corporate governance. The paper recommends an applied Kantian philosophy.Design/methodology/approachThe objective is achieved by introducing a Kantian morality and considering the distinction between accountability and responsibility in terms of fulfilling one's duty.FindingsIndividuals do have a sense of duty and sense of what is right and what is wrong from an ethical perspective. There is a need for a code of ethical practice (CoEP) in business to encourage individuals to apply their sense of duty at employees or management.Research limitations/implicationsThe research ideas are limited to an ethical perspective that is based on a Kantian morality and the implementation of a code.Practical implicationsSome practical implications from the theory addressed in the paper include a CoEP and the introduction of a K‐profiling template at interview stage to assess the moral compass of a potential employee.Originality/valueThe paper opens the debate on the need for an ethical foundation or “moral metric” in corporate governance that goes beyond a public relations exercise.
Kantian ethics within transaction cost economics
Authors: Duran Xavier , McNutt Patrick 
Published: September 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: first to add to the debate on trust and opportunism within transaction cost economics (TCE) and second to describe a partial solution, a code of ethical practice (CoEP) originating in Kant's moral philosophy.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology has centred on ethical values of right and wrong within an organisation in terms of fulfilling one's duty.FindingsThe contracting or exchange objective in any transaction is to arrive at a mutually satisfactory outcome, an equilibrium point. With opportunism, a free rider problem may well arise; if so, a partial solution emerges. This has to be avoided. In this paper, the authors focus on simple contracts as a solution, that is, an agreement‐as‐bargain in a CoEP not made in deed but made in reason, so that each party to the arrangement, has “dignity”. The avoidance of an ethical dilemma in not fulfilling one's duty is linked to the role of trust in TCE.Practical implicationsIt is argued that the decision not to engage in opportunistic behaviour, for example, by any one individual, may be rooted in a personal sense of duty or influenced by the ethical values and beliefs embedded within the culture of the organisation or the firm. Management may therefore decide not to abuse their discretionary power; workers may opt not to shirk.Originality/valueThe paper builds on a new approach to understand governance and ethics insofar as a firm teaches people morality. This CoEP supports the role of trust in modern companies and links across to the literature on TCE. The paper should be of value to shareholders, workers and management, trade unions and commentators on the theory of the firm.
“Green” company or “green” consumers: a Kantian retrospective
Authors: Feng Fulong‐Daniel 
Published: September 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this short paper is to re‐examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) in terms of the ethical criterion of “greenness” through an assessment of one company's response to green consumers during the past number of years.Design/methodology/approachThe ethical evaluation proceeds along the lines of a case study analysis of the significance of “green” as a value and the likely implications for a company.FindingsThere is a need for all companies to shift to Kantian responsibility with the appointment of a chief ethical officer and creation of an ethics department in an attempt to balance the short‐term profit‐oriented pursuit and the long‐term pursuit of fulfilling one's duty.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper addresses the ethical issue of “greenness” from a Kantian perspective of fulfilling one's duty.Practical implicationsPublic companies should adopt full transparency on CSR so that the public can be assured that the company is ethical and acting in an ethical manner.Originality/valueThe paper provides a brief application of a Kantian time‐variant responsibility in terms of fulfilment of one's duty now to be a green company. It asks: how can a company best achieve “greenness” as a time‐invariant ethical standard?
Theoretical tensions between regulation, governance, and strategic behaviour in a federated world order
Authors: Todeva Emanuela 
Published: September 2010

PurposeThe paper seeks to explore Kant's formulations on universal good will, perfect moral order, and universal peace, and the notion that the world's citizenship should be organised in a federated system of states, free to choose their own universal laws.Design/methodology/approachThis theoretical discussion is pursued in two separate sections. The first section reviews leading regulation theories that explain how governments in their decision‐making capacity engage in regulation at macro‐level of the entire socio‐economic system. The second section follows from this argument and discusses the governance theory and alternative governance mechanisms designed and employed by governments to manage the strategic behaviour of the individual economic actors at mezzo‐ and micro‐level of contract relationships.FindingsThe paper discusses some of the current theories that underpin the analysis and interpretation of public administration practice, or public governance in different socio‐economic systems. The paper looks at some of the dominant postulates of regulation and governance, and question to what extent they can be accepted as universal principles in line with Kant's argumentation. Different types of governance mechanisms are compared and contrasted in the context of strategic actors such as: the public government as a regulating authority and the firms as regulated economic actors.Originality/valueThe argument in this paper is that governments as regulators of national socio‐economic systems are strategic actors in their capacity to actively shape the regulatory environment, implementing various coordination mechanisms that facilitate the functioning of the economy and the society. The paper attempts to make some ethical judgements on market imperfections and government imperfections in line with Kant's concept of universal moral order.
The ethics of enterprise risk management as a key component of corporate governance
Authors: Demidenko Elena , McNutt Patrick 
Published: September 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: first to add to the debate on good governance and ethics of enterprise risk management (ERM) and second to describe an ethical maturity scale based on duty and responsibility for practical implementation to ensure better governance.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology has centred on risk governance as a way for many organisations to improve their risk management (RM) practices from an ethical perspective based on responsibility and on fulfilling one's duty within the organisation.FindingsWhile companies in Australia, for example, are more mature than those in Russia in terms of governance systems life cycle, there are a number of common international challenges in risk governance implementation. These relate to a link between risk framework, enterprise value model and strategic planning; to a definition of risk appetite, the embodiment of RM in organisational culture, internal audit and ERM function, the evolving role of a chief risk officer (CRO) and senior management buy‐in and sponsorship of the integrated ethical RM from a chief executive officer.Practical implicationsERM – a way for many organisations to improve their RM practices – is a key component of the applied ethics of corporate governance. It has developed into a philosophy to assist organisations with the process of protecting shareholders' value while also increasing the bottom‐line profitability. Effective ERM is based on ethical risk governance. Internal audit needs to be involved in the process of integrating RM and compliance. It should maintain a degree of independence when assisting with ERM establishment. CRO is most effective when reporting to the board.Originality/valueGlobal companies are becoming more accountable to multiple stakeholders. It is the adoption of an ethical code to arrest the lack of clarity of roles ascribed to the audit committee and risk committee and management's accountability or lack thereof that remains the challenge across different jurisdictions. In attempting to implement good governance and meet the challenges, the paper introduces an ethical maturity scale as an internal measure that could be embedded in an organisation's strategy.
Compliance: an over‐looked business strategy
Authors: Rossi Clelia L. 
Published: September 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the merits of self‐regulation and the art of embedding it within an organisation, not as a secondary activity but as a core and fundamental business skill that ensures the survival of a business entity in the long term.Design/methodology/approachThe objective is achieved by considering compliance leadership as a strategy within a modern company. If the highest layer of stewardship of the firm (directors) explicitly accepts a conventional definition of business ethics (the law, best practice, a set of values in a specific hierarchy), then the author can measure this agreement and benchmark it against the highest known standards of corporate governance.FindingsRational shareholders and managers will behave morally and find acceptable categorical imperatives to govern their behaviour. The delivery and preservation of long‐term value demand that firms build capabilities to self‐regulate and co‐shape their environment, particularly if highly regulated. The paper suggests a way to organise the compliance leadership within some well‐known business structures and present the idea that the chief executive officer of a firm who operates in a complex regulatory environment must make compliance a significant part if not the core element of his or her overall strategy.Research limitations/implicationsSome arguments highlighting weaknesses in the Kantian arguments have not been fully discussed. A global initiative that measures the relationship between ethical maturity and share price has not been undertaken in the writing of this paper.Practical implicationsTwenty‐first century management must ensure the health and resilience of their company's culture to successfully manage and overcome the daily ethical questions that arise across all levels and layers of the organisation as a first priority and that whole business models can be built around this mission. Regulators should be accountable for recognising cultural crisis within the firms they regulate in order to balance the reliance on quantitative measurements of success and to navigate the complexity of the largest players in the market.Originality/valueThe paper builds on earlier research by the author that rational norms of behaviour are core business capabilities that will produce industry leaders that can change the risk landscape of the industries wherein these firms operate. This new leadership will be demanded by the rational shareholder and will transform firms into stakeholder firms capable of interacting with their environment and creating and sustaining value over the longest term.
Challenges of serials text encoding in the spirit of scholarly communication
Authors: Dalmau Michelle , Schlosser Melanie 
Published: September 2010

PurposeThe paper aims to describe an electronic text project involving a scholarly history journal, and to share findings related to the encoding of serials using the text encoding interchange (TEI) guidelines.Design/methodology/approachThe project was completed using a combination of in‐house and outsourced digitization and encoding, employing a variety of methods for quality control and encoding guidelines creation.FindingsEvidence is provided that certain types of encoding should be done in‐house, and describes a variety of mechanisms for capturing granular metadata in serials projects.Originality/valueThe paper covers a number of areas, including serials encoding using the TEI and granular metadata capture, which have not been explored elsewhere in the literature. It also provides guidance for others undertaking similar electronic text projects.
Turned loose in the OPAC: URL selection, addition, and management process
Authors: Meagher Elizabeth S. , Brown Christopher C. 
Published: September 2010

PurposeThe paper aims to cover the institutional decision‐making processes behind the decision to add machine readable cataloging records to the library catalog that link to hundreds of thousands of URLs with freely available web content, the management processes making this possible, as well as other more philosophical concerns.Design/methodology/approachThis is a case study conducted at the University of Denver, Penrose Library.FindingsImplementing a URL tracking system, combined with a philosophical decision to follow a proactive URL maintenance approach rather than a reactive one, has resulted in an improved error rate for URL click‐throughs.Originality/valueThe paper addresses URL maintenance issues, staffing solutions, and error rates not addressed elsewhere in the literature.
The SFX citation linker and its enhancements
Authors: Xu Fei 
Published: September 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to implement and enhance the citation linker that enables users to search articles, journals, and books with minimal but sufficient citation metadata.Design/methodology/approachThe research work was mainly based on experimental results with a large amount of specific articles, journals, books, and eBooks. Further Ex Libris was consulted during the implementation process.FindingsThe paper found ways to implement and enhance the citation linker that facilitates citation search with minimal but sufficient citation metadata. Different methods to search papers and books were identified and possible future endeavors to enhance the citation linker by Ex Libris were also suggested.Originality/valueThe paper elaborates how to implement and enhance the citation linker that facilitates citation search with minimal but sufficient citation metadata. The author did not find any research work specifically focused on configurations of the citation linker and their effects on search results for users, so the implementation experience presented in this paper should be singularly instructive for libraries implementing their citation linkers.
Improving the search experience: federated search and the library gateway
Authors: Caswell Jerry V. , Wynstra John D. 
Published: September 2010

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to review the evolving nature of the library web site with a focus on improving the usability of the access points to licensed and unlicensed research databases.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes the milestones in the development of a library gateway and the incorporation of federated search into a prominent place in the gateway.FindingsTechnological developments present new opportunities to extend the functionality of library systems. Achieving simplicity among the complex array of bibliographic and full text resources is critical.Originality/valueThe efforts made by the library in the development of a gateway and incorporating metasearching and other tools into it have resulted in greater control over the way resources are presented to the user community.