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1 – 10 of 859Addresses the standardization of the measurements and the labels for concepts commonly used in the study of work organizations. As a reference handbook and research tool, seeks to…
Abstract
Addresses the standardization of the measurements and the labels for concepts commonly used in the study of work organizations. As a reference handbook and research tool, seeks to improve measurement in the study of work organizations and to facilitate the teaching of introductory courses in this subject. Focuses solely on work organizations, that is, social systems in which members work for money. Defines measurement and distinguishes four levels: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. Selects specific measures on the basis of quality, diversity, simplicity and availability and evaluates each measure for its validity and reliability. Employs a set of 38 concepts ‐ ranging from “absenteeism” to “turnover” as the handbook’s frame of reference. Concludes by reviewing organizational measurement over the past 30 years and recommending future measurement reseach.
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Aitana González-Ortiz-de-Zárate, Miguel Aurelio Alonso García, Carla Quesada-Pallarès, Francisca Berrocal Berrocal and Gary N. McLean
The purpose of this paper is to validate two scales, the factors predicting transfer (FPT) and the effectiveness questionnaire (CdE), in the Spanish Public Administration (SPA).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to validate two scales, the factors predicting transfer (FPT) and the effectiveness questionnaire (CdE), in the Spanish Public Administration (SPA).
Design/methodology/approach
The FPT was administered at the end of the training, and the CdE four months after training. Participants had attended one of the 62 trainings offered by the SPA. With 1,457 participants, exploratory factor analysis (EFA; n = 728) and confirmatory factory analysis (CFA) (n = 729), randomly assigned, were performed on the FPT, and CFA (n = 726) was applied to the CdE.
Findings
A 30-item and four-factor solution emerged for the FPT through the EFA, which was confirmed by a good model fit through the CFA. A seven-item single-factor solution was confirmed for the CdE. Measurement invariance for the mode of instruction and gender was accepted for both instruments.
Research limitations/implications
Further research should be done in a more heterogenous sample that includes private organizations, different sectors and sizes. In the human resource development (HRD) field, these results suggest, in line with previous research, the existence of underlying constructs of factors of transfer that migrate across cultures.
Practical implications
The potential use of the FPT is the diagnosis of factors of transfer, and for the CdE, evaluation of the transfer of interventions at the behavioral level. The instruments are suitable for research and practice that compares online and in-class training.
Originality/value
The study performs the first rigorous analysis of measurement instruments to evaluate factors that predict transfer in Spain.
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Mateus Canniatti Ponchio, Mayank Jyotsna Soni, Mousumi Singha Mahapatra and Soumya Sarkar
This study aims to evaluate Netemeyer and colleagues' much cited financial well-being scale in Brazil and India and compare responses from different demographics. It also compares…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate Netemeyer and colleagues' much cited financial well-being scale in Brazil and India and compare responses from different demographics. It also compares the results using two analysis techniques, item response theory (IRT) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 994 survey responses from Brazil and 1,081 from India were collected. IRT and CFA models were used to analyse the data.
Findings
The results demonstrate the two-dimensional structure of the financial well-being scale and show that different items are differentially useful in measuring the construct across different groups. These findings may support the scale's future refinement and use in applied studies that will target specific groups (e.g. males, females, younger respondents and older respondents).
Research limitations/implications
This study serves as an example to others who can explore the advantages of IRT over classical test theory methods to assess the psychometric properties of scales aimed at measuring latent constructs of interest in the field of marketing.
Practical implications
The correct diagnosis of financial well-being is important to guide interventions by governments and non-governmental entities, as well as by financial institutions interested in better understanding individuals.
Originality/value
The authors show how the identification of the characteristics of scale items provided by the IRT technique allows for a better understanding of its properties and how it can be improved.
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Rouf Ahmad Mir, Raja Rameez and Nida Tahir
This study aims to empirically develop a reliable and valid instrument measuring the online service quality in the context of the banking sector in India.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to empirically develop a reliable and valid instrument measuring the online service quality in the context of the banking sector in India.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodological framework of this research comprises developing an instrument that is based on previous literature, qualitative and quantitative procedure. The study used the survey method and collected data via a well-structured questionnaire from a sample of active Internet banking users. The proposed instrument is identified by the data-reduction technique that is exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and validated through the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).
Findings
The results confirmed that the digital banking service quality scale (DBSQual) contains 24 items in seven dimensions: (1) web architecture, (2) user friendliness, (3) efficiency of website, (4) reliability, (5) responsiveness, (6) security and (7) personalization. The relationship between digital banking service quality and e-customer satisfaction has also been found to be significant in this study.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this study do not find general application for different banks operating in the same sector in India. More testing of DBSQual is required across various different contexts for validity augmentation. In addition, findings would be more reliable if the non-Indian context could be taken into consideration. Thus, such limitations open a window for future research.
Practical implications
This study is quite fruitful for the banking organizations in measuring their online services, and enables them to implement their marketing and operational strategies more effectively and efficiently.
Originality/value
The contribution of this study is the development and validation of a new instrument that is DBSQual that contains seven determinants of customers' e-service quality perception, emphasis on measuring online service quality in the Indian banking sector. These determinants will offer banks a promising starting idea for establishing an effective quality management for their online businesses. They will be able to increase the opportunities by tapping themselves at a competitive edge.
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The purpose of this paper is to improve the original Brand Luxury Index (BLI) developed by Vigneron and Johnson to provide a practical tool for assessing consumer’s perception of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to improve the original Brand Luxury Index (BLI) developed by Vigneron and Johnson to provide a practical tool for assessing consumer’s perception of the luxurious of a brand.
Design/methodology/approach
The original BLI was revised through three stages: an initial scale-item generation employing a qualitative method (i.e. focus group interviews), scale purification process using statistical techniques (i.e. exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)), and scale verification process using CFA. Data (249 for scale purification, 253 for scale validation) were collected with the help of E-rewards, a marketing research company.
Findings
The modified BLI contains five dimensions (i.e. quality, extended-self, hedonism, accessibility, and tradition). The number of the dimensions remained the same as the original conceptualization (i.e. conspicuousness, uniqueness, quality, hedonism, extended-self), however, the contents of those dimensions differed.
Practical implications
The modified BLI can be used to monitor and manage a prestige brand in the market place. Not only can marketers of prestige brands use the index to assess consumers’ perception of the luxuriousness of their brands but also to position their brand along the desired dimension of luxuriousness.
Originality/value
The modified BLI can be used to measure marketing performance of luxury brands.
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To achieve quality in customer service is to enhance a company’s competitiveness. With the birth of the World Wide Web, the process of making products and services available to…
Abstract
To achieve quality in customer service is to enhance a company’s competitiveness. With the birth of the World Wide Web, the process of making products and services available to customers has changed from traditional communication channels to Web‐based information systems. Consequently, the widely used service quality measurement instrument SERVQUAL, developed for traditional customer service, may require adaptation for use in this information age. The identified general service quality dimensions in SERVQUAL may no longer be appropriate under this new and specific context. Shifts in service quality dimensions are due to the differences between Web‐based and traditional communication as well as the complementary functions of these two channels. A survey was conducted online and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Two new quality dimensions were identified. This information should be useful to Web designers and information service providers.
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Mohd Abass Bhat, Shagufta Tariq Khan and Riyaz Ahmad Rainayee
This paper aims to examine employee perceptions of the labor market in the employee turnover intention model and explores how different situations outside work (labor market…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine employee perceptions of the labor market in the employee turnover intention model and explores how different situations outside work (labor market conditions) play a role in employee-organizational membership. In addition, it also examines the mediating role of commitment in the relationship between stress and the turnover model.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 628 private school teachers working in the economically depressed state of J&K (India), which were randomly selected. Confirmatory factor analysis was used for validation of a scale. Structural equation modeling and PROCESS by Hayes was used to test the hypothesized relationships between the study variables.
Findings
The antecedents of occupational stressors contribute negatively toward employees’ psychological state resulting in undesirable employee-organizational relationships such as high turnover intentions and low organizational commitment. Nevertheless, lack of external job opportunities compels employees to maintain organizational membership, even though against the stressful working environment.
Research limitations/implications
This study while acknowledging the inherent limitations, questionnaires are susceptible to and single sectional nature of the study poses limitations.
Practical implications
The practical implication explains that the employee and organization relationship is governed more by external economic conditions than by the psychological feelings of the employees toward the organization (organizational commitment). As also, the moral system of employees, as well as their feelings toward the noble profession makes them feel morally exalted and this binds them to the membership of the organization.
Originality/value
This study mainly focuses on, to understand if and how the conditions of the labor market relate to the employees’ attitudes. This would enable us to gain more insights to the systematic relations of employees’ attitudinal variables such as occupational stress, organizational commitment and employee turnover intentions.
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The act of giving a gift at Christmas is a form of consumption that invokes different levels of involvement. The purpose of this paper is to explore and measure involvement in…
Abstract
Purpose
The act of giving a gift at Christmas is a form of consumption that invokes different levels of involvement. The purpose of this paper is to explore and measure involvement in parental Christmas gift giving and giving branded items as gifts.
Design/methodology/approach
The required information was gathered via a self‐administered survey method distributed to parents with at least one child between the ages of three and eight years. A questionnaire package was delivered to five participating schools and seven kindergartens for children to take home to their parents. As a result, 450 acceptable cases were subjected to a process of exploratory factor and confirmatory analysis.
Findings
The findings indicate that there is no significant relationship between involvement in giving gifts and involvement in giving brands as gifts, which suggests that it is important for parents to give gifts but not involving for parents to give popular brand names as gifts. In addition, the findings indicate that traditional measures of involvement require modifications that reflect semantic issues as well as reliability and validity issues.
Research limitations/implications
Children between the ages of three and eight years are most likely to be concerned with the Santa myth; it is also a time of concern for parents and has implications for promotional and marketing activities of brands targeted at children.
Originality/value
This research offers insights into involvement within the intangible context of gift giving and giving brands as gifts. It also contributes to the semantic differences between two forms of involvement and contributes to the ongoing involvement‐importance debate.
Usha L. Pappu, Peter T.L. Popkowski Leszczyc, Ravi Pappu and Neal M. Ashkanasy
This research aims to examine the conditions under which individuals’ olfaction is actively engaged in purchase decisions. Consequently, it introduces the concept of need for…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to examine the conditions under which individuals’ olfaction is actively engaged in purchase decisions. Consequently, it introduces the concept of need for smell (NFS) to measure differential motivation for the extraction and use of odor information in buying contexts. A ten-item NFS scale was developed that consists of hedonic and utilitarian dimensions.
Design/methodology/approach
The scale’s dimensionality and construct validity were examined in five studies. The moderating role of NFS and the mediating role of emotions in the relationship between odor perception and consumer responses were examined. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analyses and customized PROCESS models.
Findings
The results show that NFS is a two-dimensional construct. The results further support the scale’s internal structure as well as its reliability, convergent, discriminant and nomological validity. NFS moderates the relationship between odor perception and consumer responses, and emotions mediate this relationship. While hedonic NFS strengthens the impact of odor perception on consumer responses, utilitarian NFS weakens this effect.
Research limitations/implications
The present research extends Krishna’s sensory marketing framework, De Luca and Botelho’s scent research framework and Herz et al.’s scent benefits framework, by introducing the concept of NFS into these frameworks. The study demonstrates the relevance and functionality of NFS construct and NFS scale. The study extends the consumer scent research by introducing NFS and illustrating the interplay of odor perception and NFS on consumer responses to scent stimuli.
Practical implications
The NFS scale used in this study adds to the genre of individual difference scales such as need for cognition and need for touch. Given its smell-specific focus, it has applications in a range of consumption contexts. Using NFS, marketers could effectively identify low and high hedonic and utilitarian NFS consumers and position product or ambient scents to serve these segments better. The NFS scale also has implications for the areas of product and service design and development, consumer information search, brand judgments and choice preferences in both scented and non-scented environments.
Originality/value
This work is one of the first attempts, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to explain motivational differences in active engagement of olfaction, especially in purchase decisions. As a critical step in exploring olfactory information processing, the study demonstrates the relevance and functionality of NFS construct and NFS scale. The study extends the consumer scent research by introducing NFS and illustrating the interplay of odor perception and NFS on consumer responses to scent stimuli.
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Selim Ahmed, Noor Hazilah Abd Manaf and Rafikul Islam
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and workforce management on the quality performance of Malaysian hospitals. This paper also…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and workforce management on the quality performance of Malaysian hospitals. This paper also investigates the direct and indirect relationships between top management commitment and quality performance of the healthcare organisations in Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applied stratified random sampling to collect data from 15 different hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia. The self-administered survey questionnaires were distributed among 673 hospital staff (i.e. doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and medical laboratory technologists) to obtain 335 useful responses with a 49.47 per cent valid response rate. The research data were analysed based on confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling by using AMOS version 23 software.
Findings
The research findings indicated that LSS and workforce management have a significant impact on quality performance of the Malaysian hospitals, whereas senior management commitment was found to have an insignificant relationship with quality performance. The research findings indicate that senior management commitment has no direct significant relationship with quality performance, but it has an indirect significant relationship with quality performance through the mediating effects of LSS and workforce management.
Research limitations/implications
This research focussed solely on healthcare organisations in Malaysia and thus the results might not be applicable for other countries as well as other service organisations.
Originality/value
This research provides theoretical, methodological, and practical contributions for the LSS approach and the research findings are expected to provide guidelines to enhance the level of quality performance in healthcare organisations in Malaysia as well as other countries.
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