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1 – 10 of 18Charles E. O’Mara, Paul W. Hyland and Ross L. Chapman
Performance measurement systems not only provide the data necessary for managers to control business activity, they also influence the behavior and decisions of managers…
Abstract
Performance measurement systems not only provide the data necessary for managers to control business activity, they also influence the behavior and decisions of managers. This being the case, a restrictive set of financial performance measures may adversely impact on an organization’s long‐term viability, so organizations should develop a broad range of performance measures. Berliner and Brimson state that “performance measurement is a key factor in ensuring the successful implementation of a company’s strategy”. Thus when organizations implement new strategies they should ensure that the appropriate set of performance measures are in place. In this paper we look at two case studies conducted in a medium‐sized manufacturing firm and a large manufacturing firm, and evaluate the managers’ perceptions of the strategy/performance measurement relationship, and the responsiveness of performance measures to changes in strategy.
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As our readers are well aware THE BRITISH FOOD JOURNAL has invariably supported any legitimate effort having for its object the improvement, in one form or another, of the…
Abstract
As our readers are well aware THE BRITISH FOOD JOURNAL has invariably supported any legitimate effort having for its object the improvement, in one form or another, of the national food supply, and so long as the methods adopted are fair and above‐board this journal will continue to support such efforts by whomsoever they may be made. Fair and proper methods, however, are not always adopted, and a circular has recently been forwarded to us which affords an illustration of the fact.
Ross L. Chapman, Charles Edward O’Mara, Stefano Ronchi and Mariano Corso
This paper discusses results from an international study of continuous improvement in product innovation. The empirical research is based upon a theoretical model of…
Abstract
This paper discusses results from an international study of continuous improvement in product innovation. The empirical research is based upon a theoretical model of continuous product innovation (CPI) that identifies contingencies, behaviours, levers and performances relevant to improving product innovation processes. As successful knowledge management is widely recognised as a key capability for firms to successfully develop CPI, companies have been classified according to identified contingencies and the impact of these contingencies on key knowledge management criteria. Comparative analysis of the identified groups of companies has demonstrated important differences between the learning behaviours found present in the two groups thus identified, and in the levers used to develop and support these behaviours. The selection of performance measures by the two groups has highlighted further significant differences in the way the two groups understand and measure their CPI processes. Finally, the paper includes a discussion of appropriate mechanisms for firms with similar contingency sets to improve their approaches to organisational learning and product innovation.
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Almost all historical accounts of psychological work related to the self-concept begin with the pioneering work of William James (e.g., Harter, 1996; Pajares & Schunk…
Abstract
Almost all historical accounts of psychological work related to the self-concept begin with the pioneering work of William James (e.g., Harter, 1996; Pajares & Schunk, 2002, 2005; Roeser et al., 2006). James' distinction between the self as knower and agent (the I-self) and the self as known and object (the Me-self), in the famous Chap. 10, on self-consciousness, in his Principles of Psychology (1890), undoubtedly informs much subsequent work on the self-concept (a term that James never used himself). In particular, the general idea that the self is made up of different constituents (e.g., the Me-self contains material, social, and spiritual selves) arranged hierarchically is still very much a basic structural assumption in many contemporary theories of the self-concept, just as James' assumption that the I-self can create and monitor a variety of Me-selves anchors much self-concept methodology and process theorizing. With respect to the general aims of self-concept research, James' framing of self-esteem (a term he did use) also has been extremely influential on subsequent generations of both self-esteem and self-concept researchers. For James, self-esteem is a feeling that “depends entirely on what we back ourselves to be and do” (James, 1981, p. 310), a feeling that depends on the success with which we achieve those things we set out to achieve.2
Mita Mehta, Harsha Sarvaiya and Arti Chandani
The purpose of this paper was to examine how community engagement can be influenced by responsible leadership during crises. It looks at the phenomenon of community…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to examine how community engagement can be influenced by responsible leadership during crises. It looks at the phenomenon of community engagement and responsible leadership in India during the Covid-19 pandemic, using the collective responses of community.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses netnography, which studies community interpretations through their online social communication. The perceptions on how engaged the Indian community felt during the pandemic were studied by collecting and analysing their postings on social media.
Findings
The findings suggest that responsible leadership – through the building of trust, open communication, collective consciousness and mindful action – is an effective way to positively engage stakeholders and influence community response during a pandemic.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature of responsible leadership and community engagement during crises. It is an attempt to link public leadership with responsible leadership and its impact on community engagement in a novel way, filling a void in the literature.
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Terese Ching and Brian H. Kleiner
Suggests that the practice of law is one of the most regressive profesions in breaking down the white male‐dominated stereotype. State that the hiring practice does not…
Abstract
Suggests that the practice of law is one of the most regressive profesions in breaking down the white male‐dominated stereotype. State that the hiring practice does not reflect the demographics of law school graduates and that women and minorities often leave the career in the first three years. Explores the current level of discrimination and harassment as well as the steps the legal community has taken to reduce future occurrences. Examines the areas of illegal bias involving race, gender, age and sexual orientation.
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Jonathan Linton and Steven Walsh
The purpose of this paper is to consider whether the characteristics of a technology affect the type of learning mode used for acquiring abilities related to specific…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider whether the characteristics of a technology affect the type of learning mode used for acquiring abilities related to specific competencies. While technological competencies have a direct impact on firm performance for technology‐intensive start‐ups, few if any of these firms posses all the prerequisite competencies required for a given technology‐product‐market paradigm as the firm enters or remains over time in that market. Consequently, high tech entrepreneurial firms must learn, acquire and develop competencies initially and in response to the changing requirements of industry standard products.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper includes a study of all 35 high‐tech start‐ups in the semiconductor silicon industry using primary and secondary source data.
Findings
The characteristics of a technology affect which of ten different learning methods are chosen by a firm to acquire a competence. The study finds that risk, uncertainty, status, pervasiveness, observability, disruptiveness, and centrality are technological characteristics that influence the learning modes that are selected by a firm.
Originality/value
This is the first study to focus on the impact of technological characteristics on learning methods used. Practical and theoretical value in determining under what technological circumstances a learning method should be used to acquire and develop skills with a new technology.
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– The aim of this paper is to explore the marketing strategies and tools used by W&R Jacob & Co. in the first four decades of the twentieth century.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to explore the marketing strategies and tools used by W&R Jacob & Co. in the first four decades of the twentieth century.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on close analysis of W&R Jacob & Co. labels and other primary material supported by secondary sources.
Findings
The paper explores the company's initial focus on the development of an export market and their competition with similar firms in England for that business. It reveals the ways in which the firm contributed to the development of product naming and labelling conventions within the biscuit industry in this period. Labelling and product presentation strategies are examined to show methods of origination that coped with a prolific rate of introduction of new lines. Political change in Ireland in the 1920s and 1930s imposed limits on Jacob's markets and precipitated a reorientation of labelling strategies.
Originality/value
The paper is based on extensive original research and makes a solid contribution to the understanding of new product development and marketing strategies within the biscuit industry in the first four decades of the twentieth century. It also furthers understanding of the effects of Irish Free State policies on export industry.
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– The purpose of this paper is to introduce a contextualistic account of antisocial responding, with the addition of recent developments on the study of personality.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a contextualistic account of antisocial responding, with the addition of recent developments on the study of personality.
Design/methodology/approach
A behavioural and contextualistic view point is developed to account for antisocial personality and related topics, inasmuch as traditional definitions of antisocial personality disorder as provided on formal diagnostic manuals derive on several and not always coherent classifications of antisocial behaviours. Some of these classifications centre on issues like guilt, impulsivity or aggressiveness for establishing different types of offending and antisocial patterns. This paper focuses on functional personal backgrounds.
Findings
A total of five types of “potentiated contingencies” are described as being the main underpinnings involved in antisocial patterns. An analysis of the transformation of aversive functions of antisocial behaviours, leads to specify a distinctive rule-following behaviour that is concerned with that responding. Finally, the exposition of the four verbal clinical contexts that behaviour analysis highlights as taking place at therapeutic settings, serves to propose a fitter contextualistic intervention for antisocial personality patterns.
Research limitations/implications
Novel investigations should contrast the functional classification of antisocial responding. Those studies should experimentally demonstrate the way in which the different instances of transformation of antisocial functions the author has described are prompted.
Practical implications
The analysis also allows for the anticipation of the behaviour of individuals fitting to every category of antisocial avoidance. And as the functional analysis of “antisocial avoidance” uncovers specific relations between environmental stimuli as they are produced and established in the history of interactions of individuals, a more fitting intervention based upon those relations is feasible.
Originality/value
An exhaustive functional taxonomy of antisocial personalities and delinquent behaviours has never been presented before elsewhere. Besides the author reinterprets from a contextualist position traditional empirical studies.
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