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1 – 3 of 3John N. Walsh and Jamie O'Brien
While service scholars see modularisation as balancing the efficiency of standardisation with the value added through customisation the relationships between these concepts are…
Abstract
Purpose
While service scholars see modularisation as balancing the efficiency of standardisation with the value added through customisation the relationships between these concepts are under-theorised. In addition, although information and communication technologies can facilitate all three service strategies, the degree to which they codify service knowledge is not explicitly considered in the extant literature. The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a model that examines service strategy trajectories by specifically considering the ICTs used and the degree of knowledge codification employed.
Design/methodology/approach
This study draws on three qualitative case studies of service departments of firms involved in cardiovascular applications, orthopaedic, spinal and neuroscience product development and information technology support. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews, document analysis and non-participant observation.
Findings
Findings show that ICTs were increasingly used to codify both standardised and customised services, though in different ways. For standardised services ICTs codified the service process, making them even more rigid. Due to the dynamic nature of customised services, drawing on experts' tacit knowledge, ICTs codified the possessors of knowledge rather than the service process they undertook. This study also identified a duality between the tacit development of customised services and modular service codification.
Research limitations/implications
The model is validated using case studies from three companies in the medical and information technology sectors limiting its generalisability.
Practical implications
The importance of considering the degree of tacitness or explicitness of service knowledge is important for service codification. The paper provides managers with empirical examples of how ICTs are used to support all three strategies, allows them to identify their current position and indicates possible future trajectories.
Originality/value
The papers main contribution is the development of a model that integrates the literature on service strategies with knowledge management strategies to classify service standardisation, customisation and modularisation in terms of both service orientation and degree of ICT codification.
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Trudie Walters, Najmeh Hassanli and Wiebke Finkler
Gender inequality is evident in many academic practices, but research has often focused on the male-dominated science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Gender inequality is evident in many academic practices, but research has often focused on the male-dominated science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This study responds to calls for more work in the business disciplines which have been overlooked by comparison and focuses on academic conferences as a higher education practice. Conferences are manifestations of the research being conducted within the discipline, representing the type of knowledge that is considered valuable, and who the thought leaders are considered to be. This study investigates whether equal representation of women at such conferences really matters, to whom and why.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was designed using a critical feminist theory approach. An online survey was disseminated to academic staff and postgraduate students in the 25 top ranked business schools in Australia and New Zealand. A total of 452 responses were received, and thematic analysis was applied to open-ended responses.
Findings
Equal representation does matter, for two sets of reasons. The first align with feminist theory perspectives of “equal opportunity” (gender is neutral), “difference” (gender is celebrated) or “post-equity” (the social construction of gender itself is problematic). The second are pragmatic consequences, namely the importance of role modelling, career building and the respect and recognition that come with conference attendance and visible leadership roles.
Social implications
The findings have implications in regards to job satisfaction, productivity and the future recruitment and retention of women in academia. Furthermore, in areas where women are not researching, the questions and issues that are important to them are not receiving the attention they deserve, and this gender data gap has consequences for society at large.
Originality/value
This study moves beyond simply identifying the under-representation of women at academic conferences in yet another field, to investigate why equal representation is important and to whom. It provides valuable evidence of the consequences of under-representation, as perceived by academics themselves.
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Chieh‐Wen Sheng and Ming‐Chia Chen
This paper aims to examine the influence of individual internal principles and perceived external factors on the ethical attitudes toward environmental practices, on the part of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the influence of individual internal principles and perceived external factors on the ethical attitudes toward environmental practices, on the part of Taiwanese environmental business managers.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis of 295 pretest samples, moral intensity on environmental issues was divided into “perception of environmental harm” and “perceived immediacy and stress”. Following this, a questionnaire survey of environmental managers from the top 1,000 enterprises was conducted with 203 valid samples analyzed by a structural equation model.
Findings
The research findings demonstrated that moral intensity concerning environmental issues is not as significant as expected, and had less influence than environmental ethics. Assuming that part of the reason for this is that moral intensity is generally based on a viewpoint of teleology, the paper proposes some discussion and suggestions.
Research limitations/implications
Some limitations existed during this research, especially in the data collection or analyzing process. However, besides teleology, there are many other viewpoints of moral philosophy.
Practical implications
Environmental ethics is regarded as an internal principle, whereas the perceived moral intensity of managers on environmental issues is treated as an external factor. People's ethical decisions might be based on different views of moral philosophy such as teleology, deontology, or virtue ethics.
Originality/value
Since there was no suitable questionnaire related to moral intensity on environmental issues in the past, the paper presents a new questionnaire which used exploratory factor analysis to allocate moral intensity concerning environmental issues into two components: “perception of environmental harm” and “perceived immediacy and stress”.
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