bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Emerging concepts for implementing strategy
Authors: Cocks Graeme 
Published: April 2010

PurposeEarlier research by the author defined the practices of 11 of Australia's long‐term high performing organisations over the 25 year period from 1982 to 2007. It highlighted the importance of effective execution and leadership as key characteristics of these winning organisations. This paper aims to build on these findings by exploring the detailed concepts that organisations of all types can use to more effectively execute their strategic plans.Design/methodology/approachThe research involved a survey of over 1,000 senior executives to identify these winning organisations followed by in‐depth research and company interviews. These investigations also exposed some of the tools and techniques being applied to effectively execute strategic plans and these insights are used as the platform for this paper.FindingsBeing a winning organisation in Australia has little to do with charismatic leaders, seeking great breakthrough ideas, rolling out precise mission statements or creating the perfect organisational structure. The key findings can be summarised in a winning framework that identifies effective execution of plans and strategies as the pivotal element. The research emphasises the need for balancing strategy formulation with strategy execution and highlights the critical dimensions of focused leadership, visible management systems and use of project management tools and techniques.Originality/valueThe paper provides leaders and leadership teams with some practical tools that will improve execution of their strategic plans and boost their organisation's productivity and business performance.
Statistical techniques for continuous improvement: a citizen's satisfaction survey
Authors: Cappelli Lucio , Guglielmetti Roberta , Mattia Giovanni , Merli Roberto , Francesca Renzi Maria 
Published: April 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a path analysis of data coming from a citizen's satisfaction survey to support decision makers in quality service improvement. In detail, the survey aims to measure citizen's satisfaction of an Italian local Public Administration regarding the “infant school (0‐6 years) enrollment service”.Design/methodology/approachThe survey represents an experimentation of an original model measuring customers' satisfaction toward on‐line services. Some statistical methods to analyse a given dataset from different points of view are selected.FindingsOutcomes of descriptive statistics as well as of multivariate data analysis to summarize information variables are presented. A new multivariate statistical technique, Probabilistic Expert Systems (PES) (Cowellet al.), is proposed to simulate corrective actions (scenarios) and to suggest the best one for the service quality improvement.Originality/valueThe paper shows that statistical methods are able to support the decisional process because they allow the development of information (gathered from survey) into know‐how. However, managers need to join together both statistical information and experience by means of a systematic method, in order to take effective decisions.
Commercial experiences from a customer perspective
Authors: Lilja Johan , Eriksson Maria , Ingelsson Pernilla 
Published: April 2010

PurposeA new type of business offering is currently gaining much attention, a type which in some aspects appears to be distinct from goods and services. These offerings are usually denoted as commercial experiences and are claimed to provide higher customer value than other types of offerings as they, for example, engage customers in an inherently memorable way. The understanding of what constitutes commercial experiences is however still scant. The purpose of this paper is to take a closer look at the commercial experience concept from a customer perspective. The paper aims specifically at elaborating and defining commercial experiences as well as distinguishing them from goods and services.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on literature studies.FindingsThe authors identify memorable as the fundamental distinctive characteristic for commercial experiences. Memorable events are then shown to be strongly emotional events. Finally the two‐factor structure of affect is used to show that the factor “strong engagement” is a critical driver of commercial experiences. As a result of the elaboration the authors also propose a new definition of commercial experiences and distinguish commercial experiences from goods and services in three ways.Originality/valueThe paper increases the currently scant understanding of commercial experiences.
Integrating DEAHP and DEANP into the quality function deployment
Authors: Kamvysi Konstantina , Gotzamani Katerina , Georgiou Andreas C. , Andronikidis Andreas 
Published: April 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to promote the integration of quality function deployment (QFD) with quantitative methods in an attempt to enhance its effectiveness and resolve issues like the failure of prioritizing customer requirements and determining proper importance levels.Design/methodology/approachThis paper discusses the combination of QFD with analytic hierarchy process‐analytic network process (AHP‐ANP) and DEAHP‐DEANP methodologies to prioritize selection criteria in a service context. DEAHP is a hybrid method, developed by Ramanathan. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is embedded in the AHP methodology and potentially replaces the eigenvalue method. In this paper DEAHP is used for completing the relationship matrix of house of quality (HOQ). Furthermore, in accordance with the DEAHP method, a methodological framework for completing the roof matrix of HOQ is developed, based on DEA and ANP techniques‐DEANP. The implementation of QFD along with the above mentioned quantitative approaches is studied utilizing data from the Greek banking sector, and a comparative analysis is conducted.FindingsThe illustrative implementation offers support to the compatibility of the two alternative approaches demonstrating both applicability and ease of use. Results suggest that the QFD‐DEAHP‐DEANP methodology provides superior information since it offers more robust sensitivity analysis outcomes.Originality/valueThe novelty of this research lies in the innovative idea to use QFD in conjunction with DEAHP and in the development of the DEANP method. The proposed methodology is a valuable tool for identifying strategic opportunities and gaining sustainable advantage since it helps service providers to capture the mix of services that customers are expecting them to offer.
Current health of quality management practices in service sector SME
Authors: Kureshi Nadeem , Qureshi Faheem , Sajid Ali 
Published: April 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the current quality management practices of service sector SMEs in Pakistan, and to provide an insight for policy development for SMEs.Design/methodology/approachA focused investigation of 100 SMEs in northern Pakistan was conducted through focused interviews and e‐mail survey. The survey is based on a list of 19 quality management techniques selected through Delphi research.FindingsA significant gap is reported between the knowledge of quality management techniques and their usage by SME entrepreneurs. The results show strong usage of CRM related techniques while low usage of suppliers' development related and statistically extensive techniques. Significant correlation is found between the usage of TQM and other quality management techniques, particularly six sigma and 5S.Practical implicationsThe results offer insight into quality management practices in Pakistani SMEs which represent the broader South Asian business culture that is host to a huge share of outsourcing from developed economies. Besides being of huge value to policy makers in the country, the results are useful for firms in developed economies that outsource their businesses to developing economies in South Asia.Originality/valueThe paper provides an insight into the quality management practices of Pakistani SMEs.
Investigating the impact of service quality and customer satisfaction on customer loyalty in mobile telephony in Greece
Authors: Santouridis Ilias , Trivellas Panagiotis 
Published: April 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate crucial factors that lead to customer loyalty in the mobile telephony sector in Greece, namely service quality and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the mediation effect of customer satisfaction on the service quality and customer loyalty relationship is also to be examined.Design/methodology/approachField research was conducted. The questionnaire was formed by a synthesis of existing constructs in relevant literature. The main research target sample consisted of residential non‐business mobile phone users in Greece. Reliability tests and statistical analyses were performed to both confirm scale validity and reliability and answer the research questions.FindingsCustomer service, pricing structure and billing system are the service quality dimensions that have the more significant positive influence on customer satisfaction, which in turn has a significant positive impact on customer loyalty. The mediation role of customer satisfaction on the service quality and customer loyalty relationship has also been confirmed.Research limitations/implicationsFor a more holistic investigation approach of customer loyalty, a future study could examine other antecedents such as trust, inertia and attractiveness of alternatives. Moreover, the investigation of the mediation role of switching costs on the link between satisfaction and loyalty could enhance the research model.Originality/valueIt is of great importance for mobile operators in a mature market such as that of Greece, to understand what the drivers of customer loyalty are. The present study produced useful findings, which can be utilized by mobile telephony provider managers, in their effort to develop and implement successful customer loyalty strategies.
The banking and financial crisis in the UK: what is real and what is behavioural?
Authors: Gulnur Muradoglu Yaz 
Published: April 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to reflect on the recent banking and financial crisis in the UK. It discusses the triggers of the crisis from a UK perspective and then examines the immediate reactions in the form of short‐term policies and concludes with a discussion on longer‐term policies.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper that argues that some of the triggers of the crisis are real and some are behavioural.FindingsThe crisis has its roots in the sub‐prime crisis of the USA with spillover effects for the UK due to its well‐developed and international financial sector. The systemic environment of high leverage in the financial, corporate and household sectors, the international nature of finance, and the opacity in banks' balance sheets are real triggers. In contrast, the underestimation of risks by almost all agents in the economy is behavioural.Practical implicationsThe paper argues that some of the conditions that led to the crisis will not change and should now be incorporated in new banking regulations. This is particularly true in the case of behavioural factors. Optimism, greed, herding and underestimation of low‐probability high‐impact events, are all parts of human nature. Human nature will not change. Thus, it need better regulations.Social implicationsLess privileged groups, such as the poor, the uneducated, and the elderly, need better regulation to make them less vulnerable not only to others' biases but also to their own biases.Originality/valueThe paper is original in discussing behavioural side of the crisis along with the real side of it.
Did the behaviour of central banks make the credit crisis inevitable?
Authors: Trow Stuart 
Published: April 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the degree to which central bank policy errors made the credit crisis inevitable.Design/methodology/approachThe paper did this by first observing the increasing tolerance shown by policymakers over time towards major structural imbalances. It then discussed three distinct behaviours or policy errors, describing their form and impact.FindingsThe first error is to hold short‐term interest rates at excessively low levels for sustained periods of time. The second is the unintended consequence of long‐term borrowing costs being kept artificially low as current account surplus countries purchased dollar‐denominated bonds with their surplus funds. The final error related to the skewed regulatory incentives which heavily favoured debt finance over equity funding, thereby encouraging excessive leverage. The paper concludes that central bank behaviour does indeed make a credit crisis inevitable, although clearly the central banks cannot be held directly responsible for policy errors outside of their remit. Nevertheless, where central banks combined a regulatory role with the conduct of monetary policy, they clearly should have been more pro‐active in their oversight of the commercial banks.Practical implicationsThe implications of the findings are serious inasmuch as there is little evidence that senior central bankers have altered their behaviour as a result of the crisis. There remains an elevated tolerance of structural imbalances and there has been no acknowledgement by central bank heads of their culpability, despite more junior central bankers being increasingly vocal on the subject. Clearly commercial bankers played an important part in the crisis, but the paper questions how realistic it is to expect them to modify their behaviour without suitable regulatory incentives.Originality/valueThe paper adds insight into the credit crisis and the role of the behaviour of central banks.
George Washington Hill and the “Reach for a Lucky … ” campaign
Authors: Beard Fred , Klyueva Anna 
Published: April 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this historical paper is to examine arguably the most controversial advertising campaign of all time. Critics have condemned tobacco marketer George Washington Hill's “Reach for a Lucky Instead of a Sweet” campaign in the late 1920s and early 1930s for its explicit attempt to encourage smoking among women by linking cigarettes with themes of slenderness and youth.Design/methodology/approachThe paper relies on primary sources obtained chiefly from the important advertising trade journals Printers' Ink and Advertising and Selling. Many sources, in turn, pointed to historically significant advertisements from the “Reach for a Lucky […]” campaign, some of which are included among the findings. Tentative themes of analysis were: the strategic motives behind the “Reach for a Lucky […]” campaign and the campaign's outcomes and consequences, both positive and negative.FindingsHill aggressively pursued the female smoker of the 1920s, as did other cigarette marketers of the period. However, the paper's findings support a conclusion that Hill had additional motives for attacking “sweets,” other than merely encouraging women to smoke with a slenderness appeal. Hill's primary strategic concern must have been how to address the extraordinarily competitive situation he faced with the other “big four” cigarette brands.Originality/valueFocusing on the strategic intent of the campaign and its outcomes and consequences, findings strongly suggest that prior perspectives and conclusions found in advertising history texts regarding this infamous campaign often fail to reveal its significance as an historical event.
“A virtual social H‐bomb”: the late 1950s controversy over subliminal advertising
Authors: Fullerton Ronald A. 
Published: April 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the beginning of the controversy over subliminal advertising in late 1957, as news of a supposedly successful commercial test of subliminal advertising became widely disseminated. The paper investigates the test and the reactions to it.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews many contemporary accounts of the events described, and pieces together a coherent description and interpretation of what happened. This is of course standard historical methodology.FindingsThe primary finding is that many reactions to subliminal advertising were fearful and wildly overblown – and have continued to be so down to the present despite no proof that subliminal advertising is effective. The deep roots of the fear are best explained by the paranoid and fearful intellectual climate in the USA.Originality/valueThe originality of the paper lies in its thorough review of original sources, and in its explanation of why the fear of subliminal advertising became so intense.
Silver dollars: the development of the US elderly market segment
Authors: Branchik Blaine J. 
Published: April 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to periodize the history of the US senior market segment, a large, lucrative target market.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a four‐step adaptation of an existing framework, periodizing the segment's history into three phases: independence phase, mid‐nineteenth century‐1935; growing affluence phase, 1935‐1965; and maturity phase, 1965 to present.FindingsThe senior market began with urbanization resulting from the industrial revolution. The growth of private pensions, two World Wars, a variety of governmental programs such as the GI Bill and Social Security and Medicare Acts, political power resulting from the establishment of groups such as the American Association of Retired Persons, and increasing stress on inclusiveness in marketing accelerated the growth of the market. As baby boomers age, the market is sure to grow in scope and market power.Research limitations/implicationsTime and space limitations require that this paper focus on the senior market only in the USA, and analyze only broad activities, events, and trends.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the study of marketing history and market segmentation in particular by analyzing the origins and growth of this very large and unique market segment – largely due to the fact that it currently represents about 12 percent of the US population, unique in that all Americans are or likely will be members. It illustrates the confluence of government policy, marketers' never‐ending drive to find new target markets via product differentiation, and the importance of demographic change.
A historical survey concerning marketing middlemen as producers of value
Authors: Monieson David D. 
Published: April 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to trace from ancient Greek scholars to the mid‐1950s the sentiments of two schools of economic thought on the role of marketing middlemen or intermediaries. One school disclaims any addition of value through middlemen's activities; the second maintains that marketing adds value.Design/methodology/approachThis paper was originally a chapter in the author's doctoral dissertation titled “Value added as a measure of economic contribution by marketing institutions” at Ohio State University. It is reprinted here to explore and add insight to other work by and about the author in this issue of the journal. A brief historical analysis of writings by ancient Greek scholars, mercantilists, physiocrats, classicists, neoclassicists, and twentieth century dissenters, is presented.FindingsMarketers add value and, in so doing, are productive. However, earlier scholars did not distinguish between measures of value added and measures of productivity and efficiency.Originality/valueWhile other marketing historians have covered much of this literature since the time of its original writing, it was in 1957 among the earliest such work by marketing scholars. As mentioned above, this paper explores and adds insight to other work by and about the author in this issue of the journal.
Reading Professor David D. Monieson
Authors: Tadajewski Mark 
Published: April 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a selective survey of Professor Monieson's work, using the philosophy and sociology of science as a prism.Design/methodology/approachThe approach taken is a historical review.FindingsMonieson was an important figure in the development of marketing thought, whose research should be read by marketing scholars and students alike.Practical implicationsThe paper introduces Monieson's advanced epistemological and axiological reflections to an audience who might be unaware of his contributions. In addition, it connects Monieson's writings with issues and debates central to the history of marketing thought, namely the first paradigm debate stimulated by the German Historicist School.Originality/valueThis paper examines and interprets Monieson's somewhat difficult work for a new audience; and connects the work of a managerially minded scholar with emerging debates in critical marketing studies.
Remembering Danny Monieson: reflections on a mentor and a friend
Authors: Shapiro Stanley J. 
Published: April 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present the author's recall of his personal and professional relationship with Danny Monieson, a relationship that lasted for almost half a century.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on personal recollection, first, of the context within which the author originally worked for and with Danny Monieson, and then, of the decades of professorial interaction that subsequently followed.FindingsDavid D. Monieson was a truly unique academic who, both as teacher and researcher, had a very significant influence on all his students but especially on those who subsequently pursued an academic career.Originality/valueThis brief note complements other biographical material about Monieson by spelling out the changing nature over time of his interaction with the first of the young academics he mentored.
Follow‐up empirical study of the performance of the New South Wales construction industry security of payment legislation
Authors: Brand Michael Charles , Uher Thomas 
Published: April 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report on findings of follow‐up research into the performance of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW), which was undertaken in 2007. The research aims to re‐assess the performance of the Act in the light of strong demand for adjudication of construction payment claims in New South Wales.Design/methodology/approachA cross‐sectional survey of member firms of The Master Plumbers & Mechanical Contractors Association of NSW and the National Electrical & Communications Association (NSW Chapter) was undertaken using a comprehensive multiple‐choice questionnaire administered by post. The questionnaire comprised 23 questions, whereby all but one question was of a multiple‐choice type. In answering the questions, the sampled claimants were required to draw on their understanding of the Act, and their experience with the adjudication process. Results were compared with a pilot study undertaken by the authors in 2004.FindingsThe results indicate that the object of the Act is generally being achieved. Whilst the culture of making late payments remains well entrenched in the construction industry, there appears to be a modest downward trend in the frequency of late payments since the 2004 study. It is now reasonably certain that the act of endorsing payment claims encourages communication between the parties, thus providing an opportunity for early dispute avoidance or resolution. However, the level of knowledge of the Act amongst subcontracting organisations overall has not improved since 2004 study, and may have even declined. It is clear that contractors and subcontractors are not taking full advantage of the Act.Originality/valueThe paper provides evidence of the performance of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) between 2004 and 2007. The research compares key performance indicators for the purpose of determining whether or not the Act produces the expected result of increasing security of payment, and whether the results are consistent with the reason for the Act. It also provides important insights into the operation of similar legislation in other jurisdictions.