bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Environmental scanning
Authors: Ramón Oreja‐Rodríguez Juan , Yanes‐Estévez Vanessa 
Published: February 2010

PurposeThis paper aims to propose a method for the longitudinal analysis of the environment considering both firms' and environmental variables.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on a sample of firms in Canary Islands (Spain) for 2000 and 2003. Managerial perceptions are considered, based on the cognitive perspective. The measurements used are the result of applying the Rasch model and the rack and stack analyses. This approach provides information about how dynamic the firms perceive the environment and also about how the items are perceived.FindingsThe results show that most firms perceive that dynamism increased between 2000 and 2003. From the perspective of the environmental variables, the most dynamic are perceived to be competition, demand, consumer motivation and technological resources.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a longitudinal method for environmental scanning that include both firms' and environmental variables. It considers managerial perceptions, that is the information entering the decision making process. It is one of the first papers to study environmental scanning with Rasch model and one of the few about longitudinal environmental analyses. It opens a field of research and applications of the Rasch model in the management literature.
Importance‐performance analysis for public management decision making
Authors: Lai Linda S.L. , To W.M. 
Published: February 2010

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the use of importance‐performance analysis (IPA) as an evaluative technique for public management decision making.Design/methodology/approachBased on a literature review of convention, exhibition and meeting management, a number of attributes were identified that influence destination choice from convention exhibitors' and delegates' perspectives. Responses were obtained from 177 convention exhibitors and delegates who attended an Asia Expo in Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), the People's Republic of China.FindingsFactor analysis reveals that the selected importance attributes are grouped into six categories: “professional convention services”, “extra‐convention opportunities”, “convention supporting services”, “accommodations”, “cost” and “image”. The importance‐performance analysis shows that Macao SAR has strong infrastructure support and traditional tourist attractions but lacks specialized convention experts and mechanisms for pricing strategies.Research limitations/implicationsThe use of importance‐performance analysis is explored in assessing the competitiveness of Macao SAR as a city for international conventions. The research findings indicate that IPA is an effective method and has the potential to become a valuable strategic management and decision‐making tool.Practical implicationsMacao SAR, it is suggested, should adopt a synergistic approach to develop its convention and general tourism industries in tandem since these two industries can complement each other in drawing upon the socio‐economic resources of the city.Originality/valueThis article contributes to the literature by extending the use of importance‐performance analysis for public management decision making.
A multi‐criteria model for bidding evaluation
Authors: Sipahi Seyhan , Esen Oner 
Published: February 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a multi‐criteria bidding evaluation model based on Istanbul 2010 PR selection problem to strike a balance among conflicting criteria and to aggregate opinions held by a group of decision makers.Design/methodology/approachIn the study, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology was used to settle the conflict properly. The evaluation criteria were transformed into a hierarchical form and their relative weights were calculated and synthesized for the final ranking of the bidders. Then a linear interpolation‐based spreadsheet model was combined with findings of the AHP to fairly select best bidders.FindingsThe paper demonstrates that the hierarchical structure of the AHP methodology can successfully resolve the conflict among evaluation criteria and measure relative importance of the criteria by taking into account the preference of the decision makers. Moreover, a linear interpolation methodology can evaluate quoted bid prices fairly and can help to make the best decision.Originality/valueIn all areas of business management, there is a great need for fair bid evaluation systems. The method presented in the paper will help future studies in designing more intriguing systems and resolving conflicts in the area of bid evaluation.
Ownership structure, corporate diversification and capital structure
Authors: Su Larry D. 
Published: February 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate whether, and to what extent, corporate diversification into related and unrelated businesses affects capital structure choices, and whether ownership structure is germane to the understanding of corporate diversification strategies and debt‐equity financing choices.Design/methodology/approachUnivariate approaches include the parametric two‐sample t‐test, non‐parametric Kolmogorov‐Smirnov test and Kruskal‐Wallis rank test, and cluster analysis. Multivariate approaches include panel data regressions to identify the sign and magnitude of the effect of diversification on capital structure, after controlling for a number of industry and firm characteristics as suggested in the literature.FindingsCorporate diversification into related or unrelated industries has opposite effects on capital structure, after controlling for ownership structure and corporate governance mechanisms. Consistent with the prediction of organizational economics, an increase in the degree of business relatedness is associated with a reduction in debt while an increase in business unrelatedness is associated with an increase in debt. In addition, there is strong evidence that government‐controlled firms use less debt financing and that government ownership weakens the positive relationship between unrelated diversification and leverage. The results are robust to different measures of capital structure.Originality/valueTraditional finance literature has not been able to provide conclusive evidence on what affects corporate capital structure decisions. This paper shows that a corporate strategy perspective, with its emphasis on a managerial decision‐making process, can provide a behavioral basis for understanding capital structure choices.
Barriers to innovation adoption: a study of e‐markets
Authors: Johnson Michael 
Published: February 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore and expound the factors that impinge on the adoption and usage of industrial e‐markets.Design/methodology/approachA review of the literature on e‐market adoption was followed by in‐depth interviews with senior managers in buyer, supplier, and e‐market organisations. Senior level executives (15) reported barriers and challenges to the adoption and usage of e‐markets operating in the aerospace and defence and higher education sectors. The interview data is transcribed, coded and analysed using the qualitative data analysis programme QSR N6.FindingsThe paper found a number of barriers and challenges related risk perception, knowledge deficits, trust, firm size, and organisational readiness that moderate the adoption and usage of e‐markets in the sectors.Research limitations/implicationsThere is unequal representation of buyer and supplier organisations between the two e‐market sectors. However, the case material enabled the research question to be answered and did not compromise the aims of the research.Practical implicationsThe case material presented in the paper can help academic researchers, managers, practitioners and other professionals better understand the barriers that impinge on e‐market adoption and find practical ways to mitigate those barriers.Originality/valueRecently, research on the barriers and challenges to e‐markets has been largely anecdotal and patchy with a paucity of studies noting factors that are likely to be conducive to e‐markets success. This study departs from such studies by offering empirical evidence of the factors in moderating the uptake of e‐markets.
Human tacit signals at organization performance development
Authors: Kesti Marko , Syväjärvi Antti 
Published: February 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to deal with tacit signals and organization performance development. Tacit signals are personal guiding beliefs that arise from tacit knowledge. The paper describes theoretical hypotheses how tacit signal method is utilized in competence measurement and organization performance improvement. Theories are evaluated by empirically grounded study.Design/methodology/approachThe tacit signal approach is linked to human pressure‐performance theory of invertedU‐curve, known as Yerkes‐Dodson law. Moreover, a new mental model of five interrelated competences is used in order to understand the pluralistic nature of organization development. These five competences are management, leadership, culture, skills, and processes. The paper describes how competences can be studied by tacit signals, offering positive elements for both management and performance. The case study is done in Finnish commercial business enterprise of approximately 1,000 employees.FindingsEmpirically grounded case study supports the theoretical approach, showing that tacit signals are in correlation to organization performance. Tacit signals help working groups identifying their collective dissonance in a way that will help them to increase emotional intelligence and performance. In the case, company significant improvement in profitability is found.Originality/valueThe paper connects researcher innovation of tacit signals to organization competence measurement. This paper supports hypotheses that persons have tacit knowledge of personal situation at pressure‐performance curve. This situation can be measured for each competence by tacit signal inquiry which guides to optimal improvement which strengthens the group emotional intelligence and increases performance. The described tacit signal method and system intelligence model gives additional value to further scientific studies.
Methodology for sustainability strategic planning and management
Authors: León‐Soriano Raúl , Jesús Muñoz‐Torres María , Chalmeta‐Rosaleñ Ricardo 
Published: February 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a framework that intends to help organisations achieve the sustainability goal by means of a methodology that integrates sustainability in both the planning and management tasks of the organisation and that serves as a base for the implementation of an information system aligned with the business strategy.Design/methodology/approachAfter an exhaustive review of literature about corporate social responsibility, strategic planning of organisations and balanced scorecards (BSCs), a methodology has been developed that describes the process of designing and implementing a sustainability BSC for sustainability strategic planning and management.FindingsThe methodology can be easily implemented at companies with a minimum of computer resources, but managers play a key role in its success, since they are the responsible for providing the necessary environment for overcoming such an important change.Research limitations/implicationsThe methodology has only been applied once and their results will only be able to be analysed after a long time. Meanwhile, more implementations have to be performed to test and improve the different steps und tools until the methodology can be considered definitive.Practical implicationsThe methodology could be used by many organisations, improving their social and environmental performance and contributing to their sustainability and the sustainability of all of their stakeholders, specially for society as a whole. Readers of this paper could see a practical application of methodology and its viability by means of the case.Originality/valueAn innovative structure for BSCs which has been developed having in mind the sustainability since the beginning, but not justly adding environmental and social variables to a model designed with economical purposes.
Information systems outsourcing reasons and risks: a new assessment
Authors: Gonzalez Reyes , Gasco Jose , Llopis Juan 
Published: February 2010

PurposeOutsourcing is currently going through a stage of unstoppable growth. The purpose of this paper is to make a proposal about the main reasons, which may lead firms to adopt outsourcing in information systems (IS) services. It will equally analyse the potential risks that IS clients are likely to face. An additional objective is to assess these reasons and risks in the case of large Spanish firms, while simultaneously examining their evolution over time. This study of outsourcing reasons and risks has been carried out from the client's perspective.Design/methodology/approachIn order to achieve these aims, a questionnaire was administered to the IS managers of the largest Spanish firms.FindingsOutsourcing gives the organisations the opportunity to have better IS services and the possibility to achieve technological improvements and, although cost savings in staff and technology are generally seen as very important, they do not emerge as priority reasons for outsourcing in the present study. Regarding risks, they are mainly associated with providers, with great concern being expressed about the lack of qualification among their providers' staff, the potential lack of compliance with contracts, and the inability to adapt to the new technologies.Originality/valueAn important contribution made by this paper is not only the specification of those reasons and risks but also the fact that they are considered important by the firms interviewed.
Customer sociability and the total service experience
Authors: Ferguson Ronald J. , Paulin Michèle , Bergeron Jasmin 
Published: February 2010

PurposeThe service‐dominant logic describes customer‐actualized value as being idiosyncratic, experiential, contextual, and meaning laden. Since positive word‐of‐mouth (WOM) is an expression of customer‐actualized value, the paper postulate that WOM is not only related to a holistic set of assessments of the service experience but also to the idiosyncratic nature of the individual customer. In particular, do socially oriented individuals have a greater propensity to engage in positive WOM? The purpose of this paper is to test hypotheses that socially oriented personality traits, and personal values as well as a set of dimensions of the total service experience, are antecedents of positive WOM. The context studied is a surgical operation involving considerable personal meaning and implication in the whole service process.Design/methodology/approachA cohort of 500 surgical patients are studied prior to, three‐days after and one‐month post‐surgery. Independent variables include the socially oriented personality traits of agreeableness and extraversion, social‐ vs self‐oriented personal values, as well as dimensions of the total service experience assessed by information adequacy, pain and discomfort, patient‐to‐patient interaction, patient‐to‐personnel interaction, and recovery outcomes. The dependent variable is the strength of positive WOM intentions.FindingsThe sociability of surgery patients as measured by both their personality traits and socially oriented values is significantly related to the strength of positive WOM intentions. Self‐oriented values are not associated with positive WOM intentions. Also, to varying degrees, all dimensions of the total service experience are associated with positive WOM intentions.Originality/valueThe paper is the first to illustrate that, in a given service context, the antecedents of customer loyalty may be complex, not only dependent on customer assessments of their interactions and experiences throughout the service process, but also relative to their dispositional characteristics such as sociability. The consistency of the results for positive WOM assessed at three‐days and one‐month post‐surgery adds to the robustness of the findings. This paper makes a significant contribution to the service‐dominant logic and the concept of value co‐creation.
Customer relationship management for hotels in Hong Kong
Authors: Lo Ada S. , Stalcup Lawrence D. , Lee Amy 
Published: February 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate how hotels are implementing customer relationship management (CRM) practices at the property level.Design/methodology/approachSemi‐structured in‐depth interviews were conducted with 45 hotel managers from 17 hotels. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using content analysis.FindingsAll participating hotels have practices in place to manage customer relationships. The most commonly cited goal for CRM is guest retention. Evaluation and control are perceived as very important activities not only to create value for the customers, but also to track the performance of the guest contact departments and the customers' evaluations of the hotel/restaurant experiences.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample is probably biased towards hotels that are most interested in CRM and are heavily weighted towards higher tariff properties.Practical implicationsThe study modified Buttle's CRM value chain to analyze hotels' CRM practices. Results of the study provide a source for industry practitioners to compare and benchmark their practices and to obtain useful CRM ideas.Originality/valueCRM‐related research in the hotel industry has looked at a variety of specific practices and its role in achieving overall objectives at the corporate strategic level. Yet, no research has been done to investigate CRM practices at the property level for hotels using the CRM value chain.
Customer perceptions of service quality in luxury hotels in New Delhi, India: an exploratory study
Authors: Mohsin Asad , Lockyer Tim 
Published: February 2010

PurposeThe aim of the study is to assess the service quality perception of customers of luxury hotels, New Delhi in India and to help the hotel management identify areas that need attention to meet and exceed customer expectations.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a survey and interview technique to accumulate information for analysis using SPSS version 12 and was conducted at different four‐ and five‐star hotels in New Delhi involving hotel guests agreeing to participate. A usable sample of 271 participants resulted with a large majority being male.FindingsThe importance‐performance analysis shows that, for responses relating to front office, room service and in‐house café/restaurant, the importance score is statistically significant to and higher than the performance rating. Overall, the results indicate significant difference between expectations of the guests and actual experiences, thus highlighting managerial implications.Research limitations/implicationsThe current study cannot claim to be wholly conclusive as it is limited to a small sample size from only one metropolitan city of India and there could be subjectivity in responses. From a practitioner's perspective the study provides an opportunity to recognise, in ranking order, features that are considered important by the guests staying in luxury hotels of New Delhi in India and to identify the areas of disparity in service and product quality.Originality/valueIt is observed that this is a significant study of service quality in luxury hotels in India; in that sense the study contributes to the literature and provides an opportunity for a comparative study of service quality with other such studies undertaken in different parts of the globe.
Love motels: oriental phenomenon or emergent sector?
Authors: Alexander Matthew , Chuan Chen Chien , MacLaren Andrew , O'Gorman Kevin D. 
Published: February 2010

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the “love motel” concept by examining the changing attitude of consumers in Taiwan. This will increase knowledge of the sector and define love motels.Design/methodology/approachThe literature review charts the development of Taiwanese love motels from a dual origin: American motels and Japanese “love hotels.” This is followed by an empirical qualitative study consisting of a two‐stage collection strategy: focus groups of hospitality and tourism professionals to gather a wide range of opinions on the subject area, followed by semi‐structured interviews with consumers.FindingsThe findings split into three interrelated areas: growth of Taiwanese love motels due to more liberal attitudes towards sexual practice; a change in the public perception of motels due to increased standards and an increased satisfaction with the personal consumption experience; these hotels are designed for couples.Research limitations/implicationsThe empirical element of the study is an exploration of consumer experience in Taiwanese love hotels. Because of the sensitive nature of some of the data that were gathered a qualitative approach has been adopted.Practical implicationsThe sexual associations with this product appear almost coincidental. If the love motel product is considered in its purest form it is simply a hotel product that provides complete anonymity for its guests. Therefore, despite its application in South East Asia, this hospitality concept has potential to be applied in a variety of guises.Originality/valueThe phenomenon of “love hotels” is absent from the hospitality management literature; the paper begins to fill that gap by beginning a discussion on this possibly controversial sector.
What really brings them back?
Authors: Kincaid Clark , Baloglu Seyhmus , Mao Zhenxing , Busser James 
Published: February 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usefulness of the TANGSERV (tangible quality) scale by examining the effect of tangible quality constructs on restaurant patrons' affect and behavioral intentions.Design/methodology/approachA model was proposed based on the literature of tangible quality in service, which posits that tangible quality leads to affective quality and they both have positive impact on customer re‐patronage intentions. Subsequently, an empirical study in Turkey's casual restaurants was conducted to test the aforementioned model.FindingsThe food and service construct and accessibility construct of tangible quality exhibited positive impact on the affect towards restaurants, which in turn influenced re‐patronage intention for restaurants. Affect was a strong mediator, facilitating the relationship between tangible quality and behavior.Practical implicationsRestaurant operators should focus their efforts on ensuring an interesting variety of food and drink offerings presented in interesting and unique ways. They should also ensure that the type of service delivered is consistent from one visit to the next. Cultivating positive feelings toward the brand name is a good approach to increasing re‐patronage intentions. In addition, careful consideration and research should be completed prior to selecting a restaurant location and provision of convenient parking.Originality/valueThe study helps restaurant managers select the most important tangible restaurant feature for consumers and guide the investment resources to address customer expectations.