bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
University and course choice
Authors: Maringe Felix 
Published: September 2006

PurposeHigher education environments have become increasingly competitive and institutions have to compete for students in the recruitment markets. With the introduction of student fees, it is hypothesised that potential applicants to HE will increasingly become consumerist. The research upon which this paper was based was aimed at finding out the factors students consider important in their decision making related to choice of university and courses of study.Design/methodology/approachFive sixth form schools and colleges in the Southampton University Partnership Scheme participated in the study. Three hundred and eighty seven students (186 male and 201 female) voluntarily participated. The study involved a survey questionnaire based on a 10 point Likert scale and included 35 university choice factors which students were to rank accordingly. It also included 10 items similarly ranked to identify factors influencing university subject or course choice. Simple descriptive statistics were used to identify the factors students consider most important in their choice and decision making.FindingsTwo key signals have been identified. First is that, students seem to be adopting a consumerist approach to their HE decision making. The importance attached to labour market motives in terms of employment and career prospects significantly outweigh those related to pursuing HE on the basis of subject interest and a love for the subject. Second is that as a result of this, students consider programme and price related issues as more important than other elements of universities marketing mix.Research limitations/implicationsThere are no claims for generalisability of findings from this research on account of the small sample of participants and the use of convenience sampling employed in the study. However, the findings generally support what is already known about factors influencing university choice and go beyond to show signals of change within the undergraduate recruitment market.Practical implicationsThe findings have implications for university positioning in a diversifying recruitment market, and for a reconsideration of marketing and recruitment strategy at institutional levels.Originality/valueThe paper identifies signals of a changing undergraduate recruitment market and notes the implication this has on recruitment and marketing activities for institutions intending to position or reposition themselves in the highly competitive markets.
University evaluation‐selection: a Turkish case
Authors: Telli Yamamoto Gonca 
Published: September 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the university selection criteria of students for better university management with the use of marketing tools.Design/methodology/approachThis study consists of a survey on students attending a foundation university in Turkey. The questionnaire method has been chosen in order to determine the important criteria having an impact on the student views towards university selection. The students had been admitted to a foundation university in the 2005‐2006 period when within the same universities various departments were included in the study.FindingsThe results indicate student evaluation and selection criteria in this period of time.Practical implicationsThis paper examines the criteria that affects the selection of students and, in detail the students' point of view towards the university evaluation and selection in Turkey. This will help the university manager's decision making on the marketing tools they use.Originality/valueSelecting a university is a long‐term commitment and a very important decision for the high school students and/or graduates. Academic, social, physical factors and facilities are some important criteria for university selection. This study concerns the importance of these criteria in detail.
Diffusing values or adjusting practices? A review of research on French public utilities
Authors: Jeannot Gilles 
Published: September 2006

PurposeThis article reviews a set of studies depicting how public officials (agents) in French public utilities have reacted, in practical terms, to customer‐focused reforms.Design/methodology/approachThe article is based on data drawn from labour studies commissioned by French public utilities to evaluate the effects of reforms. Qualitative research using direct observation or semi‐structured interviews testing the assumption that the reallocusof change in behaviour, values and identity stem from changes in work practices not principles.FindingsThere is evidence of a progressive diffusion of new public management values but this varies between different groups and their changes in behaviour are triggered more by the adjustment of workers' practices to new management rules and technical innovations than the imposition of new principles or cultural values. The responses of agents are also often inconsistent. This suggests that the generalised findings of research based on surveys and questionnaires may not capture the reality of change, which is more complex, varied, inconsistent and contingent.Originality/valueIt offers a challenging critique of the use of surveys and top down approaches in the study of the impact of new public management on public officials and suggests a bottom up approach throws more light on how and why changes in behaviour, values and identity occur.
Transforming public services – transforming the public servant?
Authors: Berg Anne Marie 
Published: September 2006

PurposeTo investigate the interdependence between organizational forms and the identities of managers and front line personnel in government services.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual paper based upon and adding to theories and typologies developed by Douglas and Considine and Lewis. It also uses an empirical study of three Norwegian public services to support the hypothesis that distinct professional groups respond differently to new public management (NPM) reforms.FindingsThe transformation of government services towards market based and private sector management models is challenging traditional cultures and identities of service providers. In general there is opposition to the reforms because of their effect on the ability of professionals to do a good job. Professional groups are responding in different ways to new management systems and organisational forms and new identities are emerging. There is evidence that a hybrid form of bureaucracy is emerging which combines some virtues of the traditional procedural bureaucracy with flexibility, user focus, participation and professional pride.Research limitations/implicationsThe data used in the paper was not originally collected to test models or theories. Further research, therefore, is necessary to specifically explore the link between professional and individual identities and organisational and management forms.Originality/valueIt contributes to the growing literature on the impact of NPM on professional civil servants' identity and their response to the changing cultures of the organisations in which they work.
Online reporting: accounting in cybersociety
Authors: Gallhofer Sonja , Haslam Jim 
Published: September 2006

PurposeThis essay sets out to introduce the special issue.Design/methodology/approachThe essay introduces the focus of the special issue, the manifestation of the phenomenon of online reporting and the issues it engenders in relation to accounting, and briefly reviews the contribution of the articles in the issue.FindingsFinds that the papers in this special issue extend the understanding of the interface between online reporting and accounting.Originality/valueThe essay locates the contributions of the issue within a problematic, whereby online reporting is understood critically, interpretively and contextually in terms of its actualities and potentialities.
The use of collaboration in personal outcomes
Authors: Callaghan Leonard 
Published: September 2006

PurposeAs part of its restructuring and commitment to collaboration and advances in healthcare, the author's organisation has recently adopted personal outcomes to ensure that services are aligned to meet patient needs more effectively. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate this advancement in healthcare in the light of recent research findings, changing policies and the author's own understanding.Design/methdodology/approachThe paper introduces the concept of collaboration as a means of achieving personal outcomes. In addition, the paper puts forward suggestions as to how the nurse can foster interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary teamwork, utilising the core concepts of the advanced nurse practitioner, namely transformational leadership, in support of this.FindingsWhile success stories of personal outcomes abound much of it anecdotal based. Therefore, the need to initiate research in this area is of paramount importance as the latter would be helpful in examining meaningful quality outcomes. Reform in structure, finance and policy will also be necessary, as these are vital ingredients to the success of personal outcomes. Despite the overlapping conflict of Irish government policy, the extra finance announced in the 2005 Budget can only serve to assist organisations in achieving accreditation through initiatives like personal outcomes. Central to the success of personal outcomes, is to engage in collaborative practice by way of fostering interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary team working.Research limitations/implicationsFurther study of the impact on patient outcomes of collaboration is warranted.Originality/valueThe paper examines organisational, professional and interpersonal challenges.
Measuring quality in services for children with an intellectual disability
Authors: Koornneef Erik 
Published: September 2006

PurposeTo evaluate the application of one particular quality measurement tool, the SERVQUAL instrument, as a potential mechanism to measure quality in services for children with disabilitiesDesign/methodology/approachStaff and family of children with an intellectual disability in two organisations providing specialist therapy and day completed an adapted SERVQUAL questionnaire. A total of 81 SERVQUAL questionnaires were distributed and 59 questionnaires were returned (response rate of 73 per cent).FindingsThe SERVQUAL instrument can be considered as a useful diagnostic tool to identify particular strengths and areas for improvement in services for people with disabilities as the instrument lends itself for the monitoring of the effectiveness of quality improvement initiatives over time. The findings also showed relatively high customer expectations and the organisations involved in this research are currently not meeting all of these high expectations as significant quality gaps were found in the areas of reliability and responsiveness.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size was relatively small and the measurement of quality using the SERVQUAL instrument remains a challenge, due to the conceptual and empirical difficulties.Practical implicationsThe SERVQUAL instrument is probably most be attractive to service managers and funding organisations because of its ability to identify gaps in the quality of the service.Originality/valueThe tool had been used to measure quality in services for people with disabilities and the research has shown that this tool might be an important additional quality measurement tool for services.
Carving out time and space in the managerial university
Authors: Anderson Gina 
Published: September 2006

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the ways in which recent “managerial” changes in Australian universities affect academics' experiences of their working lives; and the significance of time and space in academics' resistance to managerialism.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on interviews with 27 academics from eight Australian universities, in which they explored their experiences of managerialism. The analysis reported here focuses on academics' experiences of time and space in the managerial university. A Foucauldian approach to power and resistance underpins the overall research approach employed in this study.FindingsThe paper finds that academics in this study argued that managerial practices in their universities imposed significant time‐burdens in already full workloads. However, many of them also employed time and space – often in highly creative way – in resisting these same practices. Much of this resistance involves academics “fiddling” time and space from themselves in order to fulfil their obligations as teachers and research. Such resistance has implications for further academic demoralisation and burnout.Originality/valueWhile other studies have acknowledged academics' opposition to managerialism in their universities, this study focus specifically on the ways in which this opposition is enacted in resistance.
Relationships of TQM practices and employees' propensity to remain: an empirical case study
Authors: Boon Ooi Keng , Veeri Arumugam , Kim Yin Loke , Subathra Vellapan Lorraine 
Published: September 2006

PurposeThe main purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between total quality management (TQM) practices and employees' propensity to remain within a large Malaysian semiconductor packaging organization. Despite extensive research on TQM practices, none examines this scope of investigative study. Therefore, the proposed model was developed with the intention of examining this relationship.Design/methodology/approachOriginal research using self‐completed questionnaires, distributed to all staff within this organization is thoroughly reported. The study sample consisted of 230 employees, resulting in a response rate of 76.6 percent. A questionnaire developed by Udo, Guimaraes and Igbaria was adapted for ascertaining the level of employees' propensity to remain. Data were analyzed by employing correlation and simple linear regression analysis.FindingsThe results revealed that customer focus, organizational trust, organizational communication, employee involvement and empowerment are positively associated with employees' propensity to remain. It is also found that where organizational trust was perceived as a dominant TQM practice; improvements in employees' propensity to remain levels were significant. Further, the result of the simple linear regression analysis supports the proposed model based on the empirically validated soft TQM instruments, which are reliable and valid.Originality/valueThe study contributes in advancing the TQM literature to a better understanding of the influence of TQM on the propensity to remain among employees within a major semiconductor sector.
Managing cost of quality: insight into industry practice
Authors: Schiffauerova Andrea , Thomson Vince 
Published: September 2006

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to present results of the study of the quality costing practices at four large successful multinational companies.Design/methodology/approachThe method of benchmarking was used for the purpose of this study. Company representatives, who were invited for a benchmarking session, described the quality management programs running at their companies. Direct observation and archival records data collection were also used to extract more precise information for the following analysis and discussion.FindingsThe findings of the study show that all four companies use systematic quality initiatives; however, a formal cost of quality (CoQ) methodology was only employed at one of them. This is in agreement with the literature findings arguing that a CoQ approach is not utilized in most quality management programs.Originality/valueThis paper discusses and compares the quality programs of four companies and explains the benefits of the eventual adoption of a CoQ approach in each case. The analysis provides a new insight into company practice, useful both for academic research and industry.
Motivational factors of gender, income and age on selecting a bottle of wine
Authors: Barber Nelson , Almanza Barbara A. , Donovan Janis R. 
Published: September 2006

PurposeTo explore the attributes of wine packaging that are enticing to consumers and the influence of age, gender and income on the wine‐buying decision.Design/methodology/approachTo evaluate how wine packaging interplays with age, gender and income to influence consumers’ decision to purchase. A self‐administered questionnaire with closed‐ended and five‐point Likert‐type scale questions was conducted in the State of Connecticut at two retail shops and five wineries. The questionnaire was pilot‐tested at a local retail wine store in Connecticut to ensure reliability and clarity of the questions.FindingsResults showed that label design and bottle closures were important to respondents and that self‐confidence was a significant factor for age and gender, with females and respondents between 31 and 40 years of age more concerned about making a wine‐buying decision.Research limitations/implicationsThe selection of the state of Connecticut and the testing sites may not represent the general US wine consumer, and therefore results may not be generalizable. Future research projects could include: comparing label configurations and bottle‐packaging choices with the situational use and sensory testing of wines to determine if the novice consumer can evaluate a wine characteristic such as “peachy” or “floral” as described on wine labels.Originality/valueThis paper fulfils an identified need by offering practical advice to wine producers on the necessity to understand what packaging characteristics or cues are important to consumers and to focus their marketing efforts towards simple wine packaging and label designs.
Internal relationships
Authors: Herington Carmel , Johnson Lester W. , Scott Don 
Published: September 2006

PurposePractitioners argue that the way they treat their employees has an impact on firm success. However, they frequently do not equate this with relationship building. On the other hand, the academic relationship marketing literature does highlight internal relationships as having an important impact on external customer relationships. However, this relationship suffers from a lack of academic empirical evidence. Neither seems to recognize the knowledge of the other leading to incongruence between marketing theory and practice. The purpose of this paper is to bring the two literature streams together demonstrating that the practitioners are talking about, and practising, relationship marketing.Design/methodology/approachExploration and comparison of the academic and practitioner literature bases to elaborate on the value of relationship building within organizations.FindingsCompetitive advantage can be attained through development of a relationship‐building culture which includes building relationships inside the organization as well as customer relationships. In fact, successful customer relationships rely on successful internal relationships.Research implications/implicationsA broad research agenda is outlined for understanding the nature of internal relationships and their impact on a firm's success.Practical implicationsOrganizational success can be gained through building strong internal relationships and the development of a relationship‐building organizational culture.Originality/valueLinks practitioner cases and reflections to the concept of relationship marketing, demonstrating further how relationship marketing activities provide a competitive advantage.
Outsourcing, information leakage and the risk of losing technology‐based competencies
Authors: Hoecht A. , Trott P. 
Published: September 2006

PurposeTo draw attention to a particular outsourcing risk that has not yet been adequately addressed in the literature, namely information leakage arising from acts of accidental disclosure or even purposeful betrayal by consultants that work for several client firms at the same time.Design/methodology/approachA review of the literature.FindingsIt illustrates how specialist IT service providers are playing pivotal roles in determining the extent to which unique firm specific skills and core competencies are being transferred to the wider industry context (via leakage) and becoming standard practices. It is shown that consultants face a dilemma as they are expected to spread cutting edge level expertise to their respective client firms, yet at the same time honour confidentiality commitments.Research limitations/implicationsConceptual rather than empirical.Practical implicationsA management tool is developed for managers to aid decision making.Originality/valueA critique of the outsourcing literature and a warning to managers to be aware of the risk of information leakage.
Export training: a preliminary investigation of Turkish companies
Authors: Haluk Köksal Mehmet 
Published: September 2006

PurposeThe purpose of the research is to identify the companies' export training needs, and also to determine their preferences regarding export training subjects, methods, institutions and trainers.Design/methodology/approachThe face‐to‐face interview with company managers and owners was carried out with the pre‐tested questionnaire.FindingsThe companies need training in export marketing subjects as well as the technical and practical dimensions of exporting. More active and practical issues and methods rather than traditional ones are preferable for the companies. The companies mostly prefer İGEME (Export Promotion Center of Turkey) as their export training provider. The companies in the research rank export experts as the most preferable type of trainer.Research limitations/implicationsThe primary limitation of the study was that it was carried out on companies operating in Turkey's Aegean Region. Therefore, the findings cannot be generalized to fit all regions.Originality/valueThe literature contains no studies that fully investigate this subject. This research makes a valuable contribution to the recognition of this knowledge gap, experienced equally by developed and developing countries.
The evaluation of fabric treatment by Griff tester and sensory analysis
Authors: Strazdienė E. , Ben Saïd S. , Gutauskas M. , Schacher L. , Adolphe D.C. 
Published: September 2006

PurposeThe aim of presented investigation was to test developed testing device Griff tester, created for the objective evaluation of textile hand and to compare the obtained data with sensory evaluation results of textiles, subjected to different final treatments.Design/methodology/approachThe effect of two finishing products, i.e. the crease‐resistant finishing Knittex® “K” and the softener macro silicone Ultratex® “Ul” upon 100 per cent cotton plain weave fabric was studied by two methods – objective evaluation and sensory analysis. Objective evaluation was done using Griff tester device where disc shaped specimen was extracted through a rounded hole of the stand. Sensory analysis was performed by the panel of 11 trained persons.FindingsInvestigations have shown that both treatments changed the hand of the fabric in the expected direction. Meantime, two experimental methods (objective and sensory approach) have shown their effectiveness to evaluate the textile touch, respectively.Practical implicationsThe obtained results proved that criterion Q can be used for sensitive and vivid detection of differences between fabrics, affected by different final treatment operations. The effects of finishing products' concentrations were found to be in accordance with the manufacturer's technical specifications and with the finishing industrialist's expectations.Originality/valueInvestigation results obtained by Griff tester revealed the possibility of fabric hand evaluation on the basis of one relative criterion Q. These results can be linked with some attribute issued of the sensory analysis applied to the characterisation of the tactile feeling.