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1 – 10 of 238
Article
Publication date: 14 October 2020

Gert Human

This paper aims to construct an argument in support of the idea that absorptive capacity may lead to improved transactive memory conditional to the effectiveness of knowledge…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to construct an argument in support of the idea that absorptive capacity may lead to improved transactive memory conditional to the effectiveness of knowledge transfer between team members.

Design/methodology/approach

The study reports on the results of data collected from 10 knowledge worker teams in a business-to-business context across various industries. The study tests a theoretical model to consider the relationship between the dimensions of absorptive capacity, knowledge transfer effectiveness and transactive memory systems.

Findings

At the individual level, the results suggest that knowledge acquisition and assimilation is associated with higher levels of knowledge transfer while unstructured knowledge transfer is associated with specialisation, credibility and coordination that drives transactive memory.

Originality/value

The results suggest that an alternative conceptualisation of the relationship between absorptive capacity, knowledge transfer effectiveness and transactive memory systems is indeed conceivable. This implies that transactive memory can benefit from increased absorptive capacity and enhanced knowledge transfer effectiveness and may point at an under-explored avenue of research.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 36 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 November 2018

Gert Human, Benedikt Hirschfelder and Jacques Nel

The benefits and problems associated with firm-generated content (FGC) as a key driver of sponsorship effectiveness demand more research attention. Accordingly, the purpose of…

2485

Abstract

Purpose

The benefits and problems associated with firm-generated content (FGC) as a key driver of sponsorship effectiveness demand more research attention. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to consider the effect of content marketing on sponsorship-response favorability in the South African energy drink market.

Design/methodology/approach

It is theorized that in an FGC environment, sponsor factors, sponsorship factors and event factors drive sponsorship favorability. This notion is tested using a structural equations model among 18- to 35-year-olds.

Findings

The results show acceptable model fit and confirm the usefulness of understanding the effects of content marketing on sponsorship favorability. The authors also offer directions for future research.

Practical implications

The results suggest that FGC which is well-designed, packaged and presented can enhance the views of individuals regarding a sponsor – even if the brand operates in a background position as opposed to the conventional foreground position common in promotional material.

Originality/value

The current study considers content marketing in contexts that have largely been avoided so far, or have only featured on a very limited scale in the literature. This study was conducted in an emerging market, business-to-consumer and sponsorship context for the application of a content marketing strategy.

Details

International Journal of Emerging Markets, vol. 13 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-8809

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 9 November 2017

Sizwe Timothy Phakathi

This chapter examines and discusses the unintended outcomes of the production bonus scheme the mine had instituted to motivate and increase the productivity of the frontline…

Abstract

This chapter examines and discusses the unintended outcomes of the production bonus scheme the mine had instituted to motivate and increase the productivity of the frontline mining teams. This is crucial given that the maladministration of the bonus system could lead to a range of undesired outcomes such as deteriorating levels of trust between management and frontline workers, prioritisation of production at the expense of safety, poor work relations and ultimately low levels of organisational, employee and team performance. There are a number of organisational, management and labour factors that can render a production bonus scheme effective or ineffective. These factors influence the nature and extent of worker reactions to the bonus scheme.

This chapter examines and discusses the factors that influenced the reaction of the mining teams to the team-based production bonus scheme and the extent to which mine management fulfilled its side of the bargain in the implementation of the production bonus. The chapter highlights the manner in which the team-based bonus system influenced teams of stope workers to engage in their informal organisational practice of making plan (planisa) in order to offset the snags that jeopardised their prospects of earning the production bonus. The chapter reveals that, to a large extent, the productivity bonus generated conflict rather than cooperation at the point of production down the mine. As a result, the incentive scheme failed to live up to expectations by not eliciting the desired levels of organisational, worker and team performance at the rock-face.

Details

Production, Safety and Teamwork in a Deep-Level Mining Workplace
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-564-1

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 9 November 2017

Sizwe Timothy Phakathi

This chapter provides an ethnographic account of conducting organisational research in a deep-level gold mining workplace. The ethnography presented in this book entailed living…

Abstract

This chapter provides an ethnographic account of conducting organisational research in a deep-level gold mining workplace. The ethnography presented in this book entailed living in the mine hostel, observing and participating in the production tasks of the underground mining teams for a full production shift for a period stretching over six months. The chapter discusses the day-to-day running of the production process at the rock-face down the mine. This section is important for understanding the organisation of the production cycle and the actions of the mining teams, foremen and management to ensuring the smooth daily running of the production process inside the pit. Furthermore, the chapter presents an overview of AfricaGold’s business performance in terms of operational efficiency, productivity and safety.

Details

Production, Safety and Teamwork in a Deep-Level Mining Workplace
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-564-1

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 9 November 2017

Sizwe Timothy Phakathi

This chapter examines the changing nature of frontline supervision in light of the supervisory training and development programme which was provided to shift-bosses in order to…

Abstract

This chapter examines the changing nature of frontline supervision in light of the supervisory training and development programme which was provided to shift-bosses in order to complement the workplace change processes that AfricaGold embarked on to improve operational efficiency, productivity and safety of its mining operations. Although the training course was an important workplace change initiative taken by top management to improve organisational, individual and team performance at the rock-face where it mattered most, lack of organisational and managerial support prevented frontline supervisors from effectively implementing what they learned on the training course. The chapter highlights the importance of not only providing organisational change-focused training, but also systematically and strategically involving frontline supervisors in the conceptualisation, design, execution and evaluation of workplace change initiatives. It is only when frontline supervisors are supported, managerially and organisationally, that they can be deal-makers rather than deal-breakers for a successful introduction and execution of change initiatives on the shop-floor.

Details

Production, Safety and Teamwork in a Deep-Level Mining Workplace
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-564-1

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 August 2013

Sizwe Timothy Phakathi

This paper aims to examine the interaction between formal and informal organisation of work inside the pit, with reference to the informal working or coping strategy of “making a…

1619

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the interaction between formal and informal organisation of work inside the pit, with reference to the informal working or coping strategy of “making a plan” (planisa).

Design/methodology/approach

The research for this paper was ethnographic in nature and the participant observation was the main research technique used in the field.

Findings

The underground gold miners make a plan or engage in planisa to offset the production bottlenecks which affected their capacity to achieve their production targets and increase their bonus earnings. They “get on and get by” underground in order to cope with organisational constraints and management inefficiencies.

Originality/value

The paper highlights the limits of formal organisation of work and the significance of gold miners’ informal work strategy of making a plan (planisa) as an existing and alternative working practice that shapes their subjective orientation, agency and resilience to work structures and managerial strategies. Any strategy designed to improve the health, safety and productivity of underground miners must recognise, elaborate and systematically articulate the workplace culture of planisa as an existing work practice in the day‐to‐day running of the production process down the mine.

Details

Journal of Organizational Ethnography, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6749

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 August 2022

Xu Chen, Yingliang Wu, Junfeng Liao, Wenming Zuo and Rujie Zhong

The incentive cost of enterprises increases significantly with the rapid growth of the social commerce (SC) market. In this context, enterprises need to develop the optimal…

Abstract

Purpose

The incentive cost of enterprises increases significantly with the rapid growth of the social commerce (SC) market. In this context, enterprises need to develop the optimal strategy to improve incentive effectiveness and reduce cost. Different types of consumers’ responses to incentives bring different values to enterprises. Hence, this paper proposes the social commerce value network (SCVN) to help enterprises study the contributions of different types of consumers to the network.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the graphical evaluation and review technique (GERT), the authors construct the social commerce value GERT (i.e. SCV-GERT) network and design three progressive experiments for estimating the value contributions of “network stage”, “consumer type”, and “resource type” to the SCVN under the same incentives. The authors initialize the SCV-GERT model with consumer data in SC and distinguish the most valuable consumers by adjusting the incentive parameters.

Findings

The results show that the SCV-GERT model can well describe the value flow of SCVN. The incentive on forwarding consumers brings the greatest value gain to the SCVN, and social trust contributes the most to forwarding consumers.

Practical implications

Under the guidance of the results, platforms and enterprises in SC can select the optimal type of consumers who bring the maximum network value so as to improve the effectiveness of incentive strategy and reduce marketing costs. A four-level incentive system should be established according to the ranking of the corresponding value gains: forwarding consumers > agent consumers > commenting consumers > potential consumers. Enterprises also need to find ways to improve the social resource investments of consumers participating in SC.

Originality/value

This paper investigates the incentive problem in SC grounded in the SCVN and uses the GERT method to construct the SCV-GERT model, which is the first attempt to introduce GERT into the SC context. This study also makes up for the lack of comparative research on different types of consumers in SC and can provide support for enterprises’ customer relationship management and marketing decisions.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 52 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 February 2023

Chenchen Hua, Zhigeng Fang, Yanhua Zhang, Shujun Nan, Shuang Wu, Xirui Qiu, Lu Zhao and Shuyu Xiao

This paper aims to implement quality of service(QoS) dynamic optimization for the integrated satellite-terrestrial network(STN) of the fifth-generation Inmarsat system(Inmarsat-5).

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to implement quality of service(QoS) dynamic optimization for the integrated satellite-terrestrial network(STN) of the fifth-generation Inmarsat system(Inmarsat-5).

Design/methodology/approach

The structure and operational logic of Inmarsat-5 STN are introduced to build the graphic evaluation and review technique(GERT) model. Thus, the equivalent network QoS metrics can be derived from the analytical algorithm of GERT. The center–point mixed possibility functions of average delay and delay variation are constructed considering users' experiences. Then, the grey clustering evaluation of link QoS is obtained combined with the two-stage decision model to give suitable rewards for the agent of GERT-Q-learning, which realizes the intelligent optimization mechanism under real-time monitoring data.

Findings

A case study based on five time periods of monitoring data verifies the adaptability of the proposed method. On the one hand, grey clustering based on possibility function enables a more effective measurement of link QoS from the users' perspective. On the other hand, the method comparison intuitively shows that the proposed method performs better.

Originality/value

With the development trend of integrated communication, STN has become an important research object in satellite communications. This paper establishes a modular and extensible optimization framework whose loose coupling structure and flexibility facilitate management and development. The grey-clustering-based GERT-Q-Learning model has the potential to maximize design and application benefits of STN throughout its life cycle.

Details

Grey Systems: Theory and Application, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-9377

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 March 2021

Shuli Yan, Xiangyan Zeng, Pingping Xiong and Na Zhang

In recent years, online public opinion reversal incidents have been occurring frequently, which has increased the complexity of the evolution of online public opinion, and they…

318

Abstract

Purpose

In recent years, online public opinion reversal incidents have been occurring frequently, which has increased the complexity of the evolution of online public opinion, and they have become a difficult issue for public opinion management and control. It is of great significance to explore the regularity of online public opinion reversal.

Design/methodology/approach

Combined with the grey characteristics of online public opinion information, a grey graphical evaluation review technique (G-GERT) network model is constructed based on kernel and grey degree, and the frequency, probability and time of online public opinion reversal nodes are calculated using C-marking method and Z-marking method.

Findings

Throughout the online public opinion reversal events, there are all repeated outbreak nodes occurring, so the authors regard the repeated occurrence of outbreak nodes as reversal. According to the average frequency, probability and time of repeated outbreak nodes in the G-GERT network model, the authors predict the corresponding key information of reversal. It can simulate the evolution process of public opinion events accurately.

Originality/value

The G-GERT network model based on kernel and grey degree reveals the regulation of public opinion reversal, predicts the frequency, probability and time of reversal nodes, which are the most concerned and difficult issues for decision-makers. The model provides the decision basis and reference for government decision-making departments.

Details

Grey Systems: Theory and Application, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-9377

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 June 2021

Nesibe Kantar and Terrell Ward Bynum

The purpose of this paper is to explore an emerging ethical theory for the Digital Age – Flourishing Ethics – which will likely be applicable in many different cultures worldwide…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore an emerging ethical theory for the Digital Age – Flourishing Ethics – which will likely be applicable in many different cultures worldwide, addressing not only human concerns but also activities, decisions and consequences of robots, cyborgs, artificially intelligent agents and other new digital technologies.

Design/methodology/approach

In the past, a number of influential ethical theories in Western philosophy have focused upon choice and autonomy, or pleasure and pain or fairness and justice. These are important ethical concepts, but we consider “flourishing” to be a broader “umbrella concept” under which all of the above ideas can be included, plus additional ethical ideas from cultures in other regions of the world (for example, Buddhist, Muslim, Confucianist cultures and others). Before explaining the applied approach, this study discusses relevant ideas of four example thinkers who emphasize flourishing in their ethics writings: Aristotle, Norbert Wiener, James Moor and Simon Rogerson.

Findings

Flourishing Ethics is not a single ethical theory. It is “an approach,” a “family” of similar ethical theories which can be successfully applied to humans in many different cultures, as well as to non-human agents arising from new digital technologies.

Originality/value

This appears to be the first extended analysis of the emerging flourishing ethics “family” of theories.

Details

Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, vol. 19 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-996X

Keywords

1 – 10 of 238