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1 – 9 of 9Fernando Kleiman, Sylvia J.T. Jansen, Sebastiaan Meijer and Marijn Janssen
The opening of government data is high on the policy agenda of governments worldwide. However, data release faces barriers due to limited support of civil servants, whereas the…
Abstract
Purpose
The opening of government data is high on the policy agenda of governments worldwide. However, data release faces barriers due to limited support of civil servants, whereas the literature neglects civil servants' role in opening data. This paper aims at understanding why civil servants can be reluctant to support the disclosure of data. The authors developed a model to explain civil servants' behavioral intention to open data.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors test a series of hypotheses by collecting and analyzing survey data from 387 civil servants and by applying multivariate hierarchical regression.
Findings
The results indicate the factors influencing the behavior of civil servants. Social influences, performance expectancy, data management knowledge and risks have a significant influence. Personal characteristics control these effects.
Research limitations/implications
Caution is needed to generalize the findings towards the support to open data provision by civil servants. Though the analyzed sample was limited to Brazil, other countries and cultures might yield different outcomes. Larger and more diversified samples might indicate significant effects on variables not found in this research.
Practical implications
The insights can be used to develop policies for increasing the support of civil servants towards governmental data disclosure.
Originality/value
This study suggests factors of influence to civil servants' behavior intentions to disclose governmental data. It results in a model of factors, specifically for their behavioral intention at the individual level.
Henk‐Jan van Mossel and Sylvia J.T. Jansen
Knowing which services are essential to tenants gives the housing associations the background to set priorities in maintenance policy and purchasing. The purpose of this paper is…
Abstract
Purpose
Knowing which services are essential to tenants gives the housing associations the background to set priorities in maintenance policy and purchasing. The purpose of this paper is to explore residents' perceived importance of various maintenance services.
Design/methodology/approach
The research question is explored through a large‐scale survey of more than 6,000 tenants of Dutch housing associations. Priorities were studied in three different ways: respondents were asked to provide direct importance ratings, importance weights were derived from regression analyses, and, an importance‐performance analysis (IPA) was performed.
Findings
The results with regard to the priorities differ somewhat according to which method is used. However, the methods agree in that maintenance of heating and water systems and maintenance of hinges and locks of windows and external doors should get priority. If the goal is to increase customer satisfaction, the maintenance of exterior paintwork and bathrooms should also get appropriate attention. According to the IPA, the maintenance of ventilation systems should be taken good care of.
Research limitations/implications
One limitation of the study is that residents have provided their preferences in maintenance service delivery without noticing the costs that are included with the several options. Furthermore, the priorities between service aspects, i.e. the aspects that determine the service quality of the maintenance service delivery were not measured.
Practical implications
This paper provides insight into resident's priorities with regard to maintenance services. This can be of use for companies, such as housing associations. Furthermore, it contributes to scientific knowledge with regard to the impact of different measurement methods.
Originality/value
Different applied methods for measuring priorities lead to different results. Both practitioners and researchers should take this into account when measuring priorities. The goal of the research should determine the choice of which method to use.
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Robert Crawford and Matthew Bailey
The purpose of this paper is to explore the value of oral history for marketing historians and provide case studies from projects in the Australian context to demonstrate its…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the value of oral history for marketing historians and provide case studies from projects in the Australian context to demonstrate its utility. These case studies are framed within a theme of market research and its historical development in two industries: advertising and retail property.
Design/methodology/approach
This study examines oral histories from two marketing history projects. The first, a study of the advertising industry, examines the globalisation of the advertising agency in Australia over the period spanning the 1950s to the 1980s, through 120 interviews. The second, a history of the retail property industry in Australia, included 25 interviews with executives from Australia’s largest retail property firms whose careers spanned from the mid-1960s through to the present day.
Findings
The research demonstrates that oral histories provide a valuable entry port through which histories of marketing, shifts in approaches to market research and changing attitudes within industries can be examined. Interviews provided insights into firm culture and practices; demonstrated the variability of individual approaches within firms and across industries; created a record of the ways that market research has been conducted over time; and revealed the ways that some experienced operators continued to rely on traditional practices despite technological advances in research methods.
Originality/value
Despite their ubiquity, both the advertising and retail property industries in Australia have received limited scholarly attention. Recent scholarship is redressing this gap, but more needs to be understood about the inner workings of firms in an historical context. Oral histories provide an avenue for developing such understandings. The paper also contributes to broader debates about the role of oral history in business and marketing history.
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Elena Ponzoni, Halleh Ghorashi and Sylvia van der Raad
In this study the authors show how discursive spaces both enable and constrain the inclusion of first-generation refugees. For this purpose the authors analyzed a triptych of…
Abstract
Purpose
In this study the authors show how discursive spaces both enable and constrain the inclusion of first-generation refugees. For this purpose the authors analyzed a triptych of narratives from first-generation refugees, employers, and mediators (mediating between organizations and job-seeking refugees). The authors adopted a critical studies approach, paying particular attention to the ways in which meanings are embedded within the normalizing discursive processes. The purpose of this paper is to show the maneuvering capacities of three different groups concerning the inclusion of first-generation refugees.
Design/methodology/approach
The data consist of a selected number of narratives from three groups of actors (refugees, mediators and employers) with the ambition of contrasting their discursive positionings. By including multiple positionings in the process, the authors aimed to reveal “the power effects of particular discursive formations,” which Alvesson et al. (2008) refer to as “positioning practices.” To investigate these patterns, the authors used in-depth interviews and employed an interpretive approach with the focus on the narrations of inclusion and exclusion.
Findings
The major constraint the authors discovered was that, in spite of the “good will” of all parties involved, the normalizing impact of the dominant discourses on migrants and refugees (discourse of lack) often works against other approaches (added value). This creates contradictory expectations toward refugees, limiting the possibilities of inclusion within organizations. The findings of this research show that diversity and inclusion can only be successful in conjunction with critical reflection that questions the taken-for-granted position of privileged groups as a norm reproduced by dominant societal discourses.
Research limitations/implications
In the light of growing urgency for the inclusion of refugees in the European context, it is crucial to rethink the notions of inclusion and exclusion from a critical perspective. The authors believe that the findings of the study could have implications which goes beyond the particular experiences presented in this study.
Originality/value
The authors conclude that diversity talk and practice which does not include reflection on the normalizing power of discourses of otherness does not have a chance of making a long-term impact on inclusion. Although there is a growing body of literature on this topic within critical organization studies, there has been no attention so far for the position of refugees in organizations which makes this paper both unique and urgent.
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Abderrahman Hassi, Sylvia Rohlfer and Simon Jebsen
The purpose of this paper was to explore the role of empowering leadership, organizational climate for initiative and job autonomy in spurring innovative work behavior (IWB).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to explore the role of empowering leadership, organizational climate for initiative and job autonomy in spurring innovative work behavior (IWB).
Design/methodology/approach
This study resorted to the structural equation modeling technique along the Bayesian estimation approach to analyze the mediating role of the organizational climate for initiative and job autonomy in the empowering leadership-IWB link in data gathered from CEOs, middle managers and non-managerial employees of 444 small and medium enterprises in Morocco.
Findings
The findings revealed that empowering leadership is a prerequisite of IWB as subordinates, who are empowered by their leaders, demonstrate IWB. Further, organizational climate for initiative and job autonomy mediate the empowering leadership-IWB link.
Practical implications
This research has demonstrated that firms and organizational leaders who seek to make their middle managers innovative in their job should adopt empowering leadership practices, build an organizational climate that is favorable for initiative-taking and grant middle managers with autonomy in the way they carry out their tasks.
Originality/value
This paper extends our understanding on the mechanisms linking empowering leadership and IWB by testing the mediating effects of organizational climate for initiative and job autonomy.
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Helena Chui, Eleanor Bryant, Carmen Sarabia, Shames Maskeen and Barbara Stewart-Knox
The purpose of this research has been to investigate whether burnout and eating behaviour traits were associated with food intake.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research has been to investigate whether burnout and eating behaviour traits were associated with food intake.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants (n=109) 78 per cent female, mean age 39 years, were recruited from various occupations within a UK university to complete an on-line survey. Dietary habits were measured using Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), burnout using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and eating behaviour traits using the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) R18.
Findings
Principal component analyses of FFQ responses revealed four dietary patterns: fast/junk food (+chicken and low fruit/vegetables); meat/fish; dairy/grains; beans/nuts. Dietary patterns were examined using multiple regression analysis as outcome variables with age, gender, burnout and eating behaviour traits as explanatory variables. More frequent consumption of “junk/fast food” was associated with lower TFEQ-Cognitive Restraint, higher TFEQ-Uncontrolled Eating (UE), lower MBI-Emotional Exhaustion and higher MBI-Depersonalisation. More frequent consumption of beans/nuts was associated with higher TFEQ-UE and higher MBI-Emotional Exhaustion. Models for meat/fish and grains/dairy dietary patterns were not significant.
Research limitations/implications
Burnout may need to be considered to reduce junk food consumption in higher education employees. Causality between burnout, eating behaviour traits and food consumption requires further investigation on larger samples.
Originality/value
This appears to be the first study to have explored associations between burnout, eating behaviour traits and dietary patterns.
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This paper aims to increase our understanding of perspectives on food traceability in four supply chain risk management (SCRM) approaches to ensure food safety. The occurrence of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to increase our understanding of perspectives on food traceability in four supply chain risk management (SCRM) approaches to ensure food safety. The occurrence of food safety failures has led to increased attention on food traceability as a means of identifying the causes of deficiencies in supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a literature review and synthesizes the broader domain of food traceability by analyzing perspectives based on SCRM approaches. In all, 129 published papers were selected and evaluated using content analysis.
Findings
A framework of SCRM approaches on food traceability is presented. Eight perspectives on food traceability are identified and grouped according to four SCRM approaches: food supply chain complexity and unique identification of goods (logistics management); transparency and interoperability (information management); in-house production and outsourcing (production management); and food quality and safety requirements and the monitoring of food characteristics (quality management).
Research limitations/implications
The findings provide an in-depth understanding and research suggestions for the management of traceability to ensure food safety in food supply chains. Conclusions are drawn from secondary sources, thus excluding empirical evaluation.
Practical implications
The implementation of food traceability can result in changes to existing management systems. This paper addresses the perspectives and management challenges that can influence the implication of food traceability to ensure food safety.
Originality/value
Perspectives on food traceability according to SCRM approaches are presented. Food traceability is analyzed using the philosophy of scientific framework and suggestions for further research are offered.
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Christiana Adeola Olawunmi and Andrew Paul Clarke
This study aims to explore marketing strategies that UK fish farming businesses can use to gain a competitive advantage. The marketing strategies examined include product branding…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore marketing strategies that UK fish farming businesses can use to gain a competitive advantage. The marketing strategies examined include product branding and core competencies, sales promotion, market positioning and segmentation.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey through an online questionnaire was mailed to five randomly selected trade associations of UK fish farming businesses and distributed to their registered members, of which 200 responded. Both male and female genders with different age groups and levels of experience in the UK fish farming business participated. In addition, ten articles were sampled for a systematic review.
Findings
Results show that UK fish farming businesses could increase sales by using ecolabels in product branding to attract premium prices, build consumer confidence and using high-quality packages for fish products will keep fish fresh for a longer period.
Research limitations/implications
The scope of this research is limited to the UK. The findings cannot be generalised and used for other jurisdictions because of variable economic and market conditions.
Originality/value
A significant recommendation from this case study is that fish farming businesses need to be creative and innovative in ways such as leveraging branding, sales promotions and core competencies to win the trust and confidence of consumers. Most importantly, each fish farming business should know the specific marketing strategy that works for them; this case study shows that not all branding and sales promotion techniques enhance competitiveness. The scope of this research is limited to the UK. The findings cannot be generalised and used for other jurisdictions because of variable economic and market conditions.
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Henrik Anders Ringsberg and Vahid Mirzabeiki
The paper aims to explore the potential effects on logistic operations of implementing the Electronic Product Code Information Service (EPCIS) standard and radio frequency…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to explore the potential effects on logistic operations of implementing the Electronic Product Code Information Service (EPCIS) standard and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to enable food traceability. A conceptual model for analysing supply chains according to EPCIS standard is also presented.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review was conducted to establish a theoretical framework. A case study of a Swedish fresh fish supply chain was then carried out.
Findings
Implementation of the EPCIS standard and RFID technology to enable food traceability potentially affects the following logistic operations activities: identification, monitoring, labelling, goods handling, reporting of production, identification costs and revenue changes due to sales of goods. The conceptual model was used to analyse the effects.
Research limitations/implications
The paper contributes to logistic research by studying the implementation of RFID technology and information standards to comply with food traceability requirements. The research is limited to fish supply chains; other sectors and supply chains need to be investigated for further generalisation of the results.
Practical implications
Regulatory requirements on food traceability stipulate the implementation of food traceability systems, placing the responsibility on companies by authorities. The research presented can support managers in understanding the potential effects of implementing such systems.
Originality/value
The discussion about logistics and food traceability has in part revolved around implementation of RFID technology and standardised approaches for handling information to preserve food quality and safety. This paper presents potential effects on logistic operations when implementing the EPCIS standard and RFID technology as a way of enabling traceability throughout food supply chains.
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