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1 – 10 of over 107000Briefly reviews previous literature by the author before presenting an original 12 step system integration protocol designed to ensure the success of companies or countries in…
Abstract
Briefly reviews previous literature by the author before presenting an original 12 step system integration protocol designed to ensure the success of companies or countries in their efforts to develop and market new products. Looks at the issues from different strategic levels such as corporate, international, military and economic. Presents 31 case studies, including the success of Japan in microchips to the failure of Xerox to sell its invention of the Alto personal computer 3 years before Apple: from the success in DNA and Superconductor research to the success of Sunbeam in inventing and marketing food processors: and from the daring invention and production of atomic energy for survival to the successes of sewing machine inventor Howe in co‐operating on patents to compete in markets. Includes 306 questions and answers in order to qualify concepts introduced.
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The purpose of this paper is to offer a consumer‐centric perspective on experiences and interactions that is consistent with the foundational premises of the service‐dominant…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer a consumer‐centric perspective on experiences and interactions that is consistent with the foundational premises of the service‐dominant logic of marketing, and which incorporates an increased understanding of the value derived from consumer‐to‐consumer (C2C) interactions.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper offers a reoriented framework and process consumer experience modeling (CEM) for analyzing consumer interactions in experience domains. CEM uses qualitative analysis methods and software, underpinned by constructs relating to first‐, second‐ and third‐order interactions undertaken by consumers. It is illustrated with reference to the “gap year travel” experience domain.
Findings
The approach offers a means for identifying value enhancers and inhibitors for consumers. It provides, for organizations, a representation of consumer perspectives on interactions, giving due regard to C2C interactions. The example of the gap year travel experience demonstrates how this information can be used to inform the nature and emphasis of future marketing initiatives of organizations that are operating within the experience domain.
Research limitations/implications
The framework and some of its key concepts require verification in other experience domains to test their robustness. The increased availability of consumer “voice” data (via blogs, etc.) offers great opportunities for the development of consumer‐centric approaches to experience analysis.
Originality/value
This work represents one of the first reported attempts to adopt an empirical approach to issues that have been raised by the foundational premises of the service‐dominant logic of marketing, and consider, and provide a structure to interactions and experiences from a consumer perspective.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of agency on basis of a pragmatist philosophy framework of analysis. Agency is a key analytical concept in management studies…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of agency on basis of a pragmatist philosophy framework of analysis. Agency is a key analytical concept in management studies, debated in terms of its theoretical elements and its degree of empirical substantiation. Agency is commonly either assumed to be the case, understood as some generic human capacity to act with integrity, or, alternatively, agency is considered to be derived from social structures, say professional norms or occupational identities acquired through socialization. In contrast, in an attempt to escape the agency/structure model, agency may be considered as what is generated in and through meso-level interactions, constituted as recurrent practices wherein accomplishments in the past serve as the template for new activities that further reinforce agential capacities.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the work of pragmatist philosopher Donald Davidson and what he calls the principle of charity, this paper presents an analytical model wherein agency is generated on basis of a shared everyday language wherein beliefs and preferences are constituted and thereafter serve as the basis of agential action.
Findings
Davidson’s externalist theory of action is supportive of the theory and study of meso-level interactions and helps to overcome the question whether agency is exogenously given or the effect of social structure.
Originality/value
This paper reviews recent social science literature on agency and introduces pragmatist philosophy concepts to better examine under what conditions social actors can reasonably have faith in an interaction being premised on beliefs that are held on basis of rational and reasonable grounds. This adds to an integrated theory of agency, being of importance for social theory and organizational analysis more specifically.
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Peter Ekman, Peter Dahlin, Cecilia Erixon and Steven Thompson
To explore the emergent characteristics of IT portfolios in business-to-business (B2B) firms. The goal is to develop a model that clarifies what interaction capabilities B2B firms…
Abstract
Purpose
To explore the emergent characteristics of IT portfolios in business-to-business (B2B) firms. The goal is to develop a model that clarifies what interaction capabilities B2B firms develop and to what form of IT this corresponds to.
Design/methodology/approach
We apply an a priori conceptual framework that is based on the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) Group's theoretical focus on business relationships. The framework depicts the business relationship as dealing with uncertainty and equivocality as well as building and upholding reliance and trust. We utilize a case study approach involving a focal firm and ten of its customers and suppliers. Building on 60 interviews, field observations and archival data, we analyze interviewee responses and the complementary data to evaluate the role of IT in supporting or automated various aspects of organizational relationships.
Findings
Results show how “high tech” and “high touch” relate to different interaction capabilities, which firms develop based on the characteristics of their business relationships. Although IT is associated with “high tech” and “high touch” interaction capabilities, some forms of IT are deployed to support the former, while other forms support the later. Both forms of technology-enabled interaction capabilities require investment, and firms must balance investment costs against the value created by improved interaction capabilities.
Originality/value
Our findings emphasize the interorganizational perspective (dyadic or network) rather than a solely organizational perspective for understanding IT portfolio development. This perspective is presented through an emergent tech–touch interaction capability model that shows how B2B firms can align their IT portfolio based on the specific characteristics of their business relationships.
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This paper seeks to advance research into entrepreneurial uncertainty. Few researchers have attended to the endogenous means by which entrepreneurial teams account for uncertainty…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to advance research into entrepreneurial uncertainty. Few researchers have attended to the endogenous means by which entrepreneurial teams account for uncertainty in context. This article begins to unpack the concept of uncertainty as an entrepreneurs’ phenomenon by investigating entrepreneurial teams’ situated ways of verbally attending to and accounting for uncertainty in their routine work.
Design/methodology/approach
The study draws on the ethnomethodological traditions of Conversation Analysis and interaction order to analyze naturally occurring interactions that have been recorded by entrepreneurial teams in context. It considers entrepreneurial uncertainty as a matter that teammates draw upon and orient to in the process of their naturally occurring workplace interactions.
Findings
First, it suggests that the endogenous means by which entrepreneurs recognize, account for, and respond to uncertainties is identifiable in a team’s naturally occurring conversations. It transforms entrepreneurial uncertainty as a matter of cognition into a matter of practice that is observable in the structure and order of authentic interaction. Second, it reveals the “epistemic engine” that entrepreneurial teams use to demonstrate greater or lesser levels of knowing and to move to closure that is not marked by the full elimination of uncertainties but by the establishment of a shared sense of not knowing.
Practical implications
By adhering to the detailed interactional focus of Conversation Analysis, this article emphasizes the value that the structure and order of entrepreneurial conversations can offer to research on entrepreneurship as practice. It points to future research on matters of effectuation and expertise that will be relevant to scholars and educators of entrepreneurship. It also helps to bridge the gap between scholarly research and entrepreneurial work as experienced by practitioners.
Originality/value
This article shows the mundane verbal means by which entrepreneurs account for uncertainties in their everyday work. It reframes entrepreneurial uncertainty, transforming it from a matter of cognition to an accomplishment of practice. It suggests that entrepreneurial uncertainty is a practical matter that is recognized by and accounted for in the conversations of entrepreneurial teams in context.
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The purpose of this paper is to find the factors that affect the “performance” of microfinancing institutions (MFIs) around the world and to further analyse the interaction and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to find the factors that affect the “performance” of microfinancing institutions (MFIs) around the world and to further analyse the interaction and higher order effects of these factors on the performance. Although MFIs can have various objectives from a commercial focus to a social focus when performing their operations, this study analyses the factors that contribute to “performance” of MFIs in relation to their ability to “alleviate poverty in a sustainable manner”.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the data relating to 234 MFIs across 63 countries, this study analyses eight factors that can affect performance of MFIs (as defined in this study) and their higher order and interaction effects using multiple regression models.
Findings
The results show that gender (female), literacy level of the borrowers, operational efficiency, offering only loans (not diversifying), age and emphasis on profitability have a significant effect on the performance. Analysis of higher order effects shows that the relationship of age with performance is a downward concave curve and that with operational efficiency is an upward concave curve. The interaction effects of gender and literacy, age and emphasis on female borrowers, and also age and emphasis on profitability were found to be significant.k
Originality/value
The findings contribute to understanding the factors that affect the performance of MFIs to alleviate poverty in a sustainable manner and help the policy makers and managers of MFIs to improve their performance in this area. Considering the hundreds of millions of dollars injected into microfinancing, improvement in performance as a result of these findings can lead to savings in millions of dollars.
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Jacques Masounave, Youssef A. Youssef, Yves Beauchamp and Marc Thomas
Investigates the effects of the most influential cutting parameters (cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut, tool nose radius, tool length and work piece length) on surface…
Abstract
Investigates the effects of the most influential cutting parameters (cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut, tool nose radius, tool length and work piece length) on surface roughness quality and on the formation of built‐up edge in a lathe dry turning process of mild carbon steel samples. A full factorial design (384 experiments), taking into account the three‐level interactions between the independent variables has been conducted. The results show that the following three‐level interactions: feed rate × cutting speed × depth of cut, feed rate × cutting speed × tool nose radius and tool nose radius × depth of cut × tool length have significant effects on surface roughness in this type of machining operation. Shows that the analysis of main effects alone and even two‐level interactions could lead to a false interpretation of the results. The analysis of variance revealed that the best surface roughness is achieved with a low feed rate, a large tool nose radius and a high cutting speed. The results also show that the depth of cut has no significant effect on surface roughness when operating at cutting speeds higher than 160m/min. Furthermore, it is shown that built‐up edge formation deteriorates surface roughness when machining mild carbon steel at specific feed rate, tool nose radius and cutting speed levels. Proposes a new model for evaluating the limiting cutting speed to avoid the built‐up edge formation. Finally, shows through experimentation that an increase in depth of cut would lead to improved surface roughness when tool vibration is increased.
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Guangfeng Zhang, Ian Marsh and Ronald MacDonald
– This study aims to investigate the impact of information, both public macro news and private information, on exchange rate volatility in an integrated framework.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the impact of information, both public macro news and private information, on exchange rate volatility in an integrated framework.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors apply real-time data of macro announcements and high-frequency trading data (German Deutsche Mark to US dollar, DEM/USD, from 1 May to 31August 1996) to GARCH models and examine various model specifications.
Findings
Data analysis demonstrates real-time macro news and market makers’ private information both have a significant impact on exchange rate volatility, but there is no interaction between macro and micro information in the information transmission process.
Originality/value
This study contributes to empirical hybrid studies of examining exchange rates volatility, which is in line with literature that combine both macro and micro fundamentals in examining exchange rates variation. Particularly, a key element of this study is to use a microstructure fundamental variable, namely, order flow, to capture private information in an exchange rate volatility study.
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Randolph M. Russell and Martha C. Cooper
Addresses a number of issues relating to determining whetherproducts should be ordered independently and therefore shipped as asingle‐product order, or co‐ordinated and shipped as…
Abstract
Addresses a number of issues relating to determining whether products should be ordered independently and therefore shipped as a single‐product order, or co‐ordinated and shipped as a group, or multiproduct, order from a single source. Factors which might influence the decision include the level or volume of demand, the distribution of demand across products, the weight of items and the attractiveness of the quantity discount offered. Uses an optimal inventory‐theoretic model, that incorporates transport weight breaks and quantity discounts, to assess when product orders should be combined and what products should be ordered separately. The effects of these decisions on the order interval, the number of order groupings, the proportion of items ordered independently, the proportion of attractive discounts forgone in favour of consolidation, and the relative cost savings, are examined using an extensive set of simulated data that are based on a firm in the automobile industry supply chain.
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A.J. Thomas and J. Antony
To highlight the application and to compare the effectiveness of the Taguchi and Shainin experimental design processes as applied to aerospace structural components.
Abstract
Purpose
To highlight the application and to compare the effectiveness of the Taguchi and Shainin experimental design processes as applied to aerospace structural components.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper applies both the Taguchi and Shainin experimental design techniques to optimizing the design of honeycomb composite joints. The techniques are fully applied, the results analysed and their user friendliness is assessed.
Findings
This paper identifies an optimum parameter setting for composite joints gained from applying these experimental design techniques. Significant improvements in joint strength are achieved through identifying a new joint setting.
Practical implications
The adoption of the experimental design techniques outlined in this paper and their application to a real engineering problem will enable a company to apply the techniques and to attain improvements in terms of cost and quality.
Originality/value
The analysis of both the Taguchi and Shainin methodologies and the resulting conclusions as to their effectiveness for industry is the real value of this paper. This paper will be valuable for quality professionals, design engineers and manufacturing specialists in a wide range of industries.
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