bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cooperation and competition: balanced scorecard and hospital privatization
Authors: Aidemark Lars‐Göran 
Published: October 2010

PurposeIn 2000 the Skåne Region (a public authority) and a private contractor made a five‐year agreement for the provision of both in‐patient care and out‐patient medical services to about 30,000 inhabitants in the south‐east part of the region. The Skåne Region is the main provider of health care to about one million inhabitants in the south of Sweden and is responsible for all health care (private and public), including ten hospitals. This paper seeks to answer the question of how the Skåne Region can control and cooperate with a private contractor, entering into competition with the public health care providers in the region.Design/methodology/approachThis is a longitudinal study conducted between 2001‐2006. It is based on 28 taped interviews with employees responsible for the contracting process, participating observations and comprehensive secondary material. The study presents experiences made by the contractor and the public authority on how to work out and follow‐up assignments within the health care sector regarding patient interest, public interest and professional medical interest.FindingsMeasurement within the frames of the balanced scorecard (BSC) made it possible to control both volumes and health care quality delivered by the private competing contractor. The political purchaser claims that the Skåne Region has established a cost‐effective and successful control system based on trust and measurement.Originality/valueThis paper reports on a control system, between public purchaser and a private provider within health care, that focuses on and follow‐up not only health care production but also health care quality.
The relationship between consumer complaining behavior and service recovery
Authors: Gyung Kim Min , Wang Chenya , Mattila Anna S. 
Published: October 2010

PurposeThe goal of the present conceptual paper is to integrate two streams of literature related to service failures: customer complaining behaviors (CCB) and service recovery literature. The suggested conceptual framework intends to broaden the thinking on consumers' complaint handling processes for hospitality institutions.Design/methodology/approachA model is proposed that integrates the service recovery and CCB literatures under a single framework. A careful literature review is performed to justify the conceptual framework.FindingsThe framework offers a starting point for broadening the thinking on consumers' complaint handling processes.Research limitations/implicationsSystematic empirical research is needed to test the integrative model.Originality/valueThis paper offers insight for hospitality managers into how to effectively deal with dissatisfied customer experiences.
Organizational justice, employees' ethical behavior, and job satisfaction in the casino industry
Authors: Chen McCain Shiang‐Lih , Tsai Henry , Bellino Nicholas 
Published: October 2010

PurposeThe paper aims to examine the antecedents and consequence of casino employees' ethical behavior. In particular, it proposes that both distributive and procedural justice have positive influences on such behavior, which in turn positively affects workers' job satisfaction. The paper aims to help casino management pinpoint areas for enhancing and promoting employees' ethical behavior so as to benefit industry stakeholders.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire was designed based on a literature review and preliminary conversations with 37 casino employees. These were distributed to frontline casino employees working in the slot and table games departments. Exploratory factor analysis and path analysis were employed to test the proposed model.FindingsThe paper shows that casino employees' ethical behavior was positively influenced by both procedural and distributive justice, with the former a slightly stronger motivator. Of the three proposed determinants of casino employees' job satisfaction, distributive justice had the most strongly positive effect.Practical implicationsThis paper suggests that action could be taken by management to enhance employees' perception of both distributive and procedural justice to motivate ethical behavior. Furthermore, casino managers should be aware that distributive justice plays a more important role than procedural justice and ethical behavior in enhancing casino employees' job satisfaction. In making decisions, they should consider outcome fairness to demonstrate distributive justice.Originality/valueCurrently, to the best of the authours' knowledge, there is no study linking both distributive and procedural justice with employees' ethical behavior and job satisfaction within a single framework. In addition, there is no research evaluating how organizational justice influences employees' ethical behavior when interacting with customers. This paper fills this gap.
Interoperability and Open Travel Alliance standards: strategic perspectives
Authors: Nayar Ajith , Beldona Srikanth 
Published: October 2010

PurposeSince the advent of non‐proprietary technologies fostered by the internet, the travel distribution model has been subjected to significant changes. One of the primary changes has been the expanding potential of interoperability between systems brought about the advent of extended markup language‐based specifications developed and published by the Open Travel Alliance (OTA). The potential impact of the underlying technology (web services) in use for developing these standards is significant. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate strategic perspectives from key industry players over the potential of this technology and examine the factors pertaining to their adoption.Design/methodology/approachData for this came from a series of 30‐45‐minute interviews with senior executives of four major travel suppliers (included three major hotel chains and one leading car rental company) as well as three major intermediaries (comprised two global distribution system companies and one major online travel agency). Interviews were guided using two types of signposts – conceptual and industry‐level phenomena.FindingsFindings indicate that suppliers and intermediaries see distinctive levers of advantage from OTA messaging specifications. While suppliers seek to build flexibility to add/delete channels and subsequently leverage greater control over inventory distribution, intermediaries seek to consolidate on their aggregation capabilities through wider content and enhance dynamic packaging as value for end‐customers.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a qualitative study comprising in‐depth interviews with a selected few respondents that limit the generalizability of the results. Additionally, the perspective is limited to the larger players in the travel distribution space.Originality/valueThe study is the first in hospitality/travel marketing literature to examine the issues of interoperability specific to a major initiative such as the OTA.
The application of activity‐based costing to a support kitchen in a Las Vegas casino
Authors: Vaughn Paige , Raab Carola , Nelson Kathleen B. 
Published: October 2010

PurposeThe paper aims to examine the activity‐based costing (ABC) method as a feasible and appropriate tool for the casino and hotel industry to apply to support kitchens in order to eliminate the monthly allocation of overhead based on variable costs.Design/methodology/approachData were collected at a support kitchen in a Las Vegas casino. These data were analyzed by using ABC methods and establishing ABC costs. ABC methods were compared to traditional allocation methods to determine, first, if allocations could be eliminated entirely; and, secondly, to establish if some outlets would be significantly impacted by the accounting change.FindingsAn ABC approach can be applied to support kitchens and total cost (ABC) can be estimated. This approach allowed the casino to eliminate traditional allocation methods based solely on food cost.Research limitations/implicationsABC was shown to be a powerful technique that can be applied effectively in a support kitchen of a casino. Since this paper involved only a single support kitchen in a single casino, further research should be conducted to confirm that ABC can also be applied in support kitchens in other hospitality industry settings.Practical implicationsThe use of ABC techniques confirmed that the ABC process is a useful tool in an effort to abolish allocations and can be applied to the remaining support kitchens. Without the benefit of this paper, restaurant management for individual food and beverage outlets received an unfair share of the overhead and did not have appropriate cost information for bread products.Originality/valueABC may be a powerful technique when applied effectively to the food and beverage operations in the field of hospitality.
An examination of the transactional relationship between online travel agencies, travel meta sites, and suppliers
Authors: Christodoulidou Natasa , Connolly Daniel J. , Brewer Pearl 
Published: October 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to explore the ways travel intermediaries (online travel agencies (OTAs) and travel meta sites) used throughout the distribution value chain engaged in relationships with travel suppliers.Design/methodology/approachThe multiple‐case study approach is suitable in examining contemporary events in their natural context. A commonly reported strength of the case study approach in that a variety of evidence can be used to investigate the subject matter. The data evidence gathered for this paper came from field study interviews and document analysis.FindingsThe results show that the relationship structure has an impact on the type of contractual agreement OTAs and meta sites have with travel suppliers and with each other.Practical implicationsThese results can be used by top‐level executives involved in online travel as they research and test how to best craft their relationship and formal or informal agreements with their suppliers, affiliates, and other entities with which they choose to work.Social implicationsPartnerships between travel suppliers and meta search engines could threaten travel agencies and allow travel suppliers a viable means to bypass agencies all together and maintain more control in both the transaction, the relationship building process with customers, and, ultimately, ownership of customers.Originality/valueBased upon the current state, it is clear that the distribution landscape is in state of flux. Travel meta search engines are gaining traction, both in terms of market share and financial backing. Kayak's recent acquisition of SideStep helps to provide strength to Kayak and will likely be the catalyst for other mergers in due time. All of the major players are jockeying for position. There will likely be consolidation and more new entrants. To remain relevant, one must actively monitor this space, continue to keep abreast of developments as they unfold, and innovate. Most importantly, one must provide unmatched value to win customer loyalty and gain market share.
The performance of Portuguese secondary schools: an exploratory study
Authors: Sarrico Cláudia S. , Rosa Maria J. , Coelho Inês P. 
Published: October 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to measure and compare the performance of Portuguese secondary schools.Design/methodology/approachSome data on the schools were collected via an electronic questionnaire sent to 103 secondary schools of the centre region of Portugal; other needed data were available through the Centre Regional Education Authority. Of the 33 schools that participated in the study, there was complete data for 29. A non‐parametric technique, data envelopment analysis (DEA), was used to assess the sample of schools and the results obtained were compared with some preliminary results of a national evaluation programme of schools.FindingsFrom the findings, the tentative conclusion is that most schools are following national education policy priorities relating to decreasing dropout rates and increasing completion rates. School performance does not seem to relate to geographic location, size of the school, typology of the school or rotation of its executive committee. The paper concludes by discussing the need for metric benchmarking exercises of the type proposed, to inform schools, evaluators and policy decision makers. Finally, the complementarities between metric and practice benchmarking exercises are argued for.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper reports on an exploratory study, and thus it contains limitations which need to be overcome by further work. The sample used is small and self‐selected; the DEA models used are quite simple; also, it would be desirable to compare the results of the DEA, with parametric techniques that have been used to evaluate school performance.Originality/valueThe paper makes a contribution to the understanding of schools' performance management, in order to inform schools, evaluators and policy decision makers.
Determinants of learning performance of business students in a transitional market
Authors: Nguyen Trang T.M. , Nguyen Tho D. 
Published: October 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of instructor capability and learning motivation on learning performance of business students in Vietnam. It also explores the moderating effect of personal development competitiveness on the roles of instructor capability in both learning motivation and learning performance.Design/methodology/approachTwo phases of study were undertaken. A pilot phase was used to preliminary assess the measures and a main survey with a sample of 1,278 undergraduate business students was conducted to validate the measures and to test the models.FindingsInstructor capability was found to have a positive impact on learning motivation and, subsequently, on learning performance. The results further show that the impacts of instructor capability on both learning motivation and learning performance are greater in the group of students which has a higher level of personal development competitiveness.Research limitations/implicationsA key limitation of this study is the examination of the roles of instructor capability and learning motivation in learning performance. There can be several other antecedents of learning performance of business students.Practical implicationsThe results of this study suggest that university administrators should design suitable recruitment and training policies in order to have instructors with appropriate knowledge and teaching skills. Also, students' personal development competitiveness in learning should be encouraged.Originality/valueThe findings enhance one's understanding of key antecedents of learning performance, as well as the moderating role of personal development competitiveness in the learning of business students in a transition market, Vietnam.
HR manager leadership in quality improvement in a college environment
Authors: Sharabi Moshe 
Published: October 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present the influence of the human resource (HR) manager on the quality of service in an academic college, and the human resource management (HRM) outcomes of the process.Design/methodology/approachThe paper relates to a customer satisfaction survey. More than 120 questionnaires were completed by the customers (Israeli college students) for each service provider (e.g. academic departments, the students' dean, the maintenance and the logistics departments) measuring customer satisfaction via different dimensions of quality.FindingsBy getting involved in the service quality improvement process, the HR manager was exposed to HRM problems such as non‐balanced workload, faulty work planning, lack of knowledge and skills, wrong placements, unclear job descriptions, etc. This information led to meaningful improvement in HRM processes (e.g. training programs, job descriptions, selection and placement and manpower planning).Practical implicationsThe paper discusses the HRM practical outcomes of processes carried out to improve the quality of the organizational services. The suggested process and the implications are relevant for every HRM system.Originality/valueThe paper reflects the great affect that a HR manager (as part of the top management) has on the quality of service through HRM processes and practices.
Conflict escalation in dyads with a history of territorial disputes
Authors: Petersen Karen K. 
Published: October 2010

PurposeBuilding on the steps to war model, this paper seeks to examine the impact that territorial Militarized Interstate Disputes (MID) have on the time it takes a dyad to go to war after it experiences its first MID.Design/methodology/approachA model common to epidemiological research, the hazard model, is employed to examine the dyadic relationship from the time of the first MID forward. This is an improvement to dyadic analysis, as most research examines the characteristics of individual MIDs in isolation.FindingsDyads with a history of territorial MIDs go to war much more quickly than dyads without a history of territorial MIDs. Future research should explore the relationship between territory, war, and power status to test the assertion that minor power states engage in power politics behavior less frequently.Practical implicationsConflict resolution measures need to be employed more quickly when states have unresolved territorial issues. Mediation generally does not occur quickly, which may explain why territorial issues are less likely to be referred to mediators and less successfully mediated. The results presented herein highlight the need for flexible, quick responses to certain crises and the need to settle borders and other territorial disputes permanently to avoid war.Originality/valueThe paper tests a critical component of the steps to war model and examines the assertion that the historical relationship between states affects conflict decisions.
Testing relationships between personality, conflict styles and effectiveness
Authors: Barbuto John E. , Phipps Kelly A. , Xu Ye 
Published: October 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to test the direct and mediating effects of personality, conflict management style, and leader effectiveness. This was deemed necessary, given the number of studies testing antecedents and outcomes of conflict management – but never within a single research design.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation modeling was used to test a model linking personality, conflict management, and leader effectiveness for 126 managers and 624 employees from various organizations. Subjects completed the Five‐Factor Personality Inventory, Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory‐II, and selected items from the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire that measure leadership effectiveness.FindingsFindings indicate that an integrating conflict management style fully mediates the relationship between neuroticism and leadership effectiveness and partially mediates the relationship between conscientiousness and leadership effectiveness. Conscientiousness was the best predictor of effectiveness among all variables studied in this research, accounting for 10 percent of the variance.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies should link both antecedents and outcomes to conflict management in the same design – so as not to miss potential mediating effects.Practical implicationsAlthough the work is preliminary, it appears that conscientious individuals tend to be most effective in organizations.Originality/valueThe work represents the first study linking personality, conflict styles, and effectiveness in a single design.
Ontological content‐based filtering for personalised newspapers
Authors: Maidel Veronica , Shoval Peretz , Shapira Bracha , Taieb‐Maimon Meirav 
Published: October 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe a new ontological content‐based filtering method for ranking the relevance of items for readers of news items, and its evaluation. The method has been implemented in ePaper, a personalised electronic newspaper prototype system. The method utilises a hierarchical ontology of news; it considers common and related concepts appearing in a user's profile on the one hand, and in a news item's profile on the other hand, and measures the “hierarchical distances” between these concepts. On that basis it computes the similarity between item and user profiles and rank‐orders the news items according to their relevance to each user.Design/methodology/approachThe paper evaluates the performance of the filtering method in an experimental setting. Each participant read news items obtained from an electronic newspaper and rated their relevance. Independently, the filtering method is applied to the same items and generated, for each participant, a list of news items ranked according to relevance.FindingsThe results of the evaluations revealed that the filtering algorithm, which takes into consideration hierarchically related concepts, yielded significantly better results than a filtering method that takes only common concepts into consideration. The paper determined a best set of values (weights) of the hierarchical similarity parameters. It also found out that the quality of filtering improves as the number of items used for implicit updates of the profile increases, and that even with implicitly updated profiles, it is better to start with user‐defined profiles.Originality/valueThe proposed content‐based filtering method can be used for filtering not only news items but items from any domain, and not only with a three‐level hierarchical ontology but any‐level ontology, in any language.
The citation impact of Open Access agricultural research
Authors: Kousha Kayvan , Abdoli Mahshid 
Published: October 2010

PurposeThe main purpose of this study is to assess the citation advantage for self‐archived Open Access (OA) agriculture research against its non‐OA counterparts.Design/methodology/approachAt the article level, the paper compared the citation counts of self‐archived research with non‐OA articles based upon a sample of 400 research articles from ISI‐indexed (ISI, Institute for Scientific Information) agriculture journals in 2005. At the journal level the paper compared impact factors (IFs) of OA against non‐OA agriculture journals from 2005 to 2007 as reported by the ISI Journal Citation Reports. The paper also sought evidence of citation impact based on a random sample of 100 OA and 100 non‐OA publications from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 2005. It used both ISI and Scopus databases for citation counting and also Google and Google Scholar for locating the self‐archived articles published in the non‐OA journals.FindingsThe results showed that there is an obvious citation advantage for self‐archived agriculture articles as compared to non‐OA articles. Out of a random sample of 400 articles published in non‐OA agriculture journals, about 14 per cent were OA and had a median citation count of four whereas the median for non‐OA articles was two. However, at the journal level the average IF for OA agriculture journals from 2005 to 2007 was 0.29, considerably lower than the average IF for non‐OA journals (0.65). Finally it found that FAO publications which were freely accessible online tended to attract more citations than non‐OA publications in the same year and had a mean citation count of 1.73 whereas the mean for non‐OA publications was 0.28.Originality/valueSelf‐archived agriculture research articles tended to attract higher citations than their non‐OA counterparts. This knowledge of the citation impact of OA agricultural research gives a better understanding about the potential effect of self‐archiving on the citation impact.