bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The ethical dimensions of curriculum leadership in Scandinavian countries
Authors: Norberg Katarina , Johansson Olof 
Published: May 2010

PurposeSchooling is a significant tool for fostering future generations, which, in turn, implies that the curriculum is an ethical document. It mirrors the society's notion of what is valuable, useful and necessary from a societal and individual perspective. The purpose of this paper is to address the Scandinavian curricula's ethical framework, which is negotiated by school leaders and educators.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides an overview of the political intentions for desirable socialisation and civic identity represented in Scandinavian curricula, and discusses the implications for ethical school leadership.FindingsThere is a disparity between rhetoric and reality when it comes to a “school for everyone”, since the curricula's promoted content and end are interpreted differently. The paper indicates that an awareness of individual and less conscious internal values and how they steer conduct is significant.Originality/valueThe paper is among the first to address Scandinavian curricula's promoted values and their consequences for ethical school leadership.
The professoriate in the field of educational administration
Authors: Oplatka Izhar 
Published: May 2010

PurposeBased on a qualitative content analysis of 57 curricula vitae of authors who published their work in the major journals of the educational administration (EA) field, this paper seeks to display the career of EA authors and to suggest some epistemological implications for the field.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on both quantitative and qualitative modes of inquiry, according to which the curricula vitae is seen as a document that is susceptible to textual analysis.FindingsEA authors receive their academic degrees in a host of disciplines from many countries and universities, usually work in the compulsory educational system, and hold many academic roles in their university. They teach courses, conduct research and publish works on a host of topics, three of which are very widespread: leadership, managerial processes, and organisational aspects.Originality/valueThe analysis acquaints the reader with some of many aspects of the professoriate in diverse countries, and helps probe the uncertainty and fragmented nature of the field of EA. It ends with scholarly implications for the recruitment of new field members.
Transaction size effects on consumers' retail payment mode choice
Authors: Abdul‐Muhmin Alhassan G. 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how the monetary value of a retail transaction (transaction size) impacts consumers' preferences for cash, debit and credit card payment modes.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the analytical and empirical literature on retail payment mode choice and the related literature on differences in payment mode attributes, the author develops and tests a hypothesis that at retail point of purchase, cash, debit and credit card will be preferred payment modes for low‐, medium‐ and high‐value transactions, respectively. The hypothesis is tested in an experimental survey in which a sample of 477 respondents indicate which payment mode they would most likely use for each of ten products that vary systematically in list prices.FindingsThe results offer broad support for the hypothesis. They also show that preferences for debit and credit card payment modes are similar at low transaction values (both are less preferred), whilst those for debit and cash payment are similar at large transaction values (again, both are less preferred). This suggests that electronic payment modes are collectively a substitute for cash for low transaction values, whilst credit cards are a substitute for cash and debit cards for high transaction values.Research limitations/implicationsA key implication of the results is that it may be possible to persuade consumers in the study context to use electronic payments for small‐value transactions by invoking and making salient, convenience considerations that are purported to drive preferences for cash payment for such purchases.Originality/valueThe results also offer an alternative explanation for the continuing dominance of cash transactions in modern economies, and outlines implications for promoting consumer use of electronic payment modes at retail point of purchase.
Early versus potential adopters
Authors: Helena Chiu Yen‐Ting , Fang Shih‐Chieh , Tseng Chuan‐Chuan 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe success of retail service innovations is contingent upon a thorough understanding of the antecedent factors that drive adoption intention. Using the example of a novel kiosk technology, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the antecedents of kiosk use intention and to find out how perceptions of antecedent factors vary among potential and early adopters.Design/methodology/approachBased on the “Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology” and the technology readiness (TR) concept, the proposed framework identifies several factors underlying adoption intention. The framework is tested on potential and early adopters of a kiosk system recently launched by Taiwan's largest convenience retailer.FindingsResults show that while performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions and social influence impact overall use intention, the perceptions of these antecedents vary significantly between potential versus early users. Further, individual TR does not intervene with technology perceptions.Practical implicationsRetail practitioners can use the findings to more effectively target these two important adopter segments and to prioritize their technology investments.Originality/valueMost of extant technology adoption researches assume that factors driving adoption behaviour remain constant as diffusion progresses. This work joins a limited number of studies, which propose a dynamic nature of antecedent factors. The paper shows how perceptions of antecedent factors differ among potential and early users of a novel kiosk system. Overall, this paper emphasizes the need for a more segmented‐oriented approach in the promoting of innovative retail technologies.
An investigation of Chinese consumers' outshopping motives from a culture perspective
Authors: Jian Wang Yong , Doss Samuel K. , Guo Chiquan , Li Wenjing 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate Chinese consumers' international outshopping motives from a culture perspective based on Hofstede's four cultural dimensions.Design/methodology/approachFour international outshopping motives that may affect Chinese consumer's propensity of shopping abroad were empirically investigated based on a sample of 174 Chinese consumers who participated in a mall intercept survey.FindingsThe results suggest that Chinese consumers' perceived expressiveness of using foreign products, perceived reliability of foreign retail service, and perceived enjoyment of shopping abroad have positive and significant impacts on their propensity of shopping abroad. In addition, their perceived morality to support domestic industries does not significantly affect their outshopping behavior, although consumer ethnocentrism was regarded as an issue in China.Practical implicationsOutshoppers from China are increasingly found in the stores and malls in Western countries. The findings offer an insightful call for retailers and distributors in the West to understand how to make effective marketing strategies to target Chinese outshoppers and how to predict their behaviors when the global market gradually opens to Chinese consumers.Originality/valueThe identified motives represent a deeper understanding of Chinese consumers and their cultural environment.
Services offshoring
Authors: Thelen Shawn T. , Honeycutt Earl D. , Murphy Thomas P. 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine if consumers exhibit a country of service origin preference and to understand what service quality attributes consumers perceive to be most important when receiving services that originate from abroad.Design/methodology/approachRespondents rated their perception of service quality, measured through an expanded version of the SERVQUAL scale considered appropriate for offshore service encounters, for various countries popular for providing offshore services to the USA. Countries, selected from the A.T. Kearney Offshore Location Attractiveness Index, represented various regions of the world, economic development, cultural distance, and near/offshore locations.FindingsResults, from both regional and national studies, indicate that US citizens possess a country of service origin (COSO) hierarchy based on perceived service quality. Communication, security, and reliability are the most important service quality attributes for consumers when receiving an off‐shored service. Significant differences were identified among countries for each of these service quality attributes.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that firms need to be aware of consumer attitudes and perceptions about countries considered attractive for offshoring. The most preferred countries to consumers for services offshoring are not necessarily the ones with the highest skilled labor, lowest cost, or geographic closeness to the home country.Originality/valueThe paper extends the concept of country of origin (COO) to services and expands the current knowledge base of consumer opinions about services offshoring.
Comprehension of relationship quality in the retail environment
Authors: Vesel Patrick , Zabkar Vesna 
Published: May 2010

PurposeAfter almost a decade of relationship quality studies in the retail industry, high consensus exists regarding the dimensions that define the construct. Disregarding epistemological depth of the concept of commitment, however, has led only to its unidimensional operationalization. To improve the retail relationship quality operationalization, this paper seeks to provide theoretical and empirical support that calculative and emotional commitment should be included as dimensions of relationship quality in addition to trust and satisfaction in the retail environment.Design/methodology/approachCross‐sectional telephone interviews with members of a retail loyalty club were conducted in two waves. The first wave included 116 respondents to purify the measurement instrument. The second wave included 416 respondents to estimate the parameters in SEM.FindingsEmpirical findings suggest that in the retail environment, relationship quality as a second‐order factor influences emotional commitment, calculative commitment, and a combined construct of trust and satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited to members of a single do‐it‐yourself (DIY) retailer's loyalty club. Cross‐retail industry and cross‐country testing could potentially improve the proposed scale for measuring relationship quality in the retail sector.Practical implicationsAlthough relatively abstract in its higher‐order factor formation for daily managerial purposes, the paper attempts to discuss managerial implications from the retail point of view in a comprehensive and readable manner. By narrowing the focus to a particular sector and selected dimensions of the construct, the paper helps increase understanding of the central construct of relationship marketing to the managerial sphere.Originality/valueAn important contribution of this paper lies in the selection of dimensions that reflect the relationship quality construct in the retail environment; more specifically, the selection of calculative and emotional commitment. An historical overview of relationship quality studies in consumer markets also provides an opportunity to improve comprehension of the phenomena.
Drivers of customers' service experiences: a study in the restaurant industry
Authors: Walter Ute , Edvardsson Bo , Öström Åsa 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify, portray and analyse the frequent drivers of customer service experiences as described by customers in their own words – the voice of the customer.Design/methodology/approachA critical incident technique study was conducted, based on 122 interviews, including 195 favourable and unfavourable narratives, about customer experiences. The data were analysed in an inductive manner and the results are presented by means of extracts from the narratives.FindingsThe findings describe the dimensions of drivers of customers' favourable and unfavourable experiences and the frequent drivers, the social interaction, the core service and the physical context.Research limitations/implicationsCustomer experiences are processes and include dynamic interactions and the customer as a co‐producer. The study context is limited to the restaurant setting and Swedish customers.Practical implicationsFor managers the results suggest that great effort needs to be put into understanding the process of customer experiences and the various interactions involved, especially social interactions and the crucial roles of contact employees and customers involved in these interactions.Originality/valueThe paper provides a detailed description and analysis of the frequent and less frequent drivers of favourable, and unfavourable customer experiences – the constellation of drivers. The findings are illustrated by extracts from customer narratives and show how experiences occur and that experiences are processes occurring in a social and physical environment when people do things together. Furthermore, the paper introduces customer experience to service dominant logic by describing the dynamics of resource interactions in customer experience formation.
Management commitment to service quality and organizational outcomes
Authors: Cheung Millissa F.Y. , To W.M. 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the mediating role of effective employee involvement in the links between management commitment to service quality, employees' job satisfaction, and customer perceptions of service performance.Design/methodology/approachBased on a review of the literature on service management, the authors identified the role of effective employee involvement in the relationships between management commitment to service quality and employees' job satisfaction and between management commitment to service quality and customer perceptions of service performance. Using a random sampling method, the authors obtained 143 matched frontline employee‐customer dyads in the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.FindingsThe results of the structural equations analysis show that effective employee involvement fully mediates the positive effects of management commitment to service quality on employees' job satisfaction and customer perceptions of service performance.Practical implicationsThis study confirms that management commitment to service quality alone does not produce positive organizational outcomes, unless linked with effective employee involvement.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the literature on service management by identifying the mediating role of effective employee involvement in the relationships between management commitment to service quality and organizational outcomes.
Examining the application of six sigma in the service exchange
Authors: Noone Breffni M. , Namasivayam Karthik , Spitler Tomlinson Heather 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the role of six sigma in the assembly of service components, during the service exchange. Specifically, it seeks to examine whether applying six sigma principles to customer‐facing processes enhances customer satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a field study to examine the relationship between conformance with a standardized service assembly process and customer satisfaction. Data were collected over a two‐month period using participant observation at the front desk of a leading hotel, and were analyzed using logistic regression.FindingsThe results of the study provide a basis for discussion of the issues associated with applying six sigma to the service assembly process. The results suggest that the application of six sigma to customer‐facing processes does not improve customer satisfaction.Originality/valueMuch of the documented success of six sigma has focused on its application to processes with minimum or no customer involvement. In contrast, this paper focuses on the application of six sigma in the service exchange, which typically encompasses a high degree of customer involvement. The paper also adopts a customer‐centric view and differentiates two different processes in a service exchange. This novel view suggests fresh theorizing and research directions. The intent is to encourage discourse among academics and practitioners regarding the applicability of six sigma in a service setting, and identify avenues for future research in this domain.
Consumer perceptions of visible tattoos on service personnel
Authors: Dean Dwane H. 
Published: May 2010

PurposeIt is proposed that visible tattoos on service personnel may be used as a clue by consumers in predicting service process and outcome. This paper aims to explore this general hypothesis by investigating consumer perceptions of tattooed service employees and whether they vary by type of service rendered, the age of the perceiver, and whether the perceiver has a tattoo or not.Design/methodology/approachA quota sample of age‐grouped subjects reported their perceptions of the appropriateness of visible tattoos on service personnel in nine different occupations as well as their inferences about tattooed people on five personal traits.FindingsOverall, visible tattoos on white‐collar workers were deemed inappropriate while similar tattoos on blue‐collar workers were viewed as appropriate. Respondents (both young and old and tattooed versus non‐tattooed) believed financial services workers should not have visible tattoos. Older subjects held a more unfavorable view of tattooed people, in general, than younger subjects, believing tattooed people are less intelligent and less honest than non‐tattooed people.Research limitations/implicationsThe respondents did not evaluate actual tattoos, just the location of the tattoo on the arms, hands, or neck. Also, subjects evaluated hypothetical employees. Prior acquaintance with the employee might alter the perception of the tattoo.Originality/valueThis is apparently the first study to investigate consumer perceptions of visibly tattooed service personnel. Written explanations given by subjects for their responses suggest that judgment of the appropriateness of the tattoo is driven by expectations. That is, whether the presence of the tattoo is congruent with the mental image of people in that occupation in the mind of the perceiver. Interestingly, judgment of appropriateness was not affected by whether the perceiver had a tattoo or not, suggesting that perceived similarity of the object to the perceiver had little influence on evaluation.
Empirical research on competitiveness factors
Authors: Sun Hui , Fan Zhiqing , Zhou Ying , Shi Ye 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a model to analyze the interactions among the competitiveness factors of the real estate industry on the basis of Porter's Diamond Model. The model provides insights into the relationship between these factors in the context of the Beijing and Tianjin real estate industries.Design/methodology/approachBased on Porter's Diamond Model, this paper establishes the competitiveness factors model and divides the factors into four key categories. (i.e. productivity element, demand constraint, the strategy or structure of relevant and supportive industry and corporation, and horizontal competition). After relevant indices are picked up in each category, the paper utilizes structural equation modeling to analyze the contribution of each factor on competitiveness of real estate industry. Data are collected from Beijing and Tianjin in China and the model is practiced in the context of the real estate industry of the two cities.FindingsSupported by empirical evidence, this study finds out that related industries have the most significant influence on competitiveness of real estate industry and the second important is demand factors. Based on these, four pieces of suggestion are given to improve the competitiveness of real estate industry combining with the condition of Beijing and Tianjin in this paper.Originality/valueThis research builds a conceptual model based on Porter's Diamond model to provide a much more comprehensive understanding of the interactions between competitiveness factors of real estate industry, and introduces structural equation modeling to quantitatively analyze the contribution of each factor to competitiveness.
Client recommendations for financial incentives on construction projects
Authors: Rose Timothy , Manley Karen 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe paper seeks to provide recommendations for construction clients who design and implement financial incentive mechanisms (FIMs) on projects.Design/methodology/approachFour large Australian building projects commissioned by government clients under managing contractor contracts and completed between 2001 and 2005 were examined to explore the “drivers” that promoted motivation toward financial incentive goals. The results were triangulated across data sources, projects and stakeholder types.FindingsFIM design should incorporate: flexibility to modify goals and measurement procedures over time; multiple goals covering different project areas; distribution of rewards across all the key organisations contributing to team performance (e.g. potentially not just the contractor, but the subcontractors and consultants) and a reward amount sufficient to be valued by potential recipients. FIM benefits are maximised through the following complementary procurement initiatives: equitable contract risk allocation; early contractor involvement in design; value‐driven tender selection; relationship workshops; and future work opportunities.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper provides practical recommendations to industry and hence does not emphasise theoretical aspects.Practical implicationsThe uptake of these recommendations is likely to increase the impact of FIMs on motivation and improve project and industry outcomes. Although the study focuses on government clients of building projects, all the recommendations would seem to apply equally to private‐sector clients and to non‐building projects.Originality/valueIn order to improve motivation and reward high performance, clients are increasingly using FIM in their construction contracts. Despite the rising use of financial incentives, there is a lack of comprehensive construction‐specific knowledge available to help clients maximise outcomes. The study addresses this gap in the literature.