bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The effects of satisfaction, opportunism, and asset specificity on consumers' loyalty intention toward internet portal sites
Authors: Chiou Jyh‐Shen , Shen Chung‐Chi 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThis study aims to develop and empirically test a model examining the antecedents of consumer loyalty toward internet portals.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected based on an internet survey in Taiwan. Self‐administered questionnaires were used for all measures.FindingsThe results show that attributive satisfaction is very important in affecting consumers' overall satisfaction toward an internet portal, which in turn affects consumers' loyalty intention toward an internet portal. This study also demonstrates that consumers' specific asset investment on an internet portal exerted a positive impact on loyalty intention, whereas perceived opportunism toward an internet portal exerted a negative influence on loyalty intention.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the e‐commerce service studies in two ways. First, it developed and empirically tested a model for examining the antecedents of consumer loyalty intentions toward an internet portal. Second, it incorporated the concept of transaction cost (i.e. opportunism and asset specificity) into the model and examined the effect on the formation of loyalty intention. This inclusion also improved the theoretical foundation of loyalty formation in an internet‐connected service world.
Hotel networks and social capital in destination marketing
Authors: von Friedrichs Grängsjö Yvonne , Gummesson Evert 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe paper provides insights into destination marketing and the conditions and outcome of competitor co‐operation in a local, horizontal hotel network. The specific purpose is to uncover the mechanics of such a network and offer a theory together with recommendations for practice and future research.Design/methodology/approachIn contrast with manufactured goods, which are distributed to the market, destination marketing distributes customers to a service production site. This basic prerequisite has effects on marketing strategies and the networking of competitors, and so has the fact that the services are in part delivered in interaction with customers and between customers at a physical place. The paper is based on inductive case study research, and the observations and conclusions from the empirical case data are given precedence over extant theory. The case, the Hotel Group, is a hotel network in the town of Östersund, Sweden. The case is directed towards certain strategic business‐to‐business elements of destination marketing.FindingsThe study shows that the Hotel Group has found a success formula. Among the results are that a drive for action, both planned and improvised, is more decisive for success than plans and expressed intentions; that networking is facilitated when local competitors build social capital through trust and commitment in action; and that competitors have to adhere to certain basic principles, strike a balance between seemingly contradictory strategies, and live by an agreed code of conduct.Research limitations/implicationsThe case study lays bare the need to rethink certain mainstream vantage points used in research. These include departure from the notion of small‐ and medium‐sized businesses as autonomous economic entities and consider them part of networks; recognition of the social context and synergy of a network organization and its code of conduct; and learning to manage a social network by balancing seeming paradoxes and opposites. The study is temporally limited and does not forecast the sustainability and robustness of the network and its success formula over time and under changing conditions.Practical implicationsThe study offers normative and actionable insights about the success of a horizontal tourism network. The network members should adhere to three basic principles: show enthusiasm, give time, and contribute to financing; they have to perform balancing acts between the collective and individual, co‐operation and competition, and planning/intention and action; and they have to follow a seven‐point code of conduct.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to a theory of co‐operation in marketing networks. It empirically examines network mechanics when local competitors take action to improve their individual situation by improving the collective competitive position on the market, provides insights into destination marketing and the conditions and outcome of competitor co‐operation in a local, horizontal hotel network.
Digitizing a real estate document library
Authors: Schroeder Alan T. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of the article is to present the organizational, logistic, and technological problems in reengineering established real estate library business processes to inform other practitioners.Design/methodology/approachThe article is based on the approach taken in one organisation. This paper presents the organizational, logistic, and technological problems in reengineering established real estate library business processes by considering a real case study, although the identify of the firm is not revealed.FindingsThe information management literature is strewn with bits and pieces on document imaging and its perceived benefits through increased technology. The business process is more complex than the sales literature suggests. Imaging projects begin with a paper backlog that requires preparation, organization, taxonomy, and elimination of redundancy through document analysis. Personnel, budget, and administration need to be allocated. Simultaneously, a document management system must be selected, data warehouse space allocated, and a design storyboard constructed.Research limitations/implicationsThe case study is from the private sector, but there may be other aspects to consider in developing the return on investment argument in other sectors.Practical implicationsHow will the paper backlog be eliminated forever? The answer lies in reengineering the entire real estate library business process, transforming the real estate document library into an information management decision‐making tool for those managers involved in selling, buying, and managing property assetsOriginality/valueThis paper reflects practical lessons learned and will help other professionals who are considering digitization.
Student satisfaction with an educational administration preparation program
Authors: Kanan Hana M. , Baker Ahmad M. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to examine the perceptions of graduates from an educational administration program in terms of its effectiveness and impact on their lives and careers.Design/methodology/approachThe perceptions of 23 graduates of a Master's degree program in educational administration in a developing university were examined in terms of personal satisfaction, content, and impact. A qualitative analysis approach was used to interpret the data generated by a four‐part questionnaire distributed to the first three graduating cohorts in educational administration.FindingsPersonal satisfaction was shown to be more related to interpersonal interaction than academic content of the program of study. The findings also showed that criticism of educational administration preparation programs in newly emerging systems is similar to the criticism levied at similar programs in the west four decades ago. The findings are discussed within their relevance to the construction of a global theory of educational administration preparation programs.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the circumstances under which this study was conducted (popular uprising, military violence, etc.) posed limitations on the rigor of its design (e.g. sample size, return rate of questionnaires), it, none the less, offers a significant contribution to the construction of administrative training theory.Originality/valueThis study bears significant ramifications and limitations to the construction of the theory of preparing educational administrators in newly emerging systems.
In search of quality
Authors: Stevens Lynn 
Published: July 2006

PurposeIn February 2005, Lloyd James Group conducted an analysis of the list market, which showed an 8 percent decline in commercially available lists. The purpose of this paper is to consider the implication of this modest decline in commercially available data, looking at where those declines are occurring, where the growth areas are, and what other techniques are coming into play to partner work alongside traditional list usage to deliver the results that managers and shareholders are demanding. The paper aims to consider how one such additional technique – affinity marketing – is being used across a number of sectors with retail operations, and how this compares with sectors with no retail presence.Design/methodology/approachThe first piece of research discussed, In Search of Quality, was carried out in Q1 of 2005. The research was carried out through data sources: lists and data sources, Marketing UK, Catalogue and e‐Business Annual, Precision Marketing, DMIS, FEDMA, World Advertising Research Centre, Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, Office of National Statistics, PriceWaterhouse Coopers, KPMG. The second research paper discussed, A Growing Affinity, was carried out in October/November 2005 through telemarketing and e‐mail field work by Marketing UK. The research base was the UK top 1,000 companies in the banking, charity, credit card, hotel, insurance, retail, telecoms, travel and utility sectors. Future research would look at consumer perceptions of and reactions to affinity‐based campaign where a known organisation introducing a third party to the consumer and look at the perceived logic of different kinds of combinations.FindingsOver the past couple of decades, marketing in the UK has evolved considerably. A key aspect of this change has been the shift away from the use of mass marketing techniques in favour of a more tailored approach, with retail organisations attempting to deliver a more personalised marketing message to distinct groups of consumers. This development will continue, not with one technique in particular winning out over others, but with the marketer using an increasing range of tools – commercial lists and other third party data, affinity, inserts and further piggy‐back techniques, co‐branding, sponsorship, and more – to reach responsive consumers within their catchments in an increasingly fragmented marketing communications world.Originality/valueThis paper provides retail marketers with an outline of practical options available for use to enhance marketing campaigns and maintain critical volumes as well as quality. The conclusion is that marketers must use a combination of tools and channels to achieve the desired reach and rate of response in the face of data scarcity and increased media fragmentation.
Hospitality industry in Cyprus: the significance of intangibles
Authors: Krambia‐Kapardis Maria , Thomas Alison 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to provide companies in the hotel and tourism industry with an alternative reporting method to the traditional financial reporting.Design/methodology/approachValueReporting™ is a framework developed and tested in 16 other industries by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Its ambition is to codify the information perceived to be critical by CFOs and the investment community for understanding the quality and sustainability of performance of a company in a given industrial sector. Given that the hotel and tourism industry is one on which the economy of Cyprus depends (in 2003 it was 13.9 per cent of GDP) and is one that has been going through a sustainability crisis, it was decided to develop the framework for this sector and to recommend it to executives as a method of mitigating this current lack of confidence. The study was tested on financial statement users (analysts, investors and regulators) and executives.FindingsThe findings identified that users wish to understand the operational drives of performance (“value‐creating activities”) and that there is an information gap between the information the users want and the information they get.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was of interest to publicly listed companies or public but not listed. Given the relatively small number of companies in the industry and the limited number of users, this study needs to be replicated in another country with a bigger sample size.Practical implicationsThe focus in ValueReporting™ should be on value‐creating activities and measures should be taken by the hotel and tourism industry in Cyprus to tailor the information in ValueReporting™ to the special concerns of the users.Originality/valueWhilst many frameworks have been put forward, they lack the detail testing that ValueReporting™ has had in 16 global industries. This framework has not been tested in the hotel and tourism industry, which makes this work original.
Vibrational effect on heat transfer and entropy generation in an elliptic porous cavity
Authors: Mahmud Shohel , Fraser Roydon Andrew 
Published: July 2006

PurposeFree convection inside a square, circular, or elliptic cavity with gravity oscillation is a special class of problems. In a microgravity environment, the reduction or elimination of natural convection can enhance the properties and performances of materials such as crystals. However, aboard orbiting spacecrafts, all objects undergo low‐amplitude broadband perturbed accelerations, or g‐jitter, caused by crew's activities, orbiter maneuvers, equipment vibrations, solar drag, and other sources. Therefore, there is a growing interest in understanding the effects of these perturbations on the systems' behavior. There is no information of flow, heat transfer, and irreversibility analyses in the current literature that considers such a situation in a porous medium. This motivates this paper to conduct the current research.Design/methodology/approachAs a special case, an elliptic enclosure is considered here. The enclosure is filled with a porous medium whose flow is modeled by the Darcy momentum equation. The full governing differential equations are simplified by the Boussinesq approximation and solved by a finite volume method. Prandtl number (Pr) is fixed at 1.FindingsThe average Nusselt number (Nu), Bejan number (Be), and entropy generation number (Ns) are adopted to characterize the heat transfer and irreversibilities. Gravity oscillation introduces periodic behavior to the Nu, Be, and Ns rate. Depending on the frequency and the Rayleigh number (Ra), three distinguishable regimes of ψ behavior are identified: periodic and synchronous, periodic and asynchronous, and non‐periodic and asynchronous.Research limitations/implicationsCurrent research is valid only for laminar Darcy type flow situation in the porous media.Originality/valueThis paper will extend the existing theory of thermovibrational convection to porous media.
Temperature dependent fluid properties effects on the heat function formulation of natural convective flow and heat transfer
Authors: Adekojo Waheed M. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeTo study quantitatively the effects of combined temperature dependent thermodynamics and transport fluid properties on the heat transfer rate, heat function fields and profiles in a fluid filled square enclosure.Design/methodology/approachNavier‐Stokes equations in two‐dimensions, which are the flow governing equations, were transformed into stream function and vorticity transport equations. These equations together with the energy and heat function equations were cast into their non‐dimensional forms. Numerical solutions of the resulting equations were done by the use of finite‐difference method.FindingsThe numerical investigations conducted covered the Rayleigh and Prandtl numbers in the range 103≤Ra≤106 and 0.01≤Pr≤450, respectively, and expansion parameter ε=(Th−Tc)/TR in the range 0.05≤ε≤1. Results show that Boussinesq‐approximation is not sufficient to simulate natural convective flow when the difference between Th and Tc is high and close to the reference state temperature. The effects of the other fluids properties other than density can be disregarded in computation without significant loss of accuracy. Combined fluid properties have very strong effects on the heat transfer, heat function fields and profiles.Originality/valueThe results of this study will serve as baseline information to designers of heat transfer or process equipment in which fluid at very high temperature occurs.
Runge‐Kutta based calculation of turbulent forced convection flows of metallic liquids through tubes
Authors: Campo Antonio , Hernández‐Morales Bernardo , Lacoa Ulises 
Published: July 2006

PurposeTo provide a suitable linkage of a computational fluid dynamics code and a shape optimization code for the augmentation of local heat transfer coefficients in forced convection channels normally used in the cooling of electronic equipment.Design/methodology/approachA parallel‐plate channel with a discrete array of heat sources embedded in one wall, while the other wall is insulated, constitutes the starting model. Using water as coolant, the objective is to optimize the shape of the channel employing a computerized design loop. The two‐part optimization problem is constrained to allow only the unheated wall to deform, while keeping the same inlet shape and observing a maximum pressure drop constraint.FindingsFirst, the results for the linearly deformed unheated wall show significant decrease compared with the wall temperatures of the heated wall, with the maximum wall temperature occurring slightly upstream of the outlet. Second, when the unheated wall is allowed to deform nonlinearly, a parabolic‐like shaped wall is achieved where the maximum wall temperature is further reduced, with a corresponding intensification in the local heat transfer coefficient. The effectiveness of the computerized design loop is demonstrated in complete detail.Originality/valueThis paper offers a simple technique for optimizing the shapes of forced convection channels subjected to pre‐set design constraints.
Gender differences and similarities in judgments of trustworthiness
Authors: Golesorkhi Banu 
Published: July 2006

PurposeTo share research findings on the criteria female and male managers use to judge the trustworthiness of their co‐workers.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative study involving 321 female and 849 male managers attending leadership development programmes at business schools in Europe and Asia. Male and female respondents were compared on the importance they placed on four criteria of trustworthiness: ability, benevolence, integrity and cultural similarity. Male and female responses were also compared according to their region of origin.FindingsThere are no significant differences between women and men on the importance placed on a co‐worker's ability, but women as a group place significantly more importance on a co‐worker's benevolence, integrity and cultural similarity. However, when compared by region of origin (i.e. Europe, Southeast Asia, and North America), no significant differences are found between men and women within the same region, but important differences emerge between men and women across the three regions.Research limitations/implicationsOwing to sample composition, the broader region of origin was used as an indicator of cultural differences, as opposed to national culture or ethnicity. In addition, the use of western‐developed concepts and instruments may have influenced the responses in Asia.Practical implicationsThese findings have important implications for building and rebuilding trust between employees, particularly in organisations characterised by cultural and gender diversity.Originality/valueThis research fills an important knowledge gap in the fields of trust and diversity by providing much needed empirical data on the behaviours related to judgments of trustworthiness, and how these may differ by gender or by culture.
Some aspects of tsunami impact and recovery in India
Authors: Arya Anand S. , Mandal G.S. , Muley E.V. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeTo provide a review of the general aspects of tsunamis and the specific aspects of the 2004 tsunami impacts on the coastal areas of India and surrounding islands.Design/methodology/approachThe approach is a general discussion of the 2004 tsunami and its effects in areas in South East Asia, followed by the specific impacts in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, including the damage to water supply and power systems, and a situation analysis of the communities, land and housing.FindingsThe impact of the 2004 tsunami highlights the vulnerability of the coastal areas and islands of India. The multi‐hazard situation existing on the sea coast of the mainland as well as in the islands of Andaman and Nicobar require a holistic multi‐hazard mitigation approach as a long term measure. The recovery programs presently in hand are being planned taking the multi‐hazard situation in view, so as to provide protection from such hazards in future.Originality/valueProvides a review of the effects of the 2004 tsunami in the coastal areas and islands near India.
Tsunami public awareness and the disaster management system of Sri Lanka
Authors: Kurita Tetsushi , Nakamura Akiko , Kodama Miki , Colombage Sisira R.N. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThis study aims to assess and evaluate the disaster management system in Sri Lanka and the capacity of a local community to respond to natural disasters, and to propose a strategy for the dissemination of tsunami knowledge while raising public awareness of tsunami disasters.Design/methodology/approachThe survey focused on three clusters of respondents and different methodologies were adopted to collect data from each group, as follows: residents: questionnaires followed by a structured interview; school children: questionnaires completed under the guidance of a teacher; government officials: questionnaires completed independently by respondents, and followed up with unstructured interviews with officials in charge of disaster related activities.FindingsThe results of the survey of residents indicate that; more than 90 percent of residents lacked tsunami knowledge prior to the 2004 tsunami; the main source of information during the disaster was direct information from family and neighbors; school education is important for raising awareness of disaster reduction; and an early warning system is a key requirement for reducing damage in the future. The school surveys reveal that; about 30 percent of school children do not yet understand what causes a tsunami; 90 percent of school children have a keen interest in studying natural disasters; comprehensive disaster education has not been provided; and audio‐visual means are thought to be the most effective tool for disaster education. The survey of officials shows that; seminars and drills on natural disaster have not thus far been conducted among general officials other than the military and police; measures need to be developed to safeguard the interests of tourists; and sirens, TV, and radio broadcasts are effective tools for disseminating disaster warnings to residents.Practical implicationsBased on the findings of the questionnaire and interview surveys, the following recommendations are proposed for disseminating knowledge and raising public awareness of tsunami disasters: promote disaster education at the school level; implement community‐level public awareness programs; enhance information management systems; and improve coordination mechanisms within the disaster management system.Originality/valueAt present, this is the only study being conducted whose goal is to quantitatively evaluate public awareness of natural disasters and disaster management in Sri Lanka.