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The Motivating By Appreciation (MBA) Inventory is an online assessment that identifies employees’ preferred ways of receiving appreciation from their colleagues, including their primary language of appreciation. This study aims to examine the internal consistency of the MBA Inventory by analyzing the results of over 114,000 employees. Given that the data are categorical, the coefficient alpha τ, a nonparametric measure of internal consistency, was used. The results found the internal consistency for identifying employees’ primary language of appreciation to be at an acceptable level.

Results of 114,828 individuals who had taken the MBA Inventory were analyzed. The results of the MBA Inventory are nominal data (the languages of appreciation: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Acts of Service, Tangible Gifts); therefore, the commonly used Pearson’s correlation coefficient is not appropriate. Alternatively, a nonparametric measure of internal consistency, Cronbach’s coefficient alpha τ, was used for the analysis to determine the consistency of the items for each appreciation language in identifying employees’ primary language of appreciation.

While, for the Pearson’s correlation coefficient, correlations of 0.70 or higher are considered acceptable, acceptable coefficient alpha τ correlations range from 0.20 to 0.40. The results of this analysis found the MBA Inventory to have acceptable internal consistency, with a coefficient alpha τ of 0.32. That is, the ability of the assessment items to identify an individual’s preferred appreciation language is significantly more accurate than if the individual had responded randomly.

Even though the MBA Inventory is available in eight languages and has been used globally, the vast majority (>90%) of individuals taking the inventory are primarily English-speaking and located in the USA. Thus, the generalizability of the results is limited for other cultures and languages.

The MBA Inventory has been used by thousands of companies and organizations, and taken by over 350,000 employees, but the psychometric properties of the inventory are still being examined. This study helps solidify one aspect (the internal consistency) of the inventory’s ability to accurately assess the ways employees prefer to be shown appreciation.

The study examines the potential moderating effects of repeating purchase cues and product knowledge on the relationship between the varying consistency of the review set and causal attribution. This study also investigates how causal attribution correlates with the perceived misleadingness of the review set.

A scenario-based experiment was conducted with 170 participants to explore the relationship between the consistency of the review set and causal attribution and how repeating purchase cues and product knowledge moderates this relationship.

Findings suggest that inconsistent review sets lead to more product (vs reviewer) attribution than consistent review sets. The repeating purchase cues mitigate the negative relationship between the consistency of the review set and product attribution, whereas product knowledge mitigates the positive relationship between the consistency of the review set and reviewer attribution. Furthermore, the results indicate that high product attribution and low reviewer attribution are associated with low perceived misleadingness.

This study is novel because it examines the moderating effects of repeating purchase cues and product knowledge on the relationship between the consistency of the review set and causal attribution. It adds to the literature by shedding light on the causal attribution process underlying the formation of perceived misleadingness of online reviews. The findings of this study provide valuable insights for managers on how to enhance the positive effects of consistent review sets and mitigate the negative effects of inconsistent review sets.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.

This paper examines three issues. First, do multiple possible paths to high versus low new product performance (NPP) occur among European, high-tech, industrial manufacturing firms? Second, what are the upstream influences on high NPP? For example, what background factors affect the levels of the KSFs? Third, do consistent country-level differences occur among Austrian, German, and Swedish executives in their evaluations of antecedents and high-tech NPP? To probe these issues, a total of 771 chief operating officers and project managers participated in face-to-face long interviews (McCracken, 1988) covering 241 less and 264 more successful than average industrial NPD projects. The empirical findings support the propositions that: (1) multiple paths lead to high versus low NPP; (2) unique antecedent variables affect the KSFs for high NPP; and (3) for several upstream and direct influences, consistent national differences occur among executives’ assessments of NPP. A key implication of the study for NPD executives is to recognize the possibility of alternative paths leading to successful NPD.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the internal consistency, convergent validity and test-retest reliability of the Attitudes to Prisoners who Self-Harm scale (APSH). The latter have yet to be examined.

Participants were prison staff with prisoner contact (N=97). Internal consistency of the APSH was examined using Cronbach’s α. Convergent validity of the APSH was examined by comparing it to the Self-Harm Antipathy Scale, a reliable and valid measure of healthcare staff attitudes to self-harm. Test-retest reliability was examined by re-administering the APSH one week after initial assessment (n=75).

The measure demonstrated adequate levels of internal consistency, convergent validity and test-retest reliability.

The findings support use of the APSH within custodial settings. It could be used to guide recruitment and training of prison officers that care for prisoners who self-harm and to evaluate the efficacy of their training. This would influence good practice.

A contemporary review of the psychometric properties of the Buss‐Perry Aggression Questionnaire was undertaken to assess its suitability for an alcohol dependent population. Three criteria were used to try to achieve this: factor analysis; internal consistency reliability; and test‐retest reliability. Factor analysis revealed that its structure is remarkably consistent in a number of populations. Internal consistency reliability and test‐retest reliability results scores proved to be mainly above the recommended threshold. A conclusion was reached regarding these results that the Buss‐Perry Aggression Questionnaire is an effective screening tool for aggression in an alcohol dependent population.

This study aims to examine the potential of Information Ethics (IE) to serve as a coherent ethical foundation for the library and information science profession (LIS profession).

This study consists of two parts: the first part present IE’s central theses and the main critiques it has received; the second part offers the authors' own evaluation of the theory from the LIS perspective in two steps: (1) assessing its internal consistency by testing its major theses against each other; (2) assessing its utility for resolving frequently debated LIS ethical dilemmas by comparing its solutions with solutions from other ethical theories.

This study finds that IE, consisting of an informational ontology, a fundamental ethical assertion and a series of moral laws, forms a coherent ethical framework and holds promising potential to serve as a theoretical foundation for LIS ethical issues; its inclusion of nonhuman objects as moral patients and its levels of abstraction mechanism proved to be particularly relevant for the LIS profession. This study also shows that, to become more solid an ethical theory, IE needs to resolve some of its internal contradictions and ambiguities, particularly its conceptual conflations between internal correctness, rightness and goodness; between destruction, entropy and evil; and the discrepancy between its deontological ethical assertion and its utilitarian moral laws.

This study alerts LIS professionals to the possibility of having a coherent ethical foundation and the potential of IE in this regard.

This study provides a systemic explication, evaluation and field test of IE from the LIS perspective.

This study considers perceived enjoyment and attitude consistency as internal states of consumers in an omni-channel environment. This study aims to investigate the mediating role of perceived enjoyment and attitude consistency to reveal how omni-channel environment factors of interaction fluency, convenience, price advantage and personalization contribute to omni-channel shopping intention.

Consumers who had shopped at Uniqlo's online and offline stores were surveyed through an online questionnaire, and 566 data were collected for analysis through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The results find that interaction fluency, price advantage and personalization positively affect perceived enjoyment, interaction fluency and convenience positively affect attitude consistency and perceived enjoyment and attitude consistency in turn facilitate omni-channel shopping intention. The mediating role of perceived enjoyment and attitude consistency was confirmed.

The original finding of this study is that factors such as interaction fluency, convenience, price advantage and personalization in omni-channel retailing require momentary and continuous affective states of consumers to facilitate omni-channel shopping intention, respectively. Therefore, this study considers the necessity of capturing different affective states of consumers in omni-channel shopping.

The purpose of this paper is to present an integrated algorithm composed of data envelopment analysis (DEA), corrected ordinary least squares (COLS) and principal component analysis (PCA) to estimate efficiency scores of electricity distribution units.

Several DEA and COLS models are prescribed and their results are verified and validated by the algorithm. To calculate efficiency scores, three standard internal consistency conditions between DEA and COLS results are checked by the algorithm. If these conditions are satisfied, DEA is chosen as the superior model because it could be used for optimization as well. Otherwise, the geometric mean of DEA and COLS model is used as the final efficiency scores.

The algorithm of this paper may be easily applied to decision‐making units because of its robustness (combined DEA‐COLS input and output) and validity gained through PCA.

The integrated approach has several unique features which are: verification and validation mechanism by PCA, consideration of internal consistency conditions between DEA and COLS and consolidation of DEA and COLS for improved ranking given consistency conditions are violated.

The purpose of this paper is to present a preliminary psychometric evaluation of the electronic mobile shower commode assessment tool (eMAST) 1.0.

A cross-sectional validation study was undertaken with 32 adults with spinal cord injury (SCI), aged 18 years or older, who use mobile shower commodes for toileting and/or showering. The eMAST 1.0, Quebec user evaluation of satisfaction with assistive technology, Version 2.0 (QUEST 2.0), and modified system usability scale (SUS) were administered online via SurveyMonkey. The eMAST 1.0 was re-administered approximately seven days later. Psychometric properties of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity were assessed.

As hypothesised, the eMAST 1.0 demonstrated strong internal consistency (Cronbach’s α=0.73, N=32); acceptable test-retest reliability (intra-class coefficient (3, 1)=0.75 (0.53-0.88, 95 per cent confidence interval) (n=27)); and strong, positive correlations with the QUEST 2.0’s devices subscale and modified SUS (Pearson’s correlation coefficients 0.70 and 0.63, respectively).

The sample was not fully representative of Australian data in terms of gender, or state of residence, but was representative in terms of SCI level. Age data were not assessed. The sample size was small but adequate for a preliminary psychometric evaluation.

The preliminary psychometric evaluation indicates the eMAST 1.0 is a valid and reliable instrument that measures usability of MSCs for adults with SCI. It may be useful for exploring relationships between usability and satisfaction of MSCs.