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1 – 10 of 12Expectations ostensibly lead to the formation of hierarchies, and hierarchies are thought to improve coordination. A simulation model is introduced to determine whether…
Abstract
Purpose
Expectations ostensibly lead to the formation of hierarchies, and hierarchies are thought to improve coordination. A simulation model is introduced to determine whether expectations directly improve coordination.
Methodology/approach
Agent-based simulations of small group behavior are used to determine what rules for expectation formation best coordinate groups. Within groups of agents that have differing but unknown task abilities, pairs take turns playing a coordination game with one another. The group receives a positive payoff when one agent chooses to take a high-importance role (leader) and the other chooses a low-importance role (follower), where the payoff is proportional to the ability of the “leader.” When both individuals vie to be leader, a costly conflict gives the group information about which agent has a higher task-ability.
Findings
The rules governing individuals’ formation of expectations about one another often lead to coordination that is suboptimal: They do not capitalize on the differential abilities of group members. The rules do, however, minimize costly conflicts between individuals. Therefore, standard rules of expectation formation are only optimal when conflicts are costly or provide poor information.
Implications
Rules that govern the formation of expectations may have served an evolutionary purpose in guiding individuals towards coordination while minimizing conflict, but these psychologically hardwired rules lead to suboptimal hierarchies.
Originality
This paper looks at how well empirically observed expectation-generating rules lead to group coordination by adding a game theoretic conception of interaction to the e-state structuralism model of hierarchy formation.
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Wendy Cukier, Suzanne Gagnon, Laura Mae Lindo, Charity Hannan and Sarah Amato
To explore how Critical Management Studies can be used to frame a strategy to effect change and promote diversity and inclusion in organizations.
Abstract
Purpose
To explore how Critical Management Studies can be used to frame a strategy to effect change and promote diversity and inclusion in organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the experience gained from a large multi-sector action research project aimed at promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in organizations, this chapter proposes a multilayer [Critical] Ecological Model.
Findings
While early critical theorists were committed to effecting change, the rise of post-modern critical theory eroded the ground on which to stand, widening the gap between theory and practice. Secondly, the chapter asserts the importance of linking empirical research and critical theory in order to advance equality seeking projects. Thirdly, the chapter provides a [Critical] Ecological model that bridges theory and action in Critical Management Studies, based partly on experience from a large community-based research project. The need for a multifaceted approach to advance equality and inclusion emerged as a way to bridge ideological differences among actors and academics committed to effecting social change.
Practical implications
By addressing directly the challenges of theoretical rifts as well as differences in research focused on micro, meso and macro levels, the chapter builds a framework to allow different stakeholders – scholars, practitioners, activists and change agents across sectors – to take action in advancing inclusion and equality as well as an understanding of interactions between levels.
Originality/value
While sharing similar goals, many approaches to change are fragmented on the level of analysis and by underlying paradigms. This chapter is unique in its focus on ways to bridge theory and practice and to develop a framework for action that accommodates equality seeking theorists and activists working on several levels.
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Antonio Botti and Antonella Monda
The progressive increase in the size of datasets has given life to the so-called big data that provides researchers with the opportunity to extract a greater amount of useful…
Abstract
The progressive increase in the size of datasets has given life to the so-called big data that provides researchers with the opportunity to extract a greater amount of useful information in many sectors, especially in the tourism industry.
The chapter aims to demonstrate that sustainable tourism (ST) could be particularly favored by using big data and a data-driven approach. Furthermore, as ST appears in line with a new type of responsible entrepreneurship, called Humane Entrepreneurship (HumEnt), this chapter investigates the link between ST and HumEnt and the impact of big data and data-oriented approaches on ST and HumEnt.
The research adopts a qualitative approach, applying the case study technique. The authors conducted ten semi-structured interviews with key informants from a specific form of hospitality: Albergo Diffuso. Findings show the advantages of the data-driven approach to tourism and entrepreneurship highlighting how using data creates new opportunities for decision making in ST and HumEnt.
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Antonella Monda, Antonio Botti and Massimiliano Vesci
This chapter is part of a strand of studies dedicated to tourism events and territorial marketing strategies and focuses on the role of communication in an event-based strategy…
Abstract
This chapter is part of a strand of studies dedicated to tourism events and territorial marketing strategies and focuses on the role of communication in an event-based strategy. Events can attract tourist flows, spread the territorial image, stimulate investment, and contribute to the territorial brand. Therefore, their role becomes increasingly important for an effective territorial and tourism marketing strategy. In the events sector, communication plays a key role in shaping marketing policies, which increasingly involve interaction between actors and the use of technology. To build and communicate an event is essential to implement social media marketing strategies that foster sharing of content that significantly influences user behavior. However, the academic literature on the role of social media in event management is limited. Therefore, this study has a twofold objective: to conduct a review of the literature to systematize and contextualize existing knowledge and to identify the main benefits and risks involved in the use of social networks in events.
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Gunjan Malhotra and Mahesh Ramalingam
This study explores features that impact consumers' purchase intention through artificial intelligence (AI), because it is believed that through artificial intelligence…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores features that impact consumers' purchase intention through artificial intelligence (AI), because it is believed that through artificial intelligence, consumers' intention to purchase grows significantly, especially in the retail sector, whereby retailers provide lucrative offers to motivate consumers. The study develops a theoretical framework based on media-richness theory to investigate the role of perceived anthropomorphism toward an intention to purchase products using AI.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on cross-sectional data through an online survey. The data have been analyzed using PLS-SEM and SPSS PROCESS macro.
Findings
The results show that consumers tend to demand anthropomorphized products to gain a better shopping experience and, therefore, demand features that attract and motivate them to purchase through artificial intelligence via mediating variables, such as perceived animacy and perceived intelligence. Moreover, trust in artificial intelligence moderates the relationship between perceived anthropomorphism and perceived animacy.
Originality/value
The study investigates and concludes with managerial and academic insights into consumer purchase intention through artificial intelligence in the retail and marketing sector.
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Joshua Chang, Julia Connell, John Burgess and Antonio Travaglione
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the implications of the gender wage gap in Australia, before considering policy responses and their effectiveness at both the government…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the implications of the gender wage gap in Australia, before considering policy responses and their effectiveness at both the government and workplace levels.
Design/methodology/approach
The method concerns an extensive literature review and an examination of secondary data and reports relating to workplace gender equality and data.
Findings
While the gender wage gap in most OECD countries has decreased over time, in Australia the gap has increased, with the largest contributory factor identified as gender discrimination. Consequently it is proposed that current policy responses supporting women in the workplace appear to be ineffective in closing gender wage gaps.
Research limitations/implications
Further research is recommended to identify the impact of gender equality policies on hiring decisions and whether such decisions include an unwillingness to hire or promote women. As findings were based on secondary data, it is recommended that future research include workplace surveys and case studies.
Practical implications
It is suggested that articles such as this one can assist in guiding public policy and workplace decisions on gender wage equality issues, in addition to providing human resource leaders with the information to make better decisions relating to gender equality.
Originality/value
This paper suggests that current policy responses may not only be ineffective in closing the gender wage gap, but may even exacerbate it as employers may avoid hiring women or continue to pay them less than men, due to costs incurred when attempting to meet policy directives.
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Antonios Karatzas, Georgios Papadopoulos, Panagiotis Stamolampros, Jawwad Z. Raja and Nikolaos Korfiatis
Scholars studying servitization argue that manufacturers moving into services need to develop new job roles or modify existing ones, which must be enacted by employees with the…
Abstract
Purpose
Scholars studying servitization argue that manufacturers moving into services need to develop new job roles or modify existing ones, which must be enacted by employees with the right mentality, skill sets, attitudes and capabilities. However, there is a paucity of empirical research on how such changes affect employee-level outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors theorize that job enrichment and role stress act as countervailing forces during the manufacturer's service transition, with implications for employee satisfaction. The authors test the hypotheses using a sample of 21,869 employees from 201 American manufacturers that declared revenues from services over a 10-year period.
Findings
The authors find an inverted U-shaped relationship between the firm's level of service infusion and individual employee satisfaction, which is flatter for front-end staff. This relationship differs in shape and/or magnitude between firms, highlighting the role of unobserved firm-level idiosyncratic factors.
Practical implications
Servitized manufacturers, especially those in the later stage of their transition (i.e. when services start to account for more than 50% of annual revenues), should try to ameliorate their employees' role-induced stress to counter a drop in satisfaction.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies to examine systematically the relationship between servitization and individual employee satisfaction. It shows that back-end employees in manufacturing firms are considerably affected by an increasing emphasis on services, while past literature has almost exclusively been concerned with front-end staff.
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Sheau Fen (Crystal) Yap, Megan Phillips, Euejung Hwang and Yingzi Xu
Healthcare service is a process that comprises a series of touchpoints underlying the key facets of service delivery, collectively shaping the users' (i.e. patients, hospital…
Abstract
Purpose
Healthcare service is a process that comprises a series of touchpoints underlying the key facets of service delivery, collectively shaping the users' (i.e. patients, hospital staff, and visitors) experiences. Departing from most sensory studies dedicated to understanding the retail environment and hedonic service, this study focuses on how sensory knowledge can contribute to understanding the sensory-based experiences of hospital users and their interactions with healthcare services at multiple touchpoints.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs a multi-method approach comprising two studies involving semi-structured interviews and a qualitative online survey of past patients.
Findings
Drawing upon the user-centered theory, the authors (1) consulted healthcare experts on hospital service touchpoints and standards around medical protocol; (2) explored users' needs, experiences, expectations, and evaluations of healthcare services; and (3) identified the issues and challenges faced by healthcare service users at various service touchpoints. Based on these insights, the authors proposed sensory tactics across healthcare service touchpoints that promote the well-being of major hospital users.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed sensory tactics require follow-up empirical evidence. Future research could adopt robust methodological designs on healthcare environmental interventions and progress with a transdisciplinary approach to advance this research area.
Practical implications
The authors' experience-based framework forms the basis of a valuable toolkit for healthcare service management.
Originality/value
This study advances services literature by integrating sense-based marketing knowledge with healthcare service research to understand the dynamic and interactive relationship between hospital users and the environment.
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