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Article
Publication date: 25 April 2008

Scott R. Colwell, May Aung, Vinay Kanetkar and Alison L. Holden

The purpose of this paper is to report on the development and nomological testing of a 17‐item scale measuring the five dimensions of service convenience (decision, access…

5568

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on the development and nomological testing of a 17‐item scale measuring the five dimensions of service convenience (decision, access, transaction, benefit, and post‐benefit) as proposed by Berry, Seiders, and Grewal.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross‐sectional survey methodology was used to collect the data.

Findings

Reliability and validity assessments provided evidence of the scale's psychometric validity. Service convenience was found to be a significant predictor of overall satisfaction in the context of personal cellular telephone and internet usage.

Research limitations/implications

This study uses a student sample which may limit its generalizability to other respondents. Also, the cross‐sectional survey methodology does not allow for the investigation of causation. Future research should investigate other contexts outside of the cellular and internet services examined in this study and across a broader sample. Furthermore, the ability to retrospectively rate service convenience, the trade‐off between price and convenience, and the continuum of convenience need to be investigated further.

Originality/value

This study provides psychometrically valid scales to measure service convenience as conceptualized by Berry et al..

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 1 June 2021

Melissa Rikiatou Kana Kenfack and Ali Öztüren

It is salient to be acquainted with the key elements that determine educational tourists’ decision in selecting an overseas destination while considering the rise of international…

Abstract

It is salient to be acquainted with the key elements that determine educational tourists’ decision in selecting an overseas destination while considering the rise of international competition amidst nations concerning international students. There has been a growth in the number of nations committed to attracting educational tourists. This issue is evident in countries involved in higher education (HE), such as Northern Cyprus, identified as an edu-tourism destination. Northern Cyprus can attract a whopping number of tourists, and the higher population is most likely to be made up of international students regardless of its interdiction on direct flights and political pressure. This chapter centres on analysing educational tourists’ motivators in selecting a tourism education destination abroad and on revealing effective recruitment and promotion plans towards attracting them. The chapter includes the descriptions and discussions of educational tourism, the HE industry over the years, globalisation and internationalisation of educational tourism, factors influencing educational tourists’ decision-making process and key elements influencing educational tourists’ decisions in HE institutions. At the end of the chapter, a case study is presented that reports the findings of interviews with educational tourists, overseas recruitment agents and Eastern Mediterranean University staff responsible for promoting the institution. The results identified eight factors affecting educational tourists’ decisions on study destination. Those factors comprise cost, ease of access, location, social factors, quality of education, instruction language, cultural environment and communication quality. The sub-factors of the main eight factors are scholarships, destination’s scenery, safety, friends’ and relatives’ influence and cultural differences. This chapter brings a significant knowledge about the motives that affect educational tourists in selecting at a particular HE destination. Based on the study’s findings, educational institutions may consider various recommendations to redesign their strategies towards attracting educational tourists more effectively. Generally, this study promotes an apprehension about the diverse elements that affect educational tourists’ selection of a destination study. An in-depth understanding of these factors will help education institutions’ decision-makers better develop plans of action to provide desired services to educational tourists, attract and keep them in return.

Details

Global Perspectives on Recruiting International Students: Challenges and Opportunities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83982-518-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 January 2019

Alison Beard-Gunter, David Geraint Ellis and Pauline Anne Found

Voluntary participation, feedback loops, rules and goals are key elements of total quality management (TQM). The purpose of this paper is to determine if these four elements which…

Abstract

Purpose

Voluntary participation, feedback loops, rules and goals are key elements of total quality management (TQM). The purpose of this paper is to determine if these four elements which make TQM successful are the same elements that make computer games successful. If this is the case, what are the implications for developers of Human Computer Interfaces (HCI) in Industry 4.0.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is a systematic literature review of recent literature on engagement in games and user experiences and HCI design for industry followed by interpretation of the literature. The findings from the literature review are analysed and compared to TQM.

Findings

Good game design and TQM share four key components: goals, rules, a feedback system (including rewards) and voluntary participation. There is an opportunity for HCI developers to use a user experience lens inherent in games evolution and to expand on the design and motivational elements that have made games and TQM successful at motivating and engaging. Kuutti’s (1995) proposal of activity theory puts forward a promising framework for making systems engaging. There are positive implications merging good games design and TQM in socio-technic systems which could improve engagement and quality in companies implementing in Industy 4.0.

Research limitations/implications

The implications of achieving increased engagement in HCI systems similar to those seen in companies that have successfully implemented TQM could lead to greater productivity in companies operating in the highly technical environments of Industry 4.0.

Originality/value

The originality of this paper is threefold: first, a description of the origins in industry of voluntary participation, feedback loops, rules and goals and their relationship to TQM; second, a systematic literature review of the same elements in computer games design; and third, the implications for developers of HCI systems in Industry 4.0.

Details

International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-669X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 5 February 2018

Shirley J. Miske and Alison B. Joglekar

For over a decade, the early grade reading assessment (EGRA) has been used to measure and report on students’ acquisition of five reading skills. Education development initiatives…

Abstract

For over a decade, the early grade reading assessment (EGRA) has been used to measure and report on students’ acquisition of five reading skills. Education development initiatives funded by the US Agency for International Development, the World Bank, Department for International Development (DFID), and other agencies have facilitated the use and adaptation of the EGRA into over 100 languages in more than 65 countries (Dubeck & Gove, 2015, p. 315). Guidelines for the proper use and the limitations of the EGRA have been circulated widely. An international evidence base that challenges the theoretical underpinnings and the expanded use of the EGRA is also growing (Bartlett, Dowd, & Jonason, 2015). Not yet explored to date, however, is the use of the EGRA as a measure to determine Payment by Results (PbR) in a donor agency initiative. This chapter examines the use of the EGRA oral reading fluency (ORF) subtest as a PbR learning outcomes measure in DFID’s Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) projects, and it concludes that the way in which the EGRA ORF was used for PbR was a misuse of the EGRA, and ultimately it did not serve well the PbR project beneficiaries, the marginalized girls.

Details

Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2017
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-765-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 October 2018

Anna Marie Johnson, Amber Willenborg, Christopher Heckman, Joshua Whitacre, Latisha Reynolds, Elizabeth Alison Sterner, Lindsay Harmon, Syann Lunsford and Sarah Drerup

This paper aims to present recently published resources on information literacy and library instruction through an extensive annotated bibliography of publications covering all…

6546

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present recently published resources on information literacy and library instruction through an extensive annotated bibliography of publications covering all library types.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2017 in over 200 journals, magazines, books and other sources.

Findings

The paper provides a brief description for all 590 sources.

Originality/value

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 46 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 5 February 2024

Robin A. Hadley

The vast bulk of the discourse surrounding reproduction is centered on women. Yet, the rate of childlessness in the United Kingdom (and much of the world) is higher among men…

Abstract

The vast bulk of the discourse surrounding reproduction is centered on women. Yet, the rate of childlessness in the United Kingdom (and much of the world) is higher among men. Recently, there has been an increased focus on fatherhood and fathering in academia, policy, practice, and the general media. However, data on men who do not become fathers has been excluded and their experiences minimized and dismissed. Infertility research has shown that failure to achieve the high social status of parenthood has the similar effects on mental and physical health as a diagnosis of life-threatening illness. In this chapter, I will draw on two qualitative research studies to show how not achieving the pronatalist ideal of parenthood impacts on men’s identity, sense of self, behaviors, health and well-being and social networks across the life course. The workplace is an arena where people who do not fit socio-cultural norms and expectations are overtly and/or covertly stigmatized and discriminated against through policy, working practices and everyday interaction between groups and individuals. I will argue that failing to acknowledge men’s experience of non-reproduction has a significant impact on both individuals and institutions alike.

Details

Work-Life Inclusion: Broadening Perspectives Across the Life-Course
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-219-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 January 2017

Nada Zupan, Katarzyna Dziewanowska and Alison Pearce

The purpose of this paper is to identify challenges of talent management (TM) of transition economies, based on a study of employee and employer obligations as elements of…

1471

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify challenges of talent management (TM) of transition economies, based on a study of employee and employer obligations as elements of anticipatory psychological contracts (APC) among young entrants to labor market. The authors aim to analyze how APC differ between transitional and non-transitional countries and also if there are differences between transitional countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a quantitative research design and conducted a survey using the PC inventory among business students in Poland and Slovenia and the UK (as a control group).

Findings

The authors found that APC in transitional countries differ significantly from the control group, with Polish and Slovenian APCs being more transactional and less relational than in the UK. Also, there are several differences between Poland and Slovenia, suggesting that Central and Eastern Europe transitional countries cannot be considered a single region in this respect.

Practical implications

The authors identified challenges related to TM in transitional countries based on APC characteristics and proposed several ways in which employers and educators could help to build more realistic expectations and thus helping young talents with their transition from education to labor market. By increasing the understanding of APC employers can improve their TM practices for the young talents.

Originality/value

The study offers unique insights into APC of the young entrants to labor market in transitional countries, with regard to both employee and employer obligations. The three types of APC were studied along with particular dimensions of APC. The authors linked TM to the APC characteristics. Based on the results, the authors propose that socio-economic context as well as national culture should be considered as antecedents of APC formation and given more attention in both psychological contract and TM research.

Details

Baltic Journal of Management, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5265

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 April 2022

Caitlin Brandenburg, Madeline Raatz and Liz Ward

Although the benefits of clinician researchers for health services are now more clearly recognised, their career development is not well understood. Hence, the purpose of this…

Abstract

Purpose

Although the benefits of clinician researchers for health services are now more clearly recognised, their career development is not well understood. Hence, the purpose of this paper, a scoping review, is to determine what has been discussed in the literature about career opportunities for allied health (AH) clinician researchers in health services.

Design/methodology/approach

A structured literature search was completed in December 2020 for literature published 2010–2020 in English. A total of 2,171 unique abstracts were found and screened by two reviewers and 206 articles progressed to full text screening.

Findings

Forty-six studies were ultimately included; however, only two of these had aims directly related to AH clinician researcher careers, with the remainder containing only incidental data on this topic. Over half (56.5%) of the included studies were conducted in Australia, with a variety of AH professions represented. In terms of research design, 52.2% used cross-sectional survey designs, while case studies and qualitative research designs were also common. Key observations were that varying terminology and definitions were used, and there was little information about the inclusion of research in clinical positions or opportunities for formal clinical researcher positions in health services. There was some evidence to support that there are limited career opportunities after PhD completion, and that current career pathways are insufficient. There was conflicting evidence on whether engagement in research is beneficial for clinical career progression.

Originality/value

This review highlights a lack of research on this topic and outlines future directions to better support career pathways for AH clinician researchers.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 36 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Special Issue: Cultural Expert Witnessing
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-764-7

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1935

Some twenty years ago, however, the realisation came that the economy of the animal body calls for the activities of substances with functions apparently akin, in many respects at…

Abstract

Some twenty years ago, however, the realisation came that the economy of the animal body calls for the activities of substances with functions apparently akin, in many respects at least, to those of the hormones, which the body itself is nevertheless unable to produce, and therefore must receive them in its food. The indispensable functions of these, like those of the hormones, are adequately fulfilled by extraordinarily small amounts of each one. These food constituents yield therefore no appreciable supply of energy, nor do they serve in any ordinary sense as structural materials. Their presence like that of the hormones is necessary rather for the normal progress of active events. They have dynamic functions. I am alluding, of course, to the vitamins.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 37 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

1 – 10 of 31