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Article
Publication date: 3 May 2016

John Muhumuza Kakitahi, Henry Mwanaki Alinaitwe, Anne Landin and Simon James Mone

The purpose of this paper was to assess the magnitude of the impact of construction-related rework on selected project budgets and schedule in public building construction in…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to assess the magnitude of the impact of construction-related rework on selected project budgets and schedule in public building construction in Uganda. The magnitude of construction-related rework was the mean determined over construction contracts under a selected project and expressed as a percentage of the construction contract sum.

Design/methodology/approach

A single case multi-unit study approach was adopted. A case study protocol was prepared that included a checklist, observation schedules and an interview guide. The three instruments were used to collect data from building contractors and end-users (the teaching staff and medical assistants). Representatives of the client entity and the end-users provided sufficient project documentation and related supplementary information for the study.

Findings

Construction-related rework was predominantly attributable to design information omissions, unacceptable workmanship and inadequate supervision of the contractor. Lightning conductor, electrical and roofing installations were the building elements that had the highest frequency of rework. It was further determined that the mean percentage of rework related impact on project budget and schedule was approximately 4.53 and 8.42 per cent, respectively.

Originality/value

The findings inform policy makers about likely areas that contribute to significant wastage and value loss in quality management of public sector projects. The research advocates for improved data collection protocols, integration of adequate design management and a whole life value philosophy during the public building construction process.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 July 2017

James Simon and Mishaela Houle

The purpose of this paper is to discuss improvement of the business of health care delivery through the application of systematic problem solving. This was strengthened by…

1050

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss improvement of the business of health care delivery through the application of systematic problem solving. This was strengthened by recurrence prevention through standardization at every level transforming into culture.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology utilized is set derived from the true fiber and fabric of Toyota, the Toyota Business Practice (TBP) or eight-step problem solving and its translation into health care thinking by aligning to the process of clinical diagnosis of patients. The methodology that gives energy and direction to TBP is Hoshin Kanri, a Japanese approach to strategic planning. When you combine focus and purpose through strategic direction alongside a culture of systematic problem solving you get results.

Findings

The application of the Toyota mindset resulted in a cultural shift which built on the strength of the current organizational culture. This approach had a broad impact on the program impacting leadership and management roles, improved employee engagement, complete visibility of organizational priorities, improved system performance, visibility and awareness of the vision and defined measures that drive the health care system. This has also resulted in cost diversions of approximately five million dollars CDN.

Originality/value

A grass roots application of real-time problem solving through strategic alignment.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 23 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 July 2019

Simon James, Robert W. McGee, Serkan Benk and Tamer Budak

Numerous studies have been done on various aspects of tax evasion in recent years. Some studies focus on compliance, while others examine more esoteric topics, such as optimum tax…

Abstract

Purpose

Numerous studies have been done on various aspects of tax evasion in recent years. Some studies focus on compliance, while others examine more esoteric topics, such as optimum tax evasion. A third group of studies discusses theoretical issues, such as when tax evasion can be justified on moral grounds. A few studies have addressed the relative seriousness of tax evasion compared to other infractions. The purpose of this paper is in the latter category.

Design/methodology/approach

Wave 6 of the World Values Surveys (2010-2014) asked hundreds of questions to participants in 57 countries. One of those questions asked whether it was justifiable to evade taxes if one had the opportunity to do so. Another question asked whether it was justifiable to pay cash to avoid paying taxes. It also asked questions about other ethical issues such as bribery, avoiding a fare on public transport, claiming government benefits and buying stolen goods. The present study included those questions in a survey that was distributed to 485 students and faculty members at the University of Exeter in England to determine the relative seriousness of each act. They were asked to select a number from 1 (never justifiable) to 10 (always justifiable) to show the extent of their agreement or disagreement with the commission of the six acts. The goal was to determine how serious tax evasion was compared to other acts that might be considered unethical. One-sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) methods were used for the data analysis.

Findings

The results of the study show that the act considered least serious was paying cash for services to avoid tax followed in order of seriousness by avoiding a fare on public transport, cheating on taxes if you have a chance, buying stolen goods, claiming benefits without entitlement and, with least justification, accepting a bribe in the course of one’s duty. Some interesting results emerged by examining the responses of different groups. Like other studies, the results indicate older groups tend to have a higher respect for the law than younger ones. This was true for the cheating on taxes possibility, but the 30-49 years age group were more opposed than the other two groups to paying cash for services to avoid taxes. In terms of gender, females were significantly more opposed than males to cheating on taxes if you have a chance. The respondents who are married were more opposed to the six acts, including of course, the two tax ones, than non-married persons. There was also evidence that the level of higher education makes a difference to individuals’ opinions.

Originality/value

This is an important study in relation to England. It is the first study to do so. The relative seriousness of tax evasion is compared to other offenses. Mean scores are used to rank the various offenses in terms of relative seriousness. Various demographics are also examined to see whether some groups view tax evasion as more serious than other groups. Those demographics included gender, age, academic major, education level and marital status.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. 22 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 April 2019

Apostolos Ampountolas, Gareth Shaw and Simon James

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how using social media (SM) as a tool to influence demand motivates the distribution of different price promotion strategies to…

3138

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how using social media (SM) as a tool to influence demand motivates the distribution of different price promotion strategies to encourage consumers to utilize direct bookings, along with how this impacts revenue strategies and profitability.

Design/methodology/approach

This study surveyed hotel executives who hold managerial positions and revenue managers with a direct influence on pricing decisions and developed multiple regression analysis models for various pricing approaches.

Findings

This study confirms the relationship between distribution channels and dynamic pricing strategies, although the same is not true with respect to traditional pricing techniques. The authors found that the adoption of SM as a strategic tool provides a platform to promote tactical revenue management strategies and to practice differential pricing motives.

Originality/value

The findings of the study will help hotel revenue managers to take into account a new way of thinking – namely, an interactive response to consumers’ preferences to improve profitability, based on different pricing methods distributed through SM. In this context, SM has elevated pricing strategies to a new and particularly challenging level.

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9792

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 3 January 2015

Helen Simons

Abstract

Details

Case Study Evaluation: Past, Present and Future Challenges
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-064-3

Article
Publication date: 25 October 2017

Suni Mydock III, Simon James Pervan, Alanoud F. Almubarak, Lester Johnson and Michael Kortt

The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which consumer purchasing behaviour is influenced by advertised information that a product is made with renewable energy. It…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which consumer purchasing behaviour is influenced by advertised information that a product is made with renewable energy. It also seeks to identify why some consumers might respond more favourably.

Design/methodology/approach

Three experiments were conducted using two samples of university students enroled in Australia. The first experiment tested the main effect of this research, the second tested the potential amplifying effect of locus of control and the third tested the temporal orientation.

Findings

Consumer respond favourably to products promoted as made with renewable energy. The possible explanation for this is that future temporal orientation (FTO) influences attitude towards the brand, attitude towards the advertisement, purchase intention and willingness to pay a premium for brands. The observed interaction effect between perceived greenness of the advertisement and FTO is also robust to scepticism.

Research limitations/implications

Results presented here are also derived from responses made by students at a regional Australian university. Although atypical in their profile with most over 30 years of age, findings cannot reliably be generalised to the larger population. Determining how much importance a renewable energy appeal has when it is positioned among other green appeals would reveal the relative usefulness of the focal promotion to marketers.

Practical implications

Promoting a firm’s use of renewable energy presents an important opportunity to achieve desirable outcomes, and the efficacy of this is magnified within individuals that habitually focus on the future.

Social implications

These findings benefit society because they contribute towards increasing the frequency of sustainable business practices. It should also encourage policy-makers to implement policy changes (e.g., removing subsidies that prevent renewable energy from attaining cost parity with non-renewable sources of energy), which can result in beneficial economic outcomes.

Originality/value

This research is the first of its kind to be conducted in an Australian context, providing findings that assist both firms’ and policy-makers’ decision-making.

Details

Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 36 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-4503

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 5 April 2019

Raimund Hasse

While some institutionalists have highlighted the explanatory power of organizational actors, others stress their social construction. In line with the latter perspective, the…

Abstract

While some institutionalists have highlighted the explanatory power of organizational actors, others stress their social construction. In line with the latter perspective, the author states in the first part that, except from meta-theoretical reflections, the social sciences tend to utilize actor concepts without further reflection. The author also shows how actors are reproduced in social practice, excessively in media semantics and more rigid in legal affairs, and that experts and professional helpers constantly reproduce actor images and identities. The second part focuses on the differences between the three dominant types of actors: states, organizations, and individuals. Although rationalization constructs the three different types of actors, which share much in common as institutionally derived entities, each type – still – has its own distinctive qualities: welfare issues are crucial for states; emotional qualities are a characteristic feature of individuals; and stakeholder sensitivity is paramount for organizational actors.

Details

Agents, Actors, Actorhood: Institutional Perspectives on the Nature of Agency, Action, and Authority
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-081-9

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2004

Anthony Emery and Michael Watson

Examines the emergence of environmental legislation and the response of organizations. Most legal academics have attempted to explain these responses in the context of rational…

1915

Abstract

Examines the emergence of environmental legislation and the response of organizations. Most legal academics have attempted to explain these responses in the context of rational choice theory, using an economic framework such as the rational polluter model. Argues that whilst the rational polluter model offers a partial explanation of organizations’ behaviour in response to environmental legislation, it does not explain why the majority of organizations are law abiding. Examines work on legitimacy theory, and by drawing on that work and placing it in the context of case law, suggests that it offers a better explanatory framework.

Details

Managerial Auditing Journal, vol. 19 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-6902

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 August 2008

Ebba Sjögren

The purpose of the paper is to inquire into how decisions about public fiscal responsibility for pharmaceutical spending are made and justified when there is a lack of coherent…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to inquire into how decisions about public fiscal responsibility for pharmaceutical spending are made and justified when there is a lack of coherent, unambiguous and undisputed evidence about the material characteristics of pharmaceutical use.

Design/methodology/approach

This is an exploratory, single‐organisation case study of a Swedish governmental agency tasked with deciding whether prescription pharmaceuticals are included or excluded from the public pharmaceutical benefits scheme. A comparison is made of two intra‐organisational decision‐making processes based on interviews, document studies and participant observations undertaken over a period of two years.

Findings

The study shows that providing foundation for making decisions involves attempts to remove ambiguity among multiple knowledge claims about pharmaceuticals' characteristics. Three means of removing ambiguity are outlined. In addition, a fourth means of dealing with ambiguity is identified, when efforts to achieve coherence among multiple sources of knowledge fail. In this case ambiguity about pharmaceuticals' characteristics may be delegated to the individual medical professional to decide about treatment for specific patients.

Research limitations/implications

The limited empirical material provides no statistical generalisability of the findings. However, the study has theoretical implications for understanding decision‐making processes in health care institutions.

Originality/value

The paper provides a detailed empirical account of a newly created health care assessment organisation similar to those created in other countries to tackle problems of resource allocation.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 22 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 March 2021

Michalis Constantinides

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role and leadership practices of executive leaders in English multi-academy trusts (MATs) considering the meaning of system-level…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role and leadership practices of executive leaders in English multi-academy trusts (MATs) considering the meaning of system-level leadership and its perceived impact on schools' improvement processes, conditions and culture.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper was guided by an ecological systems approach emphasizing the interactions between the micro-, meso-, macro-, exo- and chronosystems, and was used to develop context-sensitive accounts of leadership across groups of schools. It involves interview-based multi-perspective case studies using a sample of five MATs and collecting data from 31 interviews with various school and MAT leaders.

Findings

The primacy of leadership at the executive level was central to efforts for school and MAT transformation and that was evident throughout the findings of the study. System leadership was multifaceted and was understood through the multiple layers of the organizational structure of MATs. Four major domains of practice highlight the efforts of these leaders to address complex and systemic challenges. These are setting strategic directions, developing people and organizational capacity, establishing organizational infrastructure to support schools' improvement efforts and providing instructional guidance.

Originality/value

Findings reveal new empirical data about the role of executive leaders in English MATs and highlight the ways in which they seek to establish, manage and sustain school and MAT-wide improvement providing the research with a holistic idea of system leadership.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 59 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 4000