bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Training of library and information science (LIS) professionals in Kenya
Authors: Kavulya Joseph M. 
Published: April 2007

PurposeFirst, to assess the status of the job market for library and information science (LIS) professionals in Kenya and the adequacy of current curricula and training resources in LIS training institutions in the country. Secondly, to identify priority areas of training and critical IT skills required by LIS professionals in relation to current job market and performance requirements.Design/methodology/approachUsing a survey research design data was collected from various categories of LIS stakeholders: students, lecturers, professionals and employers. In total 110 subjects were selected for this study using various sampling techniques and a response rate of 76.4 per cent was achieved. Questionnaires with closed and open‐ended questions were used to collect data. This was a descriptive study and therefore descriptive statistics were used.FindingsA job market for LIS professionals in Kenya is perceived to exist. However, there is a general observation that the current LIS training programmes in the country do not sufficiently address current job market requirements due to: inadequate teaching resources in LIS training institutions; lack of adequate ICT content in the courses; courses that are irrelevant to the job market and inadequate length of industrial attachment.Practical implicationsThe paper recommends review of the current LIS curricula in Kenya in order to enhance the suitability of graduates to the current labour market. This includes integration of modern ICT into training, recruitment of qualified teaching staff, ensuring adequate learning resources and facilities, and enhancement of industrial attachment.Originality/valueThe paper investigates some of the critical issues that planners of library and information science courses have to consider in the 21st century. These issues include: the emergence of the “information society”, the multidisciplinary heritage of LIS education, the choice between liberal vis‐à‐vis technical education, the emergence of the concept of digital library, and finally the need for thorough management and leadership competencies. These issues are part of the current discourse on LIS training in the sub‐Saharan Africa where communities are in transition to the “information economy”.
Do applicants fake? An examination of the frequency of applicant faking behavior
Authors: Griffith Richard L. , Chmielowski Tom , Yoshita Yukiko 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to empirically test whether applicants fake their responses to personality based employment inventories.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilized a within subjects design to asses whether applicants elevated their scores in an applicant conditions. Subjects who applied for a job were later contacted and asked to complete the same personality measure under an honest instructional set. The within subjects design allowed the researcher to examine faking behavior at the individual level of analysis rather than draw inferences between applicant and incumbent groups.FindingsResults suggest that a significant number of applicants do fake personality based selection measures. Depending on the confidence interval used between 30 and 50 percent of applicants elevated their scores when applying for a job. The results also show that applicant faking behavior resulted in significant rank ordering changes that impacted hiring decisions.Research limitations/implicationsOne limitation of the study is the exclusion of a job performance criterion measure. Without this measure definitive statements regarding the decay in the criterion validity of the measure cannot be made. While the study demonstrated rank ordering changes, decrements in criterion validity cannot be demonstrated without measuring job performance.Practical implicationsThe practical implications of the paper are that personality measures should not be used alone. Rather they should be included in a test battery of measures that are less susceptible to faking behavior. In addition, applied researchers must continue research efforts to address the faking issue.Originality/valueEmpirical research has supported the notion that respondents can fake when instructed, however, other research has suggested that applicants do not fake in applied settings. This study is the first to provide substantial evidence that faking does occur in applicant settings and that is disrupts rank ordering of applicants.
Antecedents affecting public service motivation
Authors: Camilleri Emanuel 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to examine various antecedents to establish their effect on public service motivation (PSM) and its four dimensions.Design/methodology/approachFive categories of antecedents were examined these included: personal attributes, role states, job characteristics, employee‐leader relations, and employee perception of the organisation. Results were obtained through: structural equation modelling for the examination of multiple relationships between PSM and its dimensions, and the antecedents; and ANOVA for testing the individual hypotheses.FindingsThis study provides some evidence to show that the PSM of public employees is mainly the result of the organisational environment surrounding them. The motivational context variables particularly those related to the organisational setting are the most dominant predictors of the PSM dimensions.Research limitations/implicationsThe empirical results presented in this study should be viewed as preliminary that necessitate further extensive empirical research.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that public sector management has the task of creating a proper and appropriate climate for its employees. Furthermore, PSM has generated particular interest because it is perceived or assumed to have a positive impact on the job behaviour of individuals in particular, job satisfaction and fulfilment, and their respective level of performance. It is therefore important that public sector organisations find ways of encouraging PSM amongst its employees.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature regarding PSM by examining the relationship between dominant antecedents and the dimensions of PSM, and presents the findings as a model to show the dynamics in these relationships.
Human resource management in Chinese small and medium enterprises
Authors: Xue Cunningham Li , Rowley Chris 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to emphasise the development, importance and pressures on the under‐researched area of Chinese small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and human resource management (HRM) and provide a review and research agenda, especially relating to the debate on convergencevis‐à‐visdivergence.Design/methodology/approachRecent research papers are discussed and possible convergence and the pressures on HRM and its practice in Chinese SMEs are examined. Key elements in Chinese HRM are highlighted. Four main dimensions of HRM are compared in terms of western and Chinese characteristics and their cultural impacts and problems. A conceptual framework to locate influences on Chinese HRM is outlined as well as a set of propositions for future research and examination of key HRM areas.FindingsThe continuing influences on HRM suggest that a distinctly Chinese HRM approach combining western practice with Chinese characteristics may be one way for SMEs to develop.Originality/valueIt is central to a better understanding of Chinese SMEs and helps fill some of the gap in the analysis of HRM in Chinese SMEs. It also offers insights which managers, policy makers and Chinese government can use to construct and reform the supporting system for SMEs.
Employee perceptions of recent work environment changes in Japan
Authors: Duignan René , Yoshida Kosaku 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThis study aims to assess how Japanese employees perceive their changing work environment.Design/methodology/approachThe perceptions of Japanese white‐collar employees towards defined aspects of their work environment were tested and compared in a sample set of Japanese, European and US financial securities companies operating in Japan, in order to find which international model provided the highest evaluations.FindingsResults revealed that employees in Japanese companies displayed significantly higher levels of understanding of company goals and objectives than their counterparts in the foreign companies. Employees in Japanese companies also evaluated their training significantly higher than their counterparts in European companies. However employees in European companies rated their future prospects significantly higher than their counterparts in Japanese and US companies. Perceptions of Japanese employees of US and European companies provide mixed results which should be of serious concern to foreign companies aiming to integrate and motivate Japanese workers.Originality/valueThe paper shows that despite the trend towards the “westernization” of the work environment in Japan, key elements of the Japanese model remains highly‐rated.
To share or not to share: modeling knowledge sharing using exchange ideology as a moderator
Authors: Lin Chieh‐Peng 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose important determinants of knowledge sharing, including co‐worker congruence, received task interdependence, organizational commitment and participative decision‐making. Exchange ideology is considered a moderator in this study.Design/methodology/approachA two‐step procedure of structural equation modeling is applied for data analysis. The moderating effects are simultaneously examined using data from employees across different industries.FindingsThis study suggests the influence of co‐worker congruence on knowledge sharing is stronger for individuals with low exchange ideology than for those with high exchange ideology, while the influence of received task interdependence on knowledge sharing is stronger for individuals with high exchange ideology than for those with low exchange ideology. The influence of participative decision‐making on knowledge sharing is stronger for individuals with high exchange ideology than for those with low exchange ideology.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations may relate to the possibility of a common method bias and causal ordering between knowledge and its determinants.Practical implicationsManagement who wish to increase the incentive to share knowledge should first establish a harmonious atmosphere that fosters interpersonal congruence among employees and encourages employees to work closely together. A culture that arouses employees' organizational commitment and encourages employees to participate in decision‐making is most likely to increase willingness to share knowledge. Finally, the implications for moderating effects of exchange ideology are also provided.Originality/valueThis paper clarifies the moderating impacts of exchange ideology and guide management to design a variety of strategies for different staffs and thus obtain successful knowledge sharing in an organization.
Recruitment, training and turnover: another call centre paradox
Authors: Townsend Keith 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThere appear to be many paradoxes within the management of the growing call centre sector. The purpose of this paper is to consider one of these paradoxes, the extensive recruitment and training regimes in workplaces that are faced with very high levels of turnover.Design/methodology/approachThis research is of a single worksite, a call centre of a public utilities company. The research method was non‐participant observation over a seven‐month period coupled with ten interviews with key personnel.FindingsIt was found that the organisation was able to offset the costs of training and recruitment through internal transfers within the larger organisation.Research limitations/implicationsIt is a single site study, hence, while of substantial depth the findings are not generalisable. More broad based research is required in the area.Practical implicationsA useful source of information for practitioners in call centres, as well as researchers in the area of recruitment, training and call centres.Originality/valueThis paper provides a valuable insight into an area of call centres that has not been adequately investigated; that of recruitment and training employees for emotional labour.
An operations management view of the services and goods offering mix
Authors: Luiz Corrêa Henrique , Ellram Lisa M. , José Scavarda Annibal , Cooper Martha C. 
Published: April 2007

PurposeTo develop and propose a framework, termed here as the value package prism, for assessing the kinds of management processes and flexibility available in providing a range of value packages (services and goods offering mix).Design/methodology/approachThe literature is examined and a set of highly‐visible Latin‐American examples are presented to support the development of the proposed framework.FindingsProvides an additional perspective to the traditional set of characteristics (intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity, and perishability) for differentiating services and goods. The proposed framework (stockability, intensity of interaction, simultaneousness of consumption, and ease of performance assessment) and the value prism may be useful to operations managers in developing, planning, organizing, or controlling the production and delivery of services or goods.Originality/valueOffers a new framework and an applied way to improve operations management by moving away from the extremes of pure services and pure goods to embrace how businesses compete and operate today, by delivering value packages. Provides an approach that facilitates operations managers' understanding and ability to manage substantial changes in the value packages offered to customers.
GMM Luton examines the case for more robots to boost van output
Authors: Mortimer John 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThis paper seeks to describe how GM Manufacturing Luton in the UK is examining the case for raising the number of installed robots as a means of increasing van assembly for when the next generation vehicle is launched. Also describes some operational experience associated with a variety of industrial robots in body‐in‐white and spray painting environments.Design/methodology/approachDescribes the major production line techniques that are used in the manufacture of compact van body‐in‐white (BIW) steel structures; as well as the functions of robotized painting. BIW techniques include spot‐welding and sealants.FindingsOver the space of the last four years or so, the management of GM Manufacturing Luton has been tackling constraints in the bodyshop using General Motors' through‐put improvement process (TIP) to achieve greater utilization of its existing capacity, and improving productivity.Research limitations/implicationsGeneral motors has a system of continuous improvement, which it uses in most of the functions involved in the assembly of a motor vehicle. As part of this process engineers are continually looking at ways of removing constraints from equipment in the bodyshop and working closely with equipment suppliers to reduce the number of hours required to build a van body. But as proposals to build the next generation of vans are being considered so too is the requirement to increase the number of robots in the bodyshop. There is also much to be gained from the interchange of information between the various plants within General Motors worldwide with a view to implementing continuous improvement. In this connection, benchmarking is one of the techniques employed to ensure that the Luton facility is not only in step with sister GM plants to improve quality and productivity, but also is best placed for winning the next generation vehicle programme.Practical implicationsIt is likely that, arising out of greater plant integration and utilization, the management of GM Manufacturing Luton Ltd (GMM Luton) will be able to further increase the capacity of its van production units to be in a position to move to the next stage of expansion, namely to edge towards a target of 100,000 units a year.Originality/valueThis is the first time in the UK that Comau Smart H4 robots have been used on a significant scale. The introduction of these robots created a steep learning curve both for those installing the machines and for those operating them. The plant as a whole makes use of various makes of robot including Comau in the bodyshop and KUKA, Fanuc and Durr machines in the paint shop. The company is also preparing the ground for the introduction of the next generation of robot, the Comau NH4.
Materials flow improvement in a lean assembly line: a case study
Authors: Domingo Rosario , Alvarez Roberto , Melodía Peña Marta , Calvo Roque 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThis paper seeks to analyse the internal materials flow in lean manufacturing in an assembly line of the Bosch factory, located in Spain. The objective is to develop a handling system in a small space, capable of solving the problems of accumulated intermediate stocks of parts. An improvement is proposed adopting the milkrun handling system, while verifying the advances by means of lean metrics.Design/methodology/approachBased on this case study, the paper identifies data from value stream mapping and uses lean metrics, such as dock‐to‐dock time and lean rate. The case study develops a timetable and routing analysis for the milkrun to improve materials flow.FindingsThe proposed logistics allows an improvement of lean metrics, without modifying the layout and production planning. The routing flexibility of the milkrun reduced stocks, work‐in‐process and dock‐to‐dock time, while increasing lean rate.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are limited due to the focused nature of the case study. Although the solution is designed for a particular plant, the methodology is fully exportable.Practical implicationsThe paper shows a real case study illustrative for systems management. This research shows significant benefit associated with the implementation of lean programs.Originality/valueIt details how the application of lean manufacturing tools could necessitate a study of materials handling to improve lean metrics.
Evolving paradigm and challenges of collection management (CM) in university libraries of Pakistan
Authors: Ameen Kanwal , Haider S.J. 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore some major challenges in the area of collection management faced by university libraries in Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology includes a literature review and a survey of university libraries in Pakistan in 2004.FindingsThe challenges regarding collection management in university libraries in Pakistan are: handling the hybrid character of collections, service to users, training of collection management staff, collection evaluation, resource sharing and preservation.Originality/valueThis paper provides an example of the challenges of university libraries in a developing country which must plan and develop a customized paradigm of library service which combines the traditional and modern services.
What's your story? Corporate messages to touch the soul
Authors: Murray Wallace 
Published: April 2007

PurposeReviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.Design/methodology/approachThis briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.FindingsSpringboard stories will motivate to embrace change in away that other approaches will not. However, narrative and story forms have many other applications in organizational and indeed personal development. The form can help people through the change process, create “followership”, communicate values in a compelling way, and nurture cross‐team working. In essence, they address the psychology of change more effectively than any other medium.Practical implicationsProvides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.Originality/valueThe briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.
A management development model
Authors: Pool Steven , Pool Brian 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of organizational commitment and the impact on executive's motivational level in providing job satisfaction within a learning organization.Design/methodology/approachA management development model examines the relationship between the measurable constructs. The model explores the relationship between the executive's motivation level and their outcome with job satisfaction and organizational learning.FindingsThe results indicate there is a goodness‐of‐fit for the research model. The path coefficients explained a significant amount of variation along with the identification that organizational commitment is a significant attribute in the management development model.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations include the self‐report methodology that measures perceptual data with a series of questionnaire items.Originality/valueThe study examines executive's perceptions and the significance of organizational commitment. Management development specialists will recognize the dynamics of organizational commitment and its linkage with motivation and job satisfaction in a learning organization. There are practical applications for management development specialists and the model supports an environment in which employees are encouraged to use new behaviors and operation processes within the learning organization.